Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards
College of Humanities and Fine Arts
Fall 2014 General Faculty Meeting
August 14, 2014
Call to Order - Dr. Dan Ennis welcomed back the faculty and called the meeting to order.
Approval of Minutes - A motion was made by Steve Madden to approve the January 10, 2014 minutes and
seconded by Mike Campbell. The motion passed unanimously.
Dr. Ralph Byington, Provost – Dr. Byington greeted the returning faculty and extended a welcome to the new
faculty. The university had a very successful year last year and several things were put into place to move the
University forward as well as the individual colleges. He recognized the faculty for their support and for
generating ideas and opportunities for our students and programs. He indicated his plan to continue his
meetings with the Provost, and he hopes that the faculty will attend and ask the tough questions. He reiterated
that his office is always open. He supports an open dialogue with the faculty and welcomes their input. Faculty
socials are being planned for the semester. There were no questions from the floor and the meeting was turned
over to the Dean.
Promotions – Dan acknowledged Carolyn Dillian, Elizabeth Howie, Scott Mann, Amy Tully, and Frederick
Wood for their promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure. Dan Albergotti, Ken Martin, and Renee Smith
were recognized for their promotion to full Professor. The Chairs were called upon to introduce their new
faculty.
Communications, Languages, and Cultures
Assistant Professor: Wendy Weinhold, Alejandro Munoz-Garces
Lecturer: Elizabeth Muckensturm
English
Assistant Professor: Christian Smith, Keaghan Turner, Emma Howes, Alan Reid
History
Assistant Professor: Christopher Gunn
Visiting Assistant Professor: Gillian Richards-Greaves
Music
Assistant Professor: Raul Barcenes, Eric Crawford
Lecturer: Christopher Connolly
Artist-in-Residence: Stephen Bailey
Philosophy
Visiting Assistant Professor: Patrick Beach
Lecturer: Benjamin Hamby
Politics/Geography
Assistant Professor: Mariam Dekanozishvili, Richard Kilroy
Lecturer: Virginia Shoemaker Norris
Theatre
Assistant Professor: Benjamin Sota
Visual Arts
Assistant Professor: Alexandra Knox, Leslie Wallace, James Arendt, Logan Woodle
John Beard, Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation – Dr. Beard spoke about accreditation as a
“seal of approval” and quality assurance of our programs. He spoke briefly on the individual accreditation
organizations that review specific disciplines. However, there are gaps in reviewing other disciplines that are
not associated with accrediting organizations (humanities and some of the sciences). There are organizations
that look at the institution as a whole and have a right to review what we are doing, to certify our programs, and
to review changes. There are two organizations that are permitted to dabble in our business of higher education,
one is at the state level and one at the regional level. The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education has
the right by the authority of the legislature to review and certify higher education programs. If we want to offer
new programs, make major changes to a program, adjust the institution’s Mission, change an academic policy or
admissions or any of the basic rules, it must be presented to the Commission for review and approval. The
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS) is the regional accreditation
agency. John Beard and Christine Mee are the two CCU employees responsible to insure a successful SACS
visit. Accreditation is on a regular cycle and done every ten years. Every fifth year a “mini” review is
completed. If anything is done in the meantime that substantially changes something about the institution, a
substitute review is warranted. A substitute review for Coastal has been triggered due to the offering of the
Ph.D. program in Marine Science. All documentation and all back-up needed for a regular review must be
supplied. It will mostly be concerned with the Ph.D. program and the graduate programs. Chris Mee and John
Beard are beginning the preparation for the visit.
John Beard also spoke on Assessment. Embedded in the standards which must be compiled for the accreditation
visit for the Ph.D. program is assessment and student outcomes. Educational assessment is basically a process of
documenting. You document the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs of the students and demonstrate the
educational, learning skills and ability of the students that we have taught. Since CCU has the Ph.D. program
and we have to do a reaccreditation this year, the university must deliver a set of electronic documents to SACS
and one of those is the Teal Online documents. The reports from last year must be posted, reviewed, and once
the results are back, they must be locked into the system and sent. The deadline for posting the reports has been
moved up by a month and are due by September 1 to ensure they are sent to SACS shortly after November 1.
We basically need three years of data since fall 2011.
Dr. Beard talked about Teal Online as the main platform we have for reporting anything about assessment. It is
the institutional-wide system. The assessment plans and reports can be viewed on Teal Online for all
departments. What is done for student learning outcomes is different from program review. Program Review
looks at the bigger picture. Student learning is at the heart of a degree, but there are many more things that help
make a major successful than just delivery of the learning outcomes. Dr. Beard indicated that Dr. Byington has
asked that we explore developing a program review model/pilot that could be done internally. John asked if
anyone has experience with program review to let him know.
John Beard announced that there are grants that provide a small amount of seed money to encourage people to
look at different aspects of assessment. On Assessment Day, September 5, the recipients of the grants will
report on the results of their grant. All faculty are invited to attend.
Dan mentioned that the Student Learning Committee, Ellen Arnold, and Carol Osborne work really hard and do
a great job with the process of assessment and accreditation. They conduct conversations that are meaningful
for us as teachers and scholars.
Darla Domke-Damonte, Associate Provost for Global Initiatives – Darla distributed information to the
faculty on the updates and opportunities of campus internationalization. She talked about the international
initiatives that have taken place as well as how the University is moving forward. She acknowledged how
COHFA has been involved with the short term Study Abroad program, the faculty teaching abroad, and the
support given to students in their involvement in the long-term study abroad program and activities.
Currently we have 90 international students from 36 different countries on campus. Darla indicated that the
university is working toward a more coordinated and institutionalized effort to attract more international
students to CCU. She reviewed the initial phases of international recruitment being launched this year. She
talked about policies for international risk management that have been broadened to support CCU faculty, staff,
and students. A low percentage of CCU students participate in the programs. Study Abroad program support
and development efforts are being expanded and Darla talked about these initiatives. She asked that faculty
encourage their students to participate in both short-term and long-term programs. The focus for the future is
curricular internationalization. In order to increase accessibility to our students, Darla offered to work with each
department to develop a study abroad or internship through distance learning experience and build it into a
student’s curriculum/program. She informed the faculty of what has been done to-date to promote international
programming. She stressed that the need for faculty input is critical and welcomes working with the faculty of
COHFA.
Dean’s Updates
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The Dean announced that Dr. Eliza Glaze has accepted the appointment as the Coordinator of Study
Abroad Programs for COHFA. She is hosting and managing a number of information sessions and
following up with Darla’s initiatives.
The office hours and final examination policies were revised in January. Dan asked the faculty to
review the post on the website and hold office hours as specified and observe the final exam policy.
Every discipline has its practices and ways of spending the final examination time. However, the
Dean feels strongly that faculty use the time allotted for the final exam in the presence of their
students. The final exam time should be put on the syllabus and faculty need to use the time to
benefit the students. If faculty are not giving a final, they should talk with their Chair.
Because of over-enrolled courses due to the rapid growth of the College and some unexpected
enrollment surges, the caps on a number of classes were increased. Incorporated into the Credit
Banking system is a clause that will acknowledge a faculty member teaching an over-enrolled class.
The credits will be banked using the same system we use to bank independent studies, thesis
advisement, etc. The average enrollment in a class is determined by reviewing the historical
enrollment over four semesters and setting a benchmark.
There have also been some adjustments to Credit Weighting. The guidelines have been revised
based on feedback received last year. There is a form online to be completed by a faculty member
and submitted to their Chair. The dates for the coaching/tutoring sessions have been posted. All
policies are posted on the COHFA website under Resources/Faculty.
Dan informed the faculty that, per the Faculty Manual, the Core Curriculum Committee permits two
representatives from COHFA, and it is specified that one must be tenured. Dennis Earl is tenured
and the other representative is not. Dennis is on sabbatical for the fall. An election was held last
year to replace Dennis for one semester; however, the faculty member elected is not tenured.
Because the Core Curriculum Committee has an aggressive agenda and will be meeting very soon,
there is not enough time to hold an election to replace Dennis. Steven Bleicher called for
nominations from the faculty. Holley Tankersley nominated Ken Martin to replace Dennis Earl for
the fall semester and Ken Martin accepted the nomination. There were no other nominations. Ken
will replace Dennis for one semester on the Core Curriculum Committee.
The Dean reviewed the recent moves that took place over the summer. The offices that were
located in Prince (such as the Writing Center) have relocated to Kearns Hall, and the College of
Education moved from Kearns to the Prince Building. The COHFA faculty that lived in Prince are
now located in Sands Hall. There is additional bullpen space in the library. If faculty that have
moved to Sands would prefer to use the library, they are welcome to do so.
Announcements
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Jim Arendt announced that there will be eight professional exhibitions throughout the year. He
pointed out that the Gallery is a resource for everyone in the University. He welcomes faculty to
bring their class to the Art Gallery and he is always willing to talk to the students.
Submitted by: Judy Davis