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: Jeff Ray, Han Reichgelt

Guests: Dawn Ramsey

Item 1. Updates

Dr. Szafran updated the Council on the following:

Extended University – Russ Hunt reported that he has received two proposals for additional research centers: Mechatronics and Geotechnical, and will send out the proposals as soon as possible for review and voting. Two additional proposals are pending for CSE.
DoE – Tom Currin reported having received over 200 applications for the three full-time advisor positions. He’s waiting for the appointment of ACC and ETM search committee members but the initial screening process has begun.
Core Curriculum – Alan Gabrielli reported that the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee endorsed the recommendation from the Task Force on changes to the Core and it will be presented to the general faculty for approval and then submitted to the System Office for final approval. Alan will be attending a workshop regarding the core on Monday.
Final Exam & Calendar Issues – Steve reported that the final exam schedule will be on the Faculty Senate agenda for tomorrow.
Tuition Differential Funds – David Caudill reminded the deans that they need to let their departments know how much money they have.
Advisor Training – Dawn distributed a list of faculty who have not signed up for the advisor training and asked the Deans to encourage them to sign up as soon as possible.
Engagement Reports – some are still outstanding past the deadline.
Graduate Studies – Nikki reported that enrollment has reached 700 for the first time.
New Buildings – Bill Barnes reported that the new buildings are stunning. ETC – will open November 8, 2010.
Building J – the old ATTIC space has some issues still with doors not having working locks. The departments using the faculty offices will pay for and furnish shelving for their own offices through Facilities.

Item 2. TCSG Articulation

Dave Caudill gave a brief update on the status of the articulation agreement. Caudill submitted a proposal/curriculum to the TCSG’s for articulated B.S. Degrees in EET, IET, and MET, and is working out locations for remote labs and video conferencing as a means of delivering classes.

Item 3. Coordination of Journey, First Year Experience, QEP, and Orientation Courses

Zvi distributed a draft proposal for the coordination of these programs by email and asked for feedback at today’s meeting. The only concern expressed was about some classes becoming homogeneous with QEP and that the core classes need to heterogeneous. It was decided to move forward with implementation and include the following as committee members: Zvi Szafran, Ron Lunk, Amanda Conway-Brown, Mark Nunes, Kim Haimes-Korn, Bob Brown, Steve Hamrick, Jeff Orr, Julie Newell and representatives from IT, Math, and Housing.

Item 4. New Hires Priorities

Each dean presented their list of faculty needs and stated their highest priority positions. Szafran will cost out the expenses for the hires considered critical and share the data with the Council.

Item 5. Grant Proposal Possibilities

Szafran announced the availability of two grants; one for an adult learner program and one for high school outreach and asked for volunteers to work on the grant proposals. Steve Hamrick and Zvi agreed to work on the adult learner grant proposal and Zvi will talk to Jeff Ray about the outreach proposal.

Item 6. New Business

Szafran talked about a recent article he read regarding conferral of rights for part-time faculty. He would like to do a study or innovative project to share with the University System that would establish some ways to improve things for our part-time faculty. He suggested the study would need to establish criteria for giving priority to certain part-time faculty when assigning classes, establishing pay, etc. and would like to see what is being done across the University System. He further stated that ELI could help with this study. All agreed it is worthwhile to know what’s happening around the USG.

Steve Hamrick asked if a final decision had been made regarding summer pay for full-time faculty. No decision has been made and this needs to be revisited.

Meeting adjourned at 3:55 P.M.