Council of Chairs

Meeting Minutes
February 17, 2015
3:30 – 5:00 PM – Colorado Room, Student Union

Meeting Invitees:
Anziano, Michael, Baranski, John, Boxer, Majel, Brandon, Maureen Brandt, Keri J , Chew, Beverly Clark, Brad Clausen, Rebecca Colby, Chad Elkins, Dennis Erickson, Mary Ann , Fankhauser, Crystal, Fine, Kathleen, Fulton, Richard Gilpin, Sandra , Gonzales, David Haaland, Ryan K , Hannula, Kim , Hartney, Cathleen, Hartsfield, Larry , Juergensmeyer, Erik, Kendall, Kathy, Lienert, Carl , Lyon, Douglas , McCormick, Peter , McGurr, Paul, Carrie Meyer , Oliver, Astrid , Ortega, Joseph , Owen, Dugald , Pepion, Kenneth , Peterson, Michele , Reed, Marc , Riggs, Charles , Sellin, Amy , Shuler, Phil , Smith, Carol , Smith, Pam Lisa Snyder, Sommerville, Les , Kelly Stanley , Stremba, Bob , Wilhelm, Suzanne, Morris, Barbara

Next meeting: Tuesday, March 3, 2015 – Curriculum Showcase

Announcements:

The schedule for the curriculum showcase was distributed (3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/31 & 4/7). Chairs will have 10 minutes to present their program proposals and answer questions. Kelly Stanley will provide a template for the presentation and the degree requirement lists in Canvas.

Agenda:

What’s on your mind?

  1. Ryan Haaland – What is the target number of seats required for proposed LAC courses? Pete McCormick – referred to the information sent out during the August CCDI workshops but will send it again.
    Provost – target is to offer the same number of seats you are currently offering.
    Ryan – If we add a section for a LAC course we may need to hire adjuncts.
    Provost – This should be discussed with your Dean. If we need to hire adjuncts to deliver LAC courses, the curriculum and toolbelts need to be examined.
  2. Paul McGurr - SOBA is dropping several LAC courses. 120 students will need to find an alternative SS course. This should not be too difficult as there are many SS courses offered each semester.
  3. Brad Clark – What objectives need to be listed in the syllabi for LAC courses? Course learning objectives, as well as how students will develop and demonstrate the content and competency criteria specified by the gtPathway requirements and the new LAC learning outcomes specifically addressed by the course. Some departments are required by accreditors to also state additional learning outcomes. The Program Learning Outcomes are not generally required on a syllabus.
  4. Richard Fulton – Will junior faculty be eligible to receive course release time each year for research? Provost – The Faculty Personnel Committee will be bringing its recommendation for the Faculty Research Release Policy ( to the Senate tomorrow. From the Provost’s perspective, she is supportive of the FPC’s recommendation.Departments need to understand that 17-20 new lines are being requested in the curriculum redesign. This does not include replacements for retiring faculty. There is only $400,000 available for new lines. There will be tension for staffing our programs and chairs have been urged to consider Plan B, alternatives to what a department wants and can offer. Adjust the curriculum so that you can afford to offer the courses your students need and the research release to eligible faculty.
  5. Provost – presented an overview of faculty lines requested by departments: History – 4 new lines, ENVS & PH requested lines and have growing enrollments. This is a tight budget year for resources. TABOR will affect state budget for higher education in next fiscal years. For the 2015 fiscal year we are looking at a 10% increase but we can’t count on that for future years.
  6. Are Chairs eligible for faculty research release? Provost – Chairs already receive release time each semester for their responsibilities. Chairs cannot go below 18 credits a year. Expectations for research are the same for faculty and chairs. We cannot afford to go down to 15 credits/year for Chairs. Other institutions offer stipends instead of release time.
  7. John Baranski – New vs. replacement lines. In 2004 if someone retired you could get them replaced. History has had 3 retirees and 2 faculty who have left without replacements. Provost – in 2010 the slate was wiped clean due to the work-force reduction plants. We can’t look past 2010. Everyone has to make their case regardless of retirements. Michele Peterson – Allocations start fresh every year. This year’s searches are already funded. For next year there is enough for about 4-5 faculty lines depending on the discipline.
  8. Erik Juergensmeyer – What about the student success collaborative? How much will this cost to hire new staff? Provost – For every 250-300 students need a coach. It will cost a few hundred thousand dollars. The needs of advising and this type of tracking at this level is not something faculty have been wanting to participate in. This is a tradeoff. We haven’t been successful in our traditional approach to advising. We will be assessing the success of the pilot programs before we expand it institution-wide.
  9. John Baranski – we are in the middle of the pilot. Will faculty have some input into the assessment of the pilot to determine if it should go further? Provost – if persistence and retention don’t improve we will have to go back to the drawing board. Retention is in trouble. We need a robust first year experience. This is faculty resource dependent. At least 1/3 of full-time faculty would need to participate in an FYE program. The LAC is discussing FYE as part of its new program.
  10. Kathy Fine-Dare – distributed a handout questionnaire about departments offering upper division LAC courses. It was clarified that an UD LAC course could count for majors
  11. Faculty Personnel Committee – Deans and Provost complimented the work the FPC has done with reviewing the PAFs. They have a good process now and have done exceptional quality work this year.
  12. Dean Brandon has been meeting with pre-tenured faculty to coach them in preparing their PAFs. She is happy to expand this to faculty in other schools.
  13. Provost raised her concern about the Faculty Handbook proposed change to allow only a summary of evaluations in PAFs not the actual evaluations. This is contrary to what the FPC states it needs.
  14. Dean Brandon and Ken Pepion are working on a proposal to centralize the tutoring centers. More to come…
  15. Question about what new programs the college is exploring. Provost – at a recent SOBA event, the President announced an initiative to develop a new Computer Science Program, possibly offered through Engineering. The strategic plan states the College will explore a graduate program in SOBA. Athletic Training is looking at a Master’s program and GIS is looking at expanding from a certificate to a program.

Meeting adjourned.