SENATE EDUCATIONAL POLICIES COMMITTEE

Minutes

October 27, 1997

Attending: Sue Whitney, Chairperson; Jean Blachère; David M. Crossman, Barbara Fredette; Kerry Holzworth; Leon Khaimovich; Sue Neuman, Tom Metzger; Tony Silvestre

Called In

Absence: Jack Daniel and Richard Hanna

1. Corrections to the September 29, 1997 Minutes:

a. Dr. Holzworth pointed out that the third line in Section 4.d. should be changed to "Mr. Teeters suggested that information about the Student Opinion of Teaching Surveys be made available to students".

b. Mr. Khaimovich pointed out that an item discussed during the Committee's deliberations about our 1997-98 agenda was not included in the minutes. The issue was the need to examine and update relevant University policies. It was suggested that many policies formulated in the past were no longer useful in the face of changing conditions.

2. Teaching Excellence Development Fund:

Dr. Whitney reported on her communication with the Chancellor about the fund. A line item has been added for 1999 budget of $250,000 for the awards. The Chancellor has expressed support for the fund. Dr. Whitney offered the assistance of this Committee in designing and implementing the award system and offered to send information collected by our Committee about the operation of similar funds at other universities.

3. Peer Evaluation of Teaching:

Dr. Whitney reported that Dr. Daniel was unable to attend today's meeting to discuss the status of peer evaluation because of his recent appointment as Acting Dean. Dr. Whitney will ask him for a memo describing the current status of the evaluations.

4. Update on a Web Page for the Committee:

Dr. Whitney reported that we can establish a page for our Committee on the web. Dr. Crossman agreed to coordinate the effort. A number of items were suggested for inclusion. They were: copies of recent minutes, agendas of our meetings, a schedule of our meetings, non-confidential reports and documents issued by the Committee, a list of members and links to their pages, our mission statement, announcements of interested items and links to other relevant University and non-University pages, an E-mail address for soliciting opinions, questions and input (a list server to distribute these to Committee members), and interesting graphics.

5. Draft of the University's Policy on Electronic Resources:

Dr. Silvestre suggested in a fax to Dr. Whitney that clarification was needed about the application of the policy to fax communication and that the policy on privacy of E-mail be extended to files and directories. Dr. Holzworth suggested that Section II, item 3 be clarified. The clause "including teaching and research activities should be moved to follow "University business." Dr. Crossman expressed a need for reassurance that the University is not routinely monitoring electronic communication of faculty and staff and has no plans to do so. The current policy contains some assurances.

6. Founder's Day:

Dr. Whitney sent a letter to Dr. MacLeod relinquishing responsibility for Founder's Day in light of last month's discussion that the activity did not fit our mission.

7. FAS Core Requirements:

This issue raised at the September meeting was discussed. The University Times had a recent article about the changes. Dr. Metzger pointed out that the old requirements were very confusing for faculty advisors and students and that the changes were meant to simplify the general education requirements. Dr. Whitney pointed out that the changes would reduce the number of students taking courses in some departments. Dr. Neuman suggested that the Committee send a letter to the Associate Dean requesting an update.

8. The Release of Faculty Evaluations at other Universities:

This issue was tabled in light of Mr. Teeter's absence.

9. Training of Academic Chairs:

The Committee discussed the need for adequate training of Chairs with an understanding that the selection and orientation of Chairs varies widely at the University. Dr. Whitney agreed to ask Ms. Beverly Harris-Schenz for an update on the issue.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:49 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by A. J. Silvestre