April 23^rd, 2007

Present: Judith Anderson (Chair), Simon Brassell, Tom Busey, Sandra Dolby, Hal Evans, Roger Levesque (Recorder), Rosemary Lloyd and Patrick McNaughton

Our meeting was convened at 3:58.

We read and approved the minutes of our April 16th meeting.

We were pleased to learn that Brian Steensland has agreed to complete Pamela Walters' last year on the CPC. Pam will be unavailable to serve partly because she has received a Guggenheim. We look forward to working with Brian and thank Pam for her exceptional service.

We briefly discussed faculty responses to our initial response to the FLASH Report on the International Studies in Bloomington. We anticipate further consideration of the proposal after Dean Bertenthal has had an opportunity to review fully the document and hear from affected parties.

We again discussed themes that have emerged from budget meetings with departments and programs. Faculty again reported how several buildings, including Kirkwood Hall which houses the Dean's office, are not fully accessible and others, including Goodbody Hall, are badly in need of repair. It was noted that all budget meetings now have been scheduled. As with past meetings, each remaining meeting will be attended by a member of the CPC.

We returned to determine how best to obtain faculty input on the revisions we have made to our constitution.

Dean Bertenthal joined the meeting at 4:32. He reported that he recently received the College's survey that details units' various policies and practices regarding make-up exams. The CPC will wait to receive his reactions to that survey before continuing deliberations about the potential nature of a policy relating to make-up exams.

Dean Bertenthal noted that the College has completed most departmental budget planning meetings. He has found that the meetings have provided him with effective introductions to many faculty and their departments. He highlighted how these meetings have reinforced his belief that there is room for innovation in the manner the College supports teaching and research. For example, he has concluded that the College must revisit the distribution of teaching loads within departments. To this end, he soon will appoint a task force to develop principles for determining teaching responsibilities. He recognizes that any restructuring will involve many complexities but he is hopeful that the College can move toward more equitable ways of distributing teaching responsibilities while still providing high quality instruction. He also highlighted the need to reverse the decline in revenues from indirect costs from federal grants. He again emphasized the need to increase support for research so that individual investigators can be more competitive in submitting grants. He already has taken steps to ensure that the College will take a more active role in supporting faculty in their pursuit of external funding. He soon will inform departments of the need to develop more detailed strategic plans which the College can use to ensure that scarce resources will be used more synergistically within and across units.

We returned to the FLASH Report on the International Studies in Bloomington. Dean Bertenthal announced that he was in the process of appointing a committee that would represent all areas concerned. He invited us to suggest potential committee members. Dean Bertenthal left our meeting at 5:03.

Following the Dean’s invitation, we spent the remainder of our meeting making a list of individuals who might serve on a committee to evaluate issues arising from the FLASH Report. Assuming that faculty and units that participated in the development of the FLASH report already were potential committee members, we recommended other individuals and units that should be represented on a committee to review the report.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:31.

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.