PROPOSALS
APPROVED BY THE FACULTY COUNCIL
AUGUST 23, 2012
1. Faculty Research Grants
On the question of the money available to the COSS for faculty research grants, the Faculty
Council would like to be the body that receives and approves applications for such. At our next
meeting, we will formulate a specific set of procedures to implement this.
2. Mentoring Program
On the question of possible changes to the implementation of the COSS’s mentoring program for
new faculty, the Council voted unanimously to affirm the value of this program and recommends
that its implementation be enhanced in the following ways: 1) that the groups not be arranged so
that every group has members from every department; 2) that previous volunteer mentors be
asked if they’d like to so serve again; and 3) that each department be asked to provide at least
one volunteer mentor, or more in proportion to their numbers.
3. Eligibility to Participate in COSS P&T Committee Discussion
On the question of who may participate with the college’s Promotion and Tenure Committee, the
Council voted to recommend the following: “if no member of the P&T Committee from the
department of a candidate can be present at the meeting, or is eligible to serve on the committee,
then the department may provide 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(s) are being evaluated.” The council also would like to re-affirm that any department
can elect as its representative to the P&T Committee any faculty member, not necessarily one
from their own department.
4. Workload for Supersize Classes
On the question of teaching credit for overly large courses, the Council voted to re-affirm the
policy stated in the COSS Policies And Procedures (section b. iv.), i.e., that the maximum
number of credits available for workload consideration is an additional six for teaching a section
of “at least 150 students.” In other words, faculty teaching courses larger than that would not
have the right to be granted any further credit. Department Chairs and Deans may of course do so
at their discretion.
5. Recommendation for Program Elimination
On the question of what COSS program to offer the Provost for possible elimination, the Council
voted to recommend the following: a) COSS should offer the Psy.D. degree and/or the B.A.
degree in Mass Communication as programs that it has/will (respectively) eliminate; b) if such is
not sufficient, then COSS should offer the Organizational Development track in the Psychology
program for elimination; c) if this is not sufficient, then COSS should offer the program in Urban
and Rural Planning.