Present: R. Osgood, J. Brand, J. Swartz, B. Grey, D. Kaiser, K. Kamp, J. Mohan, J. Mutti, B.Voyles.

The meeting came to order at 4:15 in the Nollen House Conference Room.

The minutes and excerpts of the February 13, 2002 meeting were approved.

President's Remarks

The President noted that he had received an appeal of an academic honesty case and asked for three Council volunteers to hear the case. J. Mohan, K. Kamp, and B. Voyles volunteered.

Dean's Remarks

The Dean updated Council on the status of searches in Political Science, Music, and Psychology.

He reported the number of qualified students for off-campus study is greater than expected. The budget projections have been examined and some voluntary shifting between semesters has taken place, however all things considered there will be a high watermark (approximately 220) for off-campus study next year. Our own programs have high enrollments as well.

He noted that the College has received several invitations for nominations lately. P. Smith has drafted a statement which will nominate Grinnell for an award in a Institutions of Excellence in the First College Year competition promoted by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Atlantic Philanthropies. We have also been invited to nominate faculty for a number of awards. We are in the process of identifying faculty and soliciting their interest in being nominated.

The Dean noted that the College has received an invitation from the Mellon Foundation to extend our postdoctoral fellows program. He stated that he will prepare a set of issues to be discussed by Council regarding our experience with the program prior to a response to the Foundation. The President noted that current procedures need to be changed so that there is actual relief provided to a department receiving a fellow rather than what is currently being experienced as a multiplication of tasks. However, he also noted that it is important to continue to be responsive in our relationship with the Foundation.

Discussion of a Proposal from the Department of Chinese and Japanese

The Dean noted that J. Mohan, B. Grey, and others met this week to discuss the proposal in view of Council concerns. This group recommended moving forward this week with a full and final Council discussion of this proposal because of time pressures on the recruitment process should that discussion lead to a positive outcome.

J. Mohan moved, B. Grey seconded, approval of the proposal from the Department of Chinese and Japanese which will allow the Department to move forward with a search for a four-year term position in Japanese language, literature, and culture. B. Grey reviewed the recent history of discussions and decisions made by the East Asian Studies Concentration which ultimately defined this proposal and the Fund for Excellence proposal which provided for the first position in Japanese.

After considerable discussion the President called for a vote on the motion. The motion was approved. The President expressed his gratitude to Council for a thorough discussion and for their support which will allow the program to move forward in a manner consistent with the Freeman Foundation grant. He looked forward to establishing a strong program.

Discussion of the Academic Planning Process

B. Grey asked if it would be possible for Division Chairs to meet with Carol Trosset this week regarding the design of a second faculty survey since she will be away from campus for the next several weeks. It was decided that it would not be possible since they are in the process of getting additional faculty feedback in the division meetings. It was further decided that member of Council could meet without Carol in order to make some initial decisions on directions that the survey should take. D. Kaiser asked to what extent Council members believe that there is any enthusiasm among the faculty for a second survey. K. Kamp and B. Grey noted that it is not possible to set priorities without further input since the results of the first survey would not permit this type of assessment. They did recognize that it would be necessary to encourage faculty to take the second survey seriously and respond thoughtfully…noting that if the faculty do indeed wish to have their voices heard, then they must speak.

The Dean asked Council to take the next step beyond the newly approved Mission Statement which is to draft an institutional "vision statement". He suggested that the Dean's Office could take the lead in drafting such a statement for Council to consider. D. Kaiser objected to the concept of second guessing the self expression in the language of the current Mission Statement. B. Voyles asked whether this proposed vision statement would incorporate the core values stating that he does not wan the core values to disappear. The Dean replied that since the vision statement would revolve around the academic program it would only encompass those elements of the core values. B. Voyles noted that is what is being proposed is really a compilation of mission statement and core values which he thinks would be useful. Several members of Council agreed that it would be valuable to have a document that would be useful to Admissions and Development efforts.

Council Remarks

D. Kaiser asked that future agendas be rearranged so that Council remarks appear earlier in the agenda so that there is time for such business. It was agreed. K. Kamp also asked Council members including the President and Dean to make their remarks via email prior to Council meetings to save time in the meetings. Council members can indicate their desire to comment upon or discuss any of the remarks, if their nature is controversial.

D. Kaiser asked the status of the President's research into copyright and legal actions taken against college libraries.

He also asked whether the Development Office was currently targeting athletic facilities in its fundraising efforts, and how this ambition ranked with other current development targets.

D. Kaiser also asked whether the President had moved forward with his research into the new experiments at Williams College, especially in view of the recent Chronicle article regarding Williams new emphasis on tutorials in relation to their move to the new 2-2 teaching load.

B. Grey noted that he had held a meeting for junior faculty yesterday with attendance of approximately 15 faculty regarding personnel procedures and policies. He noted those in attendance were overwhelmingly faculty from the Humanities Division. He will hold a second meeting with the view toward attracting junior faculty from other divisions.

The meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m.

Secretary
Karen Wiese