The following members of the Council were present:

Paul Semmes attended the meeting for Jack Armistead. Also attending as resource persons were Francis Otuonye, Barry Stein, Bob Clougherty, Connie Hood, John Wheeler, Dennis George, Rita Barnes, and Aaron Bibb.

Dr. Jack Armistead
Dr. Darrell Garber
Dr. Susan Elkins
Ms. Shannon Bennett
Mr. Hunter Hughes
Dr. Bruce Greene
Dr. Ed Griggs
Dr. Julia Aucoin
Prof. Tara Watson
Dr. Corinne Darvennes

SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS

2. Approved the minutes of the October 10 meeting.

3.  Received an update on the Regents Degree.

4.  Approved revisions to the Honors Charter.

5.  Discussed the Abelard Evaluation Tool.

PROCEEDINGS

Approval of the Agenda

    Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED approval of the agenda, and Dr. Don Elkins SECONDED the motion. The agenda was APPROVED.

Approval of the Minutes of the October 10 Meeting

    Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED approval of the minutes of the October 10 meeting as posted on the Academic Council web site, and Dr. Osburn SECONDED the motion. The minutes were APPROVED.

Update on Regents Degree

    Dr. Barker reported that the degree is in place and that two faculty members taught in the program in the fall and four are scheduled to teach spring semester. Several TBR committees have been instrumental in bringing order and quality to the program. Dr. Harris sits on the TBR faculty curriculum committee, Dr. Susan Elkins chairs the TTU implementation committee, and Ms. Edith Duvier is the official RODP contact person on this campus. It was estimated that 300-400 students would enroll, but 1850 actually enrolled.in the fall and 3500 students are expected to enroll in the spring. Dr. Harris clarified that these numbers are not head count but reflect the total number of students in all the classes. Most of those who enrolled were not enrolled at any university. Dr. Barker answered questions from Council members.

Revisions to the Honors Charter

    Aaron Bibb, chairman of the Honors Council, stated that the Council conducted a self-study last year and heard recommendations from Professor Tolbert and Dr. McGee that the Honors Charter be revised. The Honors Council is recommending restructuring the Honors Charter by adopting by-laws to address standard organizational matters, allowing daily business to be conducted in an orderly manner. The proposed revised charter with by-laws is the document that was distributed prior to today's meeting.

    Dr. Don Elkins MOVED approval of the revised Charter and By-Laws, and the motion was duly SECONDED. Mr. Bibb, Connie Hood, Director, and Rita Barnes, Associate Director, answered questions from Council members. Most of the questions centered around changing the qualifications for the director from a Ph.D. to a terminal degree. Approval of changes in the Honors Charter by the Academic Council would still be required, but the Honors Council could approve changes in the By-Laws.

    The Council APPROVED by a unanimous vote the revised Honors Charter and By-Laws.

Abelard Evaluation Tool

    In providing background information on the Abelard Evaluation Tool, Dr. Bob Clougherty stated that he, Dr. Julia Aucoin, and Dr. Susan Galbreath had worked last year on the three Abelard questionnaires, two of which were distributed to the Council prior to today's meeting. Dr. Clougherty said the Abelard can be used for evaluating instruction for both traditional and on-line courses, and he said that it takes about 7-9 minutes to answer the 67 questions on the questionnaires. Dr. Clougherty said he would make the test available to any faculty who want it, and he said he would welcome feedback from the faculty about this tool.

    Dr. Barry Stein, who coordinates the IDEA evaluation on campus, responded to questions and said that the IDEA evaluation can also be administered on line.

    Dr. Stanger said that it is not necessary for the Academic Council to make a decision because faculty members can now use the Abelard Tool or any other evaluation tool in addition to the IDEA form, but not instead of the IDEA. The Council discussed the Abelard and asked Dr. Clougherty questions about the questionnaires, but no action was taken.

Adjournment

    The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m.

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    Pat Gilbreath, Recorder