Academic Council Minutes, July 7, 2003

 I.  General Agenda 

• Data Collection

--Liz Branch noted that she was gathering data for Jennifer Price for a piece on the institution’s 30^th anniversary—e.g., number of alumni among employees.

The catalog revisions are up on the web, and hard copies for those that need them will be out soon.  SACS-related revisions will be incorporated on the web version, once they are done. 

• Instructional Technology/Online Issues and Updates

--Chari Norgard indicated that she has also been gathering data for the anniversary piece—on online courses and faculty teaching them.

She said the AAS group favored an earlier deadline for registration in online partnered courses, since those enrollments have posed difficulty in getting the students access to WebCT.

Vista hardware and software have been ordered.  UHS is working with A&M and N. Harris on developing training procedures.

She said the bookstore experiment in Sugar Land seemed to be going well.  It was noted that the VC Bookstore director should be invited to a deans’ meeting, since sales could be affected.

• Fort Bend Issues and Updates

--The only other Fort Bend item was damage being done by feral hogs at the Sugar Land site.  It was suggested that they could become our mascot.

II.  Specific Agenda 

• Student Appeals

--Two appeals from students seeking admission despite three suspensions at previous institutions were conditionally approved, the conditions being that students would need to raise their GPA by completing core requirements at a community college. 

• Faculty Development Requests

*One of these awards is pending receipt of previous year’s reports.

--Approved the request of Dr. Richard Gunasekera for a travel grant ($1,200) to present at the American Institute for Cancer Research International Conference in Washington, D.C., in July.

--Approved the request of Dr. Nagarajan Ramamoorthy for a travel grant ($1,000) for FY 04, to present at the Dutch Human Resources Management Network Conference, in the Netherlands, in November.

• Other

--The Graduate Studies Petition Form was discussed in light of changes that have occurred or are in progress.  OAR will consider whether a form is still needed and if so what kind of form and then report back to the Council.

--A response to a SACS recommendation on assessment of transfer policies, programs, and courses was reviewed and some changes suggested for clarity.

--A revised policy on Faculty Development and Research grants was discussed and further changes incorporated.  Revisions in the main reflect faculty responses to a survey conducted earlier by the Faculty Senate.

DNS/kw
7/7/03