March 5^th, 2007

Present: Judith Anderson (Chair), Tom Busey, Sandra Dolby, Roger Levesque (Recorder), Rosemary Lloyd, Patrick McNaughton and Pamela Walters.

The meeting was convened at 4:00 pm.

After a lively deliberation, we approved the February 26th minutes contingent on the results of a clarification from Dean Bertenthal.

Dean Bertenthal joined us at 4:34. He presented a potential policy issue that we will consider closely. It is his understanding that some departments may be requiring students to take makeup exams quite early in the morning, long before class times that typically begin at 8:00 am. Committee members expressed surprise at the times that were mentioned. Our initial reaction was that this might be an area in need of a policy that would encourage reasonable practices. We briefly brainstormed about possible ways to proceed.

We returned to our discussion of the inadequate support for the social sciences. It was clarified that a central concern involves providing greater structural support for faculty who could be securing external grants. Dean Bertenthal noted that more support is needed to help motivate faculty, especially given that some are ill prepared even to submit grants and, as a result, may not see it as desirable. He provided interesting examples of how incentives and mechanisms can be put in place that would provide the needed extended and recurring support and mentoring. (For example, he mentioned the success of programs that pay high-profile panel reviewers to vet grant proposals of less experienced applicants.) He also emphasized that this necessarily will be a long-term effort given the immense diversity in the ability of departments to support grant activity. He was very much encouraged by on-going conversations he has been having with, among others, Sarita Soni, Vice Provost for Research.

Dean Bertenthal left the meeting at 5:06.

David Zaret joined us at 5:06. Prof. Zaret had been invited to discuss progress in the search for a new Dean of the Libraries. We were pleased to learn of rapid and very encouraging developments. The committee already has consulted with numerous individuals and groups, such as the BFC's library committee, and has planned a public meeting with library staff and faculty. The search committee already has followed up on roughly 40 nominations. Calls for nominations have been distributed widely and strategically to ensure diversity in the pool of applications. The search committee fully expects to receive exceptionally strong applications given the university’s well-recognized strengths. Several already have submitted their applications. We were pleased to hear that, as Chair of the search committee, he fully expects the search to be open in ways similar to other Dean searches at IU. Zaret anticipates having candidates meet with various constituencies on campus. He noted the real possibility of having candidates interview as early as May (if this were to occur, it would be very speedy progress since he was appointed chair of the committee in January). He emphasized, however, that the schedule would remain flexible and could be extended, if needed, to next fall. We shared his sense of enthusiasm and optimism about the search. He left the meeting at 5:28.

We received a progress report on nominations for membership on next year’s CPC. We were again struck by the pervasive lack of willingness, in some disciplinary areas, to serve on this important committee. We did, however, receive another nomination and hope to have a completed slate soon.

We discussed several issues that have arisen from departmental budget meetings with the College administration. Most notably, concern has been raised about graduate students and NTTs teaching large lecture courses. We also discussed issues involving where interdisciplinary programs should be located when programs seem to have their most active and core faculty from one department. We discussed whether these matters were something we should pursue and decided that further work on NTTs awaits current BFC considerations and that the location of interdisciplinary programs is, if in doubt, first to be considered by the deans and then brought to the attention of the CPC if policy issues are involved.

We returned to discuss the scheduling of makeup exams. We again thought of ways to proceed and expect to place this issue on our next meeting’s agenda.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:31, well before our usual time. Many thanks to Judith for running a tight ship!

Roger Levesque, Recorder

Questions or comments regarding the minutes and actions of the College Policy Committee may be addressed to its Chair, Judith Anderson (anders@indiana.edu – 855-3845). Past minutes and College Policy Statements can be found at the CPC web page: www.indiana.edu/~college/faculty/policy/policies.shtml.