Present:  Betsy Boze, Farhat Iftekharuddin, Raymond Rodrigues, Doug Ferrier, Victor Fuhro, Wayne Moore, John Ronnau, Marilyn Dyer, Cindy Lerma, Terry Rives, Wayne Lewis

1. Professional Membership (Raymond Rodrigues)

In most cases, funds for professional memberships will continue to come from Departments.  It remains at discretion of department to use their M&O dollars for this purpose.  Academic Affairs will continue to fund pertinent institutional memberships.

2. Registration Software (Wayne Moore)

The new registration software has reduced the time to 7 seconds versus the previous 3 minutes to complete the phone registration process!

Deans reported some problems with phone registration (e.g. classes showing closed despite space still being available; some incorrect star reference numbers.)  These concerns will be reported to the Registration Committee.

3. Survey re. Institutional Attitudes (Wayne Moore)

So far, there has been a low number of responses.  It is important to remind faculty and staff to respond to the survey as soon as possible.

4. Campus Construction Time Line (Wayne Moore)

VP Moore distributed and explained the campus construction time line.  Deans were encouraged to share this information with their faculty and staff.  The time line will be updated as new information becomes available.
 

5. Parking (Wayne Moore)

Jacob Brown Auditorium lot is consistently underutilized.  Encourage students to use the space.

6. Academic Standards (Raymond Rodrigues)

Question: Should we award honors to students enrolled for Summer Session?
Deans recommend that only students registered for Fall or Spring Semesters be eligible for honors.

7. Letters of reference in Personnel Application Portfolios (Sylvia Peña)

It has come to the attention of the Deans that some faculty are requesting letters of support from students, faculty, and external sources, to be included in their tenure or promotion application.  Tenure and promotion applications are by definition, individualized; however, faculty should be given guidelines which will allow them to prepare an application that is consistent in nature and content with their colleagues, follows typical academic standards and, thus, presents the candidate in the best possible light.  For example, unsolicited commendations from students may be quite appropriate to include in the student evaluation section of a faculty member's application.  On the other hand, it would almost always be inappropriate for a faculty member to request support letters or notes from students.  In the near future, the format and content of tenure and promotion applications should be a topic for discussion with Department Chairs.

8. Summer 2000 Deans/Chairs Workshop Schedule (Victor Fuhro)

Chairs and Deans will be polled to learn their preferences re. scheduling of workshops.
The Dec. 3 Deans and Chairs meeting will include an opportunity for workshop agenda suggestions.  Deans are encouraged to submit suggestions for topics which will be presented as a menu for discussion at Deans and Chairs.

9. Alternative Summer Sessions (John Ronnau)

The proposal for alternative summer sessions which resulted from the recently convened ad hoc committee was presented and discussed.  The following “Alternative Summer Sessions” were agreed to for Summer 2000: May 15-June 2; June 5-23, July 12-August 2.  Deans are encouraged to submit proposals for courses to Ernesto Garcia by November 26.  A more comprehensive plan for alternative summer sessions will be developed in the long term (i.e., Summer 2001).

10. University Plan (Cindy Lerma)

The list of General Education Core Courses was presented.  Discussion ensued regarding which GEN ED courses should be added to the UTB course inventory.  It was decided to accommodate current University Plan courses and phase in the remaining lower level inventory courses as needed.

Other University Plan Courses in UTB inventory was distributed FYI.

The current University Plan Schedule was distributed for Spring 2000 as FYI.
 
 
 
 

11. Faculty Evaluations (Terry Rives)

Evaluations were distributed by the Office of Institutional Research on 11/19/99.  The results will be returned to the Departments as soon as they are tabulated.  The library will continue to be a collection point for student evaluations.

The Deans requested comparative data for evaluation results, including school and departmental means.  They requested that results be delivered to departments by January 17, 2000.

While progress has been made, some dissatisfaction was expressed with the evaluation instrument and process.  Some revisions are needed and further study is recommended.

12. Parent Income (Terry Rives)

Analysis of dependent students’ parents’ income was distributed FYI.   The data reflected the family incomes of our students’ who apply for financial aid in comparison to the national poverty threshold.  In sum, our students’ families are, on the average, substantially below that poverty threshold.

13. RFP for Web Based Programs (Marilyn Dyer)

An RFP has been published for Web Based programs in the UT System.  If the Tele-Campus Committee judges proposals to be of merit, proposals which make the cut will be presented to Dr. Cunningham.
 
 

Meeting adjourned at 10:40
 

Submitted by: John Ronnau