Present: V. Brown, L. Gregg-Jolly, D. Lopatto, W. Moyer, R. Osgood, J. Swartz, R. Vetter, E. Willis

The meeting came to order at 4:20 p.m. in the Nollen Conference Room.

The minutes and excerpts of the 5/4/05 and 5/11/05 meetings were approved.

President's Remarks

The President thanked Council members for their hard work and long hours on strategic planning and the diversity hire initiative throughout the year in addition to their regular duties.

He told Council that he would like to talk with them about the Forum. He noted that this will ultimately be a Trustee decision, but he would like to begin to think about various campus planning issues including how the future gets shaped in relation to function, cost, and architectural decisions with the input from Council.

He would also like to chat about the future shape of diversity functions at the College. He supports the continuation of the Diversity Steering Committee. The diversity function is separated into adjudication and helping people to succeed.

Dean's Remarks

The Dean noted that he is continuing to talk with faculty about the new Associate Dean position.

Heather Benning has received a two-year grant from the National Collegiate Athletics Association aimed at helping people who have been underrepresented in coaching.

Council Remarks

W. Moyer stated that the Interim Advisory Board for the Expanding Knowledge Initiative is now in place. They are Todd Armstrong, Tinker Powell, Monty Roper, Vince Eckhart, Leslie Delmenico, Sam Rebelsky, and Wayne Moyer (ex-officio).

E. Willis asked where things stand on the composition of the Librarian search committee. The Dean responded that he is awaiting a reply from some potential members.

D. Lopatto noted that he had received his Commencement script today and looks forward to the experience.

E. Willis asked if the President plans to answer the questions posed by the Diversity Steering Committee in an email memorandum earlier this week. He said he would address their questions during the Council meeting on Monday.

General Language of Faculty Position Descriptions

The Dean had distributed position descriptions by email earlier in the week for current searches. He distributed in this meeting several model position descriptions including language from the May 13, 2003 Executive Council meeting. There was discussion which focused on Council expectations for future department position descriptions. It was decided that these requirements would only apply to tenure-track position descriptions.

Departmental Position Requests

There was discussion of two position requests made by departments facing staffing issues presented after the April deadline.

Independent Study

The Dean distributed a proposal from D. Lopatto for a study he would conduct this summer of MAPs and Independent Study. He proposes to determine if they are different, and if so, how. The Dean asked what the implications are if they are determined to be different. Lopatto responded that the Dean would need to define differential compensation. V. Brown noted that his proposal identifies faculty interviews for only Independent Study and asked if it is important to find out what students believe about the MAP vs. Independent Study options and why they select on over the other. Lopatto agreed that would be of interest. It was asked if MAP proposals are ever denied. The Dean responded that it happens regularly when there is no prior formal preparation and no proposed product to be shared beyond the instructor. The Dean noted that Independent Study is not allowed in the summer. He also noted that Directed Summer Research, 299 was created for lower-level students who wish to do directed summer research. Faculty compensation is limited to MAPs at this time.

Lopatto noted that he hopes to talk with faculty members who have experience with both Independent Study and MAPs. V. Brown noted that the impetus for examining this issue arose from the perception among humanities faculty that they were being discriminated against because they do not do mentored student summer research. However, the data that Council has seen so far does not bear this out. L. Gregg-Jolly strongly urged Council not to do something that would discourage faculty from doing summer science research because the demand is so large. Lopatto will report back to Council in the fall. V. Brown expressed Council appreciation for his efforts.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m.

Secretary
Karen Wiese