March 19^th, 2007

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

Our meeting was convened at 4:01.

We read and approved the minutes of our March 5^th meeting.

We learned that there still are departmental budget planning meetings being scheduled; we signed up to attend more. We still hope to have at least one CPC member present at each meeting.

We briefly discussed three issues that have arisen from budget meetings. The first deals with the use of lab fees. It was observed that students pay lab fees and that it is unclear what happens with the funds accumulating from those fees. Some have observed that the funds do not appear linked to courses that have lab sections. The second issue deals with the gradual usurpation of professional staff’s time by increased administrative demands outside the control of departments. As a result and at least in some departments and programs, staff are less and less available to assist faculty. The third matter involves joint appointments in departments that rely on partial FTE’s to cover teaching and service loads. For example, some departments have faculty with quarter time or half time appointments. In these circumstances, it may be difficult to have those partial appointments serve in ways that meet departmental needs. We found no immediate way to address these issues and expect to return to them. Indeed, we do not even know if some of them actually are issues that we can or need to address. It was noted, however, that our policies already address the third issue. Our Policy on the Joint Appointment of College Faculty in Multiple Instructional Units (2002; Reviewed 2006) mandates the development of formal agreements between joint-appointed faculty and their units. In cases where agreements are not being followed, there may be a need for the Dean to intervene.

At 5:02 we were joined by Professor Susan Gubar, Special Advisor to the Provost for the Arts and Humanities. She reported on developments relating to her work as chair of IU Bloomington Arts and Humanities Infrastructure Committee, a campus committee of leaders representing a full spectrum of the arts and humanities. The group has been meeting since last October and currently reports to Michael A. McRobbie, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Her committee has been charged to find ways to promote and advocate for the arts and humanities. Among their many goals are efforts to increase the funding for and visibility of the arts and humanities at IUB and to foster collaboration between people and units. Prof. Gubar highlighted the nature of several exciting initiatives her group already has envisioned and is seeking to implement. She left the meeting at 5:42.

We returned to our statement detailing the nature of the social sciences. We tweaked it a bit and now feel comfortable with our latest draft. We expect to send this final version to key campus and university administrators.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:55.

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.