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 15,1999 were corrected and approved.

Remarks by the President

The President presented each member of the Council with a copy of "Diversity at Grinnell" which he wrote in response to a request by the Affirmative Action Committee. The document is also on the College website at: http:www.grinnell.edu/President/Communications/diversity.htm.

He announced the Board of Trustees would be meeting in Grinnell on February 10-11, 2000. He noted that their agenda is substantially focused on their structure for making investments and whether or not to make any changes. Ruane and Cunniff & Co., Inc. will be present in their capacity as investment management consultants. The Board will also consider the budget for approval and will discuss the final Campus Master Plan report. Thereafter, the Board's Master Plan Committee will be dissolved and the full Board will probably examine their immediate planning priorities. An Architectural & Engineering Request for Proposals has been issued for planning and design of the Campus Welcome Center/Admissions/Registrar/Financial Aid building.

The President noted that the College has lost several Trustees recently with the deaths of Theodore Lovejoy and John Chrystal, and with the resignations of Jim Gordon and Larry Pidgeon in July and September, respectively.

Remarks by the Dean

The Dean remarked that his office has sent out 72 applicants for the Consortium for a Strong Minority Presence fellowships to department chairs.

February 1 is the postmark deadline for the Mellon post-doctoral applications process and we have received a very impressive response with over 350 applications received thus far.

The Dean's office is very busy interviewing candidates for faculty positions at this time and will continue to be for several weeks.

The Dean noted that he has, today, distributed a memorandum to the faculty on the issue of faculty diversification.

Leave Replacement in Philosophy

The Dean presented a position description for a one-year replacement from the Department of Philosophy for approval. M. Pillado-Miller moved, and T. Moore seconded, approval.
The motion carried.

Leave Replacement in Education

The Dean presented a position description for a one-year replacement from the Department of Education. B. Ferguson moved, and M. Pillado-Miller seconded, approval. The motion carried.

Time to Complete Terminal Degree

The Dean noted that P. Smith had taken the will of the Executive Council and drafted new language for the Faculty Handbook on the time to complete the terminal degree.

B. Voyles entered the meeting at 5:00 p.m.

D. Smith moved, and E. Dobbs seconded, that the new wording changes to be taken to the full faculty be approved. A discussion ensued. The motion was tabled pending a re-draft by P. Smith.

Faculty Meeting Agendas

The Dean noted that there are three dates set for faculty meeting prior to spring break (2/7, 2/21, 3/6) and asked Council to begin taking up agenda items. He suggested that, while he wants to avoid taking time with endless administrative reports, he does think that brief reports from admissions, public relations, and computer services would be useful. A brief discussion ensued. B. Voyles asked the President if he would brief the faculty on the results of the Board's upcoming budget discussions as a follow-up to the presentation he made in the first semester to the full faculty. The President agreed.

The dates and agenda items that were tentatively scheduled were:

February 7–Time to terminal degree/Computer Services/PR/Honorary degree nomination

February 21–Budget report of the President/Admissions/Grievance Procedure/Department Chair Duties

March 6–no agenda at this time

Council Members Remarks

B. Voyles noted that there have been several incidents regarding the recording of grades for fall semester and asked the Dean to look into it.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m.

Secretary
Karen Wiese