Present: C. Hunter, E. Marzluff, J. Meehan, R. Osgood, S. Rebelsky, T. Roberts, J. Swartz, E. Willis

The meeting came to order at 4:20 p.m. in Room 226 of the Rosenfield Student Center. The minutes of September 27, 2006 were approved.

President’s Remarks

The President noted that the Board of Trustees, the Alumni Council and the Volunteer Council are all on campus this week.

He stated that he has nothing more to report on Paul Shuman Moore.

He noted that there will be a dedication of the new Joe Rosenfield Student Center on Saturday morning. All are invited.

Because he needs to leave the meeting early he offered to share his thoughts on appointments outside of the departmental structure. He believes that it is possible to make appointments to concentrations. In that event, he believes that there should be one review committee established for that person which should remain relatively steady over time. In the case of a joint appointment, the composition would be determined by the Dean on the recommendation of Executive Council and with substantial representation of the department. In the event of a problem arising with review of that person there are two issues. The College must be protected from risk and the candidate must be protected from unfair treatment.

E. Willis argued that there might be cases where it would best serve our academic programs if we were able to re-appoint faculty to different departments or concentrations than those in which they were originally appointed. She urged that we develop mechanisms for this. She asked about a preferred timeline for wrapping up discussion of this issue. The President stated his desire to have this completed this semester. S. Rebelsky reminded Council of the fairly urgent need to also conclude its discussion of the Expanding Knowledge Initiative position proposals.

Dean’s Remarks

The Dean noted that he had distributed the latest draft of the proposed change in the language of the Faculty Handbook on promotion to professor. Discussion ensued.

Council Remarks

S. Rebelsky mentioned that he was asked by a student whether the completed athletic complex will compromise the Black Cultural Center. The President responded that there are issues concerning the soccer field which have not been settled and which make this question impossible to answer at this time, however the footprint of the building itself is fully 170 feet from the BCC.

Rebelsky asked that the notice of the discussion of promotion to professor be placed in the Faculty News Digest that will be issued from the Dean’s office on Thursday.

Rebelsky noted faculty concern regarding part-time staff being told that they are losing their benefits. The President noted that this action was necessary to correct a situation of the College having two sets of standards. Discussion ensued.

E. Willis reminded the Dean that the Diversity Hiring Policy has yet to be published.

The President left the meeting at 5:50 p.m.

Strategic Planning Metrics

The Dean reported on a meeting he had just concluded prior to this one with Clint Korver, Scott Baumler, and Marci Sortor on this subject. He noted that Korver’s approach to the question of metrics for assessing the implementation of the Strategic Plan is based on his assessment of what is necessary to share with the Board of Trustees to demonstrate achievement of objectives. He is of the opinion that less is more. Referring to a multi-page document distributed by the Dean several weeks ago, Rebelsky insisted that the scope of the metrics proposed encompasses the entire institution rather than just the Strategic Plan and suggested that is not the purpose of the assessment activities. T. Roberts reminded Council that the President wants the metrics to focus on the Strategic Plan rather than on the College more generally. C. Hunter suggested that the metrics selected for assessment of the Plan could be the same as those selected for the purposes of reaccreditation, that is, metrics that reflect the mission statement of the college. S. Rebelsky, noting that assessment, such as being envisioned for the Plan, will require considerable resources and asked what could be expected to come of it. The Dean responded that the assessment results will form the critical input to formative decision-making.

The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.

Secretary
Karen Wiese