Academic Council Minutes, June 21, 2004

Academic Council met at 9:30 am on Monday, June 21, 2004, in Conference Room A.  Attending were Elois Kraatz, Trudy Wortham, Mary Natividad, Charles Bullock, Joe Ferguson, Joe Dahlstrom, Chari Norgard, Paul Carlson, and Dan Jaeckle.  Minutes follow.

I.  Guest—Elois Kraatz on Three-Year Degrees 

--Elois spoke on the goal of European countries to have three-year bachelor’s degrees by 2010.  This raises numerous issues—including our acceptance of those degrees and the fairness of accepting them but not other international three-year degrees.  The Council asked Elois to find out the response of the main campus to this issue and to bring us the first assessment of a European 3-year degree for our review and discussion.

II.  Minutes 

--Minutes of the last meeting were accepted.

III.  General 

·        Data Collection 

--Trudy noted that in the first few hours of fall  registration we had 207 students register.  I asked Trudy for a grade distribution report to share with an inquiring faculty member.

·        Instructional Technology 

--Chari brought us two issues.  First, she has a copy of “Turn It In,” a plagiarism discovery package.  With Karen Locher she will hold presentations on it for faculty.  The Council then had a general discussion on plagiarism, the need to revise our policy, and the consistency of its use.  At the faculty retreat in September the Provost will hold a session on plagiarism, preferably with a consultant.

Second, Chari noted that main campus wants to move to Vista 3.0 the week before fall semester starts.  The Council discussed the problems for faculty and students this could cause.  Chari will get back to the Council in July, when a specific time for the conversion is set.

--Joe mentioned that his department is adding 6 more computers to UC 201, is upgrading the ITV system in UC 302 by adding a touch panel, and will upgrade the instructional technology system in one classroom yet to be determined.  The Council also discussed with Joe the issue of flat screen monitors for off-campus faculty.  The Provost will take this issue to the Budget Committee after the FACT committee reviews the PC configurations for faculty workstations.

--The Provost made a few announcements:  the Board of Regents has passed the strategic plan; the issue of the location of Sugar Land staff is unresolved; and OUA will take one room from the Media Center in the library for its expansion. 

IV.  Specific 

·        Student Appeals 

--The Council denied a student appeal for graduate admission  with an index of 1216, approved an appeal for use of an unofficial TOEFL score pending receipt of an official one, and approved an appeal to extend the time limit for completion of an MBA by one semester.  A fourth appeal on admission with a GPA of 1.95 was referred to the Dean of Arts and Sciences for further review and action.   

• Faculty Development Requests and Reports

--Approved a development grant for conference presentation ($780) to Dr. Jianjun Du to present at the International Management Conference for Asia-Pacific Rim, 2004 Annual Conference in Chicago, IL, in July.

--Approved a development grant for conference presentation ($1,000) to Dr. Nora Hutto to present at the National Professors of Educational Administration Conference, in Branson, MO, in August.

--Approved a development grant for conference presentation ($1,000) to Dr. Carol Klages to present at the Hawaii International Conference on Education, in Honolulu, HI, in January 2005.

--Approved early a development grant for conference presentation ($1,000) to Dr. June Lu to present at The 14^th International Conference on Pacific Rim Management, Association for Chinese Management Educators 2004 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, in July.

--Approved a research grant ($1,000) for Dr. Ziad Swaidan to examine the consumer ethics of the African American minority using the four dimensions of Hofstede cultural framework and Muncy and Vitell model, with the stipulation that he not receive compensation. 

--Denied a research request from Dr. Somasundaram, asking that the funds be solicited from the Budget Committee. 

--Accepted a grant funded conference travel report from Dr. Sandy Venneman. 

--Accept grant funded research reports from Dr. Li Chao and Dr. Yong Lee. 

·        Other 

--The Council reviewed two changes in the Faculty Manual recommended by the Provost.  The first is to add some language about SACS to the first section of the book.  The second is to clarify procedures regarding renewal/non-renewal of probationary faculty.  The Council recommended that the Provost draft a decision-tree on those procedures and bring it back to the Council.

DPJ/kw
6/22/04