Academic Council Minutes, October 1, 2007

 

I.                   Review of minutes – September 5, 2007

--Approved as circulated.

 

II.                General

·        Data Collection

1.      Mrs. Trudy Wortham distributed the enrollment update.  The count did not include those hours that are 

2.      Ms. Wortham asked Dr. Di Leo if he had any decision from faculty on if they would allow students to enroll through the web during the second week of late registration. Dr. Di Leo stated that faculty will be discussing this at the next Faculty Council meeting.

3.      Ms. Wortham stated that Alex Leal will be coming to Victoria to train UHV personnel on how to build queries.  Dr. LaBrecque stated that she will include the need for additional training on the Provost council agenda.  She feels it UH may need to review the need for additional training and additional support personnel.  Charles asked about the possibility of receiving additional support from Mrs. Mary Ann Rivera, UHV’s database analyst; however, Mrs. Rivera has also not received much of the training she needs to effectively run the queries.  It was noted that Mrs. Rivera is the only programmer/database analyst with no backup in case of absence.  Mrs. Sherrie Kroll provides limited assistance when Mrs. Rivera is not available.

 

·        PeopleSoft Issues and Updates

1.      The PeopleSoft data conversion consultant, converted most of summer enrollment and summer and spring degrees data into PeopleSoft.  The Student Records group is working on the modification of the transcript as well as working through the process of the academic standing in PeopleSoft.

2.      Dr. LaBrecque asked for an update on creating Peoplesoft instructions for students.  Ms. Norgard stated that Ms. Summer Liebensperger is reviewing the steps that a student will take and will assist in developing instructions that will be posted on the web for students.  Ms. Norgard is anticipating having the instructions completed by November in time for Spring registration.

 

·        Information Technology

1.      Mr. Joe Ferguson shared with the Academic Council that the bandwidth project has experienced delays with approvals needed from the city, state, and railroad to lay the cable.  It seems as everything is back on track with hopes that the project will be completed around the week of September 10th.   What this means is that those areas of the web that were not functioning as well will be faster.  The biggest impact will be video streaming.  Videos should be faster and not dropped as often and at much lower costs for the university.

 

·        Fort Bend Issues and Updates

1.      Dr. LaBrecque reminded Academic Council of convocation in Sugar Land on September 25th.

 

·        Other

1.      Ms. Norgard announced that she will be working with Mr. Wayne Beran on a “one-stop shop” concept.  She was asked at the President’s Cabinet to review the feasibility of developing a one-stop shop for students to alleviate frustration for students when registering.  Ms. Norgard has been talking with UTMB Galveston personnel who have implemented a one-stop shop.  She will be visiting UTMB along with others from the University.

2.      Ms. Wortham asked about the status of the MSN and Spanish Programs.  The Provost Council asked UHV to see if there is a need for the Spanish Program in Victoria.   It was suggested that UHV offer a few courses in Spanish to see if there is a need for the degree program.  The School of Arts & Sciences will be hiring a faculty member to teach Spanish and will begin offering the courses in Spring 2008.  If there is a need for the program, then UHV will request Coordinating Board approval to offer the Spanish Program.  The MSN Program is at the Coordinating Board for approval in October to study the program.

3.      Dr. LaBrecque reminded Deans that faculty must submit their conference or research report simultaneously with their reimbursement request.

 

III.       Specific

 

·        Student Appeals

1.      There were no student appeals.

 

·        Faculty Development Grant Requests

 

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. Jianjun Du.

--Accepted a grant-funded research report from Dr. Jianjun Du.

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. Jianjun Du.

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Drs. June Lu and Chun-Sheng Yu.

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. Nagarajan Ramamoorthy.

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. Paul Carlson.

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. Yong Lee.

--Accepted a grant-funded research report from Dr. Yong Lee.

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. Xavier Garza Gomez.

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. Jeffrey Di Leo.

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. Richard Gunasekera.

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. T. T. Sevarajan.

--Accepted a grant-funded conference report from Dr. T. T. Sevarajan.

--Dr. Hal Smith was awarded a research grant for $200 to obtain copies of manuscript material to author a book on Twentieth-Century Texas women’s history.

--Dr. Joseph Ben-Ur was awarded a conference grant for $1045 for his presentation at the International Academy of Business and Economics in Las Vegas, NV from October 14-17, 2007.

--Dr. David Summers was awarded a conference grant for $1300 for his presentation at the 2007 Mountain Plains Management Conference in Kearney, NE from October 10-13, 2007.

 

As recorded by,

Karen Boldt

9/05/07