The Citadel Faculty Council (FC) Meeting Minutes

I. Call To Order and Agenda - Chair Rudolph called the meeting of the Faculty Council to order at 1100.

II. Attendees

III. Announcements – Chair Rudolph reminded Council members that a general faculty meeting is scheduled on April 30^th which was to have been the first meeting for the AY13-14 Faculty Council.  The revised meeting schedule and the AY 13-14 schedule are shown below.

a. Updated AY 12-13 Faculty Council meeting schedule

Last meeting 4/16/13 for AY 12-13 Faculty Council

b. First meeting AY 13/14 Faculty Council 4/23/13

Please forward names of replacements to FC Secretary NLT 4/1/13.

c. Meeting Schedule for AY 13-14

• April 23, 2013
• August 27, 2013
• September 24, 2013
• October 22, 2013
• Nov 19, 2013
• Jan 28, 2014
• February 25, 2014
• 18 Mar 18, 2014
• Apr 22, 2014
• May 6, 2014 (first meeting for AY 14-15 faculty Council)

IV. Approval of Minutes from Last Meeting – minutes for 2/26/13 were approved.

V. Business

a. Tara McNealy provided background material on a proposal by Evaluation of Instruction Committee to transition to an online system.

• Current process
  • 30,000 sheets of paper used plus two staff members
  • 70% participation rate
• Nine platforms investigated
• Advantages of new system (connectedu)
  • Non-respondents can be identified and encouraged to participate
  • Immediate results
  • Professors can add personalized questions and conduct unofficial interim surveys
  • Projected higher participation
  • Mobile capacity
• Council member concerns addressed by Tara
  • Fixed timing of surveys coinciding with professors passing back graded work – Tara indicated a low correlation between poor student performance and lower ratings
  • Previous attempt at online Evaluation of Instruction was dismal – Tara explained the “in-house” attempt was poorly conceived. The connectedu platform is highly regarded. By coordinating with the Commandant’s Office, no problems are anticipated.

The proposal was approved by unanimous consent.

b. Colonel Dennis Carpenter discussed IPAC morale and welfare issues.

In the most recent survey of faculty, ratings were significantly lower in a number of categories such as confidence in senior leadership, future direction of the college, and well being of the institution.  Colonel Carpenter perceived a reinvigoration of Faculty Council and discussed a few initiatives to improve communication between faculty and staff:  formation of a Staff Council Morale and Welfare Committee , formation of an ad hoc Presidential Faculty Advisory Council, and a planned quarterly luncheon with the President and three staff and three faculty members (on a rotational basis).  In closing Colonel Carpenter encouraged Council members to funnel suggestions to him.

c. Report from Zane Segle on Computer Services setup of Citlearn Users Group – Zane was not present so this item will be postponed until next meeting

d. Report from George Rudolph

• status of the PFAC – an informal group as opposed to a committee in a typical sense meant to enhance the exchange of information between staff and faculty
• Committee-on Committees working on replacements and nominees
• Awards Committee is reworking their charter
• status of NCAA compliance going paperless – Chip Taylor reports some hang-ups
• Faculty Manual – the Dean of School of Science and Mathematics is requesting some changes

e. Subcommittee reports

(1) Service requirements for tenure and tenure-track faculty; tenure and promotion process (Wes Dudgeon, Mike Barth, Frank Morris, Jr., Al Finch) – no report

(2) Adjunct policies and Adjunct Manual (Jane Bishop, Ashley Wellman) – no report

(3) Academic integrity policy (Kirsten Steele, Tom Thompson, Renee Jefferson) – Kirsten Steele briefed the inconsistencies between the Honor Manual and the Graduate and Undergraduate Catalogs.

(4) Faculty House (Steve Cotter, Zane Segle, Tim Mays) – Steve Cotter briefed the group on his research of the history of Faculty House.  The Association of Citadel Men bought 171 Moultrie Street from Morris Sokol in 1961.  The details were forwarded to The Museum and Facilities.  Because of time, future options for Faculty House were not discussed.

VI.   Other items

Joelle Neulander reported direction from the Provost to the Faculty Research Committee to implement a 34% cut for this AY.  The discussion boiled down to a need address the immediate shortfall and then to address the process problem of the Research and Development Committees not being provided a budget.  Chair Rudolph had to depart the meeting at 1200; Vice-Chair Dudgeon was presiding during the discussion of this item.  Wes Dudgeon stated his intention to contact Chair Rudolph ASAP with details of the discussion.

VII. Adjournment – Vice-Chair Dudgeon adjourned the meeting at 12:30pm.

VII. Next Meeting – April 16, 2013, Bond Hall 295, 1100

Steve Cotter, Secretary