Council of Chairs Minutes

Council of Chairs Minutes

Council of Chairs Minutes

February 3, 2016

Chairs present:

Ruth Ann Nyhus, Cynthia Lindquist, Karen Lollar, Cindy Carlson, Greg Clifton, Mingli He, Lindsay Packer, Arlene Sgoutus, Jim Drake, Richard Krantz, Melissa Munson, Carol Krugman, Nancy Sayre, Ford Lux, Amy Eckert (for R. Hazan), Christian Itin, Jason Janke, Layton Curl, Marilyn Hetzel, Ramon Del Castillo, Philip Bernhardt, Ted Shin, Andrew Bonham, Winston Grady-Willis, Abel Moreno

Peer observation system

Michael Kolb reported there are currently 15-20 trained observers. They are always looking for more observers. Interested parties should contact Michael or Christine Odell.

The deadline to request peer observations for fall 2016 tenure applications is May 1, 2016. It is suggested to put in requests for observations prior to spring break. The request for an observation must be submitted by the faculty member, however it is recommended chairs remind faculty in need of an observation. Post tenure review (PTR) does not require an observation but promotion from assistant to associate and associate to full require summative peer observations.

A question was raised about pedagogy not being addressed in the observation, and the purpose of the observation. The concern was expressed that if the observation is to address growth in an individual, one observation is not enough. Questions about assessing content were also raised, and it was suggested this could be a responsibility of department senior faculty. Some departments require multiple reviews prior to tenure (formal and informal) to show the growth, could this be addressed at the department level. Send additional ideas and concerns about the peer observation process to Michael Kolb.

Academic advising syllabus—

Ned Mulholvich and Jason Janke shared the MSU Denver Academic Advising Syllabus. The use of the word “syllabus” is based on advice from NACADA, the national organization on advising. The document is being circulated for additional feedback (see attachment to this email). Departments could adapt the document for use by both faculty and professional advisors. Provide feedback to Ned via email.

Assessment

There is a growing concern that we should be able to demonstrate program improvement from our data collection. No action is required at this time, but be aware of the growing emphasis being placed on providing this information.

Appreciation—executive council

Appreciation was expressed to those who wrote the SEM response. It was important to provide this information to the administration.

Reports

Karen Lollar—Handbook

  • Maternity leave policy was tabled
  • Bullying policy is in process and going forward
  • Intellectual property policy is in process, want one comprehensive policy

Cindy Carlson— Purple book

  • Cindy is stepping down as chair
  • Question as to who gets to purpose new curriculum
  • Section 3 says it must be an academic department, there are problems/inconsistencies with this such as ROTC minor, address concerns via email to Cindy Carlson
  • Letters of support—many times it doesn’t seem to matter, for an example of a name change of a department thus a prefix change—is this really an issue
  • If someone (chair) says no, the department can still go ahead, address thoughts about this to Cindy

Layton Curl—Budget

  • 20 million in cuts, HB 1319 how funding is distributed and we were favored with this, 8 state institutions banded together to repeal, Mesa and MSU are favored
  • CCHE requests tuition maximum
  • Compensation subcommittee—looked in bands, cost was nearly 10 million spread over 5 year period so that is 1.8 million a year for compression, Layton will take questions or comments
  • Especially trying to fix for those who have been here long term; as new faculty get tenure, etc. they can potentially have salaries above the faculty who have been here long term
  • No new faculty lines for 2016-17 and current lines may not be refilled

Cindy Lindquist –SRI Implementation

  • Good response in the number of classes to pilot online SRIs for resident and hybrid classes
  • Will have two groups randomly divided
  • One group will give students class time to complete SRI on their mobile device, second group will complete outside of class time and be given up to three reminders
  • Questions can be added to the current survey, but TBD if they are from a selected list or completely faculty choice

Nancy Sayre--Director of Human resources search

  • About 100 applicants
  • 16 applicants for phone interviews
  • Resident interviews for top 2 or 3 candidates hopefully last week in February

Layton Curl—Health institute

  • Would support programs in colleges and schools who want higher visibility in community for programs related to health
  • Would assist in career direction for students seeking health related careers
  • Only one meeting thus far

Ruth Ann Nyhus--Student success collaborative

  • Guide App is intertwined with student success collaborative, starting with SOAR
  • Same company has an app for students and will remind students when they are eligible to register, financial aid, or ways to be involved via text messages

Other news and notes:

  • President’s cabinet working on website redesign by July 1
  • Hopefully our department websites have been redesigned with support from Lucas and Lucas, should have been a free service
  • Please provide comments about commencement to Ruth Ann, what is working, what is difficult, suggestion that finals should not be scheduled during finals
  • Graduation is May 14, morning and afternoon, at the Coliseum
  • May 16-21 asked to host NCAA II sports
  • Next meeting April 7
  • Suggested meeting time for next year is Wednesdays at 1:00

Respectfully submitted,

Cindy Lindquist

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