May 24, 2004

Present: Judith Anderson, Ellen Dwyer, Jeff Hart, Kevin Hunt (chair), Chuck Livingston (recorder), Al Ruesink

1. The meeting began at 2:00 PM.

2. By a vote of 5 yes, 1 abstention, and 3 absent, the Committee voted to recommend to the Dean his approval of the transfer of the Department of Computer Science to the School of Informatics, contingent upon the satisfactory resolution of all financial matters associated with the transfer. In its deliberations on this and other matters related to the School of Informatics, the Committee has recognized repeated failures by some of those charged with oversight to respect faculty governance and the deleterious effects of these failures. Nonetheless, there is agreement on the Committee that it is in the interest of the College that Computer Science be transfered to Informatics.

The Committee has reviewed documentation of financial aspects of the transfer. In recent years the amount of College funding expended on Computer Science has significantly exceeded revenue derived from that department. These expenditures represent a long-term investment in the Department which must be adequately compensated.

3. Dean Subbaswamy is scheduled for a fifth year review during 2004-2005. The review is to be undertaken by a committee convened by the Chancellor and the Bloomington Faculty Council, in consultation with the College Policy Committee. The Committee prepared a list of faculty to recommend for appointment to the review committee.

4. A Committee member raised a concern that space allocations for computer clusters are not distributed proportionately among buildings and that some clusters have low utilization. It appears that some departments are now facing undue space limitations because of this. Further information on the distribution and use of these facilities will be collected.

5. Regulations are being instituted that require that all catered events on University grounds be approved by the Department of Environmental Health and Safety. Committee members are concerned that this additional layer of bureaucratic regulation will further hinder smooth and efficient operations within departments and will add to the already excessive burden faced by staff. The Committee will bring these concerns to the attention of the Chancellor, and hopes that he will assure that the negative impact of this regulation along with any perceived benefits are fully explored, with adequate input from all affected parties, before it is enforced.

6. The meeting adjourned at 3:30 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.