Friday, November 15, 2002

Present: Tom Gieryn (Chair), Alex Dzierba, Roy Gardner, Susan Gubar, Chuck Livingston, Deidre Lynch (BFC liaison), Jim Franklin (scribe)

The meeting came to order at 10:15 with approval of the minutes of the meeting of 8 November.

1. The "memoranda of agreement" on particulars of joint appointments for partial transfers to Gender Studies were reviewed, and the five joint appointments were approved.

2. In response to Associate Dean McGerr's request that the policies on transfers of FTEs and joint appointments be clarified, the committee noted that transfers of full lines to different departments are regulated by the policy on transfers of FTE (1997) and that joint appointments are regulated both by the general provisions of the policy on transfers and by the specifics of the policy on joint appointments (2002).

3. Deidre Lynch reported on the National Survey of Student Engagement. On average, IU freshmen report having a better educational experience with regard to "active and collaborative learning" than did freshmen at similar universities, but for seniors the results were reversed. The lack of capstone courses for seniors is a particular problem. This led to a discussion of 300- and 400-level courses and the difficulty of staffing them given recent increases in the student/faculty ratio.. Also, the preparation of the freshman class and recruitment of talented students were issues that were again raised.

4. Members of the committee reported on attending annual department planning meetings with the deans. Issues that arose in several departments are: the difficulties of offering honors courses and sections, the question of rewards for service loads, definitions of standard course loads, and teacher training for international associate instructors.

5. The committee next gave final approval to seven questions for the questionnaire that will be a part of the third-year review of the Dean.

6. At 11:15 Dean Subbaswamy joined the meeting and briefly noted the formation of a search committee for an outside chair of Gender Studies that will follow on the five new joint appointments in that department. He also reported that draft documents for the university's Strategic Planning process were due shortly and that the process was well in course.

He next turned to a report on the recent meeting of chairs and directors at which Sue Talbot and Steve Ferguson (representing the search committee) initiated discussion of the search for a new University president. Issues that arose were the lack of space and facilities, and the proper qualifications of candidates. The meeting emphatically endorsed a strong academic background for candidates who would thereby know the academic culture well, and who possessed strong interpersonal and leadership skills. In addition, one member of the Policy Committee suggested that the search committee consider candidates who are not necessarily sitting university presidents, but who have at least some administrative experience.

In response to a question on graduate curriculum changes involving credit hours, Swamy replied that external reviews were finding that more hours of coursework were required at IU than elsewhere and that departments were raising hours for many courses from 3 to 4, the more adequately to reflect the courses' demands.

In reaction to questions about the College's policy on salaries, Dean Swamy asked that the committee examine the policy in light of his use of a "market adjustments" to retain faculty.

The meeting concluded at 11:45.