Meeting of the Faculty Council
January 10, 2013, 10:00 a.m., Dean’s Conference Room, 3rd Floor Pafford
In attendance: Chris Aanstoos, Pam Hunt, Tom Hunter, Mike Johnson, Soo Moon, Alan Pope, Amber Smallwood, Ashley
Smallwood, Brad Yates (attending conference: Greg Dixon)
1. Call to order: 10:02 a.m.
2. Motion to approve minutes of 12-6-13 meeting; seconded; approved unanimously
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
a. Updates from January 8, 2014 Chairs Meeting
i. Budget Items
1. Summer budget is approximately $496,000
2. Online Teaching Training Grants-9 positions at $5000 each (counts as a summer coursefaculty limited to two summer courses unless extenuating circumstances (e.g., limited
faculty) require faculty to teach three)
3. Grant Writing Grants will be allocated to each department ($2500 each-counts toward
33 1/3% of summer salary; may teach two additional courses)
4. For FY15, 7 of top 17 new faculty positions sent to the BOR are designated for COSS
ii. Administrative Council will begin discussions on a policy for Chairs’ teaching load (one is not
written down-borrowed from COAS)
iii. Course Enrollment limits (i.e., what counts as a half or full course, etc.) needs an updated policy;
needs of departments will be pulled together to help inform the creation of policy
1. Faculty Council discussion ensued about the importance of weighing in on this issue
2. Half-credit course idea was discussed as a way to realize additional time for other
professorial duties (service; professional growth & development)
3. It was noted that the half-credit issue is more applicable when a faculty member
teaches a course with enough students (i.e., 65-90) to count as 1 ½ course credits rather
than just a ½ credit.
4. Moreover, members remarked that course load is sometimes dictated by the size of
classrooms and time of offering
5. Academic Affairs Committee was charged with examining course load credits across
colleges and schools
iv. SACS compliance: 23 items are not in compliance for COSS; Dean and Associate Dean will
prepare first round of the report; Chairs and Departments will help fill-in missing items for the
second round
v. Studer Group survey is coming; All are encouraged to participate and give feedback
b. 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) PSYC 3010-Human Growth & Development
2) PSYC 3110-Human Sexuality
3) PSYC 3150-Abnormal Psychology
4) PSYC 3470-Existential Psychology
5) PSYC 3580-Holistic Health Psychology
6) PSYC 3590-Sports Psychology
7) PSYC 3730-Social Psychology
8) PSYC 3900-Personality Theories
9) PSYC 4003-Statistics for the Social Sciences
10) PSYC 4085-Horizon Seminar
11) PSYC 4864-Consumer Behavior
12) PSYC 4884-Intergrative Seminar
13) PSYC 4887-Practicum: Experiences in Human Services
ii. Motion to approve the PSYC courses as a block; seconded; approved unanimously
iii. Motion to approve block of PSYC course modifications; seconded; approved unanimously
iv. Program modifications/additions/deletions
1) Master of Arts with a Major in Sociology
a. The proposed Sociology program is for an accelerated master’s program
b. Criminology also proposed an accelerated master’s program
1) Both programs are seeking approval for 6 credit hours from the
undergraduate program to count in the graduate program so students
may earn a master’s degree in 30 instead of 36 hours
2) BOR requirements, according to the Deputy Provost, won’t allow a
graduate program to be less than 30 hours; although it was noted that
Kennesaw has such a program on the books
c. Discussion ensued as to the best path for both Sociology and Criminology
accelerated master’s programs; it was agreed the Graduate Programs
Committee of the Faculty Senate should consider the proposals to offer
feedback that is more definitive
d. Motion to approve the Master of Arts in Sociology (accelerated program);
seconded; approved unanimously
b. B. Yates will share with all-COSS that course and program modifications/additions/deletions that require
Faculty Senate review should be entered in the Course Catalog System before Faculty Council’s February
7th meeting to ensure enough time for the proposals to route through the proper channels
i. A. Smallwood noted that other proposals not requiring Senate review can still be entered in the
system after the February 7th meeting
ii. B. Yates remarked that given the meeting dates of FC, which are scheduled before UPC this
semester (UPC meets at 9:30 a.m. on the Thursday following FC meetings), there may be
enough time to allow some proposals requiring Senate review to move through the channels if
entered by the March 7th FC meeting
2. PLANNING COMMITTEE (Aanstoos, Johnson, Yates)
a. Faculty Council asked to brainstorm effective and creative ways to take attendance in courses (especially
large lecture courses) to assist in keeping accurate records for those who receive financial aid (federal
requires reporting of students last date of attendance as part of receiving financial support)
i. A. Smallwood clarified that federal law requires a last date of attendance to be reported for
financial aid students who receive a 0.0 GPA for the semester
ii. Discussion ensued to clarify why the last date of report is necessary; it was noted students who
attempt courses and legitimately fail (thus earning a 0.0 GPA) would not need to pay back their
aid; those who stop attending without attempting to complete course work would need to pay
back aid
iii. A. Smallwood agreed to query the Financial Aid office to determine why the target date for the
R2T4 Survey (last date of attendance) is set at the 60% mark of the semester rather than at midterm (as reported in an e-mail exchange between the FA Director and A. Smallwood)
iv. Faculty Council offered numerous suggestions for keeping attendance in courses to help ensure
accurate reporting of last date of attendance, which can encompass physical presence,
engagement, assignment completion, etc. (the following list is in no particular order)
1) Students take assigned tests/quizzes
2) Students send CourseDen e-mail once a week
3) Sign-in sheet
4) Quick question assignment (1-2 items)
5) Clickers
6) Use poll.com and have students text answers to in-class questions
7) Pass out name cards at the start of each class
8) Seat assignments
b. Elections
i. Need to form the ad-hoc elections committee
1) Noted that the Planning Committee will serve as ad-hoc elections committee
2) P. Hunt, who will design ballot via Survey Monkey, will serve committee as well
ii. Psychology and Sociology will elect new representatives
iii. Need to encourage nominations for Chair (two-year term) and Chair-Elect (three-year term)
(tenured-faculty only)
iv. C. Aanstoos reminded FC that COSS elections will include at-large Senator to represent COSS
v. C. Aanstoos noted departments will hold their own elections to determine departmental Senate
representatives
vi. C. Aanstoos shared that the Chair of the Faculty Senate is up for election and that we should
consider nominating eligible candidates from COSS
vii. B. Yates reminded FC that COSS Bylaws and Policies and Procedures modifications will be up for
a vote during the COSS elections; C. Aanstoos noted that summer teaching and other
compensated duties should be incorporated into the changes proposed to both documents
c. Further discussion of UWG’s articulation agreement with West Georgia Technical College and other USG
institutions arose
i. FC members agreed to informally speak with representatives of the Provost’s office and other
Colleges’/Schools’ administrative representatives and chairs of select Senate Committees to gain
further information on the pros and cons of these agreements, most notably on whether on not
these agreements passed through the Faculty Senate for approval
ii. FC reaffirmed this issue needs to be brought to the attention of the University faculty via Faculty
Senate
3. FACULTY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (Hunter, Moon, Dixon)
a. Appoint an ad-hoc committee to work with Anne Barnhart and others to develop ideas for a Faculty
Information Literacy Institute
i. B. Yates, P. Hunt, and G. Dixon (queried in an e-mail after the meeting) will serve this ad-hoc
committee
ii. B. Yates will invite Sal Peralta, chair of POLS, to serve the committee as well because he was part
of the initial conversation regarding this initiative
Respectfully submitted,
Brad Yates