April 25, 2013 A&S Faculty Meeting Minutes



Dean Kathleen Skerrett called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. in Keller Hall reception room.   Sara Pappas moved approval of the minutes of the Arts and Sciences faculty meeting from March 20, 2013.  Sydney Watts seconded the motion and the faculty voted to approve.  Gene Anderson moved approval of Academic Council Actions from April 23.  Ted Bunn seconded the motion and the faculty voted to approve.

The following faculty members were recognized and applauded for 25 years of service:  Maren Reiner, Biology; Roni Kingsley, Biology; Jim Davis, Math and Computer Science; and Michael Kerckhove, Math and Computer Science.  The dean thanked them for their service to the University and to a generation of undergraduate students.

Three faculty members were honored as they make prepare to retire in May, 2013.  Dorothy Holland, Chair of Theatre and Dance, read a commendation for Myra Daleng and recognized her as Director of Dance Emerita. Tanja Softic, Chair of Art and Art History, honored Steve Addis as Professor Emeritus of Art and Humanities, and Hugh West, Chair of History, read the citation for John Gordon as Professor of History Emeritus.  The dean thanked these colleagues for their service to the University and for pursuing their vocations among us.

Vincent Wang, Associate Dean for Arts and Sciences, provided a PowerPoint presentation on the Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research and 2013 Summer Fellowships.  He announced that 202 fellowships have been awarded for summer research; this is significantly higher than we initially thought possible.  Vincent reiterated that the major goal of the capital campaign is to raise funds for summer fellowships and internships. The dean has allocated all annual funds raised to support the undergraduate research program.  Dean Wang explained the various categories of research grants, travel grants, and summer fellowships.  Over $100,000 has been allocated for research and travel grants in the past year.  The total budget for student research, including faculty mentoring and stipends, is $800K.  The dean thanked Associate Dean Wang for his enterprise and leadership over the program. 

The dean welcomed President Ayers to the A & S faculty meeting.  The president spoke to the faculty about the guaranteed summer experience initiative, and his efforts to raise funds for an unrestricted endowment to support summer fellowships and internships.  He reminded the faculty that these initiatives all build on existing programs. This new initiative is an excellent way to distinguish Richmond from its peer institutions.  On behalf of the A & S faculty, the dean thanked the president for his efforts in support of our students’ opportunities.

Sydney Watts, Chair of the Nominating Committee, announced the following results of the Arts and Sciences committee elections for 2013:

Cross-School Curricular Oversight – David Lefkowitz
First Year Seminar (Division I) - Mavis Brown
First Year Seminar (Division III) - Eric Yellin
Grievance – William Myers
Nominating (Division II) - Kathy Hoke
Nominating (Division IV) - Julie Laskaris
Planning & Priorities (Division I) - Jan French
Tenure & Promotion (At-large) - Paul Achter
Tenure & Promotion (Division I) - Jennifer Cable
Tenure & Promotion (1 year Replacement, Division I) – Gene Anderson
Tenure & Promotion (Division II) - Doug Winiarski
University Faculty Council – David Lefkowitz and Tze Loo
University Faculty Council (one year) - Christine Davis

Dean Skerrett thanked the faculty for an excellent year and wished everyone a peaceful and productive summer.  The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m.


Respectfully submitted,
Lucretia McCulley

April 23, 2013 Academic Council Minutes

Dean Skerrett called the meeting to order at 10:33 a.m. The minutes of the March 19, 2013 meeting were approved.

All proposals on the April 23, 2013 consent agenda were approved.

 Discussion Agenda

•Notifications of dean’s revision to merit scores; alignment with T&P process—

The dean provided a boilerplate of “a notification of merit score revision” for review by Academic Council. In any case where the dean assigns a merit score different than the score assigned by the department chair to an annual performance review dossier, the dean will send the faculty member the notification.  Academic Council discussed whether the notification should subsequently be included in a candidate’s tenure and promotion dossier. Some Academic Council members expressed concern that this addition would not be consistent with past practice, and that it would add a prejudicial element to the dossier.  Others supported including the letter, as it would provide another level of transparency that would be valuable to the candidate and the members of Tenure and Promotion Committee. After much discussion, it was decided not to include the notifications in the T & P dossiers since the dean’s ultimate annual merit score was not shared with Tenure & Promotion in the past.  The decision continues the current and prior practice.

•Report on undergraduate research fellowships—

Associate Dean Vincent Wang presented a report on the A & S undergraduate research program. At the University, undergraduate research and independent creative arts opportunities are open to all students. The School of Arts & Sciences offers three types of funding: research grants, travel grants, and summer fellowships. Currently, 202 students have been funded to conduct their research under faculty mentors during the 2013 summer. These fellowships were funded through both internal and external resources. The School of Arts & Sciences supported 114 of the summer fellowships, including 20 fellowship that were made possible by gifts to the A & S Dean’s annual fund. Professor Wang explained the various resources deployed for summer fellowships including student stipends, A&S matches, and faculty mentoring stipends.

Professor Wang then compared funding over the last 5 years.  172 students applied for undergraduate research fellowships.  Faculty readers were instructed to grade each proposal on scale of 1 through 5. A&S funded 121 proposals and referred 37 proposals to the Spider Research Fund (SRF). 16 of those 37 proposals were funded by the SRF that offers Richmond Summer Fellowships.  Richmond Summer Fellowships have two components: fellowships and internships. 100 A&S students received internship awards from RSF out of 160 total awards.

Professor Wang briefed Academic Council on the first year experience under SRF. Moving forward, all fellowship students will have uniform contract letters, a centralized housing process, and will be required to enter their time sheets online. The Undergraduate Research Committee will compare departmental funding rates and will aspire to make opportunities to all students, but will particularly focus on non-STEM students. The goal is to expand summer opportunities for students through our ongoing engagement with donors who see the educational and career value of these opportunities.
Dean Skerrett thanked Vincent Wang for his hard work. The dean’s office will focus on tracking student research, as it will help with the University’s campaign efforts. 

•Guidelines for T&P, student evaluations

The dean asked Academic Council to look over the proposed revisions to the T&P guidelines. The most significant change is an added checklist. The dean hopes this will be helpful for the dean’s office, the candidate, as well as the department chair to assist with document management.
Dr. Michelle Hamm briefly spoke about student evaluations. The Tenure & Promotion committee has asked the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) to develop an electronic file for the candidate to access and print evaluations for each course.  In addition, the OIE will also summarize the data for the candidate. The goal is to make the process more consistent and less stressful and time-consuming for the candidates.



The meeting was adjourned at 11:47am

Respectfully submitted,

Zandria Haines