Agenda Digest
Ed Ayers called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. The meeting
was in the President's Conference Room at Madison Hall. In
attendance were Rebecca Kneedler, Ben Ray, Ingrid Soudek, Milton
Adams, Marva Barnett, Rich DeMong, Doris Glick, George Cohen. Also
in attendance were Peter Low, Vice President and Provost, and Muriel
Poston, ACE Fellow.
Mr. Ayers discussed the Teaching Conversations and what the
Committee would like to see result from this initiative. Mr. Ayers
remarked that this initiative fits nicely with the intellectual
climate initiative at the University, which will be explored by the
Faculty Senate during the upcoming year.
The Committee discussed with Mr. Low funding for a pilot
project, and how best to present such a project. Mr. Low suggested
that the Committee produce a short document. The document will serve
two purposes: 1) it will give the administration a sense of the
details for the proposed project; and 2) it will function as a grant
proposal to try to produce support for the initiative. The initial
pilot project should be of a duration of two-to-three years. Mr. Low
commended the Committee on this initiative, but he also cautioned the
Committee that the University's budget this year is bleak, mainly
because of the tuition freeze.
The group brainstormed issues such as should awards be
across-the-board or competitive based, and how broad-based should the
grants be in relation to who could apply for a grant. It was noted
that interdisciplinary work will be looked at favorably when
reviewing grant applications.
The Committee also discussed follow-up initiatives, and Mr.
Ayers said it would be good to have a one day session in the form of
a conference or seminar after the first year of the project. This
would enable the participants of the pilot project to discuss their
experiences. Doris Glick said she would like to see the Project
itself evaluated to determine such issues as the overall success of
the project, amount of money spent, and long-term outcome. It was
suggested that this evaluation could be in the form of a report by
the benefactors of the grants.
Rebecca Kneedler presented a proposal from the Curry School of
Education to take an existing degree program off-Grounds. The
program is a Special Education M.Ed. Program. The Committee reviewed
the proposal and gave their approval of it. This action will be
reported at a future Faculty Senate meeting. It was suggested that
Sondra Stallard, Dean of the Division of Continuing Education, be
invited to a future meeting to discuss the process of taking degree
programs off-Grounds.
The meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
