1. Proposal of August graduation/final exams given to seniors one week earlier: Ray Rodrigues relayed two proposals from the director of the Enrollment Office.  The first was that we start having a graduation ceremony in August.  Members favored the proposal.  Members did not believe that the second proposal (having final exams given to seniors a week earlier than scheduled) was feasible.

2. Department heads/department chairs compensation: Victor Fuhro distributed an analysis of compensation options for department heads – one with a stipend based on 9-month salary and the other based on the size and complexity of administrative tasks (e.g., FTE faculty, labs, clinicals).  Members discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each compensation option as well as the relative advantages of elected versus appointed department heads.  Members noted that there is a need for department chair training and handbooks for chairs and faculty.  Mimosa Stephenson and Carolyn Green will be working on a professional development plan for the Spring.  Marilyn Dyer said that her school has a faculty handbook that might be useful to other schools and colleges.

3. Scholarship of Teaching Discussion: Ray Rodrigues reported on the scholarship of teaching discussion at the prior week’s Deans/Chairs Workshop.  He noted that the major obstacle reported by the group was lack of time.  He has invited the faculty to join in the AAHE national discussion of the scholarship of teaching.  The topic has been added to the Provost’s forum on the Academic Affairs web page.  Carolyn Green noted that some of the department chairs mentioned having received copies of Innovation Abstracts in the past.  Carolyn will begin to distribute copies to the faculty in the Spring.  Ideas for furthering the scholarship of teaching included encouraging discussions about teaching at the departmental and school/college levels, encouraging teamwork in studying and presenting teaching techniques, and incorporating the topic in new faculty orientation.

4. Opening Week Agenda: The Deans’ Council meeting has been moved to Tuesday, January 5.  Ray asked deans to bring their registration numbers to the meeting.

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