October 29, 1999

 

Agenda Digest

Present: Willaim R. Johnson, George P. Mentore, Daphne G. Spain, George M. Cohen, Joanne Bechta Dugan, Daniel P. Hallahan, Patricia A. Werhane, Charles W. McCurdy, Laurence C. Pettit, Jr., Dennis L. DeSilvey, Barbara Nolan

William R. Johnson, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, called the meeting to order at 12:00 noon.

Mr. Johnson updated the Committee on current activities of the Senate:

· The Affirmative Action debate - President Casteen and Provost Low appreciate the support of the Faculty Senate

· Teaching Initiative Forum - Held on October 1, former Teaching Initiative grant recipients reported on their projects at the Forum. The Forum was successful, but work needs to be done to encouraging more Senators to attend the Forum.

· Research and Teaching, this year's Faculty Senate theme. An e-mail message will be sent to all Senators, which will pose two questions pertaining to Research and Scholarship. Each Senator will be asked to submit a 1-page summary from their department/school.

Mr. Johnson distributed last year's Call for Proposals. Issues, such as the deadline for submitting proposals, and changes to the document for this year's Teaching Initiative proposals were discussed. George Cohen, who is chairing the subcommittee that will review the proposals and select the award recipients, will make the necessary edits and distribute the revised document to the Academic Affairs Committee before the document is distributed University-wide.

Mr. Johnson distributed a message from a professor who asked about submitting a joint proposal from about 10 professors. The amount of his proposal would exceed the $5,000 limit that is outlined in the Call for Proposals. The Committee discussed the possibility of a larger funding for joint proposals and decided to keep the $5000 limit. Mr. Johnson will follow up with the professor that inquired about the joint proposal.

Daphne Spain, who is chairing the subcommittee that will evaluate the long-term value of the Teaching Initiative program, outlined her plans for beginning the evaluation process. Ms. Spain will review the final reports submitted by the 1998/99 grant recipients, identifying such things as the immediate impact the funds had and the long-term impact, or expectations, that result from the recipients completed projects.

The faculty of the School of Engineering and Applied Science has submitted a recommendation to the Faculty Senate that the Master of Engineering, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy in Nuclear Engineering be terminated after the last currently enrolled student graduates; in any case, not later than May 2006. There was a motion to approve the recommendation, the motion was seconded, and it passed unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.