September 25, 2003

Present: Erik Bucy, Katy Fraser, Roy Gardner, Susan Gubar, Kevin Hunt (chair), Chuck Livingston (recorder), Al Ruesink, Rob Shakespeare

1. The meeting began at 4:00 PM with a conversation with Catherine Larson, Dean for Undergraduate Education.

Dean Larson described the relationship between scholarships, the numbers of students admitted to IU, and the academic preparation of our student body. The Committee emphasized the deleterious impact of unprepared and unmotivated students on the educational mission and also observed that the recent decrease in the number of matriculating students offers the opportunity to reexamine admission policies.

Dean Larson mentioned three issues that her office is focusing on this year. She plans to form a task force to review the senior year experience and explore ways in which the College can help make the senior year even stronger, with an eye toward sharing with departments a number of possible options for consideration (for example, a capstone experience, senior seminar, examination) and/or looking at College-wide options that might enhance the senior year experience (for example, an expansion of opportunities to explore career and graduate school options, the establishment of traditions associated with the culmination of the undergraduate career, stronger connections with alumni).

Dean Larson also mentioned what is tentatively called the "Global Village," a newly developed living-learning environment focusing on international interests and foreign languages. The Director of the Global Village is Herb Terry, Associate Professor of Telecommunications.

The third topic discussed by Dean Larson is the issue of articulation, specifically, the transferability of course credit to IU Bloomington from other campuses and state institutions. The legislature has mandated such transferability. Because the implementation is complex and needs faculty input, each College department has been asked to identify an individual to serve as point person in evaluating courses for transfer credit.

A discussion of the College's own admission and academic policies and the impact of these policies on the academic quality of the student body followed. The Committee noted that changes within the College, from entrance requirements to grade inflation, have made the College more accessible to less well prepared students and that these policies should be reexamined.

The conversation with Dean Larson concluded with the issue of the possible transfer of Computer Science to Informatics. It is essential that the impact of such a transfer on undergraduate education in the College be investigated. When the CPC receives the necessary position papers on such a transfer from the relevant units, it will formally ask her to undertake such an investigation.

2. At 4:45 PM Dean Larson left the meeting, at which time the Committee approved the Minutes of September 18.

3. The Committee then moved to a detailed development of future agenda items. These now include:

• A continued discussion of recent events related to the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies.



• Consideration of Dean Subbaswamy's goal of College-wide discussion of tenure criteria, with particular emphasis on the role of teaching effectiveness.



• A review of the CPC's role in, and the general structure of, the annual departmental planning meetings held with the Dean.



• Salary policies for professional staff and the Dean's goal of encouraging a modification of these policies at the university level.



• A reexamination of the policies governing non-tenure track faculty appointments in light of the increasing number of such appointments in departments in which such appointments are not traditional.



• The Committee will invite Adam Herbert, President of Indiana University, and Karen Hanson, Dean of the Honors Division, to upcoming meetings.



• The approval of specific transfers of faculty lines between units awaits consideration.