MINUTES OF THE
ACADEMIC COUNCIL
The Academic Council met at
The following members of the Council were present:
Dr. Don Elkins
Dr.
Dr. Winston Walden
Prof. Rebecca Tolbert
Dr. Roy Loutzenheiser
Mr. Nathan Wilds
Dr. John Harris
Dr. Sharon Whitney
Dr. Mark Stephens
Dr. Christine Miller
Dr. David Larimore
Prof. Darlene Franklin
Prof. Delane Stewart
Dr. Gretta Stanger
Dr. Chris Brown
Dr. Tony Baker
Dr. Linda Null
Prof. Ray Jordan
Dr. Jeff Roberts
Dr. Brian O=Connor
Dr. Corinne Darvennes
Ms. Beth Mannle attended for Dr.
Darrell Garber. Mr. Bobby Hodum attended as a resource person.
The following members of the Council were absent:
Dr.
Dr. Darrell Garber
Dr.
Mr. Matt Levi
Mr. Corbin Halverson
Ms. Katie Skelton
Dr. David Narrie
Dr. Cathy Cunningham
Dr. Jann Cupp
Dr. Joseph Biernacki
Dr. P. K. Rajan
SUMMARY
OF PROCEEDINGS
1. Approved the
agenda.
2. Approved the
minutes of the October 6 meeting.
1. Received information about the International Baccalaureate Program.
2. Received an update on Summer School 2005.
5. Discussed a proposal to replace the current class schedule and approved the appointment of a committee to study the issue of allowing the option for alternate Monday/Wednesday schedules.
Approval of the Agenda
Dr. Stanger MOVED approval of the agenda, Dr. Stewart SECONDED the motion, and the agenda was APPROVED as distributed on the web.
Approval of the Minutes of the October 6 Meeting
Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED approval of the minutes of the October 6 meeting, and Dr. Stanger SECONDED the motion. The minutes were APPROVED as posted on the web.
International Baccalaureate Program
Professor Tolbert introduced Mr. Bobby Hodum, Assistant Director of Admissions, to present information on the International Baccalaureate Program.
Mr. Hodum
distributed a handout about the AP/IB Program—an international advanced
placement program involving over 200,000 students in 45 different states in the
Mr. Hodum referred to the list of courses on the handout and noted that the courses were designated as either HL or SL—Higher Level or Standard Level. So far TBR has not standardized the credit for AP/IB courses, but TTU would like to be listed on the IBO website so that high school students in the program would know exactly what exam score would be required in a particular course and exactly what college credit they would receive for the course. The departments would not be asked to give credit based on what other schools do but on statistical data and samples of the exams. Mr. Hodum noted that high school students in their junior year are eligible to enroll in IB courses. Professor Tolbert said the Admissions Office hopes to have information about the IB program on the web and in the bulletin soon and have our requirements established sometime during this academic year.
Update on Summer School
Dr. Barker said the university is
now spending more than the E&G budget (fees and appropriations) brings
in. To keep the problem from becoming
worse, the campus decided to reduce spending this year by $1,043,000. Academic Affairs’ portion of the reduction is
about $725,000--$50,000 in one-time funds and $675,000 in permanent
reductions. To avoid decreasing the
R&R budget any further or eliminating vacant faculty lines, it was
determined that the summer school program is the only other source of funds
large enough to cover this problem. In
order to make summer school self-supporting, Dr. Barker said that we would need
to generate $780,000 in income in excess of expenditures from the summer school
program. He said that based on
Proposal to Change Current Class Schedule
Dr. Roberts reported that he had received dozens if not
hundreds of comments regarding his proposal for changing the current class
schedule, from students and faculty alike.
All but two were professional.
Many were supportive and enthusiastic.
Yet others raised a variety of concerns.
The reason and extent of the opposition convinced Dr. Roberts to forego
a vote on the proposal.
Instead, Dr. Roberts commissioned a committee of the
Academic Council to study the practicality of allowing for alternate
Monday/Wednesday classes of 80-minute length.
Mark Stephens, Christine Miller and Brian O’Connor have volunteered to
serve on the committee.
Dr. Roberts thanked all of those who shared their thoughts
regarding the initial proposal.
Such Other Matters
Dr. Roberts announced that the committee on disruptive behavior in the classroom that is being chaired by Sharon Whitney will report at the next meeting of the Council.
Adjournment
The meeting was ADJOURNED at
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Pat Gilbreath, Recorder