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

The meeting came to order at 2:00 p.m. in the Nollen Conference Room.

The minutes and excerpts of the 12/8/04 meeting were approved.

President's Remarks

The President thanked members of Council for agreeing to attend this extended meeting.

Dean's Remarks

The Dean thanked members of Council for attending the dinner meeting with David White and Anne Spence, members of the Board of Trustees Diversity Committee, last week. They have expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to learn more about the efforts of the faculty to recruit new colleagues of color.

The Dean noted that he had previously electronically distributed a draft memorandum to department chairs regarding the Consortium for a Strong Minority Presence program. Council members discussed this and approved it.

He reported that he has a signed Senior Faculty Status agreement with Doug Caulkins. He also reported that he is working on a term replacement in the Anthropology Department.

Council Remarks

E. Willis noted that she had met with the President and Dean to get their comments on the faculty diversity sub-committee's draft statement on diversity. She has communicated all the comments to the sub-committee members and the document will be redrafted and brought back to Council for their information.

2005-06 Athletic Schedule

D. Lopatto moved, R. Vetter seconded, approval of the athletic schedule for 2005-06. The motion was approved.

Position Descriptions

Council approved two term leave replacement position descriptions in English and Philosophy.

Diversity Proposals

The Dean noted that Council had previously approved diversity searches in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Political Science, and Sociology and we now have the results of those searches and recommendations for appointments to be made. The Council engaged in a lengthy discussion of each and discussed the number of offers to be made now and whether some should be saved for departments to come, as well as ways in which appointments would serve to provide for reductions in term faculty and better support for non-departmental courses.

The President left the meeting at 5:35 p.m.

Expanding Knowledge Initiative

Marci Sortor joined the meeting at 6 p.m. to help lead a discussion with V. Brown on the current thinking of the Expanding Knowledge Initiative Committee. Brown noted that the Committee had had a long meeting this day and that W. Moyer and C. Lindgren were not present due to conflicts. The revision plans for specific points of entry where affected faculty will be required to make decisions as well as points where Council and the President will be expected to take action. The Dean noted that the Diversity Initiative and our shared objective of decreased dependence on term replacement positions must be kept in mind by all as we move through implementation of the Expanding Knowledge Initiative. Sortor reviewed the need to bring this new interest in interdisciplinary studies to the students as well.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m.

Secretary
Karen Wiese