Approval of the Minutes
The minutes of meeting #60 on 25 April 2012 were approved (25-0-0).

Actionable Items
The attached actionable items reflect the final version of the Core Curriculum Committee’s courses presented for the Council’s approval.  In replying to a request for clarification of the SYMP (symposium) designation for a course, Dean Latham explained that it was a pre-law, pre-health designation used at FCRH and was cross-referenced with the department code of the faculty member presenting it.  Dean Harrington requested that the Academic Integrity Policy, which had not gone through a Committee, be separated from the others for the vote   On the first, second and third items on the list, the Council voted (21-0-2) to accept the Committees proposals.

Report of the Core Curriculum Committee
Prof. Myers, Chair, reported that this year his committee plans to review the implementation of the New Core with the help of the Center for Teaching Excellence, distributing a survey this fall and holding a 1-day symposium in the spring to evaluate the results; one area of focus will be the EP requirement, to determine if the implementation has met the expectation. The committee will also be working on ways to incorporate the computational and natural sciences into Senior Values courses, trying to balance the disciplines’ need for pre-requisites at advanced levels with the requirement to take the Senior Values course outside of a student’s major.  In addition, he discussed the current problem in CCC sub-committees of finding a Chair because non-tenured faculty are not permitted to fill these positions and tenured faculty on these committees are already overburdened with other governance roles.

Report of the Majors and Curricula Committee
Prof. Berger, Chair, was not able to attend.  Dean Harrington reported that they are awaiting requests from the College Councils for their next deliberations.

Report of the Nominations Committee
Prof. McCarthy, Chair, was not able to attend.  Dean Harrington reported that she has resigned as Chair after 10 years, having worked single-handed since the spring to fill positions on the 2012-2013 committees after the retirement of the two other members of the Committee last semester.  A new committee will need to be selected.


Faculty Evaluation Committee Report
Prof. Gilbert, Chair, reported that he and Susan Perciasepe, in the Dean of Faculty’s Office, tested a survey created by eXplorance from our SEEQ questionnaire and have given feedback, which has not yet been incorporated.  The format they suggested has the same questions as SEEQ and every effort will be made to keep other variables constant so that the prior data can be seamlessly integrated with the new to allow for trending and analyses that were previously not possible.The Committee will be meeting soon to discuss reports, eliciting volunteers for a pilot this fall, etc., and when the revised survey is available Prof. Gilbert will send the link to all Council members.

In response to questions raised at an October 1^st Chair meeting with Dean Harrington, Prof. Gilbert got the following information from eXplorance about what has happened at other schools using this product:

• response rates are between 35-95% based on methodology, marketing, culture and functionality
• rates are usually between 55-70% with no enticements, phased migration and modest marketing
• schools choose different dates for their survey timeframe, from an open period of 2 weeks which ends before finals to allowing students to complete the survey after finals
• there is an increased response rate with a longer time to complete the survey, and eXplorance claims that allowing evaluation after finals does not bias the results
• some schools choose to close the survey before finals when they initiate an on-line survey and then evolve to allowing the survey to remain open until after finals over time

Prof. Gilbert favored increasing participation by making students aware through the student newspapers, email, flyers and instructor announcements in class, that the results will be available to them and if they give an honest evaluation, they will be able to see an honest evaluation of the class and instructor when they enroll for a class.

Academic Integrity Policy
After a statement that this is just a reiteration and clarification of what is already part of the Policy, the Council voted (29-0-0) to approve the addition of this wording to the Policy and the form.  It was agreed that the faculty would need to be notified.

Deans Budget Planning Committees
This item was raised at the A&S Council Executive Committee.  Dean Harrington reported that, in the past the review of new initiatives for Budget Planning was done in the fall, with Supplemental Spending Initiatives reviewed in the spring.  To date, there is no activity on either of these items.

Academic Space Planning
Dean Harrington reported that at the Rose Hill campus the input from all interested parties has reached the people making the decisions.  For Lincoln Center, Fr. Grimes reported that no decisions have been made because the administration has asked that all decisions on space be held until after the decision on what programs will be offered at that campus is finalized.  Fr. Grimes has set up five committees on needs for both new programs and invigorating existing programs.

New Business
Dean Harrington proposed that the Council be repurposed to take up issues that are not getting a forum elsewhere and propose them to the Provost.  At this invitation, it was proposed that the Council look at adjunct salaries, which are well below other schools in the area, which are the same for 3 credit and 4 credit courses, and which have failed to follow the plan proposed by Dr. Carruba to be raised the same percentage as faculty salaries each year.  The proposal was to gather data and propose a resolution.  Dean Harrington mentioned that this was a concern to many and that even the proposal to add $100 per year for four years was now in jeopardy.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:31 P.M

REMAINING MEETING DATES:

       Wednesday, December 5, 2012 from 3:30 - 5:00
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 from 3:30 - 5:00
Wednesday, April 24, 2013 from 3:30 - 5:00

ACTIONABLE ITEMS FOR OCTOBER 17, 2012

·  Core Curriculum Committee Courses For Approval:

EP3:

Conforti    HIST 3622          Great Trials

EP4:

Drance     THEA 3300         Theater, Creativity, and Values

The committee has approved the following courses, pending minor clarifications and revisions from the applicants, and requests Council’s approval contingent on receiving requested clarification and/or  revision:

EP3:

Cornell     SYMP/HIST3500   History, Philosophy, and Law

EP4:

Ben Atar   HIST                   Antisemitism

Farland    ENGL 3916         Animal Welfare in Lit and Culture

Pending final review by CCC, the committee requests Council’s approval contingent on CCC approval:

Interdisciplinary capstone seminar:

Knobel     COMM 3322       TV News Innovators

EP3:

Mustafa    AFAM                 Carribean

EP4:

Appels      DANC 400           Art and Ethics

Storey      PHIL                   Environmental Ethics  (if CCC error caused this to be missed in the review of all proposals; otherwise, this will be reviewed and presented with new proposals at the December Council meeting)

·  Majors and Curricula Items For Approval:

Change to the Sociology major at LC

·  Nominations For 2012-2013 A&S Council Core Curriculum Committee And Its Subcommittees For Approval:

Core Curriculum Committee  2012-2015

            Maria Ruvoldt – Fine Arts
            Barbara Mundy – At Large

American Pluralism Sub-committee  201-2015           
          Aimee Cox - AAAS

Interdisciplinary Capstone Sub-committee  2012-2015

            Orit Avishi – Social Science
           Rafael Lamas – Modern Languages and Literatures

·  Revision to Academic Integrity Policy For Approval