Minutes AY 2006/2007

The Arts & Sciences Council (ASC) meets regularly every academic year, including seven times during the 2006 to 2007 academic year. The notes from said meetings are found below:

April 12, 2007

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Meeting

  • April 12, 2007
  • 3:30 – 5:00 PM
  • JILA Auditorium

FAS Members / ASC Representatives Present: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, WMST; Loriliai Biernacki, RLST; Anne Bliss, PWR; Babs Buttenfield, GEOG; Mel Cundiff, EEB; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; Clark Farmer, FILM; David Ferris, CLHM; Luis Gonzalez-del-Valle, SPAN; Lew Harvey, PSYC; Alice Healy, PSYC; Michael Huemer, PHIL; Kelly Hurley, ENGL; Terry Kleeman, EALC; Christian Kopff, HONR; Dennis McGilvray, ANTH; Nicholas Nagle, GEOG; Joyce Nielsen, A&S Richard Nishikawa, A&S Rolf Norgaard, PWR; David Norris, IPHY; Martha Palmer, LING; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Robert Schulzinger, HIST; Paul Shankman, ANTH; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Chuck Stern, GEOL; Davide Stimili, GSLL; William Travis, GEOG; Vittorio Trionfi, FRIT; Robert Tubbs, MATH; Cindy White, COMM; Shijie Zhong, PHYS.

ASC Representatives Absent: Mitch Begelman, APS; Ken Bickers, PSCI; David Boonin, PHIL; Keith Julien, APPM; Noel Lenski, CLAS; Onye Ozuzu, THDN; Hillary Potter, SOCY; Robert Poyton, MCDB; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC.

The Chair opened the meeting at 3:30 PM.

Minutes from the December 8, 2006 FAS meeting and minutes from the March 22, 2007 ASC meeting were distributed. Both sets of minutes were approved unanimously.

Chair’s Announcement

Babs Buttenfield congratulated the College Professors of Distinction: Russ Monson, EEB, Alice Healy, PSYC, Jerry Hauser, COMM, and Chick Judd, PSYC. The College will hold a celebration in the fall.

Interviews for the Natural Sciences Associate Dean finalists will be held at a special meeting of ASC and FAS on Thursday 19 April, 3:30 - 4:30 in Hellems 252. As per the Bylaws, email notification of this meeting was given 10 days ahead of the meeting day, on Monday April 9., ASC representatives are advised to announce this important meeting to their departments so that interested faculty can attend. The finalists are Keith Krauter, MCDB and Susan Beatty GEOG.

Interviews for the Vice Chancellor for Research / Dean of the Graduate School are ongoing. The five finalists include Stein Sture, Susan Avery (internal) and Pius Egbolu, Brad Fenwick and Larry Lemanski (external). Professors Sture and Egbolu completed interviews. Brad Fenwick will be interviewed on Monday, April 16, 1:30 - 2:30 UMC 425 and Tuesday, April 17. 9:30 - 10:30 UMC 245. Susan Avery’s interviews will be held on April 23 and 24, and Larry Lemanski’s on April 26 and 27. Times and rooms for these interviews will be forwarded as the interview dates approach.

Special Visit by Provost Philip DiStefano

Phil DiStefano attended the meeting to answer questions from the floor.

  • Lew Harvey (PSYC) asked what will be done regarding the anticipated bolus in freshman enrollments this coming Fall. The Provost responded that 55 additional TA lines and 22 additional GPTI lines werre requested by Todd, and that a portion of this request has been approved. Additional funds may be allocated following a decision on the Long Bill. Phil is working on a 2 percent enhancement to augment graduate student health insurance. He added that he hopes to add 25 additional tenure track faculty lines for Fall 2008.
  • Bob Schulzinger (HIST) asked about the impact of the Long Bill on capital construction. The Provost described planning for a visual arts building. He mentioned that Ekeley and Ketchum top the priority list for capital renewal, with Hellems and Guggenheim to follow.
  • Christian Kopff (HONR) returned to the topic of expected enrollments, asking about restoring the student faculty ratios to former levels. Phil answered that the current ratio is 27-1, and the intention is to bring it closer to 18 or 19-1.
  • Cindy White (COMM) asked about graduate stipends, which are not competitive relative to peer institutions. This has a negative impact on graduate recruitments, regardless of how many additional lines are made available. Phil responded that he would like to see a higher stipend for graduate students, and has taken the matter to the Board of Regents. David Ferris (CLHM) commented graduate retention is a problem because of the requirement to teach two classes a semester.
  • Payson Sheets (ANTH) asked about the status of the 101 pilot phase and evaluation. Phil answered that four sections of the Phase I pilot courses with a total of 31 students are being evaluated. The Task Force will make a recommendation to his office when these evaluations are complete, and bring it to ASC. Phil added that he has not budgeted funds for 101 for Fall 07 at this time; he would have to use temporary or reserve funds if it were to go forward. The decision for the course to move forward is a faculty decision, he said, adding that a budget proposal from the faculty is needed if they are in favor of the course. Payson expressed concern that an advertisement soliciting instructors has already appeared in the S&GR which states that academic credit has already been approved, and that letters have gone out to 400 Cheyenne-Arapaho dorm residents telling them the course is required for the fall. That sends a message that the administration will push 101 forward without faculty input or approval.
  • Dan Barth (PSYC) asked about ICR and building funds for Fitzsimmons. Phil answered that this is on a fast track for completion, but that money does not move among campuses. The solution must come from reallocation within a campus.
  • Terry Kleeman (RLST) thanked the Provost for new faculty lines, and brought up the point that faculty offices are in varying states of disrepair. Some faculty members do not have offices due to space constraints across campus. Phil answered that Fleming Law building will be used for surge space which should provide roughly 100 faculty offices temporarily. Phil would like to open Fleming after that to a department following repairs and possible renovation.
  • Babs Buttenfield (GEOG) asked for comment about the PRP report calling for reorganization of CLHM. Because this is a new process for many faculty, she asked the Provost to comment on the procedure. Phil responded that a reorganization is planned to create committees to oversee undergraduate and graduate programs. In his words, this is an evolving situation that must be sustainable and inclusive; and it will not be rushed. He is working with David Ferris (Chair of CLHM) and Todd Gleeson.

The Provost left the meeting at 4pm.

ASC Chair Election for AY 2008-2009

Rob Tubbs (MATH) nominated David Ferris (CLHM), with concurrent seconds from Mel Cundiff (EBIO) and Noel Lenski (HIST). David Ferris spoke briefly and left the room. The issues that he focus on as Chair include:

  • Sustaining the presence of ASC in campus matters where relevant, and building upon the improved interactions with BFA.
  • Advance the work begun in the past two years on academic rigor in the College, including 101, also by increasing the number of graduate students and funding.
  • Focus on the quality of academic development for faculty and students.
  • Look at staff numbers and retention, and work with the College to improve staff salaries.

Babs asked how he foresees acting as a Chair of a department and the Chair of ASC at the same time. David responded that he has arranged for two Associate Chairs in their department instead of one, and that this will help him to manage his time best.

The Bylaws call for a secret ballot for election of Chair. Votes may be cast only by ASC representatives. The vote was 23 in favor, 0 against, 1 abstention.

New Business: ASC Resolution on 101

Babs opened the discussion. Due to emerging concerns about lack of faculty input, the delayed receipt of a proposal for Phase II, and the perceived lack of responsiveness by the administration to faculty frustrations has created an emotionally charged situation. Task Force members feel villainized. Faculty feel marginalized. Students feel that needs to address diversity issues are being ignored. In this situation, it is important to encourage discussion and critique, and to hear all sides of the controversy surrounding development of 101. The 101 task force will meet with the Curriculum Committee on April 30, 2007 to discuss the evaluation of the 101 Phase I pilot, and hear a Task Force proposal for Phase II. Following a memo to ASC from Mike Grant stating an intention to open a period of review, ASC Executive Committee drafted a resolution (printed on next page) to act on his suggestion.

Babs offered floor privileges to Rolf Norgaard, a former ASC representative and current Task Force member. She reminded the faculty that his presence at the meeting was voluntary, and that she would not let the discussion descend into arguments or personal attacks on him or the Task Force. Rolf said that the Task Force plans an extended pilot in Fall 2007. Faculty comment is invited. Task Force members are aware of widespread frustration. It’s hard to say how to resolve tensions. Task Force members want pilot phases to move forward.

Babs opened discussion from the floor, and numerous faculty articulated concerns. Faculty asked if the approval of A&S academic credit could be sidestepped by the Administration. Executive Committee members responded that the Rules of the Regents give faculty the authority to approve credit, and in A&S that authority rests within ASC. Babs commented that ASC does not have authority to terminate the initiative or any pilot phase; we hold authority only over the approval of academic credit. The Curriculum Committee makes the final decision. ASC can open a period of review prior to any Committee decision being reached.

Frustration was expressed about the confusion that multiple representations of Phase II are being presented to different communities on campus. Faculty also responded to Phil DiStefano’s comment about the budget. Another thread of discussion concerned the scope of the course, and whether it warrants academic credit. Faculty asked that these larger issues should be resolved before additional phases occur.

Babs summarized the discussion, asking faculty if her impression of the discussion is correct, that the A&S faculty community has little say about the initiative, but this community feels it will likely bear the impact. There was agreement that this summary reflected the conversation, and a vote was held (30-0-3) to consider the resolution:

Whereas the Rules of the Regents Article 5.E.5.A-B state that “The faculty takes the lead in decisions concerning … educational policy related to teaching, curriculum … and other academic matters”; and

Whereas the Arts & Sciences faculty and students are targeted communities for teaching and enrolling in 101 pilot courses, and

Whereas A&S faculty have articulated concern about lack of input on 101 course content, development, deployment and approval;

Be it resolved that, consistent with the 15 Mar 07 memo from Mike Grant (AVC for Undergraduate Education), ASC will establish a formal review period for College-wide response to the 101 Task Force Phase 1 pilot report and solicitation of “criticisms, comments and recommendations from all interested parties”. The review period shall begin at a regularly scheduled ASC meeting with distribution of the independent external evaluation report and a proposal for subsequent phases including a financial plan. The length of the review period will permit these materials to be discussed among ASC representatives and A&S faculty. The review period will be completed prior to formal consideration of academic credit.

The vote to support the resolution was 30-0-3. Two abstentions came from Deans who attended the meeting.

Committee Reports

Planning and Space (Mel Cundiff): Cindy White will be the new Chair

Personnel (David Ferris reported for Ken Bickers)

  • Total of 68 cases, 62 positive, 4 negative, 2 in progress
  • Of the positive decisions, 37 were male and 25 were female, with 2 negative cases for each gender.
  • Three Hire-with-Tenure cases were positive, with 7 to 8 cases still to come in.

Grievance (Christian Kopff) reported a drop from a 6 grievances last year to 0 grievances this year.

Diversity (Anne Bliss): the draft Diversity Plan is complete; a period of review will begin immediately. The draft Plan will be distributed to ASC representatives electronically with a request to pass the draft to department faculty for comment by late April. The draft will be revised and put on the ASC website for further comment throughout the summer. In the Fall, the draft will be brought forward to ASC by Emily Yeh (GEOG), new chair of the Committee, for discussion and a vote for adoption.

Curriculum (Rob Tubbs): reported on progress evaluating courses in the Core Curriculum. The new chair of the committee will be elected at an upcoming meeting April 16 or April 30.

Budget (Luis Gonzalez-del-valle): Noel Lenski will be the new Chair

The meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM.

The next meeting will be a special FAS/ASC meeting on April 19, 2007, 3:30 – 4:30 PM in Hellems 252 to interview finalists for the position of A&S Natural Sciences Associate Dean. Finalists include Ken Krauter (MCDB) and Susan Beatty (GEOG).

The next regular meeting of ASC will occur when classes begin in Fall. Rooms cannot be scheduled until 14 May, and as soon as a room is confirmed the fall meetings will be announced via email to all ASC representatives.

March 22, 2007

Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • March 22, 2007
  • 3:30 – 5:00 PM
  • Benson 380

MEMBERS PRESENT: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Ken Bickers, PSCI; Babs Buttenfield, GEOG; Mel Cundiff, EEB; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; Clark Farmer, FILM; David Ferris, CLHM; Luis Gonzalez-del-Valle, SPAN; Michael Huemer, PHIL; Kelly Hurley, ENGL; Christian Kopff, HONR; David Norris, IPHY; Martha Palmer, LING; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Robert Schulzinger, HIST; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Davide Stimili, GSLL; Robert Tubbs, MATH; Vittorio Trionfi, FRIT; Cindy White, COMM.

MEMBERS ABSENT: Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, WMST; Mitch Begelman, APS; Loriliai Biernacki, RLST; Anne Bliss, PWR; David Boonin, PHIL; Keith Julien, APPM; Terry Kleeman, EALC; Noel Lenski, CLAS; Onye Ozuzu, THDN; Hillary Potter, SOCY; Robert Poyton, MCDB; Chuck Stern, GEOL; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC; Shijie Zhong, PHYS.

Minutes from the February 22, 2007 meeting were distributed. A motion to accept the minutes was made by Payson Sheets, seconded by Mel Cundiff and unanimously approved.

Dean’s Report

  • Todd Gleeson announced a call for nominations for a Natural Sciences Associate Dean to begin work July 1, 2007. Nominations will be accepted until March 31, 2007; interviews with Chairs and Directors and with A&S faculty will follow.
  • Todd gave an update on the search for a Vice Chancellor for Research / Dean of the Graduate School. Two of the candidates are internal and three are external. The interviews will extend through the end of April. ASC members are encouraged to attend the interviews.
  • The Dean informed ASC members about the PRP recommendation that the Department of Comparative Literature and Humanities be reorganized. The current proposal is to form committees to oversee graduate and undergraduate programs. CLHM Chair David Ferris and Todd are meeting to discuss options.
  • The Dean discussed the increasing size of the freshman class. In Fall 2007 roughly 5600 freshman will enroll. He expects an increase of about 400 students in the College of Arts & Sciences. The Dean requested additional lines for TAs and GPTIs from the Provost to sustain enrollments.
  • The Dean discussed the Spring Merit exercise. The Dean encouraged departments to consider equity adjustments not completed during the mid-year exercise. The Dean also mentioned that the salaries of men and women are slowly growing apart. He told ASC that he had asked Chairs to address this increase in the Spring if feasible to do so.

Chair’s Report

  • The Chair re-issued a formal call for nominations for the ASC Chair for AY 2007-2008. In accordance with Bylaws, elections will be held at the April 12, 2007 ASC/FAS meeting. Babs will coordinate the election, since she is not eligible to serve another term.
  • The Chair informed the Council that there is a special meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 19, 2007 from 3:30 - 4:30pm in Hellems 252 to introduce the Natural Sciences Associate Dean candidates. Babs also reminded the Arts & Sciences Council that the Provost will be attending the ASC/FAS meeting on April 12th, 2007 from 3:30 - 4:00pm.
  • Babs informed the Council that the 101 memo went out on March 2, 2007 to Michael Grant (AVC Undergraduate Education) and 101 Task Force Members. She distributed a March 16, 2007 endorsement of the memo by the Boulder Faculty Assembly Executive Committee. She also distributed a March 15, 2007 response by Mike Grant to the memo. He offered that Arts & Sciences Council nominate two additional members to the 101 Task Force. Babs solicited names of possible nominees, and several members made suggestions. David Ferris suggested that the two people be liaisons between the Curriculum Committee and the 101 Task Force. It was mentioned that the two Task Force members need to be people who have been involved with discussions regarding the topic. Babs asked the Council to give thought to who the two additional members should be and to get in contact with her via email regarding names. She will send a list of names to Michael Grant as soon as nominees are contacted.

Babs brought up the point that Michael Grant discussed in his letter regarding the 101 memo that the 101 course would not be too expensive. She recalled in a previous ASC meeting that Michael Grant spoke to the Council and informed them that it would be expensive, and that A&S would have to balance costs for 101 against existing curriculum costs. Grant’s letter says the course will count for two credits. Mel Cundiff suggested that 101 should not be tied to academic credit. Payson Sheets informed the ASC that Michael Grant sent 428 letters to students who will be living in the Cheyenne/Arapahoe Hall for Fall 2007 requiring them to take the 101 course.

New Business

  • The motion to implement a Certificate Program Review Process was brought forward by the ASC Executive Committee. Rob Tubbs, Chair of Curriculum Committee, spoke to the motion.
    • Motion: Every five years each certificate program director must report to the Arts & Sciences Curriculum Committee and copy the Dean of the College on the activities of the certificate program. This report should cover a five-year period and include, for each year, the number of students who received the certificate and which courses required for the certificate were offered. The report should also describe reasons for continuing the certificate.The Curriculum Committee will initiate this Certificate Review Process during the 2007-2008 academic year by soliciting information from each certificate program director. The Assistant Dean for Curricular Affairs will be asked to send notice to certificate program directors in the fall, prior to the certificate review. The Curriculum Committee will report its evaluations to the Dean, which will include a recommendation to continue or terminate the certificate program.

    The motion was voted on and unanimously passed, 21 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions.

  • The Arts & Sciences Council discussed a notice of motion that will be voted on by the BFA on April 5, 2007 regarding a CSVC course on student internships.
    • BFA Motion: The BFA Academic Affairs Committee has approved the course CSVC 1000 by a vote of 9-0, and forwards to the full BFA Assembly the motion that the course be approved on an ongoing basis.

    In discussion, points were raised for and against the BFA Motion. Cindy White spoke in favor, arguing that in some cases, students majoring in one discipline are offered internships in another discipline; and when faculty in their home department feel unable to supervise an internship outside their own area, students are left with no alternative for faculty supervision. Bob Schulzinger and other ASC representatives pointed out that A&S departments have active and extensive opportunities for faculty supervised internships. Ken Bickers commented that students on internship represent the University thus underscoring the importance of solid faculty supervision. Following a lively discussion, it was proposed that ASC vote on whether to endorse the BFA motion. The Chair pointed out that a BFA motion cannot be endorsed until BFA votes on it.

    The ASC conducted the following straw poll:

    • ASC Straw Poll: The ASC is opposed to for-credit internships (or equivalents) that are not directly tied to the curriculum goals and supervised by members of academic departments or programs.

    The straw poll result was 14 in favor, 2 opposed, 1 abstention. The Chair did not vote. Babs will go back to the BFA with these results.

The meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm.

The next meeting ASC is a joint meeting of ASC and FAS and will be held on Thursday, April 12, 2007, 3:30 - 5:00 in JILA Auditorium. Provost Phil DiStefano will attend the meeting and answer questions from the floor, 3:30 - 4:30pm.

February 22, 2007

Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • February 22, 2007
  • 3:30 – 5:00 PM
  • Benson 380

MEMBERS PRESENT: Daniel Barth, PSYC; Ken Bickers, PSCI; Anne Bliss, PWR; Babs Buttenfield, GEOG; Mel Cundiff, EEB; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; David Ferris, CLHM; Michael Huemer, PHIL; Kelly Hurley, ENGL; Robert Schulzinger, HIST; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Robert Tubbs, MATH; Cindy White, COMM.

MEMBERS ABSENT: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, WMST; Mitch Begelman, APS; Loriliai Biernacki, RLST; David Boonin, PHIL; Clark Farmer, FILM; Luis Gonzalez-del-Valle, SPAN; Keith Julien, APPM; Terry Kleeman, EALC; Christian Kopff, HONR; Noel Lenski, CLAS; David Norris, IPHY; Onye Ozuzu, THDN; Martha Palmer, LING; Hillary Potter, SOCY; Robert Poyton, MCDB; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Chuck Stern, GEOL; Davide Stimili, GSLL; Vittorio Trionfi, FRIT; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC; Shijie Zhong, PHYS.

Minutes from the January 25, 2007 meeting were distributed and approved unanimously.

Dean’s Report

Babs Buttenfield reported for Todd Gleeson.

A call has been issued for Natural Sciences Associate Dean. Tricia Rankin steps down June 30, 2007.

The Mid-Career Merit exercise will be repeated in other Colleges and Schools on campus whose salaries are below the AAU national average. These include Education, Engineering, Journalism and Music. Faculty rostered in the graduate school may also be nominated for Mid-Career Merit. The same rules will hold as for the A&S exercise. It is estimated that the cost of elevating salaries to 98 percent of the AAU national average will be ~$360K (Engineering) and ~$140k for the rest.

Active discussion followed, and one ASC representative raised the question of whether instructors would ever be considered for Mid-Career merit. The A&S policy permitting a one-course teaching overload was also discussed. The 75 percent Teaching 25 percent Service workload for instructors was discussed, with at least one department (COMM) commenting that this is not workable in practice since most instructors do less than 25 percent service.

Babs informed the Council that Friday, Feb. 23, 2007 from 10:30 - 12:00pm was a forum on capital construction. She requested that someone from the Planning Committee attend this meeting; Mel Cundiff and Cindy White agreed to attend.

Chair’s Report

The Chair issued a formal call for nominations for the next ASC Chair. Elections will be held at the March 22, 2007 ASC meeting. Babs will coordinate the election, since she is not eligible to serve another term. In response to a question regarding proxy votes: the Bylaws stipulate only that the election is held by secret ballot. It should therefore be possible to submit a proxy vote; however the meeting must attain quorum in order for a vote to be held.

Progress on the Western Civilization Proposal: individuals are volunteering for the advisory board. ASC representatives discussed whether the certificate should be “Certificate in Western Civilization” or “Foundations in Western Civilization.” Christian Kopff will re-work the course list to reflect a “Foundations” focus. Babs will draft a memo inviting letters of support from department chairs, and a letter to invite Advisory Board members. It is hoped that the proposal can be brought to the ASC Curriculum Committee before the end of term for approval.

Certification Program Review Process: the Executive Committee will establish a process for periodic review of Certificate Programs. The draft process will be brought to ASC in the next meeting.

New Business

Rob Tubbs, Curriculum Committee Chair, brought forward the following motion:

Effective Fall 2008, no course can qualify for more than one core area. If a course presently qualifies for more than one core area, the course’s home department must determine, by Fall 2007, which one of these core areas the course will continue to satisfy.

Motion passed in Committee 4-3-1.

The floor was opened for discussion. The motion was voted on and failed, 3 in favor, 10 against, 0 abstentions.

101: Council members received the memo that David Ferris, Payson Sheets, and Cindy White revised. Discussion and suggestions ensued. Following a final round of revision, the memo will go to the Task Force on 101 as well as the Dean, the Provost, and the Chancellor. Jerry Hauser, BFA Chair, will also receive a copy. The memo will go out prior to the next ASC meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 4:54 pm. The next meeting of ASC will be held on Thursday, March 22, 2007, 3:30 - 5:00 in Benson 380.

January 25, 2007

Minutes: Arts and Sciences Council

  • January 25, 2007
  • 3:30 – 5:00 PM
  • Benson 380

MEMBERS PRESENT: Daniel Barth, PSYC; Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, WMST; Ken Bickers, PSCI; Loriliai Biernacki, RLST; Anne Bliss, PWR; Babs Buttenfield, GEOG; Mel Cundiff, EEB; Charles de Bartolome, ECON; Clark Farmer, FILM; David Ferris, CLHM; Luis Gonzalez-del-Valle, SPAN; Michael Huemer, PHIL; Kelly Hurley, ENGL; Terry Kleeman, EALC; Christian Kopff, HONR; Noel Lenski, CLAS; David Norris, IPHY; Onye Ozuzu, THDN; Robert Schulzinger, HIST; Payson Sheets, ANTH; Chuck Stern, GEOL; Davide Stimili, GSLL; Vittorio Trionfi, FRIT; Robert Tubbs, MATH; Cindy White, COMM; Shijie Zhong, PHYS.

MEMBERS ABSENT: Albert Alhadeff, AAH; Mitch Begelman, APS; David Boonin, PHIL; Keith Julien, APPM; Martha Palmer, LING; Hillary Potter, SOCY; Robert Poyton, MCDB; Brenda Schick, SLHS; Jeffrey Weiss, ATOC.

Minutes from the November 16, 2006 meeting were distributed and approved unanimously with one abstention.

Announcements

Babs Buttenfield introduced Cindy Kuznik as the new Arts & Sciences Council administrator.

Babs then introduced Patricia Rankin, Associate Dean for Natural Sciences who discussed funding opportunities for LEAP.

  • LEAP has set aside $100K for “Individual Growth Grants”
    • Small grants in the range of $5K-15K will be given for proposals submitted for tenured faculty members who have been at the institution at least ten years to enhance their career portfolios. These grants are open to all genders and fields and proposals will be limited to 1000 words.
  • LEAP has also set aside $100K for “Department Enhanced Grants”
    • Up to $25K will be available for proposals submitted to support unit level transformations. These proposals are limited to 1500 words and should define the work that will be done to enhance the department or institute climate.
  • The deadline for applying is February 19, 2007.
  • Contact Carole Capsalis (carole.capsalis@colorado.edu) for further information.

Dean’s Report

Todd Gleeson announced that the appointment of the new Associate Dean for Social Sciences is Keith Maskus. Keith Maskus will begin in the summer. Associate Dean Joyce Nielsen will stay through Spring.

The Dean informed the ASC members that the Provost responded to the budget proposal for faculty positions for the academic year, 2007-08. The College of Arts & Sciences requested 76 faculty lines and asked to search for 22 next year. The College also submitted a supplemental request for 12 FTE and were given the approval to search on 5. The 5 lines being searched on are:

  • Asian Studies / Muslim World – two FTEs.
  • Global Ethics & Global Democratization – two FTEs.
  • Jewish Studies – one FTE.

This is good news because it will enhance growth within the College. There are no obligations to bring anyone in for Fall.

The third and final issue that Dean Gleeson brought to the table was the issue regarding lack of space in the College: offices, classrooms, research area. A meeting was held the morning of Thursday, Jan. 25, 2007 to discuss this issue to open conversations about new building projects and the lack of office space. Additional information and discussion opportunities will be announced.

Chair’s Report

Babs informed the Arts & Sciences Council that the 101 letter is in process. She asked Payson Sheets, David Ferris, and Cindy White to complete the memo revision started last fall.

New Business

Christian Kopff & Babs Buttenfield introduced a proposal for a Western Civilization Certificate. Volunteers and nominations are being solicited for a Faculty Advisory Board to oversee this program. An initial list of courses under consideration for this program was distributed and the floor was opened to discussion. (After the meeting, Babs and Christian announced at the BFA Executive Committee meeting that the Certificate proposal is under development.)

One suggestion was made that a sunset clause be added to the Certificate proposal. Discussion around this point expanded to a consideration whether to establish sunset dates for all certificate programs. A seven-year timeframe was suggested. Babs asked representatives to discuss this in their departments and come to the February meeting with feedback. She returned the issue of establishing a periodic review of existing Certificate programs to the Curriculum Committee, asking for a report at the next ASC meeting.

Rob Tubbs, Chair of Curriculum Committee, submitted a copy of a motion voted on by the Curriculum Committee that determines how many areas of the core curriculum any course may satisfy.

Motion Effective Fall 2008, no course can satisfy more than one area of the Core Curriculum. Departments must decide by Fall 2007 which area is satisfied for each of their courses listed in the Core.

The floor was opened for discussion. Arguments in favor of the motion emphasized simplifying workloads for advising, for evaluation of transfer credits, and for Unit and College Curriculum Committees. Arguments opposed to the motion raised concerns about supporting student progress toward degree completion in semesters when a course or courses in a particular area of the Core Curriculum are not offered. A concern expressed by several ASC representatives who currently teach core courses is that the material in their courses spans multiple areas of the Core, necessitating the need for multiple listing.

Babs informed the ASC members that they will vote on this motion at the next meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 4:58 pm. The next meeting of ASC will be held on Thursday, February 22, 2007, 3:30 - 5:00 in Benson 380.

December 14, 2006

Minutes: Faculty of Arts & Sciences Meeting

  • December 14, 2006
  • Old Main Chapel

The meeting was called to order at 3:32 pm.

It was moved, seconded and approved unanimously that the Minutes for the FAS meetings of April 27, 2006 and September 28, 2006 be approved.

Chair’s Report

  • Babs announced that in mid-October the ASC lost its staff assistant. Candidates for the position will be interviewed soon and it is expected that the position will be filled by mid-January.
  • ASC voted in October to institute a 10 week drop period.
  • Alphonse Keasley and Michael Grant, AVC for Undergraduate Education, attended a meeting of the ASC to present information regarding Future Planning for 101. Babs is currently drafting a memo in response to information presented.
  • A certificate program for Western Civilization is currently in process.
  • Candidates for the Social Sciences Associate Dean position will be attending the meeting. Following their presentations and a Q&A period, those present will discuss faculty needs and requirements for College administration in coming years.

Dean’s Report

  • Departments are currently working on distribution of unit merit allocations. Departments were given allocations, which are to be distributed to undercompensated faculty relative to merit (degree of productivity.) The unit merit funds should move the College to the 97th percentile of AAU salaries.
  • Budget Committee is talking about updating the algorithm for the College.
  • There are currently 62 faculty searches being conducted in the College. Filling these vacant positions should reduce vacant lines from a high of 75 to approximately 25.
  • The College Strategic Plan has been updated and can be viewed on the web.
  • Dean Gleeson is currently drafting a memo to the chairs to address issues related to curriculum housekeeping as identified by the Task Force on Colorado Challenge.

Babs announced that the College recently celebrated the College Professors of Distinction for 2005. At the reception to honor the recipients of this award, each recipient gave a short talk on what their research entailed. The receipients for 2005 are Mark Ablowitz (APPM), Bob Schulzinger (HIST), Michael Tooley (PHIL), and Tom Veblen (GEOG),

Standing Committee Reports

  • Curriculum Committee (Rob Tubbs) Core course review is in process for literature and arts. It’s a big job and discussion has taken place about having the departments provide a more comprehensive review of their courses prior to sending them to the Curriculum Committee.
  • Diversity (Anne Bliss) The committee is writing diversity plan for the College.
  • Grievance (Christian Kopff) No grievances this semester. Previous years grievances due to lack of written criteria for merit review available in departments. Since departments now have that written criteria, grievances are less likely.
  • Personnel (Ken Bickers) Comprehensive reviews have been completed. Committee will reconvene in January to finish P&T and move on to full professors and hires with tenure. The Committee is impressed with the caliber of cases reviewed this year.
  • Planning and Technology (Mel Cundiff) This committee monitors Boulder Campus Planning Commission and the Information Technology Council for items of interest to the College.

Candidates for the Associate Dean for Social Sciences were introduced and gave a brief overview of their experience and vision for the position.

  • Darna Dufour, Chair, Department of Anthropology. Darna has been chair for eight years and involved in College, campus and system committees. Her administrative style is to work together in a collaborative manner and she believes in being supportive of faculty and providing leadership. She believes the AD position can help department chairs and provide leadership in collaboration with the Dean.
  • Keith Maskus, former chair of the Department of Economics for four years, pointed to his success in growing the Department of Economics and improving graduate support and diversity. He accomplished this by defining goals everyone agreed with and procedures that supported the faculty. Keith’s management approach is to get to the essence of the issue, make suggestions for pursuit of the issue, and get the necessary people together to accomplish the issue. He would like to see faculty better paid.

Candidates provided their views on the following issues raised by those present:

  • Lack of visibility of the social sciences,
  • Protection of academic integrity and autonomy of colleagues working on controversial topics.
  • Addressing disparities in the College, especially with respect to teaching loads for TA’s and GPTI’s.
  • Their vision of projects emerging from social sciences that don’t involve faculty issues, but would add to the well-being of the University.
  • To what extent the candidates viewed the AD job as an advocate for the departments.
  • How the candidate would balance the needs of departments relative to the needs of centers, institutes and interdisciplinary programs in terms of competing demands.
  • Thoughts about supporting the social sciences in non-divisional departments.

Following the departure of the candidates Babs opened discussion on faculty needs and requirements for College administration in coming years. Following are the thoughts brought forth:

  • Social sciences become more visible.
  • What can be done to enhance the College and make the social sciences more prominent.
  • Rapid feedback and decisions from AD’s.
  • AD’s support of departments.
  • AD’s advocate for departments.
  • AD candidates have a proven research record and reputation.
  • More focus on teaching and the role of instructors.
  • Willingness to make unpopular decisions regarding space.
  • Choice of new social science AD should complement current group.
  • Accessibility of AD’s.
  • That social science AD get to know his/her department faculty and understand department personalities so feedback can be offered on handling people/personnel problems.
  • AD’s be proactive working with department on reappointment, promotion and tenure – mentor chairs on putting together dossiers.
  • Respect department variety—no one size fits all.

The final question asked was when the decision would be made. Dean Gleeson’s response was that he would be meeting with the candidates on Friday and would make his decision the following week. He encouraged input from those present.

The meeting adjourned at 4:50 pm.

September 28, 2006

Minutes: Faculty of Arts & Sciences Special Meeting

  • September 28, 2006
  • Hale 270 4:30 – 5:30pm

ASC Chair Babs Buttenfield introduced ASC as the faculty governance body for College of Arts & Sciences Other Colleges do not have analogous body.

  • ~40 departments programs—one council rep from each
  • ~740 voting faculty

Formed 1996 to assert the right and responsibility of A&S Faculty to participate fully in the governance of A&S including all matters of educational policy, academic ethics, faculty appointments, promotion and tenure, budgetary review, selection of administrators, and other policies concerning the general academic welfare.

ASC chairs over past decade elected from across the College:

  • Jeff Mitton EBIO
  • Fred Anderson HIST
  • Tony Barker PHYS (deceased)
  • Gail Ramsburger SLHS
  • Babs Buttenfield GEOG

Six standing Committees have members ASC reps and FAS interested faculty:

  • Budget acts jointly with the Dean to review College budget and planning process.
  • Curriculum comprehensive review of courses for Core credit (5-year cycle)
    • 2005-06 QRMS, Written Communication, Foreign Languages (~80 courses reviewed)
    • 2006-07 Literature & the Arts, Culture & Gender Diversity (~160 courses scheduled)
  • Diversity advises Dean on diversity programs in the College
    • 05-06, critical review of the Annual Diversity Reports for Christie Yoshinaga-Itano
    • 06-07 craft a Diversity Plan for the College—draft for discussion S07.
  • Grievance recommends to Dean about career salary and annual merit grievances (05-06 reviewed 4 cases)
  • Planning members participate in all meetings of:
    • Campus Information Technology Council
    • Boulder Campus Planning Commission
  • Personnel Committee acts on re-appointment, tenure, and promotion. (05-06 53 dossiers)
    • 24 Reappointment cases (7 W): rate of success 100 percent
    • 17 Promotion and Tenure cases (7 W): 80 percent M, 86 percent W
    • 12 Promotion to Full Professor (2 W): 80 percent M, 100 percent W

Also: 13 hires with tenure (6 W)

13 nominations to select College Professors of Distinction. Honorific title initiated by Todd Gleeson this past year to recognize A&S scholars and artists of national and international distinction who are also recognized by College peers as teachers and colleagues of exceptional talent.

  • Bob Schulzinger HIST
  • Mark Ablowitz APPM
  • Tom Veblen GEOG
  • Michael Tooley PHIL

ASC work on additional matters in the past year

  • change drop date 6th to the 10th week (upheld that decision 14 Sept)
  • move toward a paperless course drop procedure
  • eliminate the grade of IW, that reverts to a Withdraw if coursework is not completed within a single year.

ASC also reviewed its Bylaws, and adopted revisions in April.

An ASC Task Force on the Colorado Challenge was formed last year.

Colorado Challenge issued 2004 by Todd Gleeson to encourage reconsideration of teaching methods and opportunities across the College that will improve and sustain rigor and excellence in learning.

The Task Force was charged to identify ways to move the Colorado Challenge from concept paper to plan for action; report just completed and is currently under review by the Dean and Associate Deans.

In short, in a College as large as this, the Arts & Sciences Council is the mechanism that builds community between departments, that supports collective discussion and decision-making, and that sustains proactive communication with the College, with BFA, and with campus administrators.

Dean Todd Gleeson introduced Chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson.

Peterson outlined three goals

  • Reaffirming UCB’s flagship status (strengthen community ties, boost funding).
  • Focus on people (create 25 new faculty lines, invest in staff support).
  • Launch a strategic planning effort (changing chancellors responsibilities).

He opened the floor for questions.

Dennis McGilvray ANTH asked about the allocation of 25 new faculty lines

Peterson response: Provost Phil DiStefano estimated 10 tenure-track, 10 instructor and 5 “special or spousal opportunity” hires. Peterson wants significant number to be for tenure-track jobs or for special opportunity hires related to diversity or the hiring of a faculty spouse, for instance. He is working with deans on competitive proposal process, some core areas, some newly emerging.

Uriel Nauenberg PHYS asked about the increasing number of instructors at UCB whose benefits differ from tenure-track faculty; he commented this creates a two-tiered society on this campus.

Peterson response: With little increase in the number of tenure-track faculty at UCB growth in enrollment covered by adding instructors. One key issue in the new strategic plan will be “how big do we want to be?” Peterson is not convinced that bigger is necessarily better. The campus can’t deal with 30,000 undergraduates here, given the current financial situation.

Jeff Mitton EBIO asked about the strategic planning process.

Peterson is soliciting nominations for task force charged with writing six to eight position papers. Next spring, input from campus and community. The plan is to craft and then revise the papers, create an action plan and present it to the regents Aug 07.

Michele Jackson COM asked how does A&S fit into the strategic plan.

Peterson responded by saying, “The best thing I can do is strengthen the arts and sciences.”

Payson Sheets ANTH asked about the student honor code and if faculty be held to same standard.

Peterson said he hopes faculty would hold themselves to a higher standard, serving as role models for students.

Andy Cowell FRIT commented that academic rigor and grade inflation must be addressed by the system, not just by UCB, since it is hard for a single faculty member to make a difference.

Peterson response: It’s good that discussions about grade inflation and class rank on transcripts focus on academic rigor.

Lew Harvey PSYC said that reforms launched by President Hank Brown leave faculty feeling administrative pressure to take on more work without staff support. He said this takes time away from tasks relevant to faculty job descriptions. Lew said faculty feel accused, and sense a lack of trust, as if faculty are being punished for the sins of a few.

Peterson said recent issues have simply prompted the need for greater compliance efforts, intended to educate people about regulations.

Uriel Nauenberg PHYS said that many of the details now required on forms are “immaterial and superfluous.”

Katherine Eggert ENGL said that her department is larger than some Colleges on campus, She has only three staff members to support 50 faculty and 1,000 majors. Overworked staff delegate to faculty, who often make mistakes. Peterson agreed this is not a good use of faculty time.

Peterson thanked A&S for sustaining increased instruction load this fall.

The meeting adjourned at 5:45 pm.

September 14, 2006

Minutes: Arts and Sciences Council Meeting

  • September 14, 2006
  • 3:30 – 5:00 P.M.
  • UMC 382/384

MEMBERS PRESENT: Daniel Barth, Lorraine Bayard DeVolo, Ken Bickers, Loriliai Biernacki, Anne Bliss, David Boonin (alt. for Michael Huemer), Babs Buttenfield, Mel Cundiff, Charles de Bartolome, Clark Farmer, David Ferris, Luis Gonzalez-del-Valle, Kelly Hurley, Terry Kleeman, Christian Kopff, Noel Lenski, David Norris, Onye Ozuzu, Martha Palmer, Hillary Potter, Brenda Schick, Payson Sheets, Davide Stimilli, Vittorio Trionfi, Robert Tubbs, Jeffrey Weiss, Shijie Zhong.

MEMBERS ABSENT: Albert Alhadeff, Mitch Begelman, Keith Julien, Robert Poyton, Robert Schulzinger, Chuck Stern, Cindy White.

Minutes from the FAS meeting of April 27, 2006 were distributed. Following a brief discussion to correct errors, the minutes were approved by voice vote with 2 abstentions.

Chair’s Report

ASC Chair Babs Buttenfield announced that the ASC Task Force on the Colorado Challenge has submitted a report to Dean Gleeson and the Associate Deans. The report is currently under review and will appear on the agenda at a future ASC meeting for discussion and distribution to departments.

Michael Grant and Alphonse Keasley have accepted an invitation to the October meeting to update ASC on the 101 pilot project, which is currently underway.

A special meeting of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences (FAS) has been called to provide an opportunity for Chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson to meet the College. The meeting will take place September 25, 2006 at 4:30 p.m. in Hale 270. Chancellor Peterson has made several presentations on campus in recent weeks but this meeting is especially intended to focus on his vision for A&S, and to allow him to hear faculty and instructor concerns in the College. ASC representatives were asked to encourage as many colleagues as possible to attend.

Dean’s Report

Todd Gleeson reported that the initial awards for College Professor of Distinction were announced last spring. Those named were Bob Schulzinger HIST; Mark Ablowitz APPM; Tom Veblen GEOG; and Michael Tooley PHIL. The awardees will be honored this year, and each will present a lecture. The ASC Personnel Committee will refine the nomination and selection process during the coming academic year.

Todd also reviewed last spring’s salary and unit merit exercise, which will continue for four years. He reviewed faculty recruitment and retention figures (42 hires last year; 28 percent of the people hired are people of color, 20 percent (not sure from your notes if this is a percentage or raw number) are women). Of the 36 known retention cases last year, the Dean made counter offers to 21, spending $104,000 on retention offers (this is down from previous years). This year the College has authorized 57 searches; roughly 17 are aimed at mid-career or senior hires. The majority of searches are in the social sciences and humanities.

At the end of last spring, Interim Provost Susan Avery called for strategic plans from all Colleges by Sept 25. Todd is preparing the College submission, based on a newly updated version of the plan that was approved by the faculty in 2002. He will make sure his submission is distributed.

The Chair noted that ASC Diversity Committee is working on a Diversity Strategic Plan for the College that will be finished later this fall that will expand upon the Dean’s September report.

Todd was asked about the status of the Strategic Hiring Initiative (“100 Lines”) begun last year, and its inclusion in the Strategic Plan. Todd responded that he plans to request new faculty lines, and will construct four to five “umbrella initiatives” to cover the 30 proposals that emerged from last year’s exercise. New faculty lines will improve the current student-faculty ratio in the College, which is high relative to other campuses and peer institutions.

New Business

Tenth-Week Drop Policy

The Chair distributed a chronology outlining the approval process of the Tenth-Week Drop policy, which was adopted in October 2005 by ASC and took effect in spring 2006. The Chair noted that Assistant Dean Elizabeth Guertin assured her via email that the Policy is still in effect in the College, despite a recent announcement from the Registrar’s Office that appeared to contradict the policy. The Chair enumerated the items in the chronology, noting especially that last year, ASC also approved measures to: 1) permit drops without instructor permission up to the tenth week, 2) to encourage the College to move to a paperless drop procedure, 3) to terminate Course Forgiveness, and 4) to permit each A&S student to drop a course once in their career as late as the final day of the semester, without petition. Additionally, the Chair noted that in a BFA election in February, faculty approved a measure to continue Course Forgiveness campus-wide for the next three years. That measure effectively overrode the ASC decision.

The Chair asked those present to reconsider whether the Tenth Week Drop policy should be continued. The Chair informed the ASC members assembled that other Colleges are awaiting a decision from ASC before making their own decisions.

The floor was opened for discussion on the Tenth Week Drop policy. Members recounted arguments for and against the Tenth Week Drop policy: Students take up seats in high-demand courses and later drop, taking up seats that might better be filled by motivated students on the wait list; Reverting the drop date to the former policy would make ’s practice inconsistent with that of peer institutions, where drop dates commonly occur in the eighth week or later; Later drop dates may affect academic quality adversely; Students lack sufficient information regarding their course standing until after midterms to determine whether to drop a course; A tenth week drop date might promote grade inflation; A single drop date may not be equally effective for large and small courses, nor for lower and upper division courses; Exceptions must be allowed, especially in language courses and introductory courses with numerous sections. Proposals for setting drop dates at two weeks, six weeks, and eight weeks were put forward. Clarification was received (when? from whom?) that tuition is not returned to students who drop after the sixth week, regardless of the circumstances, and that the opportunity to petition the Dean’s office for an exception remains available to students who choose to drop a class no matter what deadline is approved by ASC.

Rob Tubbs moved to retain the existing Tenth Week Drop policy. Luis Gonzalez-del-Valle seconded the motion. The motion passed by a vote of 20 for, 5 opposed, and no abstentions. 1 member did not vote.

Charles De Bartolome made a secondary motion to terminate the last day drop policy in light of the Course Forgiveness policy. Clark Farmer seconded the motion.

Terry Kleeman made a friendly amendment to the motion on the floor to suspend (and not terminate) the last day drop policy so long as the Course Forgiveness policy is in place. Clark Farmer seconded the motion. Following brief discussion the motion passed with 23 in favor, 1 opposed, and 1 abstention. 1 member did not vote.

Proposed Revision to Multi-Sectioned Course Policy

Todd Gleeson distributed a draft memo requesting that ASC consider revising the Multi-Sectioned Course policy to include common grading practices, and to encourage individual units to examine and remedy instances where, in the judgment of the department, section or course variability has become excessive. Todd explained that the multi-course policy dates back to 1991 stemming from a controversy about multi-sectioned courses at that time. The concern is that when courses are graded inconsistently, grade complaints or grievances become hard to defend. Todd suggests that departments develop guidelines for grading in such courses. Due to the late hour, discussion was postponed until the next ASC meeting.

Babs Buttenfield asked for and received, by consensus, permission of the membership to allow the Executive Committee to approve assignment of ASC Committee rosters, acting in place of a formally elected Committee on Committees.

The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m. The next ASC meeting is October 12, 2005, in UMC 382/384.