The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Faculty Assembly

DRAFT

Minutes

January 25, 2012

Present: Bruce Ayati ,Maria José Barbosa, Jill Beckman, Cinzia Blum, Ned Bowden, Mary Campbell, Christopher Cheatum, Kate Cowles, Melissa Curley, Warren Darling, Sarah Fagan, Evan Fales, Jennifer Feeley, John Freyer, Prahlad Gupta, Timothy Havens, Michaela Hoenicke-Moore, Anita Jung, Paul Kalina, Alan Kay, Surjit Khurana, Kathy Lavezzo, Brenda Longfellow, Linda Louko, George Malanson, Kyle Mattes, Ana Merino, Ken Mobily, Ana Rodríguez- Rodríguez, Phillip Round, Sonia Ryang, Jeanne Saunders, Jennifer Sessions, Glenn Storey, Bridget Harris Tsemo, Deborah Whaley, Katie Wolfe, Christopher Wyman

Absent (Excused): Meenakshi Gigi Durham, Edward Gillan, Meena Khandelwal, Jacki Rand, Harry Stecopoulos, Cesare Tinelli, Nicholas Yablon

Absent: Charles Brenner, Susan Cook, George de la Peña, Naomi Greyser, Jon Houtman, Andrew Hulse, Ayca Kaya, Wayne Polyzou, Craig Pryor, Frank Weirich

Guests: Marc Armstrong, Nic Arp, Jennifer Bertrand, Steve Choe, Helena Dettmer, Kathryn Hall, Beth Ingram, Brian Lai, Larry Lockwood, Sally Mason, Linda Maxson, Gina Peterson, Amy Schendel, Cameron Thies

1.  The minutes from November 16, 2011 were approved as written.

2.  Professor Brian Lai, Department of Political Science, presented a proposal for a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. He briefly introduced the major and noted that no new courses or faculty are required. In response to questions from the floor, he clarified that this is a new major, separate from International Studies, and because it focuses on political relationships it will not require foreign language courses beyond the general education requirement. The proposal was approved.

3.  Professor George Malanson, Department of Geography, presented a proposal for a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy and Planning. He briefly described the rationale for the major and noted its interdisciplinary structure, stating that the major provides a social sciences view on environmental problems. No new courses are required for the major. The proposal was approved.

4.  Dean Linda Maxson discussed a proposed change to the CLAS spring commencement ceremony being considered by the Office of the Provost. Because of the length and size of the current ceremony it is possible that the single ceremony will be split into two ceremonies beginning in May 2013. Dean Maxson noted a number of changes have been made or are being considered to reduce the length of the single ceremony, including modification of the processional, elimination of honorary degree conferral, elimination of remarks by the Regents, elimination of the faculty speaker, and reduction in the length of remarks by the President. She has discussed this issue with Executive Committee and requests input from faculty and departments.
During discussion, Faculty Assembly members voiced strong support for retaining one ceremony, and made suggestions such as holding the ceremony at Kinnick Stadium and alteration in the way graduates are recognized, including possible elimination of reading individual names. By show of hands, Faculty Assembly members unanimously agreed that they want to retain the current single spring commencement ceremony.

5.  Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Beth Ingram and Assistant Provost for Enrollment Services and University Registrar Larry Lockwood reviewed the new final examination policy and provided a handout. In the past, final exams were scheduled manually but that process is no longer feasible for several reasons. The new software may be used to generate a final exam schedule at any time, but accuracy increases and conflicts decrease once semester enrollments stabilize after the 10th day of classes. For spring 2012, the final exam schedule will be created during the third and fourth weeks of the semester, sent to faculty who will have one week to make corrections, then sent to students. Associate Provost Ingram requested faculty input regarding whether a different timeline should be used in the future, and responded to questions from the floor regarding new exam time slots and exam conflicts.

6.  President Sally Mason addressed the Faculty Assembly. President Mason noted that searches are currently being conducted for four deans and for a new Vice President for Research. The budget process for FY 2013 is still in the early stages; the University and the Board of Regents have requested a 4% increase in funding, however the governor’s recommendation is half of that. President Mason will meet with the Iowa legislature’s Education Appropriations Subcommittee soon to discuss funding.
Private giving to the UI Foundation has been very strong with $215 million raised last year, the second highest yearly total ever, from a record number of individual contributors. The donations are being used to fund many items including new student scholarships, faculty positions, research and programs. Enrollment continues to play an important role in managing the budget, however the University is committed to keeping tuition low especially for Iowa residents. The University has seen a 20% increase per year in the number of students who are veterans, with nearly 500 veterans currently enrolled. The UI has been named to the G.I. Jobs Military Friendly Schools list three years in a row.
Flood recovery is continuing. Recently, FEMA has approved additional funding for three major building replacement projects; designs for the new Hancher auditorium, music building and art building will be made public at the next Board of Regents meeting, and later displayed at Art Building West. Discussions with FEMA regarding funding for a new Museum of Art building are ongoing.

7.  Professor Christopher Cheatum, Department of Chemistry, and Professor Ana Merino, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, both members of the CLAS Dean’s Search Committee, presented an update on the search for a new dean. The search committee has reviewed a significant pool of candidates but still welcomes additional applicants, and is starting to consider candidates for off-campus interviews. On-campus interviews will not be held until after spring break.

8.  The assembly approved the revised Faculty Assembly Response to the CLAS Strategic Plan.

9.  The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Professor Kate Cowles, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science

Chair of the Faculty Assembly