Minutes – College of Arts and Humanities Assembly

September 12, 2011 9:00 AM

Dean José Fernándezcalled the meeting to order at 9:20 AM. He announced that there would be a walk for the American Heart Association on September 17 and that there would be a meeting with President Hitt and Provost Waldrop on September 29 at 1:30 PM in the Garden Key room, SU 221.

Since there is a large number of new faculty this year, individual introductions were dispensed with. Dean Fernándezintroduced a number of college administrators and staff, including Lyman Brodie, Lynn Hepner, Paul Lartonoix, Nancy Stanlick, Cathy Radzai, Rudy McDaniel, Laura Pooser, Kara Steiner, Tara Gasparovic, and Keith Koons, CAH Secretary. Dean Fernándezannounced that Terry Frederick had retired and that his duties were redistributed to others; the salary money saved will be used for a special projects fund.

The minutes from the CAH Assembly of September 7, 2010 were approved. Dean Fernándezreported that the CAH Open House was held on September 10 and that attendance was good. The performances of students from Theatre and Music were appreciated.

Dean Fernándezthanked faculty and staff for the appreciation expressed to him following his reappointment as Dean. He considers his mission to provide college with stability. He recalled his statement on becoming Dean in 2006, including his goal to provide character, integrity and responsibility, and to develop programs in the arts and humanities recognized for quality. Since that time, we have weathered a strong storm in 2007. He recalled in 2008 he decided to “earn our way out” rather than cut. He convinced the Provost to establish a new funding model. The college did not suffer a single faculty or staff cut.

Dean Fernándezcited examples of outstanding work in the college, including Music, Theatre, the School of Performing Arts in progress, Phase 1 of the Performing Arts Center, FIEA, SVAD, Film, Philosophy, English, the BA in Latin American Studies, the coming Bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies, Judaic Studies, African American Studies, CREATE, and Flying Horse publications.

Dean Fernándezlisted new challenges for the College. Funding is now based on SCH production. Some disciplines have experienced reduced registration, possibly because of many students achieving AP credit in high school. The college has many new hires as a benefit of SCH production, including 19 tenured/tenure track positions out of a total of 61 for this fall, but we are still down 9 positions from 2006. There are 26 fewer visiting instructors compared to 2006, but 28 more instructors and 6 more visiting assistant professors.

Dean Fernándezand Provost Waldrop have worked together to establish a minimum 9-month salary of $30,000 for visiting instructors and $31,000 for instructors.

There is a strong need for more space, which is a problem acknowledged by the Provost. The contract agreement between the administration and UFF on Administrative Discretion Increases will help retain quality faculty. We must continue to enhance research funding, and solicit donors for Phase 2 of the Performing Arts Center.

Dean Fernándezcited recruitment, retention, and graduation of majors as a major goal for 2011-2012. Dean Fernándezis confident we can overcome these challenges, and he will dedicate all of his energy for college success.

Assistant Dean Nancy Stanlick spoke about the assessment process. She would like to see more program assessments rated higher. Program coordinators are responsible for reporting the results; the reviewers (mainly department chairs) should send any problems back to coordinators for correction.

She said that faculty work hard to make high quality programs, and that we should work just as hard to make the program assessment plans high quality. There are consequences to substandard assessment plans, because SACS is capable of removing accreditation.

She commended faculty for research awards in fiscal year 2011, totaling $12M. Already this year there are $2M in awards. She asked the Dean for a research incentive program, and the Dean, Provost and the Vice President for Research and Commercialization jointly provided $125,000. Details of the plan will be announced soon.

Rudy McDaniel, assistant to the Dean, spoke about CAH technology services, and thanked everyone for their patience with the new IT staff and space. He reminded faculty about the upcoming deadline for technology fee requests, and encouraged people to complete the CAH Technology Satisfaction Survey. One issue important to faculty has already been changed: the choice to retain administrative rights for computers will be allowed with chair approval. A new position for tech support has been approved by the Dean, and a new joint technology and grant writing position has been approved.

Dean Fernándezreminded everyone that faculty and administrators are dependent on staff. He plans to have a staff recognition day in the spring.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:06.

Submitted by Keith Koons, CAH Secretary