Minutes of the Executive Committee
March 10, 2010
Submitted by Bobby Meyer-Lee
Present: Elizabeth Bennion; Karen Clark; Steven Gerencser; Jerry Hinnefeld; Bobby Meyer-Lee; P. N.
Saksena; Carolyn Schult; Bruce Spitzer
The meeting convened at 11:30 am in DW 2260.
1. Visit of Chancellor Reck and CIO Beth Van Gordon
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The Chancellor introduced Beth Van Gordon, who, as part of the reorganization of our IT department
under University Information Technology Services (UITS), was last week named our Chief
Information Officer. She has moved into Pat Ames’s former office; her appointment officially begins
March 15, and she will be a member of the Chancellor’s Cabinet.
The Chancellor noted that, although our IT is now under UITS, and evaluations will be performed by
UITS human resources (in cooperation with our HR), our IT budget will remain on this campus. Beth
will remain CIO of IU Northwest and IU Kokomo, and will dividing her time among the three
campuses. She will be here 2-3 days a week for the next 4-6 weeks; her schedule after that is still
being determined.
Beth noted that she reports to IU Vice President of IT Brad Wheeler and the chancellors of IU
Northwest and IU Kokomo, in addition to, now, Chancellor Reck. She has been CIO at IU Northwest
for three years and at IU Kokomo for two, and she knows the IT staff on our campus well. She gave
us information about her background and preparation, and mentioned that she has been meeting with
our IT staff the past two days, and will also be meeting with Matt Mooney and all the Vice
Chancellors. She brings to the table an ability to leverage the resources of multiple campuses and to
facilitate collaboration. She will be an advocate for the IT needs of the regional campuses.
Q&A
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Q: Will the transition be mostly transparent to faculty and staff? Will our IT staff remain IUSBfocused and accessible?
A: Yes, this should be the case. Please let Beth know if it seems otherwise.
Chancellor Reck: There may be some changes, but the goal is to keep the good service we have and
improve. Among other things, Beth will be supporting the Education Arts project.
Q: Have the other campuses always been part of UITS, or has it just been IU Bloomington and
IUPUI?
A: Just the latter two campuses, although UITS has had some responsibilities on the regional
campuses. This organizational change will bring the regional campuses’ IT departments into IU: the
regional staffs will now get the recognition (and career opportunities) that they deserve. Brad
Wheeler wants to do away with the marginalization of the regional IT organizations.
Q: Are the student tech fees going to be swept up and distributed elsewhere?
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A: The budgets stay on the ledger here; Beth will supervise them, but she will do so locally. She will
make sure that they are utilized appropriately according to the defined strategic goals of the campus.
But she does need to answer to IU guidelines and state requirements for use of funds.
Q: Will the new laptop policy be affected by this organizational change?
A: Through initiatives such as virtualizing software systems, we have been able to move to a 4-year
lifecycle for desktops at IU Northwest and Kokomo; at the same time, we’re allowing a choice
between a laptop and desktop. New desktops and laptops have cameras, mics, and speakers, so that
they are capable of voice over IP. We may be able to this here. Beth wants to review our laptop
policy and potentially make some changes, but the policy will go forward.
Q: What was the testing procedure for the laptop models?
A: She’ll need to look into this. She recognizes that there are problems with some models. If there
are design flaws, that’ll need addressing.
2. Chancellor Reck
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The Chancellor noted that Beth will attend the Senate Meeting on March 25, and that she feels that
the transition is off to a very positive start.
The Chancellor feels that the time is right to consider changing the title of the VCAA to Executive
VCAA. She would like to announce this in the March Senate meeting, although she needs to be able
define exactly what the title change means. For example, she feels it should mean that the VCAA is
second in administrative hierarchy; that the VCAA stands in for the Chancellor when she is absent;
that the primary mission of the institution is academic; and that the VCAA has the ear of the
Chancellor. She would like to make the change now to establish a precedent for the next chancellor.
She noted that two other regional campuses have Executive VCAAs, and that she plans to talk more
with Alfred to work out the details.
3. Proposal for IU South Bend Attendance and Course Commitment Policy
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We were joined by Randy Isaacson and Jeff Johnston, who presented a proposal for an Attendance
and Course Commitment Policy (text pasted in below).
Randy and Jeff noted that IUPUI has had in place a policy similar to this one for ten years, and they
deem it very successful.
The original draft of the policy targeted zero and hundred-level courses; this version would apply to
any course that is added to the approved the list. In addition to attendance requirements, this policy
involves commitment to the course as evidenced through, for example, completion of assignments.
Courses on the approved list will be indicated in the course listings as subject to the course
commitment policy, and there will be a statement to this effect on course syllabi.
Departments may choose whether they wish a course to be subject to the policy, but if they so choose,
every section of that course must be subject to the policy (for example, all sections of ENG-W130).
Unlike IUPUI’s policy, this one includes online courses.
One of the reasons for this policy pertains to financial aid: we are responsible for the federal money
distributed to students who aren’t going to class, and so we have good reason to track attendance and
to withdraw students who aren’t attending. Attendance is particularly a problem in first-year courses
such as W130 and U100, in which some students have difficulty adjusting to college and assuming
the responsibility for attendance; consequently, they take up space in classes which have many
waitlisted students.
Q&A
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Q: Is the required student participation in this policy defined as submitting assignments?
A: The exact definition of course commitment will be determined by the faculty member.
Q: What about the student who just messes up once?
A: The faculty member has one week to reinstate the student.
Q: What about the student who extends a vacation a week into the start of the semester?
A: A student in this situation should contact the professor ahead of time.
Q: Do you anticipate any hurdles?
A: None right now. There will need to be a “media blitz” about it.
4. Resolutions regarding Chick-fil-A
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We discussed two resolutions demanding the removal of Chick-fil-A from the list of qualified
vendors for IUSB, one from a faculty member and one from a coalition of student groups. The
faculty member has requested that the resolution be on the agenda of the March 25 Senate meeting; a
student representing the coalition has requested to speak.
We decided that the student may have a place on the agenda only if he is representing the Student
Government Association (SGA), since it is not Senate practice to give spots on the agenda to student
groups that do not represent the whole student body. If he is not representing the SGA, he may,
however, attend the Senate meeting and, if recognized by the President, speak during debate.
We decided to include the faculty member’s resolution on the agenda, bringing it to the floor without
prejudice. We felt that it would be wise to put forward a motion to limit the time of the debate, and
we affirmed that Steven would be justified in giving priority to Senate members when recognizing
speakers in the debate.
5. Other items – President Gerencser
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Jeff Dunwoody from the bookstore wants to give a presentation on Barnes and Noble’s ebook reader,
NookStudy. We felt that this presentation should be limited to five minutes and occur during the
announcements time.
The Chancellor and the VCAA have provided funds (about $600) for security for the room in which
materials for the Senate PTR committee are kept.
Steven will make announcement in the March Senate meeting about the appointed committees,
requesting faculty to send him their interests. He will make available specific membership
requirements for those committees that have them.
Noel-Levitz has been hired to provide consulting on our graduate programs. Some money has also
been put aside for the VCAA and Linda Chen to pursue projects in this area.
6. We approved the minutes of the February 10 Executive Committee meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
Appendix: IU South Bend Attendance and Course Commitment Policy
Preamble
Attendance and active participation in courses are key factors for academic success. Students who do
not attend their classes and who do not complete their assignments in a timely manner are less likely to
successfully complete their courses.
Policy
At the discretion of the academic department, students who do not attend the first scheduled week of
classes and who have not made prior arrangements with their instructor may be subject to
administrative withdrawal.
At the discretion of the faculty, students who miss more than 50% of their class meetings and/or who do
not actively participate in their enrolled classes during the first four weeks of the fall or spring semesters
may be subject to administrative withdrawal from their courses. Students may be administratively
withdrawn regardless of their class level or standing.
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Courses in which the Attendance and Course Commitment Policy applies are approved by the
academic department and applies to all sections. Courses on the approved list will remain in
approved status until otherwise repealed by the academic department. The Office of the
Registrar will maintain and publish a list of courses that have been approved to enforce the
Attendance and Course Commitment Policy.
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In courses in which this policy applies, notice of the Attendance and Course Commitment Policy,
including a definition of active participation, must be included in the course syllabus. Students
must be informed that administrative withdrawal may have an impact on their financial aid
awards and/or student visa status.
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Faculty teaching courses in which this policy applies must take attendance. Submission or
completion of assignments will be a consideration in courses taught online or in the classroom.
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The instructor who initiates an administrative withdrawal may rescind it within one week of the
original request.
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Students who are administratively withdrawn from their courses after any refund period will not
be eligible for a tuition refund.
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Administrative withdrawal requests will be processed only during the periods listed below:
o first week of the fall and spring semesters
o between the end of the fourth week and the beginning of the fifth week of the fall and
spring semesters
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Academic units may establish an attendance policy that is more restrictive than outlined in this
policy, but administrative withdrawal will occur only during the enforcement periods.
Suggested Syllabus Language
IU South Bend Attendance and Course Commitment Policy
This course has been approved to enforce the IU South Bend Attendance and Course Commitment
Policy and the full text of this policy is available at (TBD LATER).
As a student in this course, you are expected to attend scheduled class meetings and actively participate
in all class activities. Students who miss the first week of the semester or who do not attend 50% of the
scheduled class meetings before the end of the fourth week of the semester may be subject to
administrative withdrawal. Regardless of attendance, students who do not actively participate in this
class by not submitting a majority of their assignments by the posted due date are subject to
administrative withdrawal. Students who are administratively withdrawn from this class after the fourth
week will not be eligible for a tuition refund. Administrative withdrawals may have an impact on the
student’s financial aid awards and visa status.