Academic Deans Leadership Team (ADLT) Meeting Notes
November 11, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Faye Gilbert and Ann Blackwell, facilitators
Attending
Patsy Anderson, Ann Blackwell, Quincy Brown, John Eye, Mike Forster, Faye Gilbert, David Hayhurst,
David Holt, Beth LaFleur, Heidi Lynn, Casey Maugh-Funderburk, Steve Miller, Michael Mong, Steve
Moser, Katherine Nugent, Deanne Nuwer, Tom Rishel, Maureen Ryan, Jennifer Walker, and Ken Zantow
Welcome
Dean Gilbert called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. and welcomed members of ADLT and the Gulf
Coast Faculty Council.
Review or Revision of Student Success Action Initiatives
The group assessed progress on student success initiatives. The following updates were provided:
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Drs. Miller and Maugh-Funderburk will provide leadership for involving Gulf Coast Associate
Deans in work of the Student Success Leadership Team (SSLT), developing GS 100, and using
StarFish as a data warehouse.
The conversion to Maxient, consolidating CARES and Early Alert information into one
depository, will likely occur this week. Maxient includes a function to provide feedback to
individuals submitting concerns (e.g., the information has been received, action has been
taken, etc.). Dr. Maugh-Funderburk reported that notifying faculty of the changes will be a
priority.
From the original list of ideas for student success initiatives, many are the focus of efforts by
Amy Miller and Casey Maugh Funderburk.
The ADLT, then, will focus on 2 action initiatives for the spring and develop a PERT chart to
track timing of outcomes:
o Track/celebrate steps taken and capture the impact of student success, even if it
is anecdotal evidence
o Explore dashboard ideas with each major step taken. What would be the list of
student success indicators to track over time?
Review or Revision of Focus on the Story Initiatives
The group assessed progress on focus on the story initiatives. The following updates were provided:
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The Provost’s Office will work with Jim Coll and University Communications (UC) to provide
guidance to the USM community regarding consistent email signature lines. One goal is to
eliminate historical taglines from email signatures.
ADLT will focus on:
o improving information flow from UC to units and from units to UC,
o increasing everyone’s awareness of positive University news and
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increasing UC’s awareness of work done in colleges.
Fostering Faculty Success
The group discussed initiatives related to faculty success and grouped several related initiatives. The
discussion then focused on faculty success as it relates to faculty expectations, available resources,
existing challenges, and possible corrective actions. The following plan was identified:
1) Deans will charge department chairs to gather data to inform decisions and guide additional
discussion. The department chairs will be asked to compile the data rather than delegate the
task to faculty.
2) Gulf Coast Associate Deans can assist in collecting information by serving as liaisons between
Gulf Coast faculty and department chairs, being sensitive to the position of junior faculty.
3) ADLT will design a template to identify specific information needed to move forward, including
the following:
 GA assignments
 GA cohort (to promote quality experiences for graduate students)
 TA assignments
 Laboratory space
 Teaching load (number of courses, number of students, number of preps,
undergraduate vs. graduate courses, etc.)
 Faculty cohort (access to mentoring, opportunities to collaborate, etc.)
 Advisement responsibilities
 Clarity of T&P guidelines
 T&P decisions for the past five years, including pre-tenure assessment
4) ADLT commits to the following with regard to fostering faculty success:
 Recognition of faculty demands and impact on research productivity
 Use of data to inform narrative (what similarities/balance exist and what differences
exist between the two campuses)
 Acknowledgment of steps already taken and dissemination of effective college
strategies
 Use of data to inform next steps (identify successes/concerns and implement additional
strategies)
 Use of available technology to identify creative solutions
 Emphasis on building and maintaining relationships
Additional discussion focused on leadership development opportunities for faculty interested in
administrative roles. The College of Science and Technology initiated a program this year for a small
cohort to include training in budgeting, personnel issues, etc., and Dr. Moser reported that a campuswide initiative is in the planning stage.
Dr. Miller offered to initiate a conversation with Jim Coll, Christa McLeod, and Jenny Tate to discuss the
possibility of a video for faculty recruitment.
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Announcements
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Dr. Nuwer announced that five Gulf Coast students were recognized with SPUR awards (one
History student, three Psychology students, and one Computer Science student)
She also reported that the Gulf Park campus hosted 102 female students from four high schools
on the coast.
Dr. LaFleur shared information and solicited support for a College of Business alumnus, Scuba
Steve Johnson, who is battling cancer.
Dean Forster reported that College of Health student ambassadors are currently leading other
state institutions in the number of individuals enlisted to serve as organ donors. The group will
be available in Fleming Education Center on November 16 and 18.
Dr. Miller shared that a press conference will be held at the Biloxi Visitors Center to announce a
three year contract with C-USA to host the C-USA baseball tournament in Biloxi.
In honor of our veterans, Dr. Ryan encouraged ADLT members to attend a performance of
Telling, scheduled on the Gulf Coast for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 13. A reception will be
held prior to the performance at 6:30 p.m.
Dr. Moser reported that he and President Bennett had a productive meeting with Dr. Mary
Graham, President of MGCCC, to restart the concurrent enrollment initiative. An early spring
launch is planned.
Dr. Maugh-Funderburk announced that ADLT meeting notes can be accessed at
http://www.usm.edu/gulfcoast/faculty-staff/academic-deans-leadership-team.
Dean Gilbert announced the next ADLT meeting will be December 9, and the focus of the meeting
will be non-traditional ways to raise funds.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m.
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