Approved as corrected 11/6/97
The October 2 and October 9 meeting minutes were approved as corrected.
1. David Savage submitted a request from Anne Dawid for a $1000 sponsorship from the lectures and concerts fund for the Associated Writing Program's annual conference, to be held this year in Portland this year. Sponsorship would provide free admission to nine LC students. A decision will be made at the next meeting.
2. Inventing America staffing for 1998-99 is in the planning stages. Dean Atkinson suggests that there might be an opportunity to recruit new participation among faculty who have not taught IA as yet.
3. Dean Atkinson informed the Council that in response to a complaint there is currently an investigation being conducted on campus by the Office of Civil Rights. There will be phone interviews taking place next week.
4. Dean Atkinson and Associate Dean June Jones met recently with the ISALC faculty. The faculty have been restructuring the program's curriculum and analyzing revenues, as a result of the programmatic review conducted last year. Their newly defined department plan will come before the Academic Council in a few weeks, after which courses offered for undergraduate credit will be sent on to the Committee on the Curriculum for approval.
5. Trustee Jimmy Miller has endowed a chair in the humanities; a search is planned for a professor or associate professor of Philosophy. Dean Savage said they will search for an instructor whose area of interest is either Ancient or Continental Philosophy. The following year, after a retirement in the department, an expert in the second discipline will be sought. The Council reviewed and approved the advertisement. It is hoped that a new faculty member can be found in time to deliver an inaugural address in spring of 1997 or fall 1998. With the addition of the Miller Chair, the Philosophy department will be a four person department.
6. Dean Keedy said that, because the Murdock grant is ending this year, he is concerned about funding for next summer's student-faculty research projects. Dean Atkinson said she was hoping to use funds earned through indirect costs from recent faculty grants to replace the Murdock funds. Dean Keedy will provide June Jones with the information on the replacement funds needed.
7. Dean Savage recommended changing the sabbatical application deadline to October 1. He said that the November 1 date allows insufficient time for deciding sabbaticals, determining replacements, and departmental planning, before the deadline for submitting the following year's course schedule to the Registrar on Dec. 1. In addition, many professional meetings (in the Arts and Humanities) take place in December and January, rushing searches for sabbatical replacements. There will be more discussion at the next AC meeting.
8. The Committee on the Curriculum will forward a recommendation for a Declaration of Major policy to the faculty at their November meeting. The policy will state that students are expected to declare a major no later than the spring semester before their junior year.
9. Arrangements for an undergraduate student to take a law course in the spring have raised questions regarding remuneration for tuition costs from the CAS.
10. Controller Judy Poe joined the Council to ask for participation in a pilot program designed to streamline purchasing procedures at the College. In effect, the program eliminates the need for purchase orders, by the use of a CoreStates Visa (purchasing) card for all purchases under $500. The program is designed to reduce the number of check requests (reimbursements) and purchases orders processed by the business office. The four month test program will start around the end of November, and, if successful, will be expanded to the rest of the College by next spring. The Council was asked to recommend to departments that are frequent purchasers to take part in the test phase: Art, Chemistry and Athletics were chosen. Poe will contract the departments to establish their accounts
11. The Council discussed the possibility of offering Math 055 and Elementary Functions in the Summer Sessions. Dean Keedy said that the mathematics faculty are firmly behind the offerings and the quality of Sue Benowicz's instruction. It was generally thought that conducting classes in the summer would be a valuable service.