Attending: Dr. Tom Metzger, Chair; Ms. Ellen Baylis; Dr. David Crossman; Dr. Estry Ang, Ms. Kya O'Quinn, and Dr. Anthony Silvestre

The undergraduate Student Representative, Ms. Kya O'Quinn was introduced and welcomed to the Committee.

1. Update from the Chair:

A. UPBC - The Parameter's subcommittee has met to discuss possible tuition increases but no decision has been made pending word from Harrisburg about the 2001 allocation to Pitt.

B. Committee on Instructional Excellence - The Grants Subcommittee has received 53 proposals from virtually all schools and branch campuses. Fifteen proposals were accepted and decisions about the amount of each award will be made in a week or so. The total award purse is $200,000.

C. Committee on Scholarly Communication - There is no report from this committee which was set up in the fall of 2000 to deal with issues related to the library, journals and other matters.

D. Pilot Evaluation of Department Heads - The pilot evaluation of department heads by faculty ahs been completed. A recommendation that all department heads evaluation include a faculty evaluation is expected.

E. Middle Schools Report - The report has been completed and is on line at www.pitt.edu/~jd11/selfstudy (This address was not working as of 3-21. We will update you as we get better information.) The Chair will convey this Committee's willingness to meet with the reviewers from Middle Schools.

2. The Pitt Environment for Minority Students

Dr. Metzger handed out Dr. Silvestre's description of the problem as was discussed in February (see attachment). Ms. O'Quinn and Dr. Metzger described meeting and conversations with minority students who suggest that isolation and disconnectedness among minority students is a common problem. Dr. Metzger will communicate with the Provost's Office on the issue. Ms. O'Quinn mentioned that there is a forum on minority retention on April 3. She also asked that faculty interested in working on diversity issues contact her.

3. Part Time Instructor Survey

The pilot survey was sent to Carol Baker for review and to 15 part time faculty in Psychology, English, and Mathematics. 11 faculty responded. After reviewing the returns as well as Carol Baker's comments, Dr. Metzger suggested that he and Dr. Talbott meet to review and revise the survey. After this review, the revised survey will be sent out to the Committee. A mailing to all part time faculty will be prepared over the summer with the intention of mailing it out in October.

4. February Minutes

The February minutes were revised to indicate that the mailing of the pilot survey occurred from Dr. Metzger's office and not from the Senate Office. The corrected minutes are on our webpage.

Dr. Metzger reminded the Committee that we will elect (or re-elect) a Chair in April

Our April meeting is on April 17 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in room 650, William Pitt Union.

The meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted: Dr. Anthony Silvestre