Faculty Policies Committee Minutes

September 13, 2004

Members present: Marc Miller, Bruce Saul, Donna Wear, Peggy Ruth Geren, Barry Thompson, Tom Crute, Pam Hayward, Jana Sandarg Wendy Turner, and Katherine Sweeney

Guests present: Jim Benedict and Eddie Howard

Marc Miller called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm. The minutes from August 30 were accepted as posted to the FPC intranet and approved unanimously.

Mark Fissel asked Marc to share with the committee that Hugh Hudson from the Georgia chapter of the American Association of University Professors will be on campus on October 15, 2004 and will speak to interested faculty at 2:00 pm .

Lyceum Series-Marc introduced Jim Benedict and clarified that Jim asked to meet with the group to discuss the Lyceum Series (not the Cullum Series as was posted on the agenda). Jim chaired the committee last year. He distributed the year end report from last year to the group. Jim indicated concern about some of the programming in recent years. He gave several examples. He would like to see the programs driven by the curriculum. He suggested that the committee become a standing committee with the Director of Student Activities and Director of the Performing Arts Theater making final decisions based on recommendations from the committee.

Eddie Howard then offered his comments. He agreed with the bulk of Jim's comments. He indicated that Augusta State is spending a large amount of money each year on the series and the turnout in recent years has been sparse. In order for it to be successful, faculty commitment is essential. Eddie asked for support from Faculty Policies in this effort. He also answered some general questions about the committee structure. He and Jim agreed to join Tom Crute and Janice Williams Whiting from Faculty Policies on a subcommittee looking at the Lyceum Series.

Library Policy-Marc reported that the cap on the number of books a faculty member can check out at one time has been removed. Bound journals can now be checked out for twenty four hours. The Library will also look into the possibility of electronic recheck of books in the future.

New Faculty Luncheon-Marc reminded the group that the luncheon is September 17 at noon at the Pinnacle Club.

Course Evaluations-Donna Wear has posted the summarized responses from the chairs to the FPC intranet. Donna and Pam Hayward are waiting to hear from potential members of the subcommittee as to their willingness to serve.

Teaching abroad and compensation-Jana Sandarg and the other study abroad program coordinators met with Dr. Sullivan. He agreed to create a Study Abroad office and fund clerical support for its operation. Compensation for faculty was not discussed. Jana indicated that it is not an issue for all study abroad programs. Marc will talk with Dr. Sullivan in their next meeting about creating a more consistent policy across programs for compensation of faculty.

Cheating and ethical behavior among students-Peggy Ruth Geren has put together the following subcommittee: Rob Bledsoe, Mary Jane Anderson, Joyce Jones and two students from the Honors Program. They will be meeting soon.

Department chair evaluations and term limits-Marc, Barry Thompson and Wendy Turner will meet as a subcommittee on September 14 at 4:30 pm to discuss how to proceed. Marc has put some documents on the FPC intranet for the group's review. He has also surveyed some other institutions as to their policies. There was general discussion by the group. Marc will report the subcommittee's plans at the next meeting.

Faculty Handbook consideration-Marc has uploaded some documents to the FPC intranet for the group's review. He would like to break the review of the handbook into three areas: editorial modifications (typos, etc.), minor modifications that will require some type of action and major policy changes.

Fall break consideration-Dr. Sullivan has indicated to Marc that the likelihood of moving to only one graduation (May) is fairly certain. To that end Marc asked Katherine to put together some sample fall calendars with a two day fall break, as well as an additional day for exams and an additional day for faculty before grades are due. Katherine will upload these to the FPC intranet.

Jana asked the group to help where they can in promoting the new Cullum 2900 courses that will be offered in the Spring 2005. The new course did not make the new catalog.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 pm .