February 3, 2015 Academic Council Meeting Minutes

The dean called the meeting to order at 10:30.

1. Approval of Minutes of January 20, 2015

Dr. Tricia Stohr-Hunt moved approval of the minutes of January 20, 2015. Dr. Aurora Hermida-Ruiz seconded. With no further discussion, the minutes were approved by voice vote.

2. Revised Course Proposals

LALIS 343 and LAIS 371/FMST 371 were presented as revised course proposals.

Dr. Con Beausang moved approval of the revised course proposals. Dr. Jon Dattelbaum seconded. With no further discussion, the revised course proposals were approved by voice vote.

3. New Course Proposals

BIOL 321, BIOL 390, HCS 100, SOC 340, and PLSC 341 were proposed as new courses.

Dr. Linda Boland clarified that one credit hour amounts to 10-14 hours of course work per week and suggested that this criterion be stated clearly on the PLSC 341 course proposal.  

Dr. Dan Palazzolo agreed to ask Dr. Sandra Joireman to include this on the course proposal. The revised course proposal indicating that students will spend 10-14 hours per week has been included on the February 3, 2015 Academic Council agenda.

Dr. Con Beausang moved approval of the new course proposals. Dr. Jon Dattelbaum seconded. With no further discussion, the new course proposals were approved by voice vote.

4. Changes to Majors, Minors, and Concentrations

Before proceeding, Dr. Malcolm Hill recommended removing the proposed change to the Health Care and Society Major from the agenda, as the proposed change needs to go through a series of processes before being reconsidered.

The proposal was removed until a later date.

Revisions to the Interdisciplinary Minor in Luso-Brazilian Studies were proposed.

Dr. Aurora Hermida-Ruiz moved approval of the proposed changes. Dr. Jennifer Nourse seconded. With no further discussion, the changes were approved by voice vote.

5. Humanities Initiative—Dean Skerrett

Dean Skerrett introduced and gave a general history of the Humanities Initiative.

Dr. Nicole Sackley presented the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee, which outlines the process, goals, priorities, and proposals of the Humanities Initiative.

Dr. Abigail Cheever talked about the Undergraduate Humanities Research Seminar, which will be offered for the first time in Fall 2015. The dean has agreed to support travel opportunities for the seminar to Washington, D.C., New York, and the Richmond area.  

6. Discussion of Three-Year Merit Review—Dr. Geoff Goddu

Dean Skerrett introduced, saying that in April 2012 revised guidelines were approved by the A&S faculty to meet specific goals:

• reduce work associated with the review process
• increase transparency of the process
• develop a five-point rubric
• clarify how merit scores are connected to raise

Dean Skerrett pointed out that the new process has significantly reduced the work required in annual reviews by faculty and department chairs. 

Dean Skerrett then turned the discussion over to Dr. Geoff Goddu, who had some reflections as to whether a three-year review process would compromise time savings.

Dr. Geoff Goddu suggested that a three-year review could amount to the equivalent of a midcourse review for tenure-track faculty. This would inflate the work required, as well as the stakes of the merit review process.

Dr. Yvonne Howell and Dr. Con Beausang agreed with these reflections.

Dr. Abigail Cheever understood the points being made, but pointed out that department chairs should be permitted to evaluate a year’s achievements in context.

Dr. Nicole Sackley wondered whether one-size-fits-all is the best model.

Dr. Sam Abrash worried that the faculty was trying to move to a new model before adequately evaluating the efficacy of the current model.

Dr. Michelle Hamm objected to the language in the guidelines, saying that it is unfair and rigid not to be able to include context as a definite part of the narrative.

In conclusion, Dean Skerrett suggested a compromise to modify the guidelines while the Dean’s office continues to evaluate the efficacy of the current model.

The meeting adjourned at 11:45.

Respectfully submitted,

Matt Oglesby