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 The Arts and Sciences Council and Faculty of Arts and Sciences Meeting, November 14, 2017, 3:30-5:00

Meeting Minutes

Representatives present: Christine Brennan, SLHS; David Boonin, PHIL; Barbara Buttenfield, GEOG; Brian Cadena, ECON; Cathy Comstock, RAPS; Kim Dickey, AAH; Erica Ellingson, APS;  John Gilbert, CLAS; David Grant, MATH; Saskia Hintz, GSLL; Leslie Irvine, SOCY; Janet Jacobs, WGST; Daniel Jones, HNRS; Keller Kimbrough, ALC; William Kleiber, APPM; Carl Koval, CHEM; Julie Lundquist, ATOC; Ramesh Mallipeddi, ENGL; Matt McQueen, IPHY; Stephen Mojzsis, GEOL; Yuko Munakata, PSYC; David Paradis, HIST; Lonni Pearce, PWR; Patricia Rankin, PHYS; Kelly Sears, FILM; David Stock, EBIO; Ding Xue, MCDB; Masano Yamashita, FRIT

Representatives not present: Scott Adler, PSCI; Julio Baena, SPAN; James Cowell, LING; David Ferris, HUMN; Holly Gayley, RLST; Kwame Holmes, ETHN; Joanna Lambert, ANTH; Jill Litt, ENVS; Fernando Riosmena, GEOG; Ted Stark, THDN;

Also in attendance: Vilja Hulden, Cindy Justice, Kathryn Tisdale, Jim White

Stephen Mojzsis called the meeting to order at 3:30PM.

Chair’s remarks, Stephen Mojzsis

• The Strategic Planning Committee chair David Brown will be reporting on progress with the SP document at our next general meeting (December 12).
• We have a full business agenda, including several votes, today. We thank the ASC and visiting colleagues for their service to the College.
• I have not received a reply from Provost Moore after two attempts to schedule a meeting with him regarding a new (permanent) Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences of the Â鶹ӰԺ campus, and have indicated a deadline of Thursday November 16 by close-of-business (addendum: Provost Moore replied and we are currently in negotiations for the schedule).
• Efforts are now on-going to stitch together in a more rational fashion the various faculty governance entities on the Â鶹ӰԺ campus, including suggestions to extend ex-officio status to the CMCI faculty council chair, and to encourage the ENG College to establish representation. It makes sense for us to work together.
• Members of the ASC and the faculty and staff they represent, are strongly encouraged to submit White Papers to the Academic Futures committee of Provost Russell Moore, and Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Affairs Jeff Cox.
• According to reports, attendance at some town-hall meetings of the Academic Futures has been poor. Several of us in ASC and BFA recently attended a Faculty Governance town-hall hosted by VP-AVC Cox, and attended by Provost Moore.

Dean’s remarks, Jim White

• The Strategic Planning Committee has developed a vision statement; more information will be out soon.
• To further recruitment goals, Clint Talbot, A&S Communications Director, is working with Dean White to produce new student recruiting materials; also a student recruiter will be hired.
• A new position, Associate Dean for Diversity, is being developed; an ad will be out before the end of the semester.
• Several applications have been received for the Associate Dean for Social Sciences. Dean White is hoping the position will be filled with adequate time before Ann Carlos retires for a substantial training period.
• Course fees and program fees are moving from being paid by students to being paid by the college. University administration will be replacing the money this year. Dean White and Amy Lavens are working on a system to make sure the departments receive adequate funds

College Late Drop Policy update, Leslie Irvine, Cindy Justice, Kathryn Tilsdale

In September, the ASC voted unanimously to adopt a new late drop policy. The policy was sent to administration and the college has been experiencing pushback. The Registrar feels it changes the registration calendar; the Office of Student Affairs feels it interferes with their policies.

The new policy, which offers 2 "no fault" drops during a student’s academic career and focuses on providing students with help to manage their priorities, was developed by Academic Advising and approved by the Curriculum Committee before coming to the ASC. The AAC and Curriculum Committee feel it is a sound policy that is supportive of students and they are committed to its implementation; they wanted to let the ASC know the status of the policy. Currently, the old policy is still in effect.

Dean White will meet with Russell Moore to get more information on the administration’s negative response. As other colleges in the University have shown interest in the policy, it was suggested that the issue is taken to the BFA and Chairs and Directors meetings to get support across the campus for adoption of the policy. (addendum: Assoc. Dean Kyle McJunkin, Asst. Dean Patrick Tally, Cindy Justice, Kathryn Tisdale and ASC Chair Stephen Mojzsis, attended the CADs meeting to discuss this).

Online Education and Information Technology Committee update, Saskia Hintz, Vilja Hulden

The Regents released a new proposal for online education.

This proposal, which seems to have been developed with little faculty input, has caused the OEIT to reevaluate its role and seek guidance from the ASC.  The OIEC and Professor Mojzsis met with Dean White and after that meeting, wrote a summary of concerns [Addendum A].

The main concerns of the OEIT are:

• Each department should have a dedicated curriculum committee to insure that faculty retain control over online curriculum.
• Adequate resources are made available to maintain online course quality.
• Allow OE courses to fulfill the contractual obligations of an instructor.
• Identify online courses on transcripts.
• Consider limiting the number of OE courses allowed for a degree.
• Establish course content ownership.

The issues surrounding online courses are complicated but they are the future and the college has the choice to select a model for OE that taps the unique talents of the Â鶹ӰԺ campus. The college needs to make decisions rather than wait for decisions to be made for them. The floor was opened for discussion. The OETC is in need of additional members. Please contact Saskia Hintz or Vilja Hulden for information. (addendum: we are grateful for the positive response which resulted in recruitment of at least two new members at time of this writing).

Academic Advising, David Stock

Professor Stock, chair of the Planning Committee, asked the representatives to speak to their department chairs, undergraduate chair and at department meetings to get the opinions of faculty concerning the new, centralized model of advising. Please mail feedback to David.Stock@colorado.edu.

Regents Law 5 – UPDATE

The Laws of the Regents are being reviewed as a part of a regular process. The BFA has sent a recommendation for changes which was distributed to the ASC representatives. Please send any questions or concerns to Professor Mojzsis.

Dean Search

On November 11, the ASC representatives were asked for an "electronic vote of endorsement to ask the Provost to initiate a search for a new permanent Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, with appropriate representation by the Faculty of the College in such a search and following normal procedures."  The vote was 22 yes; 3 no; 4 abstentions. Professor Mojzsis has requested a meeting with the Provost.

DACA position statement, MOTION AND VOTE TO ADOPT ASC POLICY POSITION

"The College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Colorado recognizes the importance of a diverse student body to our collective goals as outlined in our recently unveiled Vision Statement. We celebrate the important contributions of all students without exception and regardless of their immigration status. Our students are a priceless asset to the Â鶹ӰԺ community, to Colorado, and to our nation. The Arts & Sciences Council further recognizes that impediments to the success of DACA students should be viewed as obstacles to us all, and as such, challenging any and all erosions of rights to any group in our community is our collective responsibility."

The College should be committed to support its most vulnerable students, most of who are in A&S.

Two friendly amendments were proposed: That "Â鶹ӰԺ" be added to the University of Colorado and that the motion be tied to our vision statement.

The ASC representatives vote in 28 in favor, 0 against, 0 abstentions to adopt the motion.

Professor Mojzsis will meet with Dean White to discuss implementation. 

Academic Future Visioning Process

The Academic Futures Group has been holding town hall meetings across campus; recent meetings have been poorly attended. Schedules are sent to the ASC regularly.

Department By-Laws in the College of Arts & Sciences

MOTION for VOTE: That all units (departments or programs) that offer courses in the College have an on-going means to critically evaluate the curriculum from that unit. This requirement may necessitate a standing Curriculum Committee in each unit to help implement the new Core Curriculum. Courses must be vetted, and ASC’s Curriculum Committee has changed its role to reviewing the new core curriculum.

It was mentioned that the undergraduate committee in some departments handle curricular matters, wording will be changed to "a committee" rather than Curricular Committee.

It was moved and seconded that this motion be tabled so more background can be obtained; the vote was 26 in favor, 0 against, 2 abstentions. The motion was tabled pending further study.

Change to By-Laws of the ASC

MOTION for VOTE: That the Chair of the Â鶹ӰԺ Faculty Assembly be recognized as an Ex-Officio member of the Arts & Sciences Council.

The chair of the ASC is an ex-officio of the BFA; it follows logic that the BFA chair join the ASC meetings as well.

The vote was 28 in favor, 0 against, 0 abstentions to adopt the motion.

On the RADAR

The Strategic Planning Committee report will be released June 30, 2018.

Professor Mojzsis wants to know what departments in A&S have been underrepresented at ASC meetings; data is being compiled showing attendance for the last 5 years so he can visit with the less involved departments. The Provost will be asked to attend a future meetings; getting his view of faculty governance would be helpful.

Faculty have been asking for a replacement for the system-wide newspaper, the Silver and Gold.

Council Invited to be Heard

David Grant, chair of the Health Impacts for Student Athletes Committee spoke about the committee’s work. They have met four times and have found that, although there is a lot of research on NFL players and the risk of CTE, there is very little information on college football players. The committee may return to the ASC for a change to its charge if more sports are included in their work. They will have a recommendation by the end of the year.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:57PM.

Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes