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. Jack Armistead Dr. John Harris
Dr. Darrell Garber Dr. Darrell Hoy
Dr. Robert Niebuhr Dr. Gretta Stanger
Dr.
Dr.
Dr. Christine Miller Dr. Linda Null
Dr. Jann Cupp Prof.
Attending as resource persons were Ms.
Dr. Susan Elkins Dr. Jim Baier
Dr. Winston Walden Dr. Cathy Cunningham
Ms. Amy Campbell Dr. Susan Laningham
Ms. Alathea Thompson Dr. Joseph Biernacki
Mr.
Ms. Shannon Morgan Prof. Delane Stewart
SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS
1. Approved the agenda.
2. Approved the minutes of the February 22 meeting as distributed.
3. Approved annual reports from committees reporting to the Academic Council.
4. Approved a plagiarism prevention policy.
5. Discussed a revised proposal for a new Academic Misconduct Policy and approved making further revisions before taking an e-mail vote.
6. Elected Christine Miller as Academic Council chairperson for 2006-07.
PROCEEDINGS
Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED approval of the agenda, and Dr. Faw SECONDED the motion. The agenda was APPROVED as distributed.
Dr. Stephens MOVED approval of the minutes of the February 22 meeting, and Dr. Stanger SECONDED the motion. The minutes were APPROVED as posted on the Academic Council web site.
Annual Reports from Committees Reporting to the Academic Council
Dr. Larimore MOVED approval of all annual reports as distributed, and Dr. Loutzenheiser SECONDED the motion.
Professor Tolbert pointed out that the Graduate School Executive Committee has approved a change in the form to be used when a grade of “Incomplete” is assigned in a graduate-level course. Dr. Semmes, Chairperson of the GSEC, explained that because the GSEC must hear appeals from students for extensions of “I” grades (and, typically, the instructor is not present at the meeting), the form was changed to give the committee more information for making a decision, including the reason for the “I” grade and what would be required to remove the “I”.
Dr. Null asked if
The annual reports were APPROVED by a unanimous vote.
Report from the Plagiarism Prevention Subcommittee
After a
discussion about plagiarism at the February Council meeting, a committee
consisting of Linda Null, Tony Baker, and
Dr. Null MOVED approval of the subcommittee report, and Dr. Stephens SECONDED the motion. The report from the plagiarism prevention subcommittee PASSED by a unanimous vote.
Academic Misconduct Policy
Serving as a committee, Dr. Roberts, Dr. Hoy, and Ms. Amy Campbell, student representative, made revisions to the draft that was presented at the February Academic Council meeting, and what was distributed with today’s agenda is the latest draft of the Academic Misconduct Policy. Dr. Roberts noted that the President is the arbiter of University policy, and everything we do is only a recommendation to him.
Dr. Armistead raised the first of three questions--where the student’s file would be kept. Initially, the file would be in the Records Office, but the question was raised as to whether it is part of the student’s permanent record. At the suggestion that the file could reside temporarily in the student’s permanent file in the Records Office, Professor Tolbert said it would be a bad idea to make a habit of having various officers of the University putting things in and taking things out of students’ permanent files. Professor Tolbert suggested keeping the file in the Vice President for Academic Affairs’ office until the case is resolved and then forwarding the file to the Records Office for the student’s permanent file. The consensus of the Council was to follow this procedure.
Secondly, Dr. Armistead asked if everyone was comfortable with having the chairperson make the recommendation on expulsion from the University. The consensus was that this was not a problem because the President makes the decision on expulsion.
Dr. Armistead’s third question was a concern about requiring faculty to be present in the summer even though they are not in paid status. Dr. Roberts said we will have to rely on the instructor’s academic integrity that if it is important enough for the instructor to file, he/she should be available during the summer or at least be available to communicate. Dr. Roberts said the policy does allow for a certain amount of flexibility to work around schedules.
Dr. Larimore referred to 6, b, on page 2 of the document and said that it would be a good idea for the faculty member to have the chair or others to review the proposed formal, written charge before distributing it to the student, the department chair, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Dr. Larimore asked for an interpretation of “d” on page 3, the question being whether both the student and the instructor would be in attendance at the meeting for the entire proceeding. Dr. Roberts said that this wording was done intentionally to allow for flexibility for different committees and different circumstances. Dr. Roberts responded to several questions that were asked and clarified the issues.
Dr. Roberts said that this document would go from the Academic Council to the University Assembly, and Dr. Barker said that at some point it should go to TBR General Counsel because of the legal implications. Dr. Roberts asked the Council if it would be appropriate for him and the members of the committee to make the revisions suggested at today’s meeting and send it out to the Council members for an e-mail vote before deciding to go forward. The Council agreed to this plan. Dr. Barker said that we need to be sure to get student input, and Dr. Roberts said he has had student input to this point but will seek additional input from students.
Election of Chairperson
The nominating committee composed of Dr. Roberts, Dr. Stephens, and Dr. Null recommended Dr. Christine Miller as chairperson for 2006-07. Dr. Harris MOVED to accept the nomination, and Dr. Cupp SECONDED the motion. Dr. Miller was ELECTED by a unanimous vote.
Such Other Matters
Dr.
O’Connor thanked
Adjournment
The meeting
was ADJOURNED at
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