College of Arts & Sciences: Academic Council Meeting Notes

Lewis & Clark College

Front Page College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Governance Academic Council Meeting Notes

Academic Council

Meeting Notes

January 5, 2001

Present: Curtis Johnson, Dean of the College; Dinah Dodds; Dean of Arts and Humanities; Gary Reiness, Dean of Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Harold Schleef, Dean of Social Sciences; Terri Banasek, Administrative Assistant and recorder; and Rosie Felton, Administrative Assistant for Budgets and Contracts.

Announcements

Dean Johnson received the results of the CIRP Institutional Survey. He will distribute copies to the Academic Council.
Dean Reiness announced that the College has received a $500,000 grant from the Keck Foundation. The grant provides the funding for a new position in Computer Science and new computing facilities for the MNS Division.
Dean Reiness distributed a department and program review procedure used at Davidson College and inquired whether a similar document would be useful at Lewis & Clark College.

Agenda Items

Currently, indirect costs for grants are in a restricted fund in CAS. The Academic Council proposes that the funds be placed in a restricted fund controlled by the dean of the division in which the grant is received, with 25 percent of the money going to CAS. Dean Johnson will discuss with Mervyn Brockett.
Deborah Lycan wants to use some of the indirect costs in her grant money for a post-doctoral fellow to do research as well as practice teaching. The grant is not enough to fund two years, and she has asked the College to fund the teaching for the second year, at an approximately cost of $25,000. The individual would be expected to replace courses of faculty on sabbatical leave or leading overseas programs and thus alleviate some of the Biology Department's course replacement costs. Academic Council approved.
Greg Walters revised the parental leave policy, incorporating the changes proposed by the Academic Council. The Council agreed to remove the language providing coverage for visiting faculty. Dean Johnson will ask Mr. Walters for clarification of the method for computation of the annual salary of faculty who choose to take unpaid parental leave and then take the final version of the policy to June Jones and to the Executive Council for approval.
Adjunct hiring for 2001-02: Dean Schleef distributed the requests from Social Sciences. The division is requesting visitors for Communication (one FTE to replace two courses for Jean Ward [Inventing America], two courses for Peter Christenson [chair and Pio Log], and one course for Steve Hunt [Forensics]), Political Science (one FTE to replace Dean Johnson and Robert Eisinger, who will be leading an off-campus program), and Sociology/Anthropology (two FTEs to replace Deborah Heath, who will be on sabbatical; Diane Nelson, who has applied for a Fulbright; Dick Adams, .5 retirement; and two additional courses for chair release and to cover excess demand). Academic Council approved the requests for Communication (either 1.0 or .8 FTE) and Political Science. Council approved one FTE for SOAN, with the other FTE dependent on the outcome on the Luce position search and Diane Nelson's Fulbright application.
Department Chairs: Dean Johnson would like to work toward making the increased compensation in lieu of course release a policy, with the Academic Council being willing to negotiate in certain cases.

Dean Dodds remarked that there is no list of duties or handbook for chairs. Academic Council agreed to convene a group of experienced chairs (one from each division) to meet with the Council to prepare a handbook for chairs. This same group will conduct a workshop during spring semester for all current and incoming chairs.
Because Widiyanto will not be on campus next semester, Gil Seeley has asked for $1,600 to offer one class in gamelan. Academic Council approved.
Search procedures:
1. Ads go out
2. Files reviewed by search committees
3. Top files sent to Dean Johnson before phone calls placed
4. Dean Johnson notifies divisional deans to start making calls
5. Divisional deans or chairs of search committees place calls
6. Interviews set up - Dean Johnson and President Mooney need to be on the list (also Jean Ward for Inventing America)
7. Divisional deans should discuss faculty benefits in meetings with candidates.
8. Divisional deans discuss hiring recommendations of search committees with Dean Johnson
9. Divisional deans or Dean Johnson discuss with President Mooney - he signs off before any offers are made
10. Divisional deans make calls with offers. Search committee chairs can make call to notify, but the divisional deans negotiate salary and start-up packages.
11. Formal offer typically includes a new computer, but not moving expenses unless requested by candidate. Maximum amount for moving expenses is $2,000-3,000 depending on distance.
The Academic Council agreed to authorize budgets for searches to be $400 for lodging and $400 for meals per candidate.
Franco Capriotti is an immigration lawyer who has worked with Greg Caldwell and with the law school, as well as teaching on an adjunct basis at the law school. He charges $150 for an initial consultation and $4,000-5,000 per individual for complete process. The Academic Council agreed to retain Franco Capriotti as a consultant in new hires of foreign nationals and to complete the process for Jens Mache and Cliff Bekar.

Next meeting: Monday, January 15, 2001, 9 a.m.-noon.