Faculty Council Meeting Minutes - December 05, 2008

Present: Julio de Paula, Dean of the College; Jane Hunter, Associate Dean; Andrew Bernstein, Associate Professor of History; Daena Goldsmith, Professor of Communication; Rob Kugler, Wright Professor of Christian Studies; Liz Safran, Associate Professor of Geological Science; Mervyn Brockett, Associate Provost; and Tamara Ko (for Terri Banasek, Executive Assistant), Administrative Coordinator and recorder.

Agenda Items:

1. The minutes from November 13, 2008, were approved.

2. Four additional items were added to the agenda.

3. Faculty Council reviewed sabbatical applications for 2009-2010. Dean de Paula has been in conversation with departments about coming up with the best replacement strategy for faculty members going on leave; department chairs were asked to determine what the core curriculum is that needs to be maintained. After looking over the replacement schedule, it appears that departments will need 18 adjunct courses to be taught. Considering the number of people going on leave, this is a lean plan; and the College should capitalize on the opportunity to hire adjuncts as opposed to visitors as the cost of hiring the former is lower.

4. Divisional Meetings: The frequency of divisional meetings was discussed. Dean de Paula mentioned that it may be better to schedule these meetings ahead of time so that agenda items may be gathered in advance. He suggested creating five meetings (one all-chairs meeting and one divisional meeting each) as a base structure per semester, which is a good minimal number. Another possible model would be to have two divisional meetings a semester; but due to other standing committee meetings, this would be more difficult for Dean de Paula in terms of scheduling. Dean de Paula will draft a proposal regarding meeting frequency.

5. Faculty Council discussed budgetary needs.

6. The meeting was adjourned.

Next meeting: Thursday, December 11, 9:00 a.m.