Present: President Osgood, Special Assistant to the President J. Brand, Dean J. Swartz, Associate Deans H. Scott and P. Smith, E. Dobbs, B. Ferguson, T. Moore, M. Pillado-Miller, D. Smith, B. Voyles

The meeting was called to order by the President at 4:18 p.m. in Nollen House.

The minutes and excerpts of the meeting of December 1,1999 were corrected and approved.

Remarks by the President

Budget planning for 2000/01 is moving along on schedule.

Time to Complete Terminal Degrees

Council continued its discussion regarding the time allowed for newly appointed tenure-track faculty to complete their terminal degree.

President Osgood and J. Brand left the meeting at 4:55 p.m.

Department Chair Duties and Release Time

When our current system of course releases for department chairs was instituted three years ago, the faculty requested that Council review our system in three years to determine how well it is working.

Council began its review of compensation for chairs by discussing the broader issue of chairs' duties and a perceived increase in the burden on chairs over the past decade. Council members agreed that this does require that we take a careful look at the demands we are placing on chairs so that we provide fair compensation.

The Dean asked Council members to talk with their constituents about how chairs' duties can be reduced or streamlined.

This discussion will be continued.

H. Scott left the meeting at 5:45 p.m.

Council Member Remarks

B. Ferguson raised a question about diversity in the faculty and hoped the Council could take up this issue in the near future, both to inform itself and to take a role in developing new strategies for increasing faculty diversity.

E. Dobbs invited Council members to review the original Council agenda constructed at the beginning of the year (August, 1999) and to not both progress made this semester and items not yet addressed or resolved.

T. Moore reminded the Council that the status of lecturers remains an ongoing agenda item.

Council needs to meet next week to discuss the new grievance procedure and Political Science review. The Council found that it would meet at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, December 15.

The Dean adjourned the meeting at 6:04 p.m.

Secretaries
Helen Scott and Paula Smith