VOL. XXXI, NO. 4
Minutes of the Academic Council Meeting
January 24, 2002

1 REPORTS AND RESPONSES

A. PRESIDENT'S REPORT - This report was presented by Academic Council President Elect Leonard Koederitz.

1. Academic Council Secretary, Todd Hubing, presented results of the General Faculty Ballot. There were 99 responses to the mail ballot. Of this number, 86 voted "Yes" while 13 "No" votes were cast. The proposed changes passed and will be forwarded to the Board of Curators by Chancellor Thomas.

2. There will be a Blood Drive on Monday, March 4, and Tuesday, March 5. Everyone is encouraged to donate, as blood supplies are low.

3. Topics discussed at the January IFC meeting were presented to the Academic Council.

a. The Governor's budget will impact the UM Budget. An increase of student fees is likely. A reduction of the reserve to 5% is possible, as is a reduction of maintenance accounts to 1½%.

b. The IFC discussed the Copyright Policy. By default, ownership goes to the faculty member with the University retaining ownership when the majority of the work uses university resources. The legal department is currently reviewing this policy.

c. The IFC discussed the parental leave policy. At this time, the proposal is on hold by Human Resources and the legal department.

d. The IFC discussed joint appointments. Concerns were raised about untenured faculty appointments.

e. Questions were raised about Presidential Awards. The awards do not rotate around the UM system. Each campus must make good nominations.

B. CHANCELLOR'S REPORT - This report was presented by Provost Y.T. Shah.

1. Governor Holden is proposing a 10% cut in appropriations to Higher Education. This will cost UMR millions. Even with an increase in student fees and no salary increase for employees, further reductions in expenses would still be necessary to balance the budget. Deliberations will continue for the next several months.

2. UMR has received a pledge of $5 million from Gary Havener toward the completion of the new University Center--critical for both student recruitment and retention. The Board of Curators will determine naming of the building at their March meeting.

3. A search for the Director of the Library is underway. Jean Eisenman will retire in September 2002. A search committee was formed of Larry Grayson, Harvest Collier, K.M. Isaac, Randy Moss, Rebecca Merrill, Ben Lea, Dale Majors and Matt Wilkerson.

4. A search for the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences is still being pursued aggressively.

5. It is strongly urged that everyone take (or retake) the "Preventing Sexual Harassment" Mastery Test at http://web.mst.edu/~pshumr/choice.htm. The test takes approximately 20 minutes.

C. PROVOST'S REPORT - This report was presented by Provost Y.T. Shah

1. Enrollment

a. Enrollment is looking good. UMR is on target for the Winter 2002 semester. Numbers are up significantly over last two years. Distance Education is up from 190 to 264. Jay Goff and his team are doing an outstanding job. UMR's goal is 5500 students on campus and 500 students in the Distance Education program. After the goal of 6000 students is met, UMR must increase the quality of education.

b. Jay Goff will send a "Weekly Enrollment Report" chart to the Deans, with a breakdown by department.

2. Retention

a. Harvest Collier, along with the Division of Foundational Studies (DFS), is working at increasing the retention of freshman and sophomore students. One possible measure is a reduction in degree requirement hours (to 128 credit hours) for B.S./B.A. academic programs.

3. Research

a. The Federal Plus-Up Proposals for next fiscal year total $79.9 million for nine projects. UMR is included on 7 out of 17 of the Missouri Life Sciences Proposals equaling $22 million per year.

b. Cost sharing is down by 11%. Net Indirect Recovery of $5.4 million is projected for this fiscal year-an increase of $2.0 million.

c. UMR is competing for a NSF EC this year. Antonio Nanni is leading the effort.

d. UMR and Fort Leonard Wood will host a Department of Defense "Science and Technology Conference" in August. Senator Jean Carnahan and Representative Ike Skelton will be keynote speakers.

e. The new Office of Sponsored Programs is almost ready. Expect a "Grand Opening" in February 2002.

f. UMR received 42.3% of the funds allocated by the UM Research Board. Seventeen of 38 proposals were funded.

4. Distance Education

a. Distance Education is growing. Three degrees are currently offered (Master's degrees in Engineering Management, Systems Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering) with another degree (Master of Engineering in Geotechnics) under active development in the Geological Engineering Department.

b. Video production facilities now total four, located in the Library, Engineering Management, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Civil Engineering.

A. PERSONNEL - This report was presented by K.M. Isaac.

1. The Personnel Committee endorsed the 360-degree Evaluation of Administrators concept as presented in the final report by the Committee to Evaluate the Administrative Review Process, dated May 23, 1996. The committee recommends that an Ad Hoc Evaluation Committee be created.

B. BUDGETARY AFFAIRS - This report was presented by Greg Gelles.

1. The Budgetary Affairs committee recommended that UMR push for 4% salary increases. The Budgetary Committee to the Chancellor was previously dissolved. Chancellor Thomas serves as the administrative member of the Budgetary Affairs committee.

C. PUBLIC OCCASIONS - This report was presented by Kelvin Erickson.

1. The Public Occasions committee reviewed a draft of Public Occasions Dates for 2002-03. There are four proposed Open House dates (two in Fall 2002 and two in Spring 2003). This will encourage more prospective students to visit UMR. Family Day is a separate event timed to coincide with midterm making it more successful.

2. There was a motion and second to approve the Public Occasions Dates for 2002-2003. The motion carried.

D. DIVISION OF FOUNDATIONAL STUDIES - This report was presented by Carol Ann Smith.

1. The Division of Foundational Studies Ad Hoc committee reported that committee members had met in December and January to collect preliminary information about the Division of Foundational Studies (DFS). It was indicated that Harvest Collier's charge as Dean of DFS has expanded to include consideration of a 42 hour transfer policy, 128 credit hour B.Sc. requirement, strengthening the K-12 connection, and creating a common first-year experience course. Ryan Wilson, was added to the committee as a representative of Student Council.

E. CURRICULA - This report was presented by Thomas Schuman.

1. There was a motion and second to approve course changes generated from the December 2001 meeting of the Curricula Committee. The motion carried.

2. There was a motion and second to approve course changes generated from the January 2002 meeting. The motion carried.

F. RULES, PROCEDURE & AGENDA - This report was presented by Don Myers.

1. The Rules, Procedure & Agenda (RP&A) committee discussed the Search Committee Policy from Chair to Chancellor. Feedback received by RP&A was negative regarding proposed changes to the Chair and Dean search committee policy.

2. RP&A is considering the reorganization of Academic Council committees. Concerns with present committees include problems with committee structures, duplication of efforts, and not enough involvement by committee members. The end result of reorganization would be fewer committees functioning more efficiently.

A. Action Items

1. Resolution of Video Distance Learning is on hold until the resolution of the UM System Copyright Policy.

A. STAFF COUNCIL

1. There will be a Blood Drive on Monday, March 4 and Tuesday, March 5.

2. There is a call for nominations for Staff Awards and Recognition.

3. The results of the Staff Council Survey are posted on the Staff Council web-site.

B. STUDENT COUNCIL

1. Student Council will cohost "Speak Up Rolla" on Tuesday, February 5, in Centennial Hall, University Center-East at 6:30 P.M. The forum will focus on bringing entertainment to Rolla.

C. GRADUATE STUDENT'S COUNCIL - No report.

D. REFERRALS - No referrals

There was a motion to adjourn, with a second, motion carried at 2:30 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Todd Hubing, Secretary