Academic Council Minutes, May 24, 2004

The Academic Council met from 9:30 to 11:20 am on Monday, May 24, 2004.  Attending were Trudy Wortham, Dick Phillips, Charles Bullock, Mary Natividad, Chari Norgard, Joe Dahlstrom, Joe Ferguson, and Dan Jaeckle.  Minutes follow. 

I.  Minutes 

--The Council approved the minutes of the last meeting. 

II.  General 

• Data Collection

--Trudy Wortham noted that UHV had 791 paid students for summer I and II.  There were 1512 registered students, about 100 behind the same time last year.

• Instructional Technology/Online Issues and Updates

--Chari Norgard noted that the COW workshop went well, with 5 new faculty and one alumnus from UHV in attendance.  She also said that she has a license for “Turn It In,” a plagiarism deterrent software.  She would like to have a couple of faculty try it out this summer.

• Fort Bend Issues and Updates

--System officials are working with WCJC on costs per square foot in the proposed new building in Sugar Land.  Joe Dahlstrom reported on a meeting about the proposed library building, at 35,000 or so square feet, to be built and run by the county.  Finally, face-to-face classes in Cinco Ranch may be down for the fall.  The Provost promised to get further information and relay it to the deans.

III.  Specific 

• Student Appeals

--Two TOEFL exemption requests were returned to OAR for more information.  They will be handled by the respective deans upon receipt of that information.

• Faculty Development Requests and Reports

--The Council referred Dr. Dennis Riedesel’s request for $1500 to support a conference to the Budget Committee.

--Approved a development grant for conference presentation ($1,000) to Dr. Vera Adamchik to present at The 2004 Czech Society of Arts and Sciences World Congress, in Olomouc, Moravia, Czech Republic, in June. 

--Asked the Provost to write Dr. Linda Hayes on the $600 publication award.  The Council will only grant publication awards to first authors, who may decide to divide them.

--Accepted grant funded conference travel reports from Dr. Estella De Los Santos.

• Other

--The Council agreed on wording and distribution procedures for student honors announcements.  Both are to be taken to the Cabinet.

--The Council agreed to send a recommendation to the Faculty Senate on the Academic Dishonesty Policy.  It includes cutting the first two paragraphs of the policy and adding language to indicate who has the authority to place a student on probation, to suspend, and to expel for infractions of the policy.  The Council will also ask the Senate to investigate academic dishonesty on our campus.

--Student behavior policies and procedures were discussed.  The Council agreed to ensure that UHV have a representative at the student civility conference in Corpus Christi in June.  It also agreed that we needed a procedure to address instances of disruptive or threatening behavior—probably through a committee with student representation.  Exact wording on what constitutes disruptive or threatening behavior may not be feasible. 

DPJ/kw
5/24/04