July 17, 2018

Attendees:  James Marquart,  Katrina Brent, Derina Holtzhausen, Lynn Maurer, Brenda Nichols, Joe Nordgren, Srinivas Palanki, Bob Spina, and Sarah Tusa.

Welcome to Dean Maurer

Approval of Dean’s Council Minutes dated May 22, 2018

The minutes of the Academic Dean meeting, dated May 22, 2018, were approved as written.

GUESTS: Catherine Benson/Jamie Larson

RE: Payroll Changes to Adjunct Faculty

Payroll is proposing to change to a 4/5 pay schedule for Adjunct faculty, effective 09/01/18.  Instead of the current 4 ½ months per long semester, the pay schedule would be 4 months in fall and 5 months in spring. Spring checks will be lower monthly, but there will be a fifth check. This change will allow for the new automated pay system, epath.  This change has been approved at the executive level.  Additional process changes are coming for staff.

GUEST: Liv Haselbach                                 

RE: CID Meetings

Dr. Haselbach, Chair of the Council of Instructional Departments, distributed the schedule for the 2018-19 CID meeting dates.  Having the dates in advance should cut down on potential conflicts for the department chairs.  Dr. Haselbach announced she will be continuing as Chair of the CID Committee for 2018-19. 

GUEST: Tom Conley

RE: PC Refresh Program

Mr. Conley gave a PowerPoint presentation on IT’s PC Refresh program which was funded last May to replace some computers before the fall semester started. IT worked with our hardware vendor/partner, Dell, to get old PC’s replaced. (4+ years of age).  The focus has been on student success, so they started with classrooms and labs.  (Note: The plan does not include the replacement of MAC computers). The old computers are sent through Dell’s recycle program to help offset some of the cost. There was discussion on the 2017 deployments, the 2018 deployment plan for August, and then a review of opportunities.  Replacing computers for faculty and staff is more complicated and it has not been determined when that will start.  

GUEST: Amy Smith

RE: ACUE Teaching Certificate

Dr. Smith came to discuss the student success initiative involving an online course for faculty offered by ACUE (Association of College and University Educators) for effective teaching practices.  The proposal by the Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement would engage ACUE with a strategic partnership for the next three years.  She stated this partnership has the potential for a great impact on student retention and success.  The incentive for faculty is to receive a national certificate, which will help with tenure and promotion.  It is suggested to have a competitive application process for tenure-track faculty to apply, with 30 chosen per year. 

Proposed International Transfer Admission Criteria

The Dean’s Council was asked to approve a proposal submitted by the Admissions Committee that would mirror the admissions criteria for international transfer students to that of domestic students.  A hard copy of the proposal was distributed.  Approved as written.

Proposed Admission Changes per SAT-ACT Concordance

Fall Admissions (Katrina Brent)

In an effort to increase student retention rates, and adjusting for the new SAT concordance tables, the Admissions Committee has made some recommendations.  These recommended admission changes were distributed and discussed.    Action:  Comments should be sent to Dr. Brent and Dr. Marquart.  These recommendations will also be discussed with Finance and President Evans.

A proposed policy, Class Attendance and Administrative Drop Policy, was distributed for review and discussion.  The policy is specific for face-to-face and fully online classes.  Action:  Send comments to Dr. Brent. 

F3.2 Forms (Joe Nordgren)

A new form, Request for Continuation of Small Class, was distributed and discussed.  These forms should be submitted no later than 5 days PRIOR to the first class meeting.  Department Chairs and Deans are to use his/her discretion and give proper justification. This form will go in effect fall 2018. 

The timeliness of F3.2 forms was discussed due to process changes with Budget and Human Resources.  Dr. Nichols added that degrees and titles are often incorrect on submitted F3.2s.  This information is required by SACS.  It is suggested that Department Chairs go through all faculty information with the Administrative Assistants to make sure they have the most current degrees and titles.

Barnes & Noble Contract (Brenda Nichols)

Lamar University has a contract with Barnes & Noble.  If faculty adds a link to a text book publisher on his/her syllabi, this is a violation of our contract.  There are a couple options to help students save money on books.  See Brenda for more information.

Other - Updates

Dr. Marquart:

Handouts distributed to look over class scheduling for fall, core classes and capacity.  Can we raise the caps?  Get more students in, even if in a different room?  Plans are to form a scheduling committee in the fall to drill in on this information for core classes. We are continuing to work with Ad Astra Platinum.  Dr. Nichols asked deans to discuss with faculty and see if there is any reason to not move all online classes to 50.

The importance of using only Lamar email addresses when communicating with students was stressed.  This message needs to be communicated to all faculty.  Action:  An email with the link to the Appropriate Use policy will be distributed to the Deans by the Provost Office. 

There are a lot of things going on with SACS and QEP.  The culture for math has changed, moving in to Math Pathways.  Deans asked to work with his/her departments to ascertain if algebra should be a required core math.

Budget meeting held earlier today, with hopes to have the budgets out next week.

After working with Dr. Bernazzani and Dr. Nordgren, the proposal for space in the new building has been submitted to the President.  

Joe Nordgren:

The books for summer are being closed.  Deans were requested to submit a copy of his/her college summary by Friday at 12pm.  Salaries/enrollment numbers need to be reviewed.  Then this information will be shared with Dr. Marquart and Craig Ness so funds can be transferred in to each College summer account.  The goal is to make sure the numbers match so these reimbursements can be made.

Srinivas Palanki:

Dean Palanki gave an update on the 2-week academic leadership workshop he recently attended at Harvard University. When approved for this workshop, he was asked to provide feedback about what he learned with others.  His suggestion is to have a brown bag share session from 12-1pm on Thursdays for him to review what he gleaned from the workshop.  All were in favor, and Dr. Palanki agreed to send out the calendar information for those who are able to attend.

 An update on the Engineering boot camp was given.

Adjourn  3:50pm.