Academic Council Minutes

Academic Council Minutes, August 15, 2007

I. Review of minutes – July 30, 2007

--Approved as circulated

II. General

· Data Collection

1. Mrs. Trudy Wortham provided current enrollment for fall which was 2,409. In order to meet enrollment budgeted for this year, headcount must increase by 243 plus 8%. Mr. Wayne Beran has approved a delay in the zap process for students due to Peoplesoft problems. Ms. Wortham asked if registration should remain open until August 31^st as well. It was agreed that regular registration would remain open until August 31^st. It was also suggested that late registration fees be waived through August 31^st as a good faith effort.

Admissions and Records will be providing hard copies of class rosters to faculty for the fall semester with a note that there might be some students adding. Dr. Stansell asked if there is some way to notify students of the extended registration. Ms. Norgard stated that the web can reflect the new registration deadline.

Ms. Linda Parr reported on the backlog of student applications in Admissions citing that some of these problems will be alleviated when the additional personnel is hired to assist with scanning. Ms. Parr reported that Admissions also have a record amount of applications received this fall which has added to the backlog.

Ms. Norgard stated that they would be working on an instruction sheet that could be downloaded to help students with navigating in Peoplesoft. Dr. LaBrecque suggested that this may be something that Dolores White, the new Student President, could take on to help us identify what is needed to assist students.

Other concerns were addressed. Mr. Charles Bullock stated that he has heard from two graduate-level students who stated that they were so frustrated with the payment system that they were going else where for their degree. Dr. Margaret Rice suggested reminding staff not to put phones on voicemail if at all possible. She has received complaints from students about not being able to reach a live person.

Chari Norgard suggested a meeting with Financial Aid and Bursar’s office area to discuss the impact of Peoplesoft on their respective areas.

· Fort bend Issues and Updates

1. Dr. LaBrecque briefed Academic Council about the scholarship donor reception in Sugar Land.

2. UHV is heading up the BA in Humanities and the Certification program in secondary education for 4-8. Dr. Stansell is working with UH Downtown to coordinate a certification program for 8-12 which will involve comparing what courses are offered by UHV and what are offered by UHD.

· Other

1. First class day meeting will be held on Monday, August 20^th at 9:00 a.m. An e-mail notification will be forthcoming.

2. Dr. Stansell discussed the GRE graduate admissions requirements. He is concerned that the GRE test scores do not accurately reflect performance of the student. He stated that he believes that in some cases a student may not test well, but may have an outstanding grade point average. After much discussion, it was suggested that the process for admissions be program specific and that the process be approved by the school’s faculty. Dr. LaBrecque suggested having this discussion with the School of Education faculty to their opinion.

3. Dr. LaBrecque discussed using Faculty Development Grant funds for travel in a previous year. It was agreed that travel must be completed in the year the funds are granted.

4. Dr. LaBrecque asked the deans to review the list of outstanding Faculty Development reports and assist in receiving reports that are over due.

5. Dr. LaBrecque informed Academic Council that the Faculty Senate Executive Committee retreat with the Deans and the Provost will be held on August 31^st.

6. Dr. LaBrecque updated the Academic Council on the Chancellor’s Search stating that there were five candidates that were being considered. Background checks would be run on the individuals and airport interviews conducted. The purpose of the Chancellor’s search committee was to make recommendation on finalists for the position. The Board may take the recommendations of the Search Committee or may consider their own candidate.

7. Dr. Rice reminded everyone that the Austin Community College partnership remains on line. April Bagwell has been appointed the new recruiter in Austin.

8. Dr. Rice stated that she attended a meeting with Wharton County Junior College (WCJC) in Bay City. The Matagorda City Council alliance is working with WCJC and universities to try to get four year programs specific to the industry in that area. Dr. Rice stated that other industries in the local area also stated that they felt UHV was not able or willing to meet their need of engineering and processing degrees. It was suggested that the Academic Council look at new programs directions at the next Academic Council meeting. The President believes that UHV should focus on Allied Health and forensics DNA lab. Mr. Bullock mentioned the new programs which have already been approved such as the MS in Global Finance and the B.A. in Digital Gaming.

III. Specific

· Student Appeals

1. One student appeal was declined due to GRE scores.

· Faculty Development Grant Requests

1. Denied a grant-funded request to be paid from FY2008 foreign travel completed in FY2007.

2. Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. Yong Glasure.

3. Accepted a grant-funded research report from Dr. Hal Smith.

4. Accepted a grant-funded conference travel report from Dr. Chun-Sheng Yu for his presentation on July 22-23, 2007.