Academic Council: November 30, 2010 Agenda

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 30, 2010, from 10:30-11:45 in the Tyler Haynes Commons, Room 305 (THC 305). Please review the agenda below and the cited materials in advance of the meeting.

Approval of minutes from the November 16, 2010 meeting.

General Informational Items

N/A

Consent Agenda

We will use the Consent Agenda to deal with routine business that requires Academic Council action and would not be expected to generate discussion. Any item can be moved from the Consent Agenda to the Discussion Agenda.

Proposed Change to Anthropology Minor

The change would reduce the number of courses that may be taken outside the department from three to one.

Note: The grade point average of the anthropology coursework comprising the minor must be no less than 2.00 with no course grade below C- (1.7). One course may be taken in a department outside of the University of Richmond's Department of Sociology and Anthropology with departmental approval. This course may be taken within another department at the University of Richmond, or at another accredited institution or through an approved study abroad program.

Approved by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology on November 10, 2010.

Discussion Agenda

• Enrollment projections and revenue model (Nanci Tessier)
• Budget recommendations from Dean's Advisory Council
• Other business

Documents

There are no documents attached to this agenda.

Next Meeting

We will meet on Tuesday, Januray 18, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. in Tyler Haynes Commons, Room 305 (THC 305).

Faculty Meetings: November 18, 2010 Minutes

Dean Andy Newcomb called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. in the Brown-Alley Room of Weinstein Hall.

• The minutes of the A & S meeting of October 20, 2010, were presented. Michelle Hamm from Chemistry suggested some clarifications to the circulated minutes. These changes to the October 20th minutes were accepted and will be incorporated as amended minutes for October 20, 2010.
• The actions of A & S Academic Council from November 2, 2010, were approved as circulated

Dean Newcomb presented a computer document showing the current status of the FY 2011/2012 capacity audit for Arts and Sciences departments and faculty, including the First Year Seminar classes. He then opened the floor for questions. Much discussion ensued.

Julie Laskaris, representing the Tenure and Promotion Committee (T & P), presented for discussion a one page proposal from the Committee which had been circulated at the beginning of the meeting. Laskaris indicated that the proposal document called a “Proposal process for hiring in conjunction with granting tenure (drawn from the Business School’s model)” seeks to clarify how the T & P Committee proposes to handle the expedited “reviews for hiring of senior candidates with tenure” from other institutions and “reviews for candidates who have never received tenure” from another institution. After going over the T & P Committee’s proposal, she opened the floor for discussion.

Following a lengthy discussion by those present of the proposed processes and the T & P Committee’s responsibilities for reviewing these “expedited candidates for tenure,” Dean Newcomb suggested that he meet separately with the T & P Committee. The Dean and the T & P Committee will work together to develop an expanded and more detailed set of proposals for these special types of tenure candidates to present to the faculty at a later date. No objections were shown with the Dean’s suggestion.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:58 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Jim Gwin, substituting for Gene Anderson

Faculty Meetings: November 18, 2010 Agenda

Our next faculty meeting will be held this coming Thursday, November 18, starting at 4:00 p.m. in the Brown Alley Room in Weinstein Hall.

Our agenda will be:

• Approval of minutes from our October 20, 2010 meeting. (please see below)
• Approval of Academic Council actions shown below
• Status of FY12 capacity auditDiscussion of proposed changes for hiring faculty with tenure (see attached)
• Other Business

Next A&S Faculty Meeting
Pre-holiday gathering, Tuesday, December 7, 2010, in the Brown Alley Room of Weinstein Hall beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Actions for Academic Council approval on November 2, 2010

History

New course proposals:

HIST 229 Anglo-Saxon England
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 230 Norman and Plantagenet England
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 231 The Late Middle Ages
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 238 France: The Age of Absolutism, 1610-1780
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 239 The French Revolution
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 260 Colonial Latin America
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

Course number change:

HIST 232 The Renaissance (formerly HIST 230)
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

Actions pending Academic Council approval on November 16, 2010

History

Please see amended minutes from the November 2, 2010 Academic Council meeting for course number revisions.

Modern Literatures & Cultures

New honor programs:

French Honors program (approved by the Honors Committee, Emma Goldman, chair, 2010-11)

Italian Honors program (approved by the Honors Committee, Geoff Goddu, chair, 2009-10)

New course proposals:

ITAL 491 Honor Thesis 1
0.5 unit
Prerequisites (if any): None

ITAL 492 Honor Thesis 2
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any): None

Revised course credit:

ARAB 495 Independent Study
0.5-1 unit (current description stipulates full unit credit; for flexibility, we need to establish the possibility of a half-unit independent study option)
Prerequisites (if any): Permission of instructor

Revised course title:

GERM 472 Culture Wars & Identity Debates in German Society from Empire to EU (replaces previous title: Multiculturalism, Identity and Authorship in the German Context)
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any): One 300-level German course

Religion

Proposed change to religion major and minor (see catalog changes):

The religion department proposes to eliminate RELG 401 as a requirement for the religion major. The religion major would be composed of nine courses. RELG 400 would be the capstone experience, with the expectation that students will take the course in their junior year and only enroll in it as seniors with permission from the department.

We also propose to amend the religion minor to include RELG 400 instead of one of the 300-level electives.

Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies/Law

Justification of course credit for cross-listed courses:

WGSS 379/LAW Special Topic: Feminist Legal Theory Seminar
1 unit

WGSS 379/LAW Special Topic: Muslim Family Law
1 unit

Documents

Academic Council: November 16, 2010 Minutes

Dean Newcomb called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m. The minutes of the November 2, 2010 meeting were approved.

General Informational Items

Dorothy Holland distributed flyers for RENT which is showing at the Modlin Center through Sunday, November 21. Dean Newcomb encouraged Council to attend.

Academic Council must approve any Fall 2011 catalog changes (including new courses, course number/title changes, or major/minor/concentration changes) no later than the February 15, 2011 meeting (and A&S Faculty at the February 21, 2011 meeting).

The dean asked Council to remind the faculty to leave their pets at home.

Consent Agenda

The following proposals were approved without further discussion:

History

Please see amended minutes from the November 2, 2010 Academic Council meeting for course number revisions.

Modern Literatures & Cultures
New Honor Programs

French Honors program (approved by the Honors Committee, Emma Goldman, chair, 2010-11)

Italian Honors program (approved by the Honors Committee, Geoff Goddu, chair, 2009-10)

Modern Literatures & Cultures
New Course Proposals

ITAL 491 Honor Thesis 1
0.5 unit
Prerequisites (if any): None

ITAL 492 Honor Thesis 2
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any): None

Modern Literatures & Cultures
Revised Course Credit

ARAB 495 Independent Study
0.5-1 unit (current description stipulates full unit credit; for flexibility, we need to establish the possibility of a half-unit independent study option)
Prerequisites (if any): Permission of instructor

Modern Literatures & Cultures
Revised Course Title

GERM 472 Culture Wars & Identity Debates in German Society from Empire to EU (replaces previous title: Multiculturalism, Identity and Authorship in the German Context)
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any): One 300-level German course

Proposed Change to Religion Major and Minor (see catalog changes):

The religion department proposes to eliminate RELG 401 as a requirement for the religion major. The religion major would be composed of nine courses. RELG 400 would be the capstone experience, with the expectation that students will take the course in their junior year and only enroll in it as seniors with permission from the department.

We also propose to amend the religion minor to include RELG 400 instead of one of the 300-level electives.

Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies/Law
Justification of Course Credit for Cross-listed Courses

WGSS 379/LAW Special Topic: Feminist Legal Theory Seminar
1 unit

WGSS 379/LAW Special Topic: Muslim Family Law
1 unit

Discussion Agenda

Ms. Luanne Greene and Ms. Bynum Walter of the architect firm, Ayers Saint Gross (ASG), were available for discussion about the University’s master plan. Also attending was University Architect Andrew McBride who led the discussion and was available to answer questions. Council offered a variety of suggestions for improvement. Further suggestions are welcome on the ASG website: http://www.asg-architects.com

Dean Newcomb briefed Council on the status of the FY12 capacity audit and distributed a handout of preliminary audit results. There are currently 81 FYS slots with a surplus of five extra courses (dependent upon sabbaticals). There are no resources available to offer a selective reassigned pool in FY12. Reassigned time may be a possibility in the future if the entering class size is reduced or the faculty considers other options to reduce demand for courses. The dean will share the full capacity audit with Academic Council.

Dean Newcomb and Terri Weaver recently met with Steve Allred, Hossein Sadid, Jenni Sauer, and Lori Schuyler regarding the FY12 budget. As a result of those meetings, suggestions were made for how to make salary equity/alignment modifications. The dean will propose a benchmark of the average of the median and mean for each rank within the top 50 liberal arts colleges. Equity/alignment salary increases would be based on a merit system, where annual review data is available, while also accounting for history of service. Priority for this round of increases would be on the assistant professor and faculty of practice ranks (benchmarked against assistant professors). The dean explained that he would increase the salary incentive for promotions (currently between $0-$2,000) as another means to make merit-based equity/alignment adjustments.

In order to fund the salary increases, the dean proposes using fewer term faculty as well as using money from the plant fund for equipment purchases. There is also the strong possibility of fewer student and faculty summer fellowships.

The meeting adjourned at 11:46 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheryl Burns

Academic Council: November 16, 2010 Agenda

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 16, 2010, from 10:30-11:45 in the Tyler Haynes Commons, Room 305 (THC 305). Please review the agenda below and the cited materials in advance of the meeting.

Approval of minutes from the November 2, 2010 meeting.

General Informational Items

Academic Council must approve any Fall 2011 catalog changes (including new courses, course number/title changes, or major/minor/concentration changes) no later than the February 15, 2011 meeting (and A&S Faculty at the February 21, 2011 meeting).
Consent Agenda

We will use the Consent Agenda to deal with routine business that requires Academic Council action and would not be expected to generate discussion. Any item can be moved from the Consent Agenda to the Discussion Agenda.

History

Please see amended minutes from the November 2, 2010 Academic Council meeting for course number revisions.

Modern Literatures & Cultures
New Honor Programs

French Honors program (approved by the Honors Committee, Emma Goldman, chair, 2010-11)

Italian Honors program (approved by the Honors Committee, Geoff Goddu, chair, 2009-10)

Modern Literatures & Cultures
New Course Proposals

ITAL 491 Honor Thesis 1
0.5 unit
Prerequisites (if any): None

ITAL 492 Honor Thesis 2
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any): None

Modern Literatures & Cultures
Revised Course Credit

ARAB 495 Independent Study
0.5-1 unit (current description stipulates full unit credit; for flexibility, we need to establish the possibility of a half-unit independent study option)
Prerequisites (if any): Permission of instructor

Modern Literatures & Cultures
Revised Course Title

GERM 472 Culture Wars & Identity Debates in German Society from Empire to EU (replaces previous title: Multiculturalism, Identity and Authorship in the German Context)
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any): One 300-level German course

Proposed Change to Religion Major and Minor
(see catalog changes)

The religion department proposes to eliminate RELG 401 as a requirement for the religion major. The religion major would be composed of nine courses. RELG 400 would be the capstone experience, with the expectation that students will take the course in their junior year and only enroll in it as seniors with permission from the department.

We also propose to amend the religion minor to include RELG 400 instead of one of the 300-level electives.

Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies/Law
Justification of Course Credit for Cross-listed Courses

WGSS 379/LAW Special Topic: Feminist Legal Theory Seminar
1 unit

WGSS 379/LAW Special Topic: Muslim Family Law
1 unit

Discussion Agenda

• Ayers Saint Gross (ASG) - Ms. Luanne Greene and Ms. Bynum Walter (Master Plan Interview Questions) http://www.asg-architects.com
• Status of FY12 capacity audit
• Preliminary overview of FY12 budget proposals
• Other business

Documents


Next Meeting
We will meet on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. in Tyler Haynes Commons, Room 305 (THC 305).

Academic Council: November 2, 2010 Minutes

Dean Newcomb called the meeting to order at 10:32 a.m.  The minutes of the October 19, 2010 meeting were approved.

General Informational Items

N/A

Consent Agenda

The following proposals were approved without further discussion:

History New Course Proposals

HIST 229 Anglo-Saxon England
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 230 Norman and Plantagenet England
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 231 The Late Middle Ages
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 238 France: The Age of Absolutism, 1610-1780
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 239 The French Revolution
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 260 Colonial Latin America
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

History Course Number Change

HIST 232 The Renaissance (formerly HIST 230)
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

Discussion Agenda

Associate Professor of Classical Studies, Julie Laskaris provided an explanation of ad hoc committee’s proposed handbook changes for hiring faculty with tenure. Council expressed concern over the following:  the committee chair and the department chair discussing what materials would be required; the need for clarity regarding tenure portfolio or document requests; and the possibility of including a probationary period for tenure candidates.  The proposed document is set to go before the A&S Faculty on November 18th; Dr. Laskaris encouraged Council to bring their concerns to that meeting.

Dean Newcomb briefed Council on the changes in the debate program. The tenured and tenure-track faculty in the Department of Rhetoric and Communication Studies made the recommendation to move from our current policy debate program to a parliamentary debate program operated on a student club model.  The dean shared the RHCS recommendation with the School of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council, and this group of eight elected faculty representatives concurred with the RHCS proposal.  The dean reviewed both recommendations and agreed that the proposed changes, on balance, provide the best opportunities for student learning at the University of Richmond.  In turn, the dean shared these three collective recommendations with the provost who reviewed the recommendations and also concurred that this change had the best long-term strategic advantages for RCHS and the University as a whole.  Debate at Richmond is not being eliminated nor is funding for debate being eliminated.  While RHCS faculty recommend moving to club-level parliamentary debate, students are always free to create new student organizations, for example club level policy debate, if the ones that currently exist do not meet their needs and interests.

University Registrar, Susan Breeden discussed the difficulty of issuing credit where cross-listed graduate courses are involved. There has been some talk from the Department of Education about going back to seat time. Susan asked Council for suggestions. Associate Provost, Joan Neff made the following motion:

For cross-listed graduate courses from another school within UR, a rationale must be provided along with the units of credit the student will receive. The course will then come before Academic Council for review and approval.

Council unanimously approved the motion.

The dean briefed Council on some changes in the budgetary process this year. Central administration prepares the budget materials and shares it with the dean, the administration then takes it to Planning and Priorities (the deans no longer attend Planning & Priorities). The budget proposal for the next year is due on December 1st. We will likely need an additional Academic Council meeting. The dean shared some of the proposed budget changes, the priority being faculty salaries; directors and assistant professors, in particular. The dean does not anticipate any operational budget cuts.

The meeting adjourned at 11:38 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheryl Burns

Amendment (per the University Registrar and the Department of History)

Course Number Changes

HIST 231 Norman and Plantagenet England (previously listed on agenda as HIST 230).
HIST 232 The Late Middle Ages (previously listed on agenda as HIST 231).
The course number change for The Renaissance is no longer needed.

Academic Council: November 2, 2010 Agenda

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 2, 2010, from 10:30-11:45 in the Tyler Haynes Commons, Room 305 (THC 305). Please review the agenda below and the cited materials in advance of the meeting.

Approval of minutes from the October 19, 2010 meeting.

General Informational Items

N/A

Consent Agenda

We will use the Consent Agenda to deal with routine business that requires Academic Council action and would not be expected to generate discussion. Any item can be moved from the Consent Agenda to the Discussion Agenda.

History New Course Proposals

HIST 229 Anglo-Saxon England
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 230 Norman and Plantagenet England
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 231 The Late Middle Ages
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 238 France: The Age of Absolutism, 1610-1780
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 239 The French Revolution
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

HIST 260 Colonial Latin America
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

History Course Number Change

HIST 232 The Renaissance (formerly HIST 230)
1 unit
Prerequisites (if any):  None

Discussion Agenda

• Handbook change for hiring faculty with tenure (see attached)
• Changes in opportunities for debate
• Cross-listing of graduate level courses: Determining credit (Susan Breeden)
• Budget priorities
• Other business
  

Documents

Next Meeting

We will meet on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. in Tyler Haynes Commons, Room 305 (THC 305).