MINUTES OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL
The Academic Council met at
The following members of the Council were present:
Prof.
Dr. Roy Loutzenheiser Dr. P.K. Rajan
Dr.
Dr. Darrell Garber Dr. Brian O’Connor
Dr. Winston Walden Dr. John Harris
Ms. Amy Campbell Dr. Darrell Hoy
Dr. Susan Laningham Dr. Gretta Stanger
Dr.
Dr. Christine Miller Dr. Linda Null
Dr. Jann Cupp Prof.
Dr. David Larimore
Dr.
Dr. Jack Armistead Dr. Jim Baier
Dr. Susan Elkins Dr. Cathy Cunningham
Dr. Robert Niebuhr Dr. Mark Stephens
Ms. Alathea Thompson Prof. Delane Stewart
Mr. Tyler Pannell Dr. Chris Brown
Ms. Shannon Morgan
SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS
1. Approved the agenda.
2. Approved the minutes of the January 25 meeting as corrected.
3. Approved a revised textbook adoption policy.
4. Approved a proposal from the College of Business to add the ETS score to the transcript.
5. Discussed a revised proposal for a new Academic Misconduct Policy.
6. Appointed a subcommittee to review the Academic Misconduct Policy and another to study a proposed Plagiarism Prevention Policy.
PROCEEDINGS
Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED approval of the agenda, and Dr. Stanger SECONDED the motion. The agenda was APPROVED as distributed.
Dr. Larimore MOVED approval of the minutes of the January 25 meeting as posted on the Academic Council web site, and Dr. Faw SECONDED the motion. The minutes were corrected to show that Dr. Mark Stephens was present, but not also absent. Also, at Dr. O’Connor’s suggestion, a statement was added to clarify that the reason for a change in the deadline for turning in grades to the Records Office was to allow them more time to process grades (as all grades must be turned in before any grades can be run). The minutes were APPROVED as posted with these corrections.
Textbook Adoption Policy
Dr. Roberts noted that the Faculty Senate approved this policy earlier. If approved on campus and by the successful contractor for the bookstore operation, this textbook adoption policy would replace the one that is currently in the Faculty Handbook
The Council discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed policy. In response to a question from Professor Tolbert, Dr. Roberts said that students have not had an opportunity for input. The major change from the old policy to the proposed new policy is that TTU is not guaranteeing that textbooks will be used for a minimum of two years.
Dr.
O’Connor MOVED approval of the proposed textbook policy, and Dr. Null SECONDED
the motion. Dr. Barker said before a new
bookstore contract is awarded, there will be open meetings to discuss proposals
from potential bidders for the contract.
A new bookstore contract will be negotiated this spring and will go into
effect
College of Business ETS Proposal
Dr. Gary Pickett presented the proposal from the College of Business to add Business students’ ETS percentile scores to their transcripts. The College of Business adopted the use of the ETS business exam about 15 years ago as their Performance Funding indicator. It is also used for assessment and accreditation purposes. At a recent meeting of AACSB deans, Dr. Niebuhr learned that Northern Colorado University’s College of Business (Baldridge Award winner) experienced a tremendous improvement in scores once they started putting the ETS percentiles on transcripts. Dr. Pickett said the College has tried many different ways to motivate students to do better on the ETS. They believe the students will take the test more seriously if an official record is made of their percentile performance. The College is also considering refresher sessions to improve performance.
Dr. Pickett MOVED approval of the proposal, and Dr. Larimore SECONDED the motion. Considerable discussion followed, lasting for the better part of an hour. Council members raised concerns that such policy might hurt certain students, debated possible costs and challenges for the Records Office, questioned the current lack of an option to retake the test, and raised doubts as to the academic merits of policies that place so much emphasis on standardized test scores.
After considerable discussion, the ETS proposal PASSED by the following show-of-hands vote: Yes, 13; No, 7; Abstentions, 2.
Revised Academic Misconduct Policy
Dr. Roberts provided an overview of the Academic Misconduct Policy distributed for the meeting today. The draft originated in the Deans Council and was based on the Grade Appeal Policy. Dr. Roberts met with the Deans Council and then modified the policy to make it operable in the summer months as well as the academic year.
The Council discussed the issue to some degree, but in light of the late hour, Professor Tolbert suggested that Council members continue the discussion at the March 29 meeting. In the meantime, Dr. Roberts appointed a committee including Darrell Hoy and Amy Campbell who will modify the Misconduct Policy as per Council suggestions to date before the March 29 meeting.
Though no time remained to discuss the Plagiarism Policy proposal extensively, Dr. Null led other members of the Council in voicing disapproval to a policy that required plagiarism prevention to be taught as a component of University 1020 and its equivalent courses.
Dr. Roberts appointed a plagiarism prevention committee composed of Linda Null, Tony Baker, and Dave Larimore who will review the policy, again before the March 29 meeting.
Adjournment
The meeting
was ADJOURNED just after