Academic Council Minutes, March 30, 2005 

I.  Guest 

-- Brittany Hollas was present to get views on UHV Voice with regard to purpose, frequency, and quality.  General view was that twice a year might be enough and that it needed to fit into a bigger picture of how we communicate with university constituencies and what we hope to achieve.

She also solicited views on commencement.  General view was that breaking it down by school might not work so well but that having commencement in Victoria and in Sugar Land twice a year might work better, even if on the same day. 

II.  Minutes 

--Approved as written 

III.  General Agenda 

• Data Collection

--No items 

• Instructional Technology/Online Issues and Updates

--Chari Norgard reported that the FACT Committee would be scheduling meetings twice a semester, rather than once, and noted the upcoming VISTA roundtables.  Also that Breeze was now ready to go and that training would commence.  Also that Impatica will now be on a perpetual license, meaning a savings of about $2,700 per year.

--Issues and policy on redistribution of older laptops was discussed, with the concurrence that a resolution will be worked out with the deans.  Also, Joe Ferguson advised that WordPerfect was not being added to computers but would be supported where it was already installed. 

• Fort Bend Issues and Updates

--The provost noted that the Provosts’ Council had approved the proposed restructuring of management for Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch. 

IV.  Specific Agenda 

• Student Appeal

--A student appeal to change the way the GPA is calculated for honors was denied. 

• Faculty Development Requests and Reports

--Approved a development grant for conference presentation ($263) to Dr. June Lu, to the Hong Kong Mobility Roundtable 2005 Conference, in Hong Kong, China, in June. 

--Approved a development grant for conference presentation ($216) to Dr. Chun-Sheng Yu, to the Hong Kong Mobility Roundtable 2005 Conference, in Hong Kong, China, in June. 

--Accepted grant funded conference travel reports from Drs. Hsin-Hui Lin, Marie S. Plemons, and Jifu Wang. 

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4/4/05