Academic Council Minutes, August 31, 2005

I.  Minutes 

--Approved as written

II.  General Agenda 

• Data Collection

--2,410 students have enrolled, with another 130 registered but not paid and some additional registrations in process. 

--The proposed common calendar for the System and a 2+2 agreement with HCC were distributed for discussion. 

• Instructional Technology/Online Issues and Updates

--ISS

• A newly initiated orientation for online students drew 63 attendees in Victoria and Sugar Land, with most of these being first-time online students.  The orientation was well received.  An outline of the orientation was distributed.
• The Council discussed a number of questions about online access and communications.
   
• Fort Bend Issues and Updates

--An AAS meeting will be held in Sugar Land on Sept. 6.  Chari Norgard and the Provost will be attending.

--The search for an academic administrator has drawn about 40 applicants to date.

--No TRB’s for the proposed new Sugar Land building, or any other, were approved in the recently concluded legislative special session.  The assumption is that the building will have to be constructed with other funds.

--Fort Bend County is planning to locate a public library on the site, and Joe Dahlstrom has been working with County representatives on this project. 

III.  Specific Agenda

• Student Appeals

--Denied an appeal for waiver of the GRE and admission to a graduate program; the admission index was below the allowable range for exceptions.

--Denied an appeal for a change of grade from F to W; the student had not followed stated withdrawal policy. 

• Faculty Development Requests and Reports
  
    --Approved a FY 06 development grant for conference  
    presentation  ($1,000) to Dr. T. T. Selvarajan to present at the 4^th 
    Dutch Human Resource Management Conference, in Twente,
    Netherlands, in November.

--Approved a FY 06 development grant for conference presentation ($210) to Dr. Ziad Swaidan to present at the Society for Marketing Advances 2005 Conference in San Antonio, TX, in November. 

--Approved a FY 06 development grant for conference presentation ($1,000) to Dr. James Walton to present at the International Academy of Business and Economics 2005 Annual Conference, in Las Vegas, NV, in October. 

--Accepted grant funded conference travel reports from Drs. Jonathan Du (2), Linda Hayes, Nora Hutto, and Cindy Schnebly.

--Accepted grant funded research reports from Drs. Peggy Cloninger, Jonathan Du, Nagarajan Ramamoorthy, and James Walton.

DNS/kw
8/31/05