Academic Council Minutes, September 22, 2003

 I.  General Agenda

• Data Collection

--Trudy Wortham reported a final fall enrollment figure of 2403 headcount.  Chari Norgard noted that 39.5% of total credits generated this fall were in online courses.  On-site credits generated at Sugar Land are 16.8% of the total, and at Cinco Ranch, 6.3%.

• Instructional Technology

--Chari Norgard reported that the Sugar Land website is being revised by UH staff.  A WebCT debriefing will take place next week, but things got off to a smooth start.  Early scheduling helped with loading students in.  Some students have problems if professors set early due dates for assignments.  Partnered courses were less of a processing problem this time.  She noted that Sandy Frieden and Ed Hugetz are setting up meetings for deans to discuss partnering of courses but will not remain for the whole meeting.

--Joe Ferguson said IT will test a wireless environment this fall and should have one in place by spring or summer.

• Fort Bend Issues and Updates

--Faculty mailboxes will be installed in the faculty annex, so that external and internal mail for faculty based in Sugar Land can be delivered and distributed there.  Commuting faculty will continue to receive internal mail in the main building, as well as have mailboxes on their home campus.

--Elevators have given trouble in the Sugar Land building.  UHS may take over maintenance from the elevator maker, and a backup system for disabled students may need to be installed, in case both elevators should fail.

--Dr. Carlson expressed concern about support at the off-campus centers, noting, for example, that lack of available assistance around 8:00 a.m. with the copying machines was a problem during the summer session.  Dr. Carlson said either support needs to be available or faculty need to get instruction in how to clear the machines, replace paper, etc.

II.  Specific Agenda

• Student Appeal

--The Council denied the appeal of a student seeking to have a foundation course counted as an elective in the MBA program.

• Faculty Development Conference Presentation and Research Requests/Reports

--Approved a development grant for conference presentation ($933) to Dr. Jane Fry for the 2004 Association for Childhood Education International Conference, in New Orleans, LA, in April.

--Approved development grants for conference presentations ($900/$300) to Dr. Carol Klages for the American Reading Forum, in Sanibel Island, FL, in December and to also present at the 2004 Association for Childhood Education International Conference, in New Orleans, LA, in April.

--Approved a development grant for conference presentation ($785) to Dr. Marie Plemons for the 2004 Association for Childhood Education International Conference, in New Orleans, LA, in April.

--Approved a development grant for a conference presentation ($800), pending receipt of outstanding report, to Dr. Louie Ren for the International Business Research Conference, in Las Vegas, NV, in October.

--Accepted grant-funded conference travel reports from Drs. Jianjun Du, Yong Glasure, and Marie Plemons.

• Other

--In response to a question about the upcoming ACT alumni survey, the provost noted that the university would continue to use the ACT for the biennial alumni survey but that it is creating its own survey of student satisfaction, since the ACT student survey, which has been used in the past, does not match our student profile very well.

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9/23/03