Minutes AY 2008/2009

The Arts & Sciences Council (ASC) meets regularly every academic year, including eight times during the 2008 to 2009 academic year. The notes from said meetings are found below:

April 23, 2009

Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • April 23, 2009
  • 3:30-5:00 Old Main Chapel

Members Present: Lorraine Bayard deVolo, WMST; Loriliai Biernacki, RLST; Matthew Cleveland, PWR; Mel Cundiff, EBIO; Valerio Ferme, FRIT; Robert Ferry(chair), HIST; Chonin Horno-Delgado, SPAN; Daniel Jones, HONR; Keith Kearnes, MATH; Noel Lenski, CLAS; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Scott Parker, PHYS; Cecilia Pang, THDN; Charles Stern, GEOL; Cindy White, COMM; Amy Wilkins, SOCY; Emily Yeh, GEOG

Members Absent: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Mitch Begelman, APS; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; David Ferris, HUMN; Keith Julien, APPM; Faye Kleeman, ALC; Daryl Maeda, ETHN; Horst Mewes, PSCI; Kevin Peters, CHEM; Robert Poyton, MCDB; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC.

FAS Members in Attendance: John Ackerman, COMM; Shelley Copley, MCDB; Andy Cowell, LINQ; Henry Kapteyn, PHYS; Catherine Kunce, PWR; Dale Miller, ENVS; Garrison Roots, AAH;

Also in Attendance: Kim Glasscock, Todd Gleeson

Robert Ferry opened the meeting at 3:35 pm and welcomed the Council and the Arts and Science faculty. The minutes from the March 19, 2009 meeting were approved unanimously.

Chair’s Report, Robert Ferry

Professor Ferry recently attended a meeting of the Provost’s Task Force on Ƶ 101. The previous year’s ASC reviewed Ƶ 101 and passed a motion asking the Curriculum Committee to approve the course for one more year but recommended alternative ways of dealing with issues such as sexual harassment, ethnic disparagement, alcohol abuse, and violence that are compromising the sense of community on campus. The task force is still enthusiastic about the course and will make a recommendation to the Provost to continue the class on a voluntary basis for two units.

Professor Ferry listed the main accomplishments of the ASC this year.

  • Approved the Psychology Department’s change of name to the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.
  • Approved web-based grading over grading on bubble sheets.
  • Discussed recent changes in Norlin Library, set up a task force, identified departmental library representatives, surveyed the faculty about the library; presented preliminary findings.
  • Voted on the course forgiveness policy and the 10-week drop policy.
  • Collected diversity plans from the departments in the college.
  • Surveyed the departments about the preparedness of incoming students in response to a request from the Colorado Board of Higher Education.
  • Presented new language on 2 items in the core curriculum, US Context and Human Diversity

Dean’s Report, Todd Gleeson

  • The College of Arts and Sciences has produced an electronic news magazine which is in its second edition. Clint Talbott, formerly of the Daily Camera, is the editor. The magazine addresses the accomplishments of faculty and students and will make connections that will benefit the College financially. The College also has a Facebook page and Twitter site.
  • Due to successful fundraising in previous years, the Dean’s Fund for Excellence has been able to create its own college-specific program honoring scholars. It is open to all tenured faculty of the college and is funded for 3+ years.
  • The visual arts building construction is moving along on schedule and budget.
  • The new biotech building, a collaboration with the college of engineering, is in the design phase.
  • Sue Beatty is working with the Physiology and Chemistry Departments on the planning stage of a new Life Sciences building in the East Campus.
  • Keith Maskus continues to work on the office space issues on campus.
  • A new Global Studies RAP in Kittredge has been developed, directed by Tom Zeiler, HIST. An additional RAP is planned to focus on Communication and Society.
  • It is expected that the College will take a budget reduction of approximately two million dollars, but this figure is not firm. Out of state enrollments look promising and may improve the financial outlook.
  • Due to the major budget cuts taken in 2002, additional cuts will be difficult. Summer school profit sharing money will help with the operational expense cuts that are needed.
  • Staff reductions are expected.
  • Ƶ’s CFO, Rick Porreca, has put the University in a good position for difficult times.
  • The next ASC budget meeting is May 8; Dean Gleeson will need to report recommended cuts to the Chancellor by mid-May.
  • Leave and replacement money is in short supply.
  • Minimum class sizes may be more rigorously enforced.

Standing Committee Reports

Diversity Committee, Cecilia Pang
  • The Diversity Committee has been working through the new Diversity Plan and has completed many “Action Items” in the Plan.
  • The committee has worked with the Curriculum Committee for changes in the core curriculum involving diversity.
  • The committee sent a letter to a test group of 11 department heads, asking them to contact admitted students who self-identified as from an underrepresented group. The department chairs were given information on programs to help recruit and engage minority students.
  • The committee collected statistics concerning graduate students who self identified as from an underrepresented group. Graduation levels are similar to admission numbers; the best place to put money is into recruitment.
  • With $25,000 from the Dean’s Fund for Excellence, the Diversity Fellowship helped to fund graduate students from 9 departments last year, 11 departments this year. As there will be no money from that fund next year, the Diversity Committee wrote to Stein Sture, asking for more support.
  • The Diversity Committee has been working to familiarize the college with the programs already on campus to assist minority students and faculty.
  • Professor Pang met with the Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity to get a line on the FIRPA to reward faculty who work on diversity; although the concept was agreed to, it hasn’t happened yet.
  • A new faculty recruitment film by Professor Pang, Ƶ Calling, was shown.
Budget Committee, Noel Lenski
  • The Budget Committee meets once a month to advise Dean Gleeson on budgetary concerns. The budget has recently been a “moving target” and budget cuts have not been set.
  • The Budget Committee works to preserve the core mission of the University when making recommendations to Dean Gleeson.
  • The committee will arrive at more firm conclusions after May 6th meeting.
Curriculum Committee, Scott Parker
  • The committee continues to review the core curriculum, focusing on Historical Context and Contemporary Societies.
  • 144 courses were reviewed: 65 approved, 16 removed, failed to reapprove 8, 55 still pending.
  • Out of 22 new courses, 16 were approved, 2 failed, 4 still pending
  • The committee worked on cultural and gender diversity requirement, U.S. Context requirement. The diversity requirement was made more inclusive, US context to include diversity.
  • Next year the committee will be reviewing Natural Science classes and US Context courses that fall under the new description.
Grievance Committee, Loriliai Biernacki
  • There were no grievances this academic year
Personnel Committee, Shelley Copley
  • The Personnel Committee has reviewed 67 cases to date.
  • Out of the 23 comprehensive review cases, 22 were approved. The committee provides feedback so that when the professor comes up for tenure the case will be strong. The committee also asks departments to be more careful in assigning difficult teaching assignments to junior faculty.
  • 25 promotion and tenure dossiers were reviewed and all 25 were approved. 3 cases were problematic and went back to the departments for further information but were ultimately approved.
  • 11 promotions to full have been submitted, 8 were recommended, 1 was not and 2 are pending.
  • 9 hire with tenure cases have been received: 8 have been reviewed and recommended. Out of those 8, 6 were unanimous.
Planning Committee, Cindy White
  • The recession has created a construction freeze, hindering the Planning Committee’s work.
  • Keith Maskus is working on a space audit; when that’s finished the committee can go forward with recommendations.
  • The Bio-Tech building is still in the design phase as it is at the top of the list for stimulus money. Ekeley and Ketchum renovations have been defunded. The Planning Committee is hoping there will be stimulus money for energy efficient changes.
  • ADA work on theater continues; it is being funded by the Chancellor.
  • Projects that are continuing have independent streams of revenue and are not funded by the state.
Results of Norlin Library Task Force, Noel Lenski
  • The survey results were reported on last ASC meeting.164 respondents from 868.
  • The Library Task Force developed a report; attached to these minutes.
  • Motion offered to accept the report and send it to Chancellor, the assembled voted unanimously to send the report on behalf of the FAS.

Chair Election

  • Robert Ferry is up for reelection, no one is running in opposition. Professor Ferry expressed his desire to do more investigative work next year such as looking at the assessments that may be coming up.
  • Ballots collected and tallied; Professor Ferry was elected unanimously.

Center for Community, Julie Wong, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

  • The Center for Community, a new construction project, will be 323,000 sq feet, with 2 levels of parking, a new dining hall for residents, a late night eatery, food storage and bakery. Food service will also be open to Ƶ personnel.
  • Student services, ODECE, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Ombuds Office, Disability Services, International Education, Career Services, Center for Multicultural Affairs, Pre-Collegiate Outreach, Counseling Center, Victim Assistance, and the Dean of Students will all be housed in this facility.
  • The “C4C” has a convenient central location and will be a good recruiting tool.
  • This building is not funded by the state; money is coming from auxiliary services, parking, housing and private donations.
  • The C4C will have conference rooms, gathering spaces, a meditation room, and flexible spaces; it can also be used for conferences.
  • Current housing facilities are old and being renovated; the cost of renovation is as expensive as building new. The campus will gain 498 new bed spaces; housing offices that are currently in Hallett and Willard will move to C4C and will release bed spaces.

Professor Ferry adjourned the meeting at 4:55pm

Minutes taken by Janice Jeffryes

March 19, 2009

Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • March 19, 2009
  • 3:30-5:00 UMC 415/417

Members Present: Daniel Barth, PSYC; Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, WMST; Mel Cundiff, EBIO; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; Robert Ferry(chair), HIST; Chonin Horno-Delgado, SPAN; Daniel Jones, HONR; Keith Kearnes, MATH; Noel Lenski, CLAS; Horst Mewes, PSCI; Cecilia Pang, THDN; Robert Rupert, PHIL; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Cindy White, COMM; Amy Wilkins, SOCY; Emily Yeh, GEOG

Members Absent: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Mitch Begelman, APS; Loriliai Biernacki, RLST; Matthew Cleveland, PWR; Valerio Ferme, FRIT; David Ferris, HUMN; Keith Julien, APPM; Faye Kleeman, ALC; Daryl Maeda, ETHN; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Scott Parker, PHYS; Kevin Peters, CHEM; Charles Stern, GEOL; Robert Poyton, MCDB; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC.

Also in Attendance: Jeff Dodge, Keith Maskus

Robert Ferry opened the meeting at 3:39 pm and welcomed the Council. The minutes from the February 19, 2009 meeting were approved unanimously.

Chair’s Report

  • Letters will be going out to department chairs verifying the service of all ASC representatives.
  • The Executive Committee is considering structural changes to the committees so that work will be more evenly distributed. Next month suggestions will be offered to involve more ASC members in committee work.
  • During its March 5th meeting, the BFA voted 15 to 10 against course repetition. Professor Ferry presented the ASC’s vote for course repetition prior to the BFA vote.
  • The BFA is currently discussing tenure for instructors. The BFA’s Executive Committee voted against it but they are being asked to put the issue before the entire BFA.
  • Next month’s meeting is the combined ASC-FAS meeting in the Old Main Chapel.
  • Departments are reminded to send in their Diversity Plans.

Dean’s Report, Keith Maskus

  • The campus took a budget reduction in the current fiscal year of approximately 3.9 million; it was absorbed on the campus level.
  • A recent article in the Daily Camera mentioned vacant lines were not to be filled. That referred to a reduction in the strategic AADAC lines from 25 to 13; this will mean less money for SOP and spousal hires. Normal hiring will not be affected.
  • Next year the college hopes to continue with planned hires.
  • The state is asking the college to take an approximately $1,000,000 budget reduction next academic year.
  • There will be no merit pool increases this year but there will be promotion increases. Currently, no furloughs or personnel cuts are planned.
  • Spring enrollment was as was expected. Next year there will be a smaller incoming freshman class which was desired. There will be no change in graduate students.
  • The campus will benefit from stimulus money but it’s not now known how much will be coming to Ƶ. It is probable that money will go to capital projects at Ketchum, Ekeley and the biotech building; also funds will likely go to Pell Grants.
  • The chancellor search is underway; nominations from faculty are welcome.
  • Dean Gleeson would like a faculty member from Arts and Sciences to be the new chair of the BFA and encourages the ASC representatives to consider serving.
  • The campus architects and FAC MAN are working on a campus master plan which will be finished by spring 2010. Faculty involvement is requested; please e-mail Dean Maskus or Cindy White.
  • Dean Gleeson continues to collect the names of Latin American scholars at Ƶ to plan eventual collaboration.

Core Curriculum Changes

  • Robert Rupert moved to accept changes to the core curriculum requested by Michael Huemer. The changes were discussed and modified and follow these minutes.
  • The changes were accepted unanimously.

Library Survey, Noel Lenski

  • The Library Survey received 164 responses.
  • The Task Force wants to support the Norlin Library and help it to be responsive to the needs of the college.
  • Print resources, graduate student space, staffing issues are problematic.
  • Suggestions were made to remove non-library related functions (i.e. British Studies, Honors) and out of Norlin.
  • A short report will be generated with survey results and ASC feedback sent to Dean Gleeson, the Provost and Jim Williams of Norlin Library.

Call for Chair Nominations

  • Noel Lenski is presiding over the election of a new chair. Nominations are now being accepted; nominees should be members of the ASC. Robert Ferry is able to serve a second term.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:02

The next ASC meeting will be April 23, 2009, 3:30PM in the Old Main Chapel.

Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes

February 19, 2009

Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • February 19, 2009
  • 3:30-5:00 UMC 415/417

Members Present: Daniel Barth, PSYC; Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, WMST; Loriliai Biernacki, RLST; Matthew Cleveland, PWR; Mel Cundiff, EBIO; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; Valerio Ferme, FRIT; David Ferris, HUMN; Robert Ferry(chair), HIST; Chonin Horno-Delgado, SPAN; Daniel Jones, HONR; Keith Kearnes, MATH; Noel Lenski, CLAS; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Cecilia Pang, THDN; Scott Parker, PHYS; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Cindy White, COMM; Emily Yeh, GEOG

Members Absent: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Mitch Begelman, APS;; Keith Julien, APPM; Faye Kleeman, ALC; Daryl Maeda, ETHN; Horst Mewes, PSCI; Kevin Peters, CHEM; Robert Rupert, PHIL; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Charles Stern, GEOL; Robert Poyton, MCDB; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC; Amy Wilkins, SOCY

Also in Attendance: Darna Dufour

Robert Ferry opened the meeting at 3:37 pm and welcomed the Council. The minutes from the January 22, 2009 meeting were approved unanimously.

Chair’s Report

  • Preschool to Secondary Alignment Act
    • Last month the ASC reps were asked to poll their departments concerning the readiness for college of incoming freshmen. Robert Ferry has received a wide range of responses. Professor Ferry and Richard Nishikawa are writing a narrative that they will take to the state.
    • There is a general feeling that the University isn’t interested in passing a challenge to the secondary schools to make students “more to our liking.”
  • Alumni Association Awards
    • Todd Gleeson asked the ASC, through Professor Ferry, if they would like to submit nominations for these awards.
    • Daniel Barth suggested the Personnel Committee might be in a good position to review nominations for awards.
    • Noel Lenski suggested the ASC help publicize awards rather than act as a preliminary vetting committee as it might limit nominees from Arts and Sciences.
  • Boulder Faculty Assembly
    • Professor Ferry asked the ASC if the Council feels it should ask for a voice when the President asks BFA for feedback on the Chancellor search. Various options for getting the Council’s concerns addressed were discussed.
  • Diversity Plans
    • Few departments have turned in their Diversity Plans or PRP section on diversity; the representatives were encouraged to send them in.

Dean’s Remarks, Darna Dufour, Asso. Dean for Faculty and Administrative Affairs

  • New Chancellor
    • The decision about an interim Chancellor will be made by the University President, Bruce Benson.
    • President Benson is meeting with various campus groups for feedback on the choice of a new Chancellor.
    • It appears the next Chancellor will be a time-limited interim position, possibly an internal appointment.
  • Budget Cuts
    • It is still unclear how much of a cut the College will be taking in the current budget crisis; at this time it appears it will be close to $1.8 million.
    • No decisions on how to make the cut have been; Dean Gleeson is meeting with the Budget Committee Friday, February 20, and he will ask for input from the ASC at that meeting.
    • Out-of-state admissions will be a major determining factor as to how big the budget cut will be.
    • Money to complete the Visual Arts building has been released and work is continuing.
    • Little is known concerning how the stimulus package passed in Washington recently will help the campus except that there is money in it for JILA.
    • The ASC representatives discussed various ways budget cuts could be accomplished including furloughs, across the board percentage cuts, reducing hires, cutting positions and graduated salary cuts.

Library Survey

  • The Library Task Force, Scott Parker, Noel Lenski, Terry Kleeman and Robert Ferry have met will send a survey about library use to the faculty. The results of this will determine how the task force proceeds from here.

Curriculum Committee Changes to the Core Curriculum

  • The Diversity Plan charged the Curriculum Committee to require that the US Context classes in the core include “some discussion of the realities and issues related to matters of ethnic and racial diversity that characterize the nation’s ongoing experience.” The current statement on US Context was changed to reflect this.
  • The terms cultural and gender in the “Cultural and Gender Diversity” requirement were expanded to include other kinds of social diversity, and these changes have been made to that Core Curriculum category, which will now be entitled “Human Diversity.”
  • The ASC accepted two friendly amendments: the addition of the word historically before the first use of marginalized in the second paragraph of #6 and removal of the word some before discussion in the first paragraph of #7.
  • A notice of motion will be sent out to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and a vote (of the representatives) will be held at the next meeting. It was determined that a full faculty vote isn’t needed as the changes are considered to be more cosmetic than substantive.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:43.

The next ASC meeting will be March 19, 2009, 3:30PM in UMC 415/417.

Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes

January 22, 2009

Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • January 22, 2009
  • 3:30-5:00 UMC 415/417

Members Present: Daniel Barth, PSYC; Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, WMST; Loriliai Biernacki, RLST; Matthew Cleveland, PWR; Mel Cundiff, EBIO; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; Robert Ferry(chair), HIST; Chonin Horno-Delgado, SPAN; Daniel Jones, HONR; Keith Kearnes, MATH; Faye Kleeman, ALC; Noel Lenski, CLAS; Horst Mewes, PSCI; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Cecilia Pang, THDN; Scott Parker, PHYS; Kevin Peters, CHEM; Robert Rupert, PHIL; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Charles Stern, GEOL; Cindy White, COMM; Amy Wilkins, SOCY; Emily Yeh, GEOG Members Absent: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Mitch Begelman, APS; Valerio Ferme, FRIT; David Ferris, CLHM; Keith Julien, APPM; Daryl Maeda, ETHN; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Charles Stern, GEOL; Robert Poyton, MCDB; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC

Also in Attendance: Darna Dufour, Kim Glasscock, Todd Gleeson

Robert Ferry opened the meeting at 3:32 pm and welcomed the Council. The minutes from the November 20, 2008 meeting were approved unanimously.

Chair’s Report

  • Diversity Plan
    • Bob Ferry asked the representatives to send their departments’ diversity plans to the Diversity Committee. If the departments plan needs to be updated, a program review report will suffice.
  • Norlin Library Task Force
    • Currently the Library Task Force members are Noel Lenski, Thea Lindquist, Bob Ferry; one addition person will be added.
    • The task force wants initially to see how our library compares to libraries in comparable institutions and, from the Norlin staff, to get a clearer picture of our library. After this, the task force will meet with department library reps and get feedback on how the library works for the College.
  • Preschool to Secondary Alignment Act
    • The College has been asked to let the Colorado Board of Higher Education know what incoming students don’t do well. The ASC would like the representatives to ask around in their departments and write a short report.

Dean’s Remarks

  • College has a series of hiring initiatives for new faculty FTE that chairs evaluated and ranked 4 years ago; it’s time to update. Dean Gleeson has asked the chairs to work on an exercise to update our hiring initiatives.
  • Dean Gleeson has asked the departments to provide names of any faculty that have scholarly or creative interest in Latin America. His impression is that we have a lot of scholars in that area but there is no organized program or center and no way for the Latin Americanist scholars to share their interests with one another or with the broader academic community. He would like to facilitate larger or more innovative research programs or new approaches to graduate training.
  • The Dean then made some remarks about the current and future financial situation that the University and the College is facing.
  • The Governor announced a recommendation that $30,000,000 be taken back from the current year budget from higher education to deal with the state’s current budget shortfall. This recommendation will go to the joint budget committee, then to the state legislature and they will make a decision. The Provost Office plans to take Ƶ’s part of this cut centrally, leaving the Colleges’ budgets intact for this fiscal year.
  • The Governor will soon make a recommendation for next year’s budget which will probably involve larger cuts for higher education. It will take a few weeks after that before the University and the College a firm number.
  • Ƶ is in much better shape than many of our public institution competitors. The searches this year have produced a large amount of very good applicants while many other institutions have had to freeze hiring.
  • Non-resident tuition is most important to our budget; applications are down slightly.
  • Dean Gleeson will keep the chairs and ASC reps informed as soon as he hears specific numbers for any budget cuts.
  • Building renovations have been delayed by the state but there may be federal money for these projects.

Returning to the items outlined in the Chair’s Report, Professor Ferry said he will send a note to the reps, outlining the “homework” requested earlier in the meeting.

Matthew Cleveland, the new representative from the Program for Writing and Rhetoric, was welcomed to the ASC.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:55.

The next ASC meeting will be February 19, 2009, 3:30PM in UMC 415/417.

Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes

December 11, 2008

Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • December 11, 2008
  • 3:30-5:00 Old Main Chapel

There was no agenda to this meeting of the Arts and Sciences Council and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Dean Gleeson answered questions from the assembled faculty.

November 20, 2008

Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • November 20, 2008
  • 3:30-5:00 UMC 382

Members Present: Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, WMST; Loriliai Biernacki, RLST; Anne Bliss, PWR; Mel Cundiff, EBIO; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; Valerio Ferme, FRIT; Robert Ferry(chair), HIST; Daniel Jones, HONR; Keith Kearnes, MATH; Faye Kleeman, ALC; William Kuskin, ENGL; Noel Lenski, CLAS; Horst Mewes, PSCI; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Cecilia Pang, THDN; Scott Parker, PHYS; Robert Rupert, PHIL; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Amy Wilkins, SOCY;

Members Absent: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Mitch Begelman, APS; David Ferris, CLHM; Chonin Horno-Delgado, SPAN; Keith Julien, APPM; Daryl Maeda, ETHN; Kevin Peters, CHEM; Charles Stern, GEOL; Robert Poyton, MCDB; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC; Cindy White, COMM; Emily Yeh, GEOG

Also in Attendance: Kim Glasscock, Todd Gleeson

Robert Ferry opened the meeting at 3:37pm and welcomed the Council. The minutes from the October 30, 2008 meeting were approved unanimously

Chair’s Report

  • Robert Ferry asked the ASC representatives to take a more active role with the ASC. Departments will be asked for feedback prior to votes and decisions.
  • Next month the State Department of Higher Education will be asking the ASC to consider how well/not so well prepared entering students are in basic skills and more specific departmental skills. The ASC will be asked to be the college center for faculty with requests for skills from incoming students. Department feedback will be crucial for successful completing this work.

Dean’s Remarks

  • The financial outlook for the University and College remain optimistic.
  • Todd Gleeson recently attended two national meetings of university personnel from around the country and found a number of our peer institutions are suffering financially; institutions are cancelling searches, instituting freezes, and in a few cases being told they need to return a percentage of their current year budget.
  • Endowment funds are down but Ƶ is losing less than most of our peer institutions. Last year Foundation and Endowment Money Management magazine named the University of Colorado as the “Large Foundation of the Year.”
  • The State of Colorado appears to be buffered from the worst of the recession. Non-resident interest in the campus remains high. Attendance for admissions events around the country is setting records.
  • The governor presented preliminary budget numbers which put the university in a reasonable place financially. This year’s searches will continue and next year’s searches are probably safe as well.
  • Faculty retirement rates may decrease as retirement accounts shrink.
  • Recent positive financial news from the Governor’s office will probably put previously halted construction projects (Ketchum, Ekeley) back on the schedule.
  • The College of Arts and Sciences is hosting an event to honor this year’s Professors of Distinction; Alison Jaggar, Doug Seals, Payson Sheets and Michael Shull on December 2, 6:00PM in the Wolf Law School.

Course Drop Dates and Course Forgiveness

  • Professor Ferry received course repetition data from Barbara Todd of the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar’s Office is interested in the future of these programs as they will or will not be included with the way they structure the new Student Information System.
  • In Fall 2006, 1193 students were taking a course as a repetition; half were 1000 level courses, 80 percent repeating a course taken Fall 2005 or later. The three departments that had the greatest number of students repeating a course were Chemistry, Economics and Math. Most students repeated a course to recover from a poor grade and a high percentage end up with a grade 2 points higher than the first grade.
  • Prior to 2006, students couldn’t drop a course after 3 weeks without petitioning; that deadline has been extended to 10 weeks without individual review. ASC representatives previously asked if more students are dropping now that the deadline has changed but the new rule hasn’t resulted in significantly more students dropping. This is an ASC pilot and the ASC can chose to discontinue the program.
  • ASC representatives have expressed concern over the loss of space in the classroom when there is a waiting list and students are allowed to drop past the time a student can add a class. As a class can’t be added after 2 weeks this has not changed much since the 3 week drop time was in effect. It could be more of an issue with course repetition.

It was moved and seconded that the College of Arts and Sciences continue with the 10 week drop policy; the policy was approved unanimously.

It was moved and seconded that a report is sent to the BFA supporting the course repetition policy; 19 voted for, 1 voted against; the motion was passed.

Norlin Library

  • Professor Ferry will write to the ASC representatives asking for the names of departmental library contacts. A meeting will be set up with these people and through this, the ASC will determine whether or not a library task force is needed. The BFA’s Library Representative, Terry Kleeman, will assist the Executive Committee.

Diversity Committee Report, Cecilia Pang and Daniel Jones

  • The Diversity Committee is working this year to implement the Diversity Action Plan and huge progress is being made on every level!
  • Daniel Jones is working to improve recruitment of diverse students. He recently met with Matt Lopez of Admissions to find out what mechanisms are already in place. The Diversity Committee asked the ASC to review the draft of a letter it plans to send to department chairs to let them know of the programs that exist to recruit diverse students.
  • The letter was previously mailed to the ASC and concern was expressed that it appeared we were chasing admitted students. These letters would be sent to admitted but not enrolled students and such efforts are common with other recruited students. The students who have a declared major will be contacted by the departments and Dean Gleeson’s office will send letters to Open Option students.
  • Native American students will also be sent letters notifying them of available programs.
  • ASC representatives will be asked to follow up on their department’s efforts.
  • Motivational speakers are also sought to attend recruiting events.
  • The Diversity Committee will edit the letter and send it to the departments with lists of self declared underrepresented students.

New Student Information System, Barbara Todd, Registrar, Registration Services

  • The current SIS is 20 years old and will be replaced, starting in 2009 with a new system from Campus Solutions. This system will eventually replace our current systems that handle admissions, students records, registration, financial aid, billing, collections, “Ƶ Connect”, customer relations, the financial audit system, document management, data warehouse and classroom scheduling.
  • The parts of this system that most impact faculty are course and classroom scheduling, grading and prerequisite checking. Training will start with staff in six months.
  • Regular e-mails go out to keep Ƶ personnel current on the progress of the transition to the new system.
  • Campus Solutions is currently working well at Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Ohio State, Virginia, Missouri and Kansas will so be online with the same new system.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:57.

The next ASC meeting will be a combined ASC/FAC meeting, December 11, 2008, 3:30PM in the Chapel at Old Main.

Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes

October 30, 2008

Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • October 30, 2008
  • 3:30-5:00 UMC 382

Members Present: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Loriliai Biernacki, RLST; Anne Bliss, PWR; Mel Cundiff, EBIO; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; Valerio Ferme, FRIT; Robert Ferry(chair), HIST; Daniel Jones, HONR; Keith Kearnes, MATH; William Kuskin, ENGL; Noel Lenski, CLAS; Daryl Maeda, ETHN; Horst Mewes, PSCI; Cecilia Pang, THDN; Robert Rupert, PHIL; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Charles Stern, GEOL; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC; Cindy White, COMM; Amy Wilkins, SOCY; Emily Yeh, GEOG

Members Absent: Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, WMST; Mitch Begelman, APS; David Ferris, CLHM; Chonin Horno-Delgado, SPAN; Keith Julien, APPM; Faye Kleeman, EALC; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Scott Parker, PHYS; Kevin Peters, CHEM; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Robert Poyton, MCDB

Also in Attendance: Kim Glasscock, Todd Gleeson

Robert Ferry opened the meeting at 3:37pm and welcomed the Council. The minutes from the September 25, 2008 meeting were approved unanimously.

Chair’s Report

  • The University Regents voted on October 7, 2008 to institute an institutional assessment which will be put in place by AY 2009-2010. This expects to measure entering student’s skills and abilities and then take a similar measure, of the same class of students, four years later.
  • More faculty input was requested on testing execution.
  • Nominations have recently been requested by the Office of the Vice President in charge of Academic Affairs and Research for the President’s Awards for Outstanding Leadership and Student Success which will be given to departments that are able to demonstrate accomplishment on the basis of national and international measures. $15,000 will be awarded to the first place department.
  • Todd Gleeson suggested departments contact last year’s winner, the Physics Department, to find out what kind of data they submitted.

Dean’s Remarks

  • Dean Gleeson met with the Provost earlier in the day in regard to hiring. The campus has been in a period of good financial times, with a commitment to growing the faculty and renovating buildings. The economic turmoil will affect the University but the impact will be buffered by one or two budget cycles.
  • There will be a state budgetary report in December and the Governor will indicate how he views the future of the state. An additional report will come in February and will report state revenues after the retail season. This report will indicate how tuition and salaries will be affected.
  • Dean Gleeson feels the state’s ability to support research universities will be constrained for a few years and there will probably be political pressure to keep down tuition rates. Ƶ is still attracting many out of state students and it appears there will be more than last year.
  • The chancellor is still committed to growing the tenure track faculty.
  • Tenure track and instructor hiring is continuing as planned. Last minute GPTI and instructor hiring done in the early part of the year is also safe from new limitations. Staff hiring may soon be on hold; hiring should be done quickly when necessary.
  • Building construction has been frozen by the Governor. Projects that have been started will be allowed to continue. No new construction contracts will be signed. The Ketchum renovation is now on hold.
  • Dean Gleeson expects that the College will continue to struggle to find adequate and appropriate space.
  • The current budgetary problems won’t affect the amount the federal government contributes when a faculty member receives ICR funding. People funded by the NRH are having a more difficult time obtaining funding.

Vote to Eliminate Bubble Sheet Grading

Motion:

WHEREAS in 2010 the new Campus Solutions Student Information Systems will be implemented, requiring as it does a decision regarding the manner in which student grades will be reported; and

WHEREAS the new Campus Solutions Student Information System software, unless it is modified (at an estimated cost of $42,240), will not allow for the current system of optical scanning and uploading of manually-marked grade sheets; and

WHEREAS the proposed electronic grade reporting system is less costly, more efficient, and in other documented ways preferable to the current system; and

WHEREAS the transition to the electronic system has been given a unanimous recommendation by the College deans;

WHEREFORE, the Arts and Sciences Council moves:

That the proposed system of recording grades electronically replace the current system when the Campus Solutions SIS comes on line in 2010.

The motion was moved and seconded, the motion was approved unanimously.

Course Drop Dates and Course Forgiveness

  • The Course Forgiveness Policy allows a student to take a class a second time and to use the second grade (if it is better)—instead of the original—in the calculation of the student’s GPA. The original grade will still appear on the student’s transcript however. The BFA has asked the Council to discuss Course Forgiveness as they must reconsider the policy next year. They would like to know if there are any strong feelings against adopting this policy permanently.
  • In 2005 a 3-year pilot program was approved by the ASC to change the deadline for dropping individual courses with a “W” grade from 6 to 10 weeks. The ASC was charged with gathering information and reviewing the policy. Elizabeth Guertin of the Academic Advising Center feels this has been beneficial administratively.
  • The matter of dropping courses, how and when a student may drop a course, is thought to be mostly an administrative issue; most professors are not overly concerned with changing the program.
  • However, the 10-week drop policy was not unanimously agreed upon originally. There are cases where students use these policies to manipulate the system.
  • It was suggested that allowing students to drop in the 10th week allows tuition dollars to be wasted. As a policy, course repetition is preferable to the 10-week drop because it requires the student to retake the class.
  • There is interest in knowing how many students drop between week 3 and week 10.
  • The possibility of Elizabeth Guertin visiting was mentioned.

Norlin Library

  • The current renovations at Norlin have made research difficult.
  • The remodeling has brought to a head issues that are long term and systemic.
  • The renovation is carrying forward a process of decommissioning Norlin as a research library and turning it into a giant study hall. Most books are offsite and not easily accessible. Shelf browsing, important in some disciplines, is no longer encouraged or viable.
  • It was suggested that an altogether new library would be very desirable to Humanities, but it is recognized that different units have very different library needs. A request was made to look into the situation as it applies to the campus as a whole. More effective dialogue with the BFA on this point was called for.
  • The Executive Committee will form a task force to find out how big of a problem this is college-wide.

Anticipating Amendment 46, Patricia Rankin, Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Diversity and Development and Alphonse Keasley, Assistant Vice Chancellor for campus climate and Community Engagement

  • Regardless of the outcome on 46, ODECE (The Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement) is reorganizing in an effort to be more effective. It is to Colorado’s advantage that a similar amendment has passed elsewhere; Ƶ administrators have had the opportunity to spend time looking at the impact on other states.
  • If 46 passes, Ƶ will no longer be able to express explicit preferences as it considers job candidates and in student recruitment. But desired diversity outcomes can still be accomplished by policies that focus instead on growing the pool to increase the number of candidates to come on campus.
  • As a matter of fact, current policies do not take ethnicity into account. The 103 index, a formula related to high school grades, board scores and high school placement is what is used. Points toward admission are not given to different ethnic groups.
  • As Colorado wouldn’t be the first state to pass an amendment similar to 46 the negative effects may be mitigated.
  • The University will continue to hold diversity as a core value and Ƶ wants faculty who can teach diverse populations.
  • Ƶ will continue to do what is both effective and legal.
  • A definite impact of the passing of amendment 46: the notion will stand that this is not a welcoming space. This attitude might be labeled “The Chill”.
  • Soon after the November 4 election, no matter the result, the Vice Chancellor’s office will hold an event that will address opportunities for inclusive excellence on our campus.
  • This event, and future discussions, will use the occasion of the vote on Amendment 46 to address the main question: “What is the benefit of diversity to the educational mission?”
  • Two last thoughts were offered: the University does not give preference according to rigid racial categories, and the search for ways to create a more diverse institution will continue.
  • Alphonse Keasley: “Diversity is still allowed!”

The meeting was adjourned at 5:07

The next ASC meeting will be Thursday, November 20, 2008

Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes

September 25, 2008

Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • September 25, 2008
  • 3:30-5:00 UMC 382

Members Present: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, WMST; Loriliai, Biernacki, RLST; Anne Bliss, PWR; David Boonin, PHIL; Mel Cundiff, EBIO; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; Valerio Ferme, FRIT; Bob Ferry, HIST; Daniel Jones, HONR; Keith Kearnes, MATH; Faye Kleeman, EALC; William Kuskin, ENGL; Daryl Maeda, ETHN; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Cecilia Pang, THDN; Scott Parker, PHYS; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Charles Stern, GEOL; Cindy White, COMM;

Members Absent: Mitch Begelman, APS; David Ferris, CLHM; Chonin Horno-Delgado, SPAN; Keith Julien, APPM; Noel Lenski, CLAS; Horst Mewes, PSCI: Kevin Peters, CHEM; Robert Poyton, MCDB; Rima Salys, GSLL; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC; Amy Wilkins, SOCY; Emily Yeh, GEOG

Also in Attendance: Darna Dufour; Kim Glasscock, Todd Gleeson, Lewis Harvey

Robert Ferry opened the meeting at 3:31pm and welcomed the Council. The minutes from the April 24, 2008 meeting were approved unanimously. The Council member introduced themselves.

Chair’s Report

Professor Ferry briefly related his background with the ASC and his growing involvement and appreciation of the Council. Professor Ferry also reminded the representatives to take the business of the Council to their departments.

Dean’s Remarks

  • Dean Gleeson introduced Darna Dufour, the new Associate Dean for Faculty and Administrative Affairs. She will be attending the ASC meetings and be the Dean’s office primary liaison with the ASC. She will also be working with most of the ASC standing committees.
  • The College has started the new academic year with a better financial outlook than was expected. Although there are concerns about the state and national economies, the campus economy is strong. More students than expected accepted Ƶ’s offer to attend and a disproportionate number of them are the higher paying out of state students. The Provost Office awarded the College an unexpected $2,000,000 per year on a continuing basis.
  • More hires have been made, about 12 additional classified staff lines have been created. $800,000.00 has been put into new TA allocations this year.
  • Dean Gleeson is working with the deans, chairs and directors on a unit merit exercise. This is done every 3 or 4 years to evaluate where departments stand relative to their AE peers. It has been proven valuable, financially as well as in a philosophical sense, for the college to update this exercise. It helps to identify the College’s areas of excellence and the areas where more time and money needs to be invested. The Chairs portion of this work is labor intensive.
  • Approval has been given this year for 59 tenure track hires; up from 35 last year. Space is now a major concern. The College’s first space priority has always been offices for tenure track faculty but other faculty members are getting squeezed. The Provost gave Arts and Sciences the University Club for 3 years; International Affairs, Jewish Studies, The Center for the Study of Israel and the Middle East, and advisors from Woodbury and Eaton are there now.
  • Several building projects are in the works; The new Visual Arts building is currently under construction; $9,500.000 more is needed for this project. The Art and Art History Department will finish its semester in November 2009 to give them time to move and start the new semester in their new building in January 2010.
  • Ketchum will be emptied and renovated starting May 2009; the renovation is expected to last 16 months. The faculty will be asked to work from home or East Campus. A Hellems renovation will follow. Teaching labs in Ekeley are also being brought up to current safety standards.
  • The College is in a 7 or 8 year period during which space will be at a premium.
  • The College has an electronic newsletter currently being developed by Clint Talbot. The purpose of it is to tell the untold stories of faculty, scholarship and creative work of the College. It should be a valuable fundraising tool.
  • Flagship 2030 task force reports are on the web. Many different recommendations are offered in these reports and it is now up to the departments to find ways to serve the College’s goals and the Flagship initiatives, as it has been made clear that future funding will be driven by Flagship 2030 initiatives. Proposals that conform to 2030 initiatives will be funded; those that don’t, won’t be funded.
  • The Buffalo Bicycle Classic brought in at least $250,000. There were 2,400 riders. Corporate sponsors cover expenses so all funds collected from the riders go to scholarships; this year we are funding 100 students on partial and two on full scholarships. It was a beautiful day and Dean Gleeson received many positive comments about the ride.
  • Dean Gleeson has asked the College’s Professors of Distinction to come up with a program that will give faculty, possibly tenured only, a semester off for research. It is hoped that 10 people will be funded this spring. The budget will be about $10,000 for each professor. This funding comes from the Dean’s Fund for Excellence. Dean Gleeson will pass on a request to include all faculty.

Motion to Change the Name of the Psychology Department, Lewis Harvey

  • The Psychology Department voted 30-1 to change the name of the department to Psychology and Neuroscience. This title more appropriately reflects what the people in the field are doing today.
  • Undergraduate students in Psychology can earn a certificate in Neuroscience but it is not a major. Those students often express the desire to see Neuroscience on their diploma.
  • A second major is planned in Neuroscience within 2 years. The department name change is in preparation for this change.
  • Integrated Physiology has neuroscientists in their department as well; they have been contacted and they have no objection to Psychology using Neuroscience in their department title.

Motion:

WHEREAS the faculty of the Department of Psychology have made a reasonable request to change the name of their department from Psychology to Psychology and Neuroscience; and

WHEREAS a significant majority of that Department (30 to 1) supports this change; and

WHEREAS the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences has reviewed this request and asks the Arts and Sciences Council to recommend that the change be made;

THEREFORE, the Arts and Sciences Council moves:

That the name of the Department of Psychology be changed to the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.

The floor was opened for discussion. The collaboration between departments, PSYC, EBIO and IPHY is valuable to students and taking on the administrative duties inherent in adopting Neuroscience in the department title was applauded. The cost of the change was questioned.

The motion was moved and seconded, the motion was approved unanimously. This recommendation goes to Dean Gleeson; he will send his recommendation to the Regents.

Notice of motion regarding replacing the bubble-sheet or machine-readable (paper) method of grade reporting with a web-based (electronic) method

Motion:

WHEREAS in 2010 the new Campus Solutions Student Information Systems will be implemented, requiring as it does a decision regarding the manner in which student grades will be reported; and

WHEREAS the new Campus Solutions Student Information System software, unless it is modified (at an estimated cost of $42,240), will not allow for the current system of optical scanning and uploading of manually-marked grade sheets; and

WHEREAS the proposed electronic grade reporting system is less costly, more efficient, and in other documented ways preferable to the current system; and

WHEREAS the transition to the electronic system has been given a unanimous recommendation by the College deans;

WHEREFORE, the Arts and Sciences Council moves:

That the proposed system of recording grades electronically replace the current system when the Campus Solutions SIS comes on line in 2010.

The floor was opened for discussion. Dean Gleeson explained the campus is replacing the SIS software which is 20 years old and no longer supported with Campus Solutions. It will cost an additional $40,000-$50,000 to keep the bubble sheets with the new software. The faculty is being asked if they have any objections to moving to an online grading system. Security will probably be similar to a Ƶ portal site. Graduate students will be able to enter grades, but the instructor of record will need to follow up and endorse that entry. Currently there is an optional web-based grading program that some faculty members have been using. The new system would not allow comments and several Council representatives expressed concern over this. Dean Gleeson assured the Council that it is a contemporary software product that is supported and can be modified. The Council was asked to take this discussion to their departments.

  • Professor White suggested a friendly amendment: Whereas the electronic grading system will include the option for faculty to upload grades from Excel spreadsheets or other learning management systems and is less costly and more efficient. Professors Ferry and White will work on this amendment.
  • If the motion is rejected, a way will have to be found to keep the bubble sheets.

Standing Committee Reports

Diversity, Cecilia Pang

The Diversity Plan was written in the last two years by the previous Diversity Committee and the ASC approved it. This year’s task is to set priorities and to implement the plan. The Diversity Committee has had their first meeting and assigned members to work on the top priorities. The Committee will be working with admissions and they are happy to have the Committee’s help with undergraduate recruitment. Graduate students received $25,000 in fellowships last year from the Diversity Committee; 11 departments benefitted from this money and the Committee is hopeful that the Dean’s Fund for Excellence will again be able to fund fellowships. Committee member Theresa Hernandez is gathering data on recruitment and retention. A social gathering will be proposed for women faculty and faculty of color in the spring semester. This type of event has been positively received in the past and is useful in developing informal mentoring alliances. Faculty will also be encouraged to join the LEAP program and several faculty members have already attended the first meeting of the academic year. Last year the committee received $10,000 for diversity initiatives. A recruitment film, “Ƶ Calling” will be made by Cecilia Pang and the idea of hosting a workshop titled “Undoing Racism” is being investigated.

Planning, Cindy White

The Planning Committee acts in an advisory capacity concerning space issues. They will meet early October with Dean Keith Maskus who chaired the Facilities Task Force. Last year the Planning Committee approved a policy with regard to space use within the College. Faculty will be asked to accommodate their colleagues whenever possible. This will include finding ways to renovate space to be used more efficiently and notifying the College when space becomes available, for instance, when a faculty member is on sabbatical.

Grievance Committee, Loriliai Biernacki

One grievance was read since the last academic year and the Committee’s recommendation was in agreement with the Dean’s recommendation. Dean Gleeson thanked the committee for their work in the summer.

Curriculum Committee, Charles de Bartolome

Professor de Bartolome thanked the Council members present who are also members of the Curriculum Committee, Faye Kleeman, Bhuvana Narasimhan, Scott Parker and Robert Ferry. This year the Curriculum Committee will have three main tasks. First they will be looking at new courses nominated for the core curriculum. Second, the Committee will be looking at all the courses currently on the core to see if they meet the requirements as they are now interpreted, with a view to the College’s accreditation coming up in 2010. Third, the committee will decide if the core’s gender and ethnic diversity requirement should be changed to include other forms of diversity such as socio-economic and sexual. They will also investigate the recommendation of the Diversity Report that the U.S. Context includes diversity issues.

Professor Ferry noted that the major issues of last year, Ƶ 101 and the Diversity Plan won’t continue to be a major focus this year although there will be follow up duties related to both.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:57pm

Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes