March 29, 2004

Present: Judith Anderson, Erik Bucy, Katy Fraser, Kevin Hunt (chair), Chuck Livingston (recorder), Rob Shakespeare

1. The meeting began at 2:00 PM with the approval of the minutes for March 22, as amended.

2. Committee members returned briefly to a discussion of two issues affecting graduate education: graduate student support and concerns about strict lower limits on graduate class size. Graduate support has been identified by the Dean as the most important strategic need for the College. The Committee shares with the Dean a sense of urgency with regards to this issue, and is also concerned that limits on course size in some departments might jeopardize the quality and attractiveness of our graduate offerings.

3. Several Committee members reported on recent departmental planning meetings. One issue that arose was the role of emeriti in teaching courses. While the value of these faculty, both for graduate and undergraduate education, is recognized, one Committee member raised the issue that at times using retirees to teach might slow the hiring of new faculty.

Another issue that arose was the growing role of lecturers. Many departments face increasing numbers of retirements in the near future, in some cases rapidly reducing the size of the department. These decreases in faculty size might increase the role of lecturers in undergraduate instruction. College policy restricts the total number of lecturers and senior lecturers to 15 percent of the total College FTE, and the Committee has discussed the possibility of placing caps on the percentage of lecturers in each department.

Issues regarding staff and staff salaries also came up in discussion. Though many staff issues are controlled by Human Resources, one Committee member noted that in the past the College has played a role when departments have been in competition for the same employee. In general, Committee members expressed frustration with many current University policies regarding the staff, both in the interest of the fair treatment of the staff and in the impact of these policies on the quality of the educational and research environment of the University.

4. One Committee member raised a concern regarding the degradation of Dunn Woods.  These woods are a centerpiece of the campus; in particular, most College job recruits are shown the woods to highlight the beauty of our campus.  A nonnative vine, Euonymous, is beginning to blanket large areas of the woods, growing at a rate that will quickly lead to the elimination of all native species, except for full grown trees.  Heather Reynolds (Biology) and Lucille Bertuccio (HPER) are coordinating efforts, with students, the Council for Environmental Stewardship, the University Architect, and Campus Division, to restore this natural habitat, which in the past has intentionally been under minimal maintenance.  Kevin Hunt will contact Dave Hurst, Manager of the Campus Division for the Physical Plant, to communicate the significance of this restoration to faculty.

5. Dean Subbaswamy joined the meeting at 3:15 PM. Committee members shared with the Dean their concerns regarding low and at time inequitable staff salaries. This, along with the increased burden on the staff resulting from the implementation of PeopleSoft systems, is aggravating morale problems. The Dean detailed for the Committee the circumstances that led to some of the perceived inequities in salaries, and shared with the Committee his awareness of the seriousness of the staff salary issue. At the same time, he pointed out that funds are not available to make large across the board one time adjustments in staff salaries, even if HR policies permitted such increases. He also argued that these costs must be balanced with the essential cost for a research university of maintaining faculty salaries at a competitive level.

With regards to the move of the Department of Computer Science to the School of Informatics, the Dean emphasized the importance of resolving the issue expeditiously. A decision on this matter must await a report from the Chancellor's Committee, chaired by Vice Chancellor Neil Theobald, which is studying the financial implications of such a move. A CPC member reported that a concern that has been raised from outside of the College is that moving too quickly on transferring faculty might not be in the best interest of the timely growth of the new school. The Dean acknowledged this concern, but noted also that the faculty of Computer Science and Informatics support the transfer.

6. The Dean left the meeting at 3:35 PM.

7. The meeting conclude with a brief discussion of the upcoming election to the CPC, and adjourned at 3:45 PM.

Questions or comments regarding the minutes and actions of the Policy Committee may be addressed to Kevin Hunt 5-3857, Dept. of Anthropology, Student Building 248, khunt@indiana.edu. Past minutes and College Policy Statements can be found at the CPC web page: www.indiana.edu/~college/faculty/policy/policies.shtml.