Academic Council Minutes-October 17, 2007

Academic Council Minutes, October 17, 2007

I. Review of minutes – October 1, 2007

--Approved as circulated.

II. General

· PeopleSoft Issues and Updates

1. Ms. Trudy Wortham distributed a list of Student record Peoplesoft issues that Admissions is currently dealing with. Specifically the bigger issues involve academic standing, transcripts, and Coordinating Board reports. Ms. Wortham also included issues that Admissions will be dealing with in the spring noting some of the issues experienced in the fall will be repeated in the spring as well.

· Admissions Updates

1. For determining probation and suspension, Ms. Wortham asked if the 8-week

session information should be included with the regular Fall session. It was agreed that 8-week sessions should be included in the regular semester in which the course is being held.

2. Dr. Carol Klages will be the first faculty member to enter grades using the Peoplesoft system. Ms. Carolyn Fritz will be assisting Dr. Klages with using the Peoplesoft system. Training on how to use the Peoplesoft system to enter grades will be provided to faculty in November. Dr. Stansell believes that faculty should also be reminded that they alone will be responsible for entering grades into the Peoplesoft system. Class grade rosters will be available after the last day to drop. Dr. Nagarajan Ramamoorthy asked how grade changes will be handled. Ms. Wortham provided a brief explanation of how grade changes would be accomplished and stated that additional information would be shared with faculty at the training.

3. Ms. Wortham, Linda Parr and Cheryl Shumbera will be attending a Texas Academic Chief Registrar’s Officer meeting in Addison. They also plan to visit the University of North Texas, University of North Texas Health Science Center and the Southern Methodist University to gain insight into Peoplesoft processes implemented by those universities.

4. Dr. Ramamoorthy stated that Faculty Senate reviewed Ms. Wortham’s request to consider allowing students to register online during the second week of late registration. It was decided at the last Faculty Senate meeting that faculty approval is required if a student wishes to add after the second week. Dr. Di Leo stated that some School of Arts & Sciences faculty do not feel it is necessary to approve addition of students provided the dean has approved the request while others want to be able to approve whether or not a student can add their class. Since each school currently has a different procedure. Dr. LaBrecque stated that she has concerns with letting students add after the 12^th class day especially in light of the availability of the 8-week courses. She further stated that there are certain circumstances that should be considered such as when the student is duplicating the course. Dr. LaBrecque suggested continuing the discussion when Dean Bullock is available.

· Information Technology

1. Mr. Chris Burford and Ms. Sherrie Kroll gave an update on WebCT. Mr. Burford attended a WebCT planning meeting at UHS. UHS is considering a business contingency plan that will make WebCT available for face-to-face classes in the event of a disaster. The question was asked if UHV would want to have a business contingency plan that would provide a means for face-to-face students to continue classes in case of an emergency. In addition, if a faculty member were sick, WebCT could be used to assist in keeping classes on track. Several questions were raised such as who would decide when business contingency plan would be put into action. In the case of disaster, the chancellor would decide. In the case of an illness, no determination was made at this point. Dr. Ramamoorthy cautioned everyone on the possible misuse of using WebCT for face-to-face classes. He found from his experience that some students who take face-to-face classes do not want to use WebCT or do not have accessibility to WebCT. Dr. Ramamoorthy also commented that he would be concerned about having to prepare for both a face-to-face class and an on-line version in case of an emergency. If a faculty member must prepare for two courses, extra pay may be a consideration. Another question was whether WebCT would be applicable to a hurricane where electricity may be lost or is the use of WebCT as a business contingency plan more for a pandemic disaster. Would faculty members, staff, and students be available if they are caring for someone who is sick or are sick themselves. More information is needed and would need to be considered before a decision could be made.

2. Mr. Burford stated that stricter security measures will be taken with WebCT in the Spring. Passwords will no longer be the first initial and last name, but will include date of birth, first initial of the last name and a character such as an exclamation mark. Also, the password will expire after a period of time.

3. The migration from Vista III to Vista IV is expected to take place by Spring 2009 with testing beginning in Summer 2008. Also, the disaster recovery site will be in Dallas. One issue will be that the new user ID may change to the Peoplesoft ID when Vista 4 is brought online.

· Fort Bend/Cinco Ranch Issues and Updates

1. Fall Commencement will be held at 3:00 p.m. on December 9^th at the Merrell Center in Katy. Dr. Margaret Rice stated that she and others made a trip to the Merrell Center to review what changes need to be made for commencement. One change will be that the reception will be moved to a different location. Also Nursing will be having their pinning ceremony at the Merrell Center at noon on December 9th. Dr. LaBrecque asked Dr. Hartshorn to provide notification if she and other university officials may need to attend the pinning ceremony.

2. Dr. LaBrecque gave an update on the Sugar Land spaces indicating that UHV does not have as much space as was originally thought. As it turns out, Wharton County Junior College has leased nearly 2/3 of the building. The George Maime building will be predominantly UHS personnel with the exception of the existing Biology and Nursing areas.

3. Dr. LaBrecque met with Mr. Zach Hodges, president of the Houston Community College, Northwest. He would like to see a UHS MITC at the I-10 corridor. Dr. LaBrecque asked that everyone be thinking of how UHV could serve that region, though it is not a work in progress at this time.

III. Specific

· Student Appeals

1. There were no student appeals.

· Faculty Development Grant Requests

--Accepted an FY06 grant-funded conference report from Dr. James Walton.

--Accepted an FY08 grant-funded conference report from Dr. Mel Damodaran.

--Dr. Mel Damodaran was awarded a conference grant for $644.76 for his presentation at the International Association of Computer Information Systems conference in Vancouver, Canada from October 3-6, 2007.

--Dr. Yong Lee was awarded a conference grant for $1,119 for his presentation at the Financial Management Association International Meeting on October 17-20, 2007.

--Dr. Hsin-Hui Lin was awarded a conference grant for $929.74 for her presentation at the National Association for the Education of Young Children conference in Chicago, IL from November 7- 11, 2007.

--Dr. June Lu was awarded a conference grant for $1,300 for her presentation at the International Association of Computer Information Systems conference in Vancouver, Canada from October 3-6, 2007.

--Dr. Stephany Solansky was awarded a conference grant for $1000.00 for her presentation at the Southern Management Association Annual conference in Nashville, TN from November 7-10, 2007.

--Dr. James Walton was awarded a conference grant for $650 for his presentation at the International Academy of Business and Economics 2007 Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV from October 14-17, 2007.

--Dr. Rick Harrington was awarded a publication grant for $600 for his article, "Private Self-Consciousness Factors and Psychological Well-Being."

As recorded by,

Karen Boldt

10/17/07