8:17 Chair’s Cabinet meeting called to order; theminutes of the November 2015 meeting were approved.
In attendance: Wannemuehler, Baum,Constant, Gasta, Jenks, King, Martin, Ringholz, Rao,Ulmer, Wallace, Wipf, Strum, Bratsch-Prince, Jones-Johnson, Wickert
Guests: Institutional Research: Amanda DeGraff;University Counsel’s Office: Paul Tanaka, Sheryl Rippke, Brooke Langlitz, Barb Biederman
Faculty Senate (FS) Updates: PRS approval separated into 4 separate sections, will appear in the January Edition of the Faculty Handbook (FHB);the Botany Graduate major will be discontinued;there will be a memo sent from the FS regarding the student excused absence policy for students to “make-up” work, all faculty should be reminded of this policy and abide the same;a proposal from the College of Veterinary Medicinewill be of the agenda of the FS Exec Committee regarding the creation of Clinical Faculty track, the proposal is based upon the similar policy in place at the University of Iowa; FS is working on more NTE issues – for example, discussion regarding improving theposition definitions and career advancement pathways; there was some discussion regarding theuse of leave by B base faculty.
Dr. Bratsch-Prince mentioned that performance management of faculty will be the topic of the next Chairs workshop (January 14, 2016); Topics will/may include: when does performance become “unsatisfactory”, drug/alcohol abuse, inappropriate use of email to send insulting/negative messages – often sent in anger, relationships between Grad students and advisors.
SVPP Update: Recognition of AntropologyDept (kudos to Dr. Gasta) regarding the faculty excitement about the merger, taking advantage of the FS changes for best practices for departmental re-organization that is outlined in the FHB.
Higher learning Commission (HLC) review: ISU has received the report, ISU was viewed very positively, met all 21 criteria (significant accomplishment to receive no minor deficiencies – kudos to all involved); in particular, there were various observations made by the HLC regarding growth in student enrollment and how well ISU handled these challenges.
BoR meeting – facilities (Forkerrenovations approved; So. Entrance along University Dr. – Stadium-Reiman Gardens project was approved;Friley Dining Room project was approved; Spangler Biotech lab demolition to move forward; Approval of the tuition plan w/o discussion – 3% increase. Vet Med will have a differential tuition of ~4% in-state, 3% non-resident; there will be aInternational studenttuition differential of $1500 that will be phased in over 3 yrs; the UG tuition will increase for Spring 2016 and remain flat for 1.5 yrs.
The Board of Regents (BoR) accepted the Tier Report: eLearning and enrollment reports were accepted Develop action plans based on the Tier report, credit to Tier (Flip the classroom, inclusive learning), several things at the BoR level that ISU will endorse but need BoR to approve and the legislature to fund – eg, need a State-wide scholarship program for the Regents Inst. Like the one the State has for private colleges (~$50M pool).
Review of the RAI (Regents Admissions Index) needs to be explored as appropriateness; Statewide demographics needs to be addressed to position the Universities to be successful
Human Sciences Dean search – Drs. Kress and Winterstein (Co-Chairs), nominations have been received, being very aggressive with contacting potential candidates, Feb 1 2016 cut off for applications.
ISU Strategic Planning – will have University SP in place by summer 2016.
ISU Chief of Police is retiring (Jerry Steward), Dean of Students (Pamela Anthony) leaving for SMU, Reginald Stewart named first VP for Diversity and Inclusion – this office will now manage some programs like Women and Diversity grants program that are currently in the Provost’s Office,
Guest presentation: Amanda DeGraff – Academics (Handout provided), increased the subscription to assess each faculty member, “CAREER PROGRESSION”, SVPP meets with AA leadership at least twice per year to discuss improvements that allow better use of this information. There is a FAQ that Amanda has prepared for the Provost and she will share with the Chair’s Cabinet.
Guest presentation covering COI discussion (Barb Biederman, BrookeLanglitz, SherylRippke, Paul Tanaka); Purpose was to obtain input on the current policies and implementation; Several Chairs gave the COI group kudos for their efforts.
There were several specific questions that fell outside of the COI and it was reinforced that the Chairs handle faculty consulting, work with the Government agencies, and work with professional associations – for the most part these do not constitute COI.
Enforcement – getting the COI completed by some recalcitrant faculty. Annual renewal, make sure this is part of the annual review, document in the performance if they fail to comply
What are the consequences for the University if COI are not completed? It was mentioned that faculty need to appreciate that they are part of corporate ISU and need to comply with these requirements! For failure to comply, there is more peril associate with the University’s research enterprise than other areas. If the Inspector General shows up to investigate situation associated with an undisclosed COI, this is serious and damages the whole Univeristy’s reputation.
For those not involved in sponsored research, this is still a serious situation. This goes to the “Culture of Trust” to the general public’s view of higher education.
Please remind the faculty that the COI disclosure protects the faculty member.
For new Chairs, the question was asked about a proactive chair seeking to identify things that should/need to be disclosed. Where are the pitfalls – are there examples available?(e.g., serving on outside boards is not a conflict of interest; double dipping on travel is a problem)
Important for Chairs to know that faculty are funded by companies and maybe receiving a consultant fee. This needs to be addressed in several areas of the COI report. Could miss this if grants are not monitored by the Chair.
Adjorned at 9;30