Minutes
Council on Academic Policy
Thursday, November 9, 2006
4:15 p.m., Fausett Conference Room
Provost Entzminger called the meeting to order.
The minutes from the October 5 Academic Policy meeting stand with one minor correction.
The October 18 Faculty Meeting minutes stand as presented.
Topics.
Committee on Experiential Learning. Associate Provost Sutherland presented the material. The Committee recommends that professional staff may be allowed to serve as mentors/supervisors for student projects in the Service to the World Odyssey category, as is presently allowed in the categories of Professional and Leadership Development and Special Projects. He clarified the definition of professional staff for the discussion.
The Council recommended that this be sent to the faculty for approval.
Calendar Proposal for 2008-2009. Sutherland walked the Council through the three calendars. He noted that Version A was the more traditional calendar but that finals would start right after Thanksgiving break. Version B started a week earlier which would help if the College began a summer registration option for freshmen. Version C would begin early, end late and offer one full week for Thanksgiving break and Spring Break.
A discussion followed with several questions and comments raised.
How would starting early affect athletes?
Final examinations right after Thanksgiving would be hard on students.
Could the residence halls be left open during Fall Break?
Students traveling home for Christmas late in December were at a disadvantage if they had to travel very far.
The option of being off for Good Friday appealed to the students.
Provost Entzminger asked if it would be more reasonable to take only 2 calendar versions to the faculty.
Professor Rupert suggested two options for each semester.
Dr. Haggard thought that a summary of the pros and cons might also be helpful.
Entzminger would also clarify the Hendrix policy with regard to students asking for an excused absence early in the semester for religious holidays.
Foreign Language Proposal. The proposal would add 1-3 additional C-periods to schedule to allow for more 4th-hour options for introductory courses.
A brief discussion followed but due to the lack of data no decision was reached.
Academic Advising Survey. The Council discussed the survey. Several comments and suggestions were made including clarifying the language to focus more on the effectiveness and accuracy of the advice.
Summer Orientation/Registration. Provost Entzminger reported that the Task Force would report to the faculty at the November meeting, but that it had been decided not to have summer registration this summer.
Student Senate Issues. Holly Robbins reported for the Senate.
- The need for students in ‘new’ courses with catalog content descriptions or level descriptions not being met, to have some way to convey that information to the instructor without jeopardizing grades. The Council recommended that students approach either the department chair or area chair to express concerns.
- Students think that support staff salaries are important. They would like to see some sort of study done similar to the one for faculty salaries last year.
- Students are frustrated with the amount of items being sent to their email accounts so that they are constantly full. Most students feel that Hendrix Today is being under-utilized.
Request to Move a Final Exam from Dr. Dunn. Provost Entzminger presented the request. The Council felt that it would be okay if all the students were happy with the proposed change of time.
Request to Have a Representative from The United Way Speak at the Faculty Meeting. The Council did not feel comfortable with the idea. It was suggested that a forum might be a more appropriate way.
A Council member requested that someone report to the faculty on the number of interim reports this semester at the faculty meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 5:32 p.m.