March 28, 2005

Present: Rob Shakespeare (chair), Judith Anderson, Erik Bucy, Katy Fraser, Jeff Hart, Roger Levesque, Al Ruesink (recorder), Pam Walters, Yasuko Watt

The meeting convened at 2:30.

Minutes of the meeting of March 21 were modified slightly and approved.

Katy reported on the status of the nominating progress for the upcoming CPC membership elections and CPC members provided some advice regarding the structuring of a ballot of strong candidates.

At 2:41 we were joined by Julie Bobay, who is chairing the 9-member Campus Intersections Committee. This committee, appointed by Chancellor Gros Louis and reporting to him, has been meeting to interpret its charge and to develop operating procedures. The goal of committee members is to be both reactive to adverse situations and proactive in finding ways to facilitate activities between and among schools. In doing this, they hope both to minimize confusion and conflict and to optimize efficiency and effectiveness. The CPC suggested areas where the Intersections Committee might focus some attention. Rob and Julie and Dean Swamy will meet to share some perspectives, and Julie may return to the CPC at a later time if CPC members feel there is further discussion needed about issues with which the Intersections Committee should be engaged. Julie left at 3:08.

The CPC next considered a recent draft of the document we have been developing titled "Gender bias and the the faculty gender gap: Implications and recommendations for the College of Arts and Science." The report concludes with nine recommendations regarding what an academic organization can do to reduce, if not eliminate, gender bias in evaluations. After looking carefully at each of the nine recommendations, it was moved, seconded, and unanimously approved to send the document to Swamy for his consideration of it.

At 3:35, Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig arrived to discuss the proposal for restructuring the Program of TESOL and Applied Linguistics into a new unit to be entitled the Department of Second Language Studies. She chaired the task force that drafted the proposal. As she told the CPC, the goal of the restructuring is to take what is going well and to make it better, providing a better unifying structure for students who need to work together and a situation in which faculty can gain energy and visibility from their associations with each other. The conversation with her provided the CPC with a better awareness of both the strengths and the possible liabilities of the proposed arrangement. And we clarified some factual concerns about the proposal. No overall evaluation was done; we will be discussing the matter further.

The meeting adjourned at 4:00.

Albert Ruesink, recorder

Questions or comments regarding the minutes and actions of the Policy Committee may be addressed to Rob Shakespeare, Dept. of Theater and Drama, Theater and Drama Ctr. A300H, 5-4367, shakespe@indiana.edu. Past minutes and College Policy Statements can be found at the CPC web page: www.indiana.edu/~college/faculty/policy/policies.shtml.