Minutes
Faculty Policies Committee
April 1, 2002
3:00 p.m.

Present: Roxann Bustos (secretary), Barbara Coleman, Bill Dodd, Jim Garvey, Peggy Ruth Geren, Paul Harris (chair), Donna Hobbs, Wayne Mixon, Jana Sandarg, Bruce Saul, Katherine Sweeney (guest)

The minutes of the March 25 meeting were approved.

1. Katherine Sweeney discussed ways we could find time in the semester schedule for a short break (i.e., 2 days) between the start of spring semester and Masters' Break. The Board of Regents sets a five day window for the start and finish of classes and requires 750 minutes of class time per credit hour. Keeping those restrictions in mind, various possibilities were discussed, one being to lengthen class periods by a few minutes. A short Fall Break before Thanksgiving might also be feasible. Katherine will email us various possible options for continued discussion. Paul shared the President's suggestion of 12 week semesters with a 3-4 week semester following spring semester. Peggy Ruth Gerren suggested that students need to be involved in the final decision about break modifications.

2. Cullum Review: Jana presented the attached report from the Cullum Review Committee. A motion passed approving it for transmittal to the Academic Policies Committee. Jana will prepare a sample syllabus and application to send to Academic Policies in the fall. Bill Dodd will find out if approval is needed from the Board of Regents for adding the proposed Cullum 2000 to core Area F.

3. Paul Harris said President Bloodworth likes the idea of a day off for the PKP Student Research Conference. It was agreed that it is better to encourage attendance (e.g., by giving extra credit) than forcing it. We will discuss this again after receiving the semester schedule options from Katherine.

President Bloodworth said the next Honors Night will be in the Maxwell PAT, which is now wheelchair accessible. A faculty Honors Night reception will be at the Maxwell Alumni House and will be for faculty only.

4. Counters were recruited for the Faculty General Election.

5. Our next meeting will be April 22.

The meeting adjourned at 4:10 P.M.