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The Arts and Sciences Council, March 19, 2019, 3:30-5:00, UMC 247

Meeting Minutes

Representatives present: Barbara Buttenfield, GEOG; Cathy Comstock, RAPS; James Cowell, LING; Tanja Cuk, CHEM; Françoise Duresse-Stimilli, AAH; Michaele Ferguson, PSCI; John Gibert, CLAS; Jim Goodrich, BCHM; Paul Gordon, HUMN; Gerardo Gutierrez, ANTH; Juan Herrero-Senes, SPAN; Jon Hughes, ECON; Leslie Irvine, SOCY; Janet Jacobs, WGST; Berit Jany, GSLL; Daniel Jones, HNRS; Joanna Lambert, ENVS; Julie Lundquist, ATOC; Ramesh Mallipeddi, ENGL; Matt McQueen, IPHY Akira Miyake, PSYC; Stephen Mojzsis, GEOL; Christina Meyers-Denman, SLHS; Lonni Pearce, PWR; Patricia Rankin, PHYS; Evelyn Shih, ALC; David Stock, EBIO; Rob Tubbs, MATH; Tim Weston, HIST; Ding Xue, MCDB; Masano Yamashita, FRIT

Representatives not present: Daniel Appelö, APPM; Erica Ellingson, APS; Kwame Holmes, ETHN; Dan Kaufman, PHIL; Hanna Shell, CINE; Ted Stark, THDN; Deborah Whitehead, RLST;

Ex-officios present: Sarah Altshuler, (UCSG); Alicia Turchette, SAC

Also in attendance: Kirt Gutjahr, CAW; Vilja Hulden, HIST; Jenny Knight, MCDB; Mark Meaney, Leeds; Rolf Norgaard, PWR; Elaine Paul, AAH; Jim White, A&S

The meeting was called to order at 3:32PM.

Chair’s remarks, Stephen Mojzsis

Professor Mojzsis thanked the ASC representatives for their participation in the Qualtrics survey concerning the ASC. In response to suggestions made, the agenda has been simplified and more background documents were sent out prior to the meeting. In addition, the Executive Committee will be considering the composition of the standing committees this year in preparation for next.

Professor Mojzsis asked for announcements from the floor.

Barbara Buttenfield asked for nominations for chair of the ASC for the 2019/2020 AY.

Stephen Mojzsis was nominated and the nomination was seconded.

Nominations will remain open and can be made to babs@colorado.edu. The election will be at the April ASC meeting.

The final meeting of the ASC/FAS for this academic year will be Tuesday, April 16, 3:30-5:00 in the Old Main Chapel.

Dean’s remarks, Jim White

At the recent Chairs and Directors meeting, the Provost announced the beginning of a study on the reorganization of the college along the lines of the recommendation from the Committee on Academic Reorganization. He is putting together three committees to further this study: Budget, human resource issues and faculty governance issues. These committees are expected to report at the end of the year and at that time a “go or no-go” decision will be made. If the decision is to reorganize, an internal search for a transitional dean will be held; the transitional period is expected to be two years.

Dean White would like any feedback the representatives may have for the Interdisciplinary Teaching, Research, and Creative Work Committee he is chairing. Information can be found on the Academic Futures website.

Professor Mojzsis encouraged all faculty to pay attention and ask questions, especially concerning faculty governance, budget and committee composition.

Ad hoc committee on Sports Injuries, Matt McQueen, Mark Meaney

Two years ago, David Grant came to the ASC to create an ad-hoc ASC committee to study the risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE among college football players. The committee met regularly during AY 2017/2018 to first determine the state of the science on football head injuries. The committee quickly realized other sports have head injuries almost at the rate of football and expanded its scope. Ultimately, considering the support the athletics departments as well as the Center for Sports Medicine staff provide to research, the committee decided to watch the research and made four recommendations which can be found as a link on the ASC website.

Task Force on Instructors, Rolf Norgaard, Jenny Knight

Dean White called for the Task Force and it was endorsed by the ASC. The Task Force specifically submitted the report at this time to allow faculty time to provide input before the end of the academic year. Instructors have for many years been considered temporary faculty but have now become part of the core faculty along with tenure track faculty. The formation of this task force allowed the group and the people it spoke to, an opportunity to think proactively about the role of instructors in the university.

The task force had 10 members with 200 years of combined academic experience.

There were four core commitments:

• Students First
• Instructors as core faculty
• T1 at the R1-teaching that matches CU’s research
• Make instructors visible

The task force spent several months gathering information organizing “listening sessions” with instructors, chairs and directors, associate deans and town hall meetings that included tenure track faculty. The same issues and challenges came up with each group.

The task force recommendations fall into five categories:

• Teaching Loads that Fail Students and Denigrate Service;
• Chaotic and Inconsistent Communication of Policy;
• Falling Behind: Low Pay and Salary Compression;
• Years of Service on an Uncertain Career Path; and
• Not at the Table: An Unwelcoming Climate.

The report and executive summary can be found as a button on the ASC main page.

Dean White has asked for an implementation committee; all the task force members agreed to join. Norgaard and Knight are committed to follow up on the report and hope the ASC will take ownership of these issues by monitoring and advocating issues for faculty in general by creating a Faculty Affairs Committee.

The report has been posted so faculty are able to review it and discuss it prior to the April meeting when there will be a vote for endorsement.

The floor was opened for discussion. Contract lengths, the working title Teaching Professor, cross disciplinary issues were among the topics covered.

Faculty Advisory Committee, David Stock

At the February ASC meeting, the representatives voted to constitute a faculty advisory board to the Academic Advisory Center. David Stock and Lily Board (Assistant Dean, Academic Advising Center), consulting with Dean White, Mojzsis and the Planning Committee, developed the following draft charge:

The FAB will serve as a resource to lend advice and offer perspectives for improving partnerships and communication between faculty and the AAC. This committee will not be a substitute for inviting academic advising and coaching staff to departmental meetings when curriculum, advising, and student success topics are to be discussed, nor will the committee exercise oversight of the AAC.  

The Advisor Board will have 6-8 faculty members; nominations will be requested from department chairs; nominations are due to Stephen.Mojzsis@colorado.edu by April 5.

Task Force on Strategic Plan Implementation, Michaele Ferguson & Elaine Paul

The Task Force consists of 13 members; 5 faculty, 5 staff and 3 undergraduate students and has been at work for 6 weeks. The Task force was asked to:

• Suggest changes and revisions to the Strategic Plan; and 
• Recommend the prioritization of a set of activities that will address the implementation of the Strategic Plan.

The task force was asked to report at the March ASC meeting. The Core Commitments were:

• Inclusion,
• Responsiveness,
• A unified college of Arts and Sciences,
• Deference to the Strategic Plan, and
• Timeliness.

The task force worked on clarifying the structure of the Strategic Plan, removing over specificity, readability, inclusion, reorganization and highlighting a broad vision of the Liberal Arts. The priorities were divided in the three groups the Strategic Plan identifies: Culture, Teaching & Learning and Research.

The draft Report and Recommendations can be found on the college's main website.

The ASC representatives thanked the task force for their work. The Report has been shared with the Provost and will be distributed widely. The representatives were asked to read the report and bring it to their departments. At the April ASC meeting it will be brought up for endorsement by the ASC.

The floor was opened for discussion. The assembled representatives had questions and comments concerning the timeline for action and hiring priorities.

Budget Report, Patricia Rankin

There are several budget committees on campus, the Academic Affairs Budget Advisory Committee, the BFA and ASC Budget Committees and budget committees from other colleges. Even with those existing committees, it appears to the ASC that budget decisions are being made where it is uncertain who is providing faculty consultation. These committees are charged to be advisory but have trouble getting information.

Ann Schmiesing (Sr. Vice Provost for Academic Resource Management) and Carla Ho-a (Associate Vice Chancellor & Deputy Chief Financial Officer) will be attending next month’s ASC meeting and Rankin asked the representatives to send question to her prior to the meeting (Patricia.Rankin@colorado.edu) so the guests will have time to prepare information.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:01PM.

Minutes approved April 5, 2019

Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes