Agenda
Meeting of the Faculty Council
December 6, 2013, 10:00 a.m., Dean’s Conference Room, 3rd Floor Pafford
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Minutes of the meeting of November 8, 2013 (see FC web site: http://www.westga.edu/coss/index_172.php)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Holiday Celebration-Dean’s Home, Tuesday, December 10, 3:30-6:30 p.m.
2. Updates from December 4, 2013 Chairs Meeting
a. Budget Items
i. COSS sent 5 Presidential Grant proposals with COSS offering $20,000 in matching funds
ii. For FY15, 9 of the 18 new faculty positions will go to COSS
b. Staff position requests were prioritized
c. Expanding programs to new target markets is a priority of the President
d. Reminder of COSS Strategic Plan-follow as we prioritize initiatives
e. Grades are due before noon on Monday, December 16th (if grades are not in, Dean’s Staff must delay
start of their break to issue all academic warning, probation, and suspension letters)
3. Other items taken from the floor
OLD & NEW BUSINESS
1. ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE (Hunt, Pope, Smallwood)
a. Proposal: to approve course and program modifications (see Course Catalog System) (Associate Dean
Smallwood)
i. Course modifications/additions/deletions
1) ANTH 3170-Religion in America-The Shakers and Other Utopian Societies (add)
2) PSYC 7004-Historical Foundations of Psychology (modification)
ii. Program modifications/additions/deletions
1) Ph.D. in Psychology: Consciousness and Society
2) Master of Arts with a Major in Sociology
3) Certificate in Cultural Resource Management
2. PLANNING COMMITTEE (Aanstoos, Johnson, Yates)
a. Presidential Grant Proposals Update
i. Thank you to all members who participated in reviewing Presidential Grant proposals
ii. Top proposals are noted in Appendix A
b. Bylaws and Policies and Procedures were sent to Faculty for a feedback (see Appendix B) and voting the
final week of the semester
c. Vacancy of Chair-Elect
i. Can a tenure-track faculty member serve as Chair-Elect if no other eligible faculty are available
or willing to serve?
ii. Precedent set when tenure-track faculty served as Acting Past Chair Spring 2013
d. Discussion of Articulation Agreement between Criminology and West Georgia Technical College and
similar agreements in the future
i. Pros
ii. Cons
3. FACULTY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (Hunter, Moon, Peralta)
a. Update on Proposal: to co-sponsor with the Library the first-ever UWG Pedagogy Conference: a day-long
on-campus conference for faculty to share teaching ideas
i. COSS committed monies to co-sponsor the event with other colleges/school and units on
campus
ii. Target date will be early May before Summer Sessions begin (Tuesday, April 29 or Wednesday,
April 30)
iii. Details to work out include costs, who will fund the initiative, and what incentives might entice
faculty to be involved
b. Proposal: to endorse collaboration between the Library Staff and COSS faculty who teach introductory
courses to help students learn more about research techniques related to the various majors (e.g.,
searching special databases, etc.)
c. Proposal: to endorse a an XIDS course that would cover research and writing for the social sciences
i. Course would help train students so they would have a higher level of competency in the
research methods and writing techniques of their chosen major when they are in their upper
level courses
ii. This would fit with the COSS Strategic Plan
d. Proposal: to endorse the creation of a Faculty Information Literacy Institute in collaboration with the
Library
i. The Institute would help train faculty in the latest information gathering techniques
ii. This initiative may be an alternative to summer teaching that will help faculty engage in
professional development related to teaching and be compensated for their participation
4. OTHER BUSINESS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Appendix A
Appendix B
Proposed Amendments to Bylaws and Policies and Procedures
College of Social Sciences
Approved by Faculty Council
Reviewed by Administrative Council
Submitted to COSS Faculty for Consideration
Fall 2013
Bylaws (http://www.westga.edu/assetsCOSS/coss/COSSBylaws.pdf)
1. Department Chair Evaluation
a. The proposed amendments to Article II.B.3.b. make COSS Bylaws language consistent with the Faculty
Handbook and further clarifies who may serve the faculty departmental review committee for the
evaluation of the department chair and who may be involved in the evaluation process.
i. Current language: The performance of each department chair shall be reviewed at intervals not
to exceed four years by the members of the chair’s department, a report of which will be
submitted to the Dean.
ii. Proposed amendment: The performance of each department chair shall be reviewed at least
once every three years by the members of the chair’s department, a report of which will be
submitted to the Dean.
iii. Additional proposed amendment: Add the two subsections to Article II.B.3.b. noted below
a) Article II.B.3.b.i.: Eligible members of the faculty departmental review committee include
all full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty.
b) Article II.B.3.b.ii.: In accordance with the Faculty Handbook, the faculty departmental
review committee shall use the Personnel Evaluation Questionnaire (section 104.0302)
to conduct a comprehensive performance review from among departmental, college,
university and community constituents.
2. Dean Evaluation
a. The proposed amendments to Article II.A.1.c. make COSS Bylaws language consistent with the Faculty
Handbook.
i. Current language: Evaluation-In addition to any performance evaluations by the Provost’s office,
the Dean of the College shall be evaluated at intervals not to exceed four years by the
Administrative Council and by the Faculty Council.
ii. Proposed amendment: Create sub-section II.A.1.c.i: In addition to any performance evaluations
by the Provost’s office, the first periodic evaluation of the Dean of the College shall cover a full
three-year period and occur in the Dean’s fourth year of appointment. Thereafter, the periodic
evaluations shall cover a full four-year period and occur every five years. The Review Committee
shall follow the procedures outlined in Section 104.0601E of the Faculty Handbook.
iii. Additional proposed amendment: Create sub-section II.A.1.c.ii.: Members of the Review
Committee shall be comprised of at least one member of the Administrative Council and at least
one member of the Faculty Council, elected within each governing body. The remaining four
members of the committee, who may be members of the Administrative Council and/or Faculty
Council, and the faculty at-large, shall be nominated by each department and elected by the
Faculty Council. Eligible nominees shall be full-time faculty, regardless of rank.
Policies & Procedures (http://www.westga.edu/coss/index_13.php)
3. Promotion & Tenure Advisory Committee composition
a. The proposed amendment to Section I.4.b.ii. clarifies who may represent a candidate for promotion
and/or tenure.
i. Current language: COMPOSITION: One faculty from each academic department of the College,
elected by their department, and one faculty elected by the College at large. All members of the
committee must be tenured faculty. Department chairs are not eligible to serve, nor are any
faculty members whose application for tenure or promotion would come before the committee
during their term of service. Members may not serve more than one term consecutively unless
there are no other faculty in their department eligible to serve. All terms shall be two-year
terms, except the initial election following the adoption of these rules in which terms will be
staggered so that approximately one-half of the committee will be elected each subsequent
year.
ii. Proposed amendment: add the following language to the exiting language: If no member of the
Promotion & Tenure Advisory Committee from the department of a candidate can be present at
the meeting, or is eligible to serve on the committee, and the departmental representative is
outside the discipline, then the department faculty may elect a spokesperson to be available to
answer questions about that candidate at that portion of the meeting in which that candidate’s
dossier is evaluated. Such a spokesperson would participate only in that portion of the meeting
at which their department’s candidate is being evaluated and would not be eligible to vote on
the candidate.
4. 3rd year Pre-tenure Review Policy
a. The proposed amendment to Section I.3.b. makes COSS Policies and Procedures language consistent
with the Faculty Handbook.
i. Current language: a third-year review of tenure-track faculty by their tenured department
colleagues, department chair, and the College Dean.
ii. Proposed amendment: a third-year pre-tenure review of tenure-track faculty by their tenured
department colleagues, department chair, and the College Dean.