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I. Call to Order and Roll
President Schwartz called the meeting to order at 13.35 and roll was taken. The following absentees were noted: Neil Book, D. J. Belarbi, Mark Fitch, Ronaldo Luna, Kurt Kosbar, Hal Nystrom, Robert Stone, S. N. Balakrishnan, K.M. Isaac, H. L. Tsai, Y. T. Shah, Robert Mitchell, Mariesa Crow, Arlan Dekock, Jonathan Hines, Joseph Herdade, Yue-wern Huang, Frank Blum, Maggie Cheng, Michael Meagher, V. A. Samaranayake, Jim Martin, David Van Aken, Paul Worsey, and Bih-Ru Lea.
II. Chancellor Carney’s Comments on the Topic of Shared Governance
A. Before discussing shared governance, Chancellor Carney asked the Academic Council to:
- look into the current practice of instructor-drop and
- help the university prepare for the campus-wide accreditation in 2008-2009.
B. Chancellor's view on shared governance
- Dr. Carney began by relating his experience at the universities where he has previously served. In particular, he explained the system at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where everyone is involved.
- He expressed his concerns that the Academic Council effectively represent the views of the faculty. In particular, he noted that a universal problem of shared governance is that the issues are not well communicated to the faculty as a whole, and only a small group of people are involved.
- In regard to the university’s Strategic Plan, he stated that he would like to receive input from all stakeholders that would result in a document that we can all stand behind.
- On the issue of faculty involvement he stated that he understood how hard it is to balance teaching, advising, doing research, and growing professionally, but encouraged informal meetings for the purpose of communicating the issues pertinent to individual departments.
- He stated that he and President Schwartz would host several breakfast and lunch meetings with 9-10 members of faculty. The purpose of these informal meetings will be to facilitate communication between faculty members, Academic Council and Administration.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 14:20.
Respectfully Submitted,
Eun Soo Park
Parliamentarian
* Minutes of the Academic Council are considered official notification and documentation of actions approved |
