Note: At times, issues of confidentiality may require that some items discussed in these meetings be excluded from these minutes.

Members: Bill Barnes, Dave Caudill, Tom Currin, Alan Gabrielli, Steve Hamrick, Ruston Hunt, Joyce Mills, Jeff Orr, Nikki Palamiotis, Jeffrey Ray, Han Reichgelt, Zvi Szafran

Members Absent: Nikki Palamiotis

Guests:

Item 1. Updates

Dr. Szafran updated the Council on the following:

Budget – revenues in the State are up 8% but we will likely need to find replacement for stimulus funds
BoR – Search is in progress for Chancellor Davis’ replacement
Searches:

Vice President for Business and Finance – the two finalists will be interviewing on campus on Friday and Monday

Advancement – search is underway for a campaign officer for major gifts and grant writing
Arts & Sciences Dean – search is underway for Alan Gabrielli’s replacement. David Caudill is heading the search committee.
STEM Outreach position – Alan and his committee are working on the job description for this new position

Marketing – an ad hoc committee made up of Tom Currin, Jeff Ray, and four additional faculty (two from engineering and two from engineering technology) will meet soon with Jim Cooper about a marketing campaign for the University.
Equity Adjustments – Zvi met with a small number of Arts and Sciences faculty regarding past equity adjustments and the methodology used. These faculty want to reconstitute the committee and revisit this. This topic will be on the Faculty Senate agenda in February.
Degree proposals

MS Architecture is at the System Office for review
CET has submitted two proposals to the Faculty Senate
Biotechnology and Environmental Science are in progress
ETCMA has a B.A. in New Media Arts proposal in progress
Education proposal is in progress

Applied Research Corporation – proposal worked on by Russ Hunt and Han Reichgelt is scheduled to be on the January Board of Regents agenda
Extra Comp – the System Office has developed a new form to be used for requesting extra compensation but the criteria remain the same
Zvi was a member of a conference call recently about adult learning and was invited to apply for a grant in the Health Informatics area. The University was recently awarded a $25,000 grant to support adult learning.
DoE School? – Zvi and Dr. Rossbacher are in talks about the Division of Engineering becoming a School of Engineering.
School of Business? – Dr. Rossbacher and Zvi are discussing the policy to handle requests such as this.
Support for Facilities – Jeff Ray talked about a critical need to support Facilities as they are understaffed. He stated that we have fewer custodians now than in the past and have added additional buildings. Our campus is not being maintained up to standards as a result. Szafran stated that he recognizes that our University is understaffed and underpaid and may need to increase fees to include a facilities fee. He further stated that our students pay lower fees than most USG institutions. Jeff Ray wanted to go on record that he will not support another fee being charged to our students.
Space – Senior Staff is working with Lily to update the master plan six year out as well as a plan for renovating the remaining space on campus.
Tuition Differential – Currin suggested asking for a tuition differential for engineering.
TCSG – Zvi asked Jeff to remind the ET chairs to respond to Dave Caudill about TCSG issues.
Advisor Training – Dawn stated that the committee for advisor training asked about training for the professional advisors. All agreed this would be a good idea for all five professional advisors as well as any faculty that still need it. It was also suggested that the advisors all need to meet with Bob Brown about the QEP.
Part-time Faculty Advisor Training – Advisor training will be offered five times in February. Part-time faculty who complete the two-hour training will be paid $100.
Website – Our website continues to be a major issue. Szafran responded that the University is working on it.

Meeting adjourned at 3:50 P.M.