Present: R. Osgood, J. Brand, J. Swartz, P. Smith, D. Caulkins, W. Ferguson, B. Grey, K. Kamp, T. Moore, M. Pillado Miller, B. Voyles.

The meeting came to order at 4:20 p.m. in the Nollen House Conference Room. The minutes and excerpts from the 2/21/01, 2/17/01, and 2/28/01 meetings were approved.

President's Remarks

The President reminded Council that the Board of Trustee's Campus Planning Committee members (C. Little, N. Brue, D. Booth, B. Musser) are meeting in Grinnell on March 9 and have extended a dinner invitation to members of Council.

He noted that in relation to the discussion of the budget at the faculty meeting on February 19th and March 5th he has been thinking of changing the budget development process, separating formulation from finance. The new campus budget advisory process will be altered to include members of Council.

He spoke about the May Board meeting in Grinnell and suggested that it was likely that the Board will approve three new dormitories to allow for decompression of the current dorms and the new energy center facility.

Dean's Remarks

The Dean updated Council on the status of faculty searches.

He noted that the Grinnell College catalog has remained essentially the same for decades and that a group of administrators have been looking at the organization with a view toward changing it. He passed out a suggested reorganization which leads with information about the academic program that would be of interest to prospective students. He also stated that the process of preparing it and updating it would be changed to incorporate more realistic deadlines for submitting revisions from various units.

He noted that the steering committee for the Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement project met over the weekend with faculty and administrators from Oberlin. The committee is forming joint focus groups to discuss major issues. He observed that the main issue for Grinnell is faculty time, whereas at Oberlin the main issue is the lack of intergenerational community among the faculty.

He stated that he would like to engage Council in a discussion of the process of setting faculty salaries. To this end, he distributed a memorandum which lays out an alternative process for their consideration.

B. Ferguson moved, B. Grey seconded, approval of the recommendation of the Anthropology Department to make and offer for a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow position. The motion was approved.

M. Pillado Miller moved, K. Kamp seconded, approval of the conversion of the Consortium for a Strong Minority Presence position to a tenure-track position in the Russian Department and make an offer. The motion was approved.

Diversity Proposal

M. Pillado Miller moved, B. Grey seconded, approval of the recommendation of the Music Department to make an offer. The motion was approved.

Discussion of Faculty Status Issues

There was discussion of a proposal submitted to Council from K. Kamp to recommend creation of part-time tenure-track positions to the full faculty

B. Voyles led a discussion of the status of lecturers at Grinnell.

The Dean noted that, during the audit conducted this summer by the firm McGladry & Pullen, the administrators of Treasurer's Office were advised of inefficiencies in the various financial processes of the College. The College is now working with consultants from the auditing firm to examine these processes with the hope of improving efficiency.

The meeting adjourned at 6:13 p.m.

Secretary
Karen Wiese