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
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
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