The Academic Council met at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, October 10, 2001, in the Deans' Conference Room of Derryberry Hall with Dr. Gretta Stanger, Chairperson, presiding.

The following members of the Council were present:

Dr. Jack Armistead
Dr. Donald Elkins
Dr. Darrell Garber
Dr. Susan Elkins
Dr. Winston Walden
Dr. Robert Niebuhr
Dr. Marvin Barker
Dr. Roy Loutzenheiser
Mr. Hunter Hughes
Ms. Sarah Winningham
Prof. Charlene Mullins
Dr. John Harris
Dr. Jeff Roberts
Dr. Mark Stephens
Dr. Christine Miller
Dr. Jann Cupp
Dr. Harry Smith
Dr. Roger Haggard
Dr. Julia Aucoin
Prof. Tara Watson
Prof. Ken Hunter
Dr. Gretta Stanger
Dr. Linda Null
Prof. Ray Jordan
Dr. Corinne Darvennes
Dr. Brian O'Connor

Also attending as resource persons were Dr. Larry Peach, Dr. Linda Richey, Ms. Stephenie Patterson, Ms. Yvonne Gribble.

The following members of the Council were absent:

Ms. Shannon Bennett
Mr. Clark Downum
Dr. Bruce Greene
Dr. Ed Griggs
Dr. Katherine Osburn
Dr. Kurt Eisen

SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS

1. Approved the agenda with the addition of an announcement and notification of a future discussion of on-line faculty evaluations.

2. Approved the minutes of the April 4 meeting as corrected.

4.  Received for informational purposes recommended changes in the Child and Family Studies Program.

5.  Received a reminder to add the January Council meeting to calendars.

6.  Received information about an on-line evaluation tool to be presented at the next meeting of the Academic Council.

PROCEEDINGS

Approval of the Agenda

Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED approval of the agenda with the addition of an announcement and notification of a future discussion of on-line faculty evaluations, and Professor Hunter SECONDED the motion. The agenda was APPROVED.

Approval of the Minutes of the April 4 Meeting

Dr. Darvennes noted that the April 4 minutes should indicate that Dean Garber also attended the meeting. She MOVED approval of the minutes of the April 4 meeting as posted on the Academic Council web site, and Professor Hunter SECONDED the motion. The minutes were APPROVED as corrected. Dr. Darvennes requested that future e-mail agendas contain a link to the Academic Council web site, and it was agreed that this will be done.

SGA Bill to Enforce E-Mail Class Canceling Warnings

Ms. Sarah Winningham presented SGA Bill S01-16, "Class Canceling Warning Bill of 2001," and MOVED approval of the bill. Dr. Don Elkins SECONDED the motion.

Ms. Winningham said that sometimes students do not get word that a class has been canceled, and the bill attempts to address this problem. She stressed that the key word here is "encourage" and that the student body would greatly appreciate any help in this area. Dr. Roberts suggested a FRIENDLY AMENDMENT that "at least 1 hour" be replaced with "as soon as possible," and the amendment was accepted by the Mover. Dr. Loutzenheiser suggested a FRIENDLY AMENDMENT in Section 2 to change "via e-mail" to "using only tntech e-mail." This amendment was also accepted by the Mover.

The Council discussed Section 3 of the bill and concerns of the students about how this information would be passed along from year to year if it is not written down. Pointing out that professionals do not have to be instructed to notify students, several Council members opposed putting it in the Faculty Handbook. Dean Armistead agreed but did endorse the idea of showing support for this concern. He suggested changing Section 2 to "Appropriate university administrators will encourage instructors to notify students." Then in Section 3 would appear something like, "This new policy shall be transmitted through appropriate departmental communication channels each year." Dr. Darvennes MOVED TO AMEND the motion so that the wording would read as Dean Armistead had suggested, and the motion was duly SECONDED. By a hand vote, the amendment was APPROVED 13 to 10. The main motion PASSED by a unanimous vote.

Section 2 and Section 3 of the Bill would now read:

Section 2

Appropriate University administrators will encourage the instructors to notify students of the class cancellation as soon as possible before the scheduled meeting using only tntech e-mail; either from the professor or sent by the department secretary warning of the cancellation.

Section 3

That this new policy shall be communicated through appropriate departmental communication channels each year.

Recommended Changes in Child and Family Studies

Dr. Barker provided background information on the transfer of the Child and Family Studies program from the College of Education to the School of Human Ecology including the transfer of the locus of tenure for Dr. Linda Richey. Dr. Barker said that the memorandum regarding the proposed changes in the Child and Family Studies program was sent to Council members by Dr. Stanger as an informational item, and then a member of the Council asked to place this item on the agenda because of the movement of tenure. Dean Elkins, Dean Garber, and Dr. Larry Peach, who attended today's meeting, and Dr. Sue Bailey all support this move. Dr. Linda Richey, who also attended the meeting, is agreeable to the transfer.

Dr. Darvennes said she was under the impression that moving tenure required the approval of the Academic Council, but Dr. Barker said that the only time the Academic Council gets involved is when there is restructuring and people are being moved because of the restructuring. Dr. Darvennes asked for the location of information about issues for which the Academic Council is responsible, and Dr. Stanger responded that only the first paragraph of the Academic Council Procedures speaks to this question with a general statement about "matters which relate to the total field of instruction." She noted that in 1984 the locus of tenure for faculty became the department rather than the university. Dr. Barker read from Section 13(g) of the Policy on Academic Freedom, Responsibility, and Tenure.  Dr. Barker stated that the tenure and promotion policies and procedures are very exact and do not involve the Councils. He said this move is satisfactory to all the people involved and was brought to the Council for informational purposes only.

Such Other Matters

Dr. Stanger reminded the Council that the Administrative Calendar should have shown an Academic Council meeting on January 30, 2002, and she asked Council members to be sure to mark this date on their calendars.

Dr. Julia Aucoin said that the IDEA tool does not work well for on-line courses. Dr. Aucoin said she and Dr. Clougherty would like to bring to the next Council meeting an on-line evaluation tool with the advantages that (1) the evaluation can be completed on line, (2) questions can be added to the form, and (3) the characteristics of traditional courses as well as on-line courses are addressed. Dr. Aucoin said it is IDEA order form time, which seems to be a good time to compare the new form to the IDEA form.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m.

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Pat Gilbreath, Recorder