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

1. Presently, the UM System is considering a merger with Northwest Missouri State University located in Maryville. The Board of Regents at Northwest have approved the proposal while the UM Board of Curators has voted to continue discussions.
2. The May UM Board of Curators agenda includes the proposed Spouse / Dependent Fee Waiver initiative. The proposed tuition benefit is, of course, dependent upon the budget.
3. The following meeting dates have been set for 2003-2004:

Academic Council
September 18, 2003
October 16, 2003
November 20, 2003
January 22, 2004
February 19, 2004
April 15, 2004
June 17, 2004

4. Senate Bill 450, bringing the UM System into the state's healthcare plan, has disappeared after legislators were flooded with letters from university employees voicing their disapproval of the plan.

B. CHANCELLOR'S REPORT - This report was presented by Chancellor Gary Thomas.

1. The status of the state's budget is constantly changing. The State House of Representative recently passed a budget where higher education appropriations were only down 1-2%. The Senate found this budget to be $660 million out of balance and has distributed this cut. UMR may be forced to absorb a cut of $5 million in state appropriations. Chancellor Thomas feels that UMR needs to speak out, letting people know the ramifications of shrinking budgets to the K-12 and higher education system.
2. Chancellor Thomas said that he is considering a lot of factors while planning next year's budget. Thomas stated that he would empower the deans to find the least harmful way to meet the budget challenges.
3. Chancellor Thomas indicated that one possible benefit of a merger with Northwest Missouri State University would be the lowering of out-of-state student fees at UMR to equalize the tuition discrepancy. Thomas also mentioned that a merger would possibly bring more diversity and autonomy within each of the institutions.

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

1. Provost Shah distributed a handout outlining the progress in the four academic areas.

a. Enrollment is on target to meet or exceed all goals for Fall 2003.
b. In Research, new awards currently total $20.9 million. Proposal submissions through the end of March total $93.8 million. Wayne Huebner is planning a Grant Writing Workshop to help faculty write successful proposals.
c. Undergraduate and Graduate Studies is working to establish CERTI (Center for Educational Research and Teaching Innovation).
d. Global is operating under the new INS regulations and looking at new ways to deliver education to Fort Leonard Wood officers.

2. Provost Shah was questioned regarding the hiring of faculty in the School of Management and Information Systems (SMIS). Shah responded that all new SMIS faculty hires are necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the school.
3. Provost Shah was asked when the policy concerning the distribution of distance education funds would be revised as promised earlier. Henry Wiebe replied that a percentage of the funds would be returned to the department, based on student count, and that the policy was very close to being ready for publication.
4. Provost Shah discussed the development of the Faculty Workload Guidelines, stating that the committee worked with the deans, department chairs, and faculty to determine the best way to make the faculty workload consistent with the goals of the university. Committee Chair Ming Leu noted the mission of the 13-person committee was to ensure an equal workload for all.

A. CURRICULA - This report was presented by Thomas Schuman

1. There was a motion and second to approve the degree and course changes generated from the March 6, 2003 and April 3, 2003 meetings. The motion passed.
2. Experimental course forms were submitted for informational purposes only.

B. TENURE - This report was presented by Jerry Cohen

1. Professor Cohen presented an excerpt from the November 2002 Tenure Committee Report regarding "The Issue of Ensuring the Presence of Women and Minorities on the Campus Tenure/Promotion Committee." Cohen stated that no evidence of systemic bias, linked to the campus Promotion/Tenure Committee, has been brought forward.
2. There was a motion and a second to eliminate items #1 through #6 of the report, as distributed with the meeting agenda, and accept item #7. The motion passed.

C. STUDENT CONDUCT COMMITTEE - This report was presented by Nancy Hubing.

1. Professor N. Hubing presented the results of a faculty survey, conducted in February, regarding academic dishonesty.
2. The committee is still discussing its recommendations to combat the problem of Academic Dishonesty at UMR and will present final suggestions at a later date.
3. The report is posted on the Academic Council web page at April 2003 Student Conduct Committee Report.

D. AD HOC COMMITTEE TO PROPOSE CHANGES TO UMR FACULTY BYLAWS - This report was presented by Todd Hubing.

1. Professor T. Hubing presented the committee's summary of the changes proposed to the UMR Faculty Bylaws and distributed a line-by-line description of each bylaws change to the Academic Council.
2. Professor T. Hubing noted an additional change to the charge of the Curricula Committee, adding the following statement:

The Academic Council Curricula Committee will submit proposals for new graduate programs or significant changes to existing graduate programs to the Graduate Faculty for approval prior to being considered by the Academic Council.

3. There was a motion and second to approve the proposed bylaws changes and hereby submit the changes, as presented with the meeting agenda and including the change to Curricula Committee, to the RP&A committee for possible adoption by the General Faculty.
4. There was a friendly amendment to change the wording in section 5.g. from "not moving" to "not acting in a timely manner".
5. There was a motion and second to include the Administrative Review Committee and its charge, as follows, in the proposed bylaws changes.

(1) This committee sets policies and procedures for review of campus administrators. The committee recommends the evaluation questionnaires and a plan/schedule for conducting reviews to the Academic Council. The committee conducts the reviews; oversees the sending of the evaluation forms to the evaluating persons; oversees the collection and collation of the resulting evaluations; and, along with the officers of the Academic Council, reviews and forwards the results of the evaluations.
(2) The committee consists of a representative from each school and college nominated by the Rules, Procedures and Agenda committee (with the possibility of nominations from the floor) and elected by a vote of the Academic Council. Committee members serve for two years, terms to be staggered with the election of two members each year, and shall be full-time, tenured faculty members with an administrative component of 50% or less.

The amendment passed.
6. The original motion, with amendment and friendly amendment, was approved by the Academic Council.
7. A line-by-line description of each bylaws change can be found on the web at:
draft-bylaw-rev-C3a.pdf (Section C revisions).
draft-bylaw-rev-D4-8b.pdf (Section D revisions).
A description of the ad hoc Committee to Propose Changes to the UMR Faculty Bylaws and minutes of their meetings can be found on their web page at:
adhoc_bylaws_committee.html.

E. STUDENT AFFAIRS - This report was presented by Hal Nystrom.

1. The "Student Organization Posting Policy" was submitted to the Academic Council for informational purposes.
2. There was a motion and second to accept the constitutions for the following student organizations:

"Military Aerospace Society"
"UMR Student Chapter of Architectural Engineering Institute"
"The Black Man's Think Tank"
"UMR Flyfishing Club"

The motion passed.

F. RULES, PROCEDURE AND AGENDA (RP&A)

1. Ralph Wilkerson made the following motion:

RP&A unanimously recommends that the Academic Council approve the
revision of UMR's 42-Credit Hour General Education Transfer Policy.

There was a second and the motion passed.
2. Robert Schwartz made the following motion:

Academic Council will support and recommend the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" as distributed with the meeting agenda.

There was a second and the motion passed unanimously.

3 OLD BUSINESS

A. ACTION ITEMS

1. Academic Dishonesty Cases

4 NEW BUSINESS

A. STAFF COUNCIL

1. Barbara Robertson noted that Staff Recognition Day will be on May 21.

B. STUDENT COUNCIL - No report submitted.
C. COUNCIL OF GRADUATE STUDENTS - No report submitted.

Respectfully submitted,
(electronically submitted, 4/24/03 - 2:16 p.m.)
Mike Hilgers, Secretary