April 14, 2000

 

Present: William R. Johnson, George P. Mentore, Robert E. Davis, Daniel P. Hallahan, Doris F. Glick, Laurence C. Pettit, Jr.

William R. Johnson, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, called the meeting to order.

Mr. Johnson reminded everyone of the Faculty Senate Forum on the Climate for Women at U.Va. The forum will be in the Rotunda Dome Room at 2:00 p.m. The next full Faculty Senate meeting will be held on Thursday, May 11, in the South Meeting Room at Newcomb Hall.

The Faculty Senate Teaching Initiative grant recommendations have been forwarded to the Office of the Provost for Peter Low, Vice President and Provost, to review. The Provost's Office will send letters to everyone that submitted a proposal, informing them of the status of their proposals.

The Curry School of Education has submitted a request to the Academic Affairs Committee to change the name of the Department of Human Services to "Program Area in Kinesiology." The Curry School had an external review of their program, and one recommendation of the external review is to change the name to more effectively communicate the program. The Curry School faculty has had several discussions regarding the name change, and a majority voted in favor of this name change. Mr. Pettit made a motion for the Academic Affairs Committee to approve the name change, it was seconded, and it passed unanimously. Mr. Johnson will forward the Committee's approval of the name change to the Provost. Mr. Johnson will also send a formal letter to Rebecca Kneedler, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Curry School of Education, regarding the approval.

William McAllister, a faculty consultant at the Teaching Resource Center, will work with the Academic Affairs Committee on evaluating the Teaching Initiative program and identifying the most innovative projects, Mr. Johnson reported. A publication that details the results of this evaluation may be circulated in the fall, and the evaluation will be sent to the Provost by December 1, 2000. Mr. Johnson asked for volunteers to work with TRC on this initiative. Laurence Pettit volunteered to help, and Mr. Johnson will contact several other members of the Academic Affairs Committee and ask if they would be willing to help.

The progress of the faculty/student interaction initiative was discussed. The suggestions made by the Subcommittee on Faculty/Student Interaction, chaired by Robert Davis, were reviewed. Some of the suggestions have been acted upon, and some of the suggestions may be acted on in the future.

The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.