November 27, 2012 Academic Council Agenda

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 27, 2012 from 10:30-11:45 a.m. in the Tyler Haynes Commons Room 305. Please review the agenda below and the cited materials in advance of the meeting.

Approval of minutes from the November 13, 2012 meeting.

Consent Agenda:

WGSS 280- Gender and Work 

Discussion Agenda:

-Short term disability benefits with Laura Dietrick
-Title IX discussion with Kerry Frakenhauser and Daniel Fabian
-Summary of merit scores submitted by chairs 

Academic Council November 13, 2012 Minutes

Dean Skerrett called the meeting to order at 10:32 a.m. The minutes of the October 23, 2012 meeting were approved.

All proposals on the November 13, 2012 consent agenda were approved.

Information

The dean informed council that the Dean's Advisory Council has met to review the department and program budget requests and the DAC has begun to make recommendations.  Associate Dean Malcolm Hill has worked with the STEM 6 chairs on a plan for the acquisition and replacement of new equipment for the science labs.  They recently met with procurement services in order to move forward on approved expenditures. 

The dean has been working with department chairs to develop the triennial schedule of annual reviews for tenured faculty members in the department.  The dean reminds the faculty that the purpose of the triennial schedule is to reduce work for the chair and faculty members not to optimize salary.  The departments must approve their triennial schedules by November 30th.

Discussion Agenda:

Admission Market Study with Nanci Tessier

Dean Skerrett welcomed Nanci Tessier, vice president of enrollment management, to the meeting. The university commissioned a market study to see how prospective students and admitted students respond to different ways of presenting the university’s program and resources.  The purpose of the study was to determine help the University of Richmond strengthen its competitive position for prospective undergraduates, as well as to understand the effects of tuition price and financial aid on applications and yield.  Nanci Tessier presented the findings of the study and took questions from council members.

Talent Web Training with Kim Wilson

Dean Skerrett introduced and welcomed Kim Wilson, from Human Resources.  Kim Wilson presented the highlights of Talent Web, a new employment evaluation system, and explained how it works. Kim confirmed that all information that was once on Planet Spider has been transferred to the UR Talent Web system. She informed council that human resources is still building UR Talent Web, therefore, some features may not be available at this time. Although this is an online system, talent web encourages interaction between staff members and their supervisors.

Chairs Professional Development Accounts

The dean informed council that each chair has a professional development account of $750.00.  Chairs may spend this account for professional or department purposes, including business entertainment.  If chairs purchase electronic equipment, such as iphones or ipads, to help with their work, such electronic equipment must be returned to the university if the chair departs from the university.  







The meeting adjourned at 11:53a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Zandria Haines

November 13, 2012 Academic Council Agenda

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 13, 2012 from 10:30-11:45 a.m. in the Keller Hall Reception Room. Please review the agenda below and the cited materials in advance of the meeting.

Approval of minutes from the October 23, 2012 meeting.


Consent Agenda:

Drop required study abroad requirement for the Chinese Study minor:

The Chinese Studies major requires an approved study abroad experience;  for Chinese Studies minors,  study abroad is strongly suggested, and indeed most of them do so.  However, the unusual provision that study abroad be REQUIRED even for a minor was put into place a decade ago,  when we only had one person teaching Chinese, and no major in sight.   A single person could never offer enough language courses to even cover a minor program, so the study abroad requirement just described the reality that unless you took some 300-level Chinese language courses abroad, you would never get enough classes for a minor anyway.  In short, it's an obsolete requirement.  None of our other MLC minor require study abroad except Japanese, which is still a one-person program with no major. MLC vote to discontinue this requirement: 6 Sept 2012.

"On Nov. 2, 2012, the faculty in the Department of Religious Studies voted to eliminate the course, RELG400: Seminar in Approaches to the Study of Religion. RELG400 will no longer be required for completion of the major or minor. Instead, majors and minors will be required to take an additional 300-level course in Religious Studies."

Discussion Agenda:

- Admissions Update with Nanci Tessier

- Talent Web Training with Kim Wilson
-Chairs Professional Development Accounts 

October 23, 2012 Academic Council Minutes

Dean Skerrett called the meeting to order at 10:32 a.m. The minutes of the October 2, 2012 meeting were approved.

All proposals on the October 23, 2012 consent agenda were approved.

Discussion Agenda

Motion to Abolish the A&S Honors Committee 

  David Lefkowitz moved to abolish the A&S Honors Committee. After some discussion regarding the work of the committee, it was decided that a committee was not necessary and the motion was approved. 

The dean informed council that she is preparing a report from last year's Priorities and Insights listening series.  This will be sent to the faculty members through the A & S listserv.  It will also be posted on the Dean’s office webpage.  The agenda for the year centers on ways to strengthen faculty governance especially around budget planning and resource allocation.  As A&S takes steps to enhance faculty governance, the dean would like to hear from faculty to ensure that we involve faculty members in informed, meaningful decisions without over-burdening their time.  The Dean praised David Lefkowitz for his motion to abolish a committee that seemed to require busy work.
                         
Annual merit reviews

Dean Skerrett asked Council members to discuss how their annual merit review process was going and asked if there were issues discovered in the implementation of the new process. A question was asked as to how to weigh teaching, service, and scholarship. The dean asked other Council members to share how they calibrated each category. Many chairs give equal weight to accomplishments in teaching, scholarship and service when they prepare their summative score.  A few members continue to use the 40-40-20 weights, with service weighed less than teaching and scholarship. Some members said that they feel an actual number gives the faculty member a sense of one’s performance overall. Others agreed that their department members do not want a number, but would much rather see a word.  The dean reminded Academic Council that last spring both the members of the council and the A & S faculty approved a verbal rubric as opposed to a numerical rubric.  This was to allow for a more holistic summative evaluation. 

A question was asked on how a department should review a faculty member who has been away on leave or sabbatical. Dean Skerrett asked council members to discuss how their departments handle reviews for those on leave or sabbatical.  It was decided that a policy should be in place for these situations and the Dean asked council for a recommendation. After some discussion, it was decided that there would be a merit review for work accomplished on sabbatical or professional leave.  The merit view would take into account that the faculty member had been released from most teaching responsibilities and some service responsibilities during that time. Thus, the review would focus on progress in research and scholarship.

As the dean’s office prepares triennial schedules of annual reviews for the tenured faculty, she will avoid having year “A” reviews following a year in which the faculty member is eligible for sabbatical or professional leave.

Program based budgeting

The dean asked if there were any questions regarding the program based budgeting process.  A chair asked if the dean’s office would rather see the final bottom line or if departments should include their three-year history.  The dean observed that the dean’s office is able to provide the three-year histories so it is not necessary for chairs to create these.  However, the department should make its best argument, which may include reference to the three-year history. 
Dean Skerrett invited the departments to include any information that will make their proposal informative and persuasive.  There was a question whether a department could choose the fast track option but realign funds. Dean Skerrett noted that her office had completed a realignment project last year in preparation for program based budgeting.  She suggested that if a department continues to find that there is money in a line that isn't being used, then the department chair may reallocate that money to another line. The dean stated that the budget should reflect how the department plans to spend the money.  Dean Skerrett suggested that department chairs should reach out to Terri Weaver, director of budget and operations, for further help with realigning budgets.

The dean then reminded everyone of the October deadline for budget requests.  This is a real deadline.  Once all budget request are in, the Dean's Advisory Council will review them and make recommendations to the dean on what goes forward to Planning and Priorities, as well as how to allocate the $270,000 one-time enhancement rolled over from FY 12 surplus. 

The meeting adjourned at 11:45 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Zandria Haines

November 8, 2012 A&S Faculty Meeting Agenda

Our next faculty meeting will be held on November 8, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. in the Brown-Alley Room of Weinstein Hall.



Our discussion agenda will be:

1. Approval of the A&S faculty meeting minutes from October 10, 2012
2. Approval of Academic Council Actions from October 23, 2012 (see below) 
3. Career services presentation
4. New budget for FY14 
5. New faculty mentor stipend budget for FY14  

 [Academic Council Actions concerning degree programs, courses, and committees]

• Jewish Studies Minor 

• Motion to Abolish the A&S Honors Committee                                                                               Motion: The A&S Nominating Committee proposes the abolition of the Arts and Sciences Honors Committee.  In its place, we propose that student applications for department honors be vetted solely at the departmental level, and that proposals for modifications to existing honors programs, or the creation of new ones, follow the existing procedures for changes to majors or minors, or the creation of new majors or minors. In place of the Arts and Sciences Honors Committee, a representative from the dean's office will collect names of students accepted into the Honors program by the various department coordinators, verify the accuracy of the list, and forward that information to the Registrar.