Approved 10/23/97
The minutes of the September 25, 1997, meeting were approved as corrected.
Announcements:
Dean Savage said that he would forward information on the Graves Awards to junior faculty eligible for sabbaticals next year. The awards are given for unusual skill and enthusiasm in teaching as well as scholarly merit. Awards are approximately $10,000 for summer or sabbatical scholarly work. The College may nominate only one candidate. The Council will select a nominee on the basis of sabbatical applications.
Dean Savage said that Phyllis Yes has agreed to represent the Arts & Humanities Division on the Committee on the Curriculum. Stephen Weeks will fill in during the first part of fall semester while she's in New York.
The Council will review requests for recycled computers at their next meeting.
Agenda Items:
1. President Mooney joined the Council to further discuss issues regarding faculty titles, a topic raised at the October Faculty Meeting in a discussion about voting rights. The president said he was pleased at the thoughtfulness of the faculty discussion. The President will meet with the Council and the department chairs in the next few weeks to explore this topic further. The Council will also work on refining the definition of senior lecturer, in light of the faculty discussion.
2. The Council revisited the 98-99 Academic Calendar issue, after some discussion in the October Faculty Meeting. The start date for spring semester is still under consideration. There are two options available: January 11 or January 18. Some opinions noted in the faculty meeting were: Athletics prefers the late start date, because many of their competitors have games after our semester ends; and some faculty said that the early start date may interfere with January professional meetings. The divisional deans will ask their chairs to poll department faculty on this question.
3. Greg Walters joined the Council. He said there is a new form for use in the performance evaluation of the college support staff. Walters will conduct a number of training sessions on proper use of the form, giving useful techniques helpful in this often very difficult process. The deans feel it will be important for department chairs to attend, as even experienced supervisors sometimes fail to use the evaluation process to its fullest potential.