MINUTES OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL
TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
February 25, 2004
The Academic Council met at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25, 2004, in the Deans’ Conference Room of Derryberry Hall with Jann Cupp, Chairperson, presiding.
The following members of the Council were present:
Dr. Robert Niebuhr Dr. Jann Cupp
Ms. Rebecca Tolbert Dr. David Larimore
Dr. Roy Loutzenheiser Dr. P.K. Rajan
Dr. Donald Elkins Ms. Gail Stearman
Dr. Jack Armistead Dr. Tony Baker
Dr. Susan Elkins Dr. Linda Null
Mr. Nathan Wilds Mr. Ray Jordan
Mr. Ben Hickok Dr. Jeff Roberts
Dr. Cathy Cunningham Dr. Brian O’Connor
Dr. John Harris Dr. Corinne Darvennes
Dr. Sharon Whitney Dr. Gretta Stanger
Dr. Mark Stephens Mr. Ken Hunter
Dr. Christine Miller
Dr. John Wheeler attended for Dr. Darrell Garber. Attending as resource person was Dr. Marilyn Musacchio.
The following members of the Council were absent:
Dr. Winston Walden Dr. Ben Byler
Dr. Darrell Garber Dr. Joseph Biernacki
Ms. Carie Harrington Ms. Delane Stewart
Ms. Casey Couch
SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS
1. Approved the agenda.
2. Approved the minutes of the January 28 meeting.
3. Approved the MSN-RODP Proposal from Nursing.
4. Approved recommendation from the Admissions and Credits Committee.
5. Approved recommendation to send a commendation to the Graduation Office.
6. Accepted Dr. Linda Null to chair the nominating committee to elect next year’s chairperson for the Academic Council.
PROCEEDINGS
Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED approval of the agenda, and Mr. Jordan SECONDED the motion. The agenda was APPROVED.
Dr. Don Elkins MOVED approval of the minutes of the January 28 meeting as posted on the Academic Council web site, and Dr. Stanger SECONDED the motion. The minutes were APPROVED as posted.
Dr. Cupp stated that the Graduate School Executive Committee had approved the proposal. He asked Dr. Marilyn Musacchio to present an overview of the proposal. (The essential elements of the proposal were sent to the Council prior to the meeting with the option to review the entire document on CD in the Nursing office.) Dr. Musacchio stated that in March 2003, the Deans of Nursing in the six TBR schools were approached to implement a model for the MSN on-line degree program. The first meeting was help in June with a curriculum committee being appointed and meeting in July, along with the executive committee. The entire document is 450 pages. It was mandated by Dr. Paula Short to put a masters degree program for nursing on-line across the state. The proposal has gone through all the universities throughout the TBR system. The School of Nursing was reviewed by the Board of Nursing yesterday, February 24, with two representatives from the Board of Nursing and one from TBR. In their exit comments they were very impressed with the proposal and felt we were meeting the need in the state for nursing faculty, in addition to meeting the shortage of nurses throughout the state. This is the only such program in the United States that consists of a whole system. Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED approval of the proposal, and Dr. Don Elkins SECONDED the motion. After some discussion and questions, the motion was APPROVED by a unanimous vote.
Recommendation from the Admissions and Credits Committee
Dr. Cupp asked Mrs. Tolbert to present the recommendation from the Admissions and Credits Committee (which was sent to the Council prior to the meeting). Mrs. Tolbert stated that at the last meeting it was mentioned that the lottery would probably begin counting attempted hours after the 14th day of the term. Two weeks ago at the state level Admissions and Records Officers meeting, this was passed and will be implemented. Brian Nolan at THEC and the TSAC representative told them they were going to go with whatever TBR passed and it will be the same requirement for the University of Tennessee system.
The recommendation of the Admissions and Credits Committee is that we implement the Tennessee Tech policy that the grade of “W” will appear for the student who drops the course after the 14th day of the term. Mrs. Tolbert MOVED approval of the recommendation, and Dr. Loutzenheiser SECONDED the motion. Mrs. Tolbert stated that the 14th day is calculated starting with day one as the first class day and includes every holiday and every weekend day. The 14th day is the day that the institutions in the TBR system freezes their enrollment and a report goes in at the state level. The day after that, if you drop, you get a “W”. If the term is less than seven weeks, the day for attempted hours will be the seventh day, with a “W” grade starting on the eighth day. Dr. Baker asked for a friendly amendment to replace “English Composition” with “English 1010 and 1020” to clarify the current course designation. Mrs. Tolbert stated that this was acceptable. The motion was APPROVED, with the amendment, by a unanimous vote.
Dr. O’Connor stated that he would like to thank the Graduation Office on the presentation of diplomas at the time of graduation so the students do not have to wait for the diplomas to be mailed to them. A motion was made and seconded for the Academic Council to commend the Graduation Office Staff for this excellent service. The motion was approved. The commendation reads as follows:
“The Academic Council wishes to commend and thank
the Graduation Office Staff for the high quality of service rendered to
graduates of our programs, especially their efforts that enable students to
receive diplomas at the commencement ceremony.
We feel this adds greater meaning to the students’ graduation
experience.”
Dr. Cupp stated that there would be no meeting of the Academic Council in March. The next meeting will be April 7.
Dr. Cupp asked for a volunteer to chair the nominating committee to elect a chairperson for next year’s Academic Council. Dr. Null volunteered to chair and she will select others to serve on the committee.
Dr. Cupp stated that he is having a hard time finding volunteers to serve on the subcommittee to review the grading scale. Dr. Whitney volunteered to serve on this committee.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 pm.
Carol Holley
Recorder