Directors Council Notes

Directors Council Notes

September 15, 2015

3:30 p.m., Churchill 133

Present: Ayers, DeNeui (late), Ettlich, Garcia-Hanson, Gayton, Humphrey, Jones, King, Rex, Stallman, Stone (late), Walsh

Welcome and Introductions

Walsh welcomed new member Jeanne Stallman to Directors Council.

Academic Division and Outreach Activities (Stallman)

Stallman referred to a handout that highlighted various ways academic programs can participate in outreach activities, such as by participating as community members in credit classes; offering credit or non-credit options for students; offering workshops for professionals; and by promoting campus events to community members. King asked if the workshops for professionals are different from opportunities for non-admitted students. Stallman said they are different and explained the process and encouraged programs to use this method. As for admitted students and non-admitted students, can we have “both/and” instead of “either/or”? Stallman said this is problematic from a Business Services perspective, but it’s OK for non-credit registration. There were other questions about specific situations.

Garcia-Hanson said continuing education can be a place to incubate courses you aren’t ready to offer for credit. As we develop new pathways, we can consider this in a self-support environment.

Policy updates (Walsh)

Walsh said the SOU Title IX policy has just been completed. We will hold two open forums about the policy; students are welcome to attend. In addition to the complete policy, an executive summary will be prepared.

The policy website will be updated; old policies that referred to OUS are being revised. Former OARs will also be updated. There was general discussion about policy information and the appropriate place to post information such as FPARs, training materials, etc.

Administrator Evaluations (Walsh)

Walsh said administrators are to be evaluated annually. The questions on the evaluation form haven’t changed in years; some of the questions aren’t really appropriate for all positions. The Director/Chair questions need to be revised, and the dates are problematic.

Some suggestions were made; should Program Chair evaluations be done in February, with Division Director evaluations in April? For Division Directors, evaluations would only be sent to employees in that division. The committee discussed the process and questions that should be included; it was recommended that this be an item at the September 24 Chair/Director retreat and then make a recommendation to Faculty Senate.

Ettlich asked if the Director questions should be looked at first. Humphrey said one size doesn’t fit all; all our jobs are different. Ettlich recommended three generic quantitative questions, followed by qualitative questions that are suited to each Division; Ayers said this would be similar to the special question contained on student evalution forms. The Faculty Senate By-laws could list the questions that apply to all areas, with the discipline-specific questions added by the Divisions. We can ask the Faculty Senate or Faculty Personnel Committee to develop the questions and then ask us to weigh in.

Announcements

• The Science building renovation is nearing completion; faculty are starting to move back to Science Two, but Science One is not ready yet.
• King said that, piggy-backing on Stallman’s presentation, summer institutes have a tremendous momentum statewide. In education, they have qualified high school teachers to offer dual credit (to high school and college students). There was a discussion about Advanced Southern Credit and alternatives, and whether there is a policy about programs offered by other institutions. It was determined that there is not a policy.
• King commented about the Pirates to Raiders presentation at Cabinet; is there only one academic representative [Walsh] on Cabinet, and should there be more? Walsh said it is sometimes challenging. King asked if there was a way for the Division Directors to be more engaged with these discussions. Faculty shouldn’t rely on their Faculty Senate representative to report back to their Division. Walsh said she attends every Faculty Senate meeting and every SOU Board meeting, and encouraged Division Directors to do the same.
• Gayton reminded everyone that the Ashland Book and Authors Festival will be October 3. October 6 will be the 10-year anniversary celebration of Hannon Library.
• Humphrey said the Lunacy Theatre Festival will be September 26-October 2. October 1-2 the Oregon Arts Summit will be hosted at SOU.
• Walsh said we will not have the $250K for student success this year; this money has been moved to a future year. But we will have $582K from the legislature this year.
• Garcia-Hanson said there will be some changes in financial aid disbursement, including Perkins Loan changes and two different disbursement dates.

The meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m., followed by a meeting of the Provost and Division Directors.