Present: President Osgood, J. Brand, Dean J. Swartz, Associate Dean P. Smith, E. Dobbs, B. Ferguson, B. Grey, T. Moore, M. Pillado-Miller, D. Smith, B. Voyles

The meeting was called to order by the President at 4:22 p.m. in Nollen House.

The minutes and excerpts of the meeting of March 15, 2000 were corrected and approved.

Remarks of the President

The President noted that the final Campus Master Plan documents have been received by the College and are being distributed to locations around campus for community access.

Remarks of the Dean

In a previous meeting Council Members raised some questions from faculty members on the outcomes of Council recommendations with respect to faculty positions requested last spring and fall. The Dean summarized those requests, Council recommendations, and the outcomes.

Spring, 1999

Art (2 positions, one replacement and one expansion)

Chemistry (2 positions, one replacement for a faculty member who resigned and one tenure track replacement for a faculty member in administration)

Education (Full time replacement for part of a faculty member who resigned)

English (Full-time replacement for part of the 1.5 time position of faculty members who resigned)

Gender and Women's Studies (Full time replacement for part of a faculty member who resigned)

East Asian/Chinese Studies Concentration (Japanese)

Philosophy (2 positions, one replacement and one expansion)

Spanish (2 positions, one replacement and one expansion)

Council was unenthusiastic about the expansions in Art, in Philosophy, and for the GWS position. Council was opposed to making an appointment in a concentration. It also felt that more thought needed to go on before we could search in Japanese. The Council recommended the other positions be filled, but with the chemistry replacement position ranked distinctly below the others.

The College followed fairly closely the recommendations of Council. The only exceptions are that we did a term search in Spanish, and filled a position in Chemistry in a term basis. This year's Council recommended a solution to GWS that uses existing faculty members and the term position in Japanese. Last year, Council also recommended two tenure track positions be filled without searches. These positions were offered by the Dean and accepted.

Fall, 2000

The following departments requested in the Fall that positions be filled. They were recommended by Council, approved by the administration, and searches are underway or completed.

Chinese (replacing a faculty member who resigned)

History (replacing a faculty member who resigned)

Library (replacing a faculty member who resigned)

Music (replacing a faculty member moving to SFS)

Theatre (replacing a faculty member who resigned)

The Dean noted that next week neither he nor the President would be in town for Council. E. Dobbs suggested that Council meet and take up the business which is not critical to the presence of the Dean and the President. The faculty allocation discussion will be scheduled for a special time.

The Dean reviewed recent faculty actions which have prompted several departments to move quickly to execute searches. E. Dobbs moved, B. Ferguson seconded, approval of position descriptions for one-year term appointments in anthropology, political science, and chemistry, and a two-year term appointment in sociology. The motion was approved.

The Dean provided the background for discussion of a new search in biology for a molecular/cellular biologist. B. Voyles moved, M. Pillado-Miller seconded, approval of a new position description for a one-year term appointment. The motion was approved.

The Dean noted that the Curriculum Committee had provided Council with a document which reviews the state of the so-called capstone experiment. E. Dobbs noted that Council had asked the Curriculum Committee to look at the capstone earlier in the year. This document reflects a long process of discussions initiated by the Committee with faculty and students throughout the year. What the Committee is bringing to the Council is a proposed working definition for the five years of the experiment. The Committee hopes that the Council will approve the outlines of the document and present a proposal to the full faculty this year for their discussion and, hopefully, their approval. E. Dobbs said that the faculty, which has oversight of the curriculum, needs to take charge of the experiment, if it thinks the experiment worthy, or to discontinue it. A lengthy discussion ensued. Dobbs offered to try to redraft the document in time for next week's Council meeting; if approved by Council, a document could go before the faculty at its next meeting.

The Dean noted a recommendation from the History Department to make an offer of appointment for a tenure-track position that was sent to Council by the chair electronically. B. Ferguson moved, B. Voyles seconded, approval of the recommendation. The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.

Secretary
Karen Wiese