Attending: Dr. Tom Metzger, Chair; Ms. Eileen Boylin; Ms. Dianne B. Brubaker; Dr. Kerry W. Holzworth; Mr. Jason Palmer; Mr. Michael Unangst and Dr. Anthony Silvestre

1. The minutes of the October meeting were accepted. (The November meeting had been cancelled.)

2. Chair's Report

A. Dr. Metzger explained the functioning of the Teaching Excellence Committee and its subcommittees that deal with CIDDE, Awards for Instruction and Innovative Teaching and Faculty Development and Strategies. He explained the role our Committee had in establishing the award and some of our concerns related to the other areas. Ms. Brubaker reported that some students attending the newly-organized Provost's Student Leadership Forum expressed concerns about teaching and communication with faculty. She agreed to update our Committee on any developments.

B. Dr. Metzger attended the University Planning and Budget Committee. It appears that better data on part-time faculty are not available. Dr. Ginsberg was asked to update his data but it still may not suit our purposes. The new Oracle system may yield better data. The Committee also discussed the soon-to-be released Information Technology Steering Committee (ITSC) Plan. Members discussed concerns with the plan because of its potential impact on our teaching mission. Dr. Metzger stated that our Committee's major interest is that the plan provide for a reasonable method to maintain and upgrade the current system. Concerns were expressed about a possible student usage fee, expansions of labs, impact on branch campuses, the rumors about the plan, and related issues. Dr. Metzger advised members to check out the Senate Computer Usage Committee webpage since they list questions that they have about ITSC. No date has been given for the release but Dr. Mezger stated that he would mail it out to all members as soon as he receives it and that we will dedicate a meeting to a discussion of it.

C. The Tribune Review:

A reporter from the Tribute Review, Mr. Bill Zlatos questioned Dr. Metzger about the issue of posting student evaluations on the web and other student related issues. He asked Dr. Mezger for a list of Committee members. Since Committee membership is public knowledge and since the 1999 list is on our webpage, Mr. Zlatos may be calling members. Mr. Unangst reported that student descriptions of courses are currently on the web and can be accessed at pitt.edu/~sgb.

3. Pro Tem Members

Dr. Metzger nominated Drs. Whitney, Crossman, Nelson and Talbot to serve as pro tem members of our Committee. The Committee members supported the nominations. Dr. Metzger will check to see if a formal process is needed and Dr. Silvestre will contact each of them to ascertain their willingness to serve.

4. Next Meeting

The Committee will meet again on January 11, 2000 from noon till 1:15 in Room 629, WPU.

The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Dr. Anthony Silvestre