MINUTES OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL
TENNESSEE TECH UNIVERSITY
September 6, 2006
The Academic Council met at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 6, 2006, in the Deans’ Conference Room of Derryberry Hall with Christine Miller, Chairperson, presiding.
The following members of the Council were present:
|
Dr. Robert Niebuhr |
Dr. Christine Miller |
|
Dr. Winston Walden |
Dr. Pat Jordan |
|
Mr. Bobby Hodum |
Dr. David Larimore |
|
Dr. Roy Loutzenheiser |
Dr. Sharon Huo |
|
Dr. Wade Faw |
Dr. Bob Clougherty |
|
Dr. Jack Armistead |
Dr. Linda Null |
|
Dr. Darrell Garber |
Prof. Ray Jordan |
|
Mr. Christian Bucher |
Dr. Brian O’Connor |
|
Dr. Jeff Roberts |
Dr. John Harris |
|
Dr. Mark Stephens |
Dr. Gretta Stanger |
Attending as resource persons were Dr. Paul Semmes, Mr. Marc Burnett, and Ms. Denise Hensley. The following members of the Council were absent:
|
Dr. Susan Elkins |
Dr. Susan Laningham |
|
Mr. Zac Fox |
Dr. Don Visco |
|
Ms. Carolyn Greer |
Prof. Darlene Franklin |
|
Ms. Katie Oakley |
Prof. Delane Stewart |
|
Dr. Jim Baier |
Dr. Darrell Hoy |
|
Dr. Cathy Cunningham |
Dr. Chris Brown |
SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS
1. Approved the agenda.
2. Approved the minutes of the March 29 meeting as distributed.
3. Discussed the Academic Misconduct Policy and formed a sub-committee to review further.
4. Discussed the discrepancies in the Agreement on Responsibilities and the Faculty Evaluation forms and voted to make changes.
5. Discussed the required number of credit hours for transfer students and voted to change from 12 to 24.
6. Dr. Semmes presented an overview on the student section of Banner.
PROCEEDINGS
Dr. Roberts MOVED approval of the agenda, and Dr. Stanger SECONDED the motion. The agenda was APPROVED as distributed.
Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED approval of the minutes of the March 29 meeting, and Dr. Larimore SECONDED the motion. The minutes were APPROVED as posted on the Academic Council web site.
Academic Misconduct Policy
Dr. Barker stated that the revised Academic Misconduct Policy that was discussed at the March 29 meeting was sent to legal counsel at TBR. Associate General Counsel, Ms. Heidi Zimmerman, sent her response and comments to the policy via email memorandum. This email was distributed to the Council with the agenda. After some discussion on the policy, Dr. Barker asked Dr. David Larimore, Dr. Jeff Roberts, and Dr. Brian O’Connor to serve as a committee to make recommendations on the policy to make sure it is clear to everyone what the process is.
A copy of each of the forms was sent to the Council with the agenda. The Agreement on Responsibilities form was revised in 2005 to agree with the revised Tenure and Promotion Policies. The Annual Faculty Evaluation had not been revised to coincide with the Agreement, therefore, the subgroups are different in the service area(s). After some discussion, Dr. Niebuhr MOVED to revise the Evaluation form to be consistent with the Agreement form. Dr. Garber SECONDED the motion. The change in the form PASSED by a unanimous vote.
Dr. Barker stated that the Annual Faculty Evaluation covers the calendar year and the Agreement on Responsibilities covers the academic year. He asked for discussion on changing the Agreement on Responsibilities time period to cover the calendar year also. After some discussion, Dr. Stephens MOVED to change the Agreement on Responsibilities to cover the calendar year with the date due to the Provost being changed to December 1, to cover the following calendar year. Dr. Larimore SECONDED the motion. The motion PASSED with all but one voting yes.
The above two items will be presented to the University Assembly in November as they involve procedural changes.
Dr. Barker stated that currently TTU treats students with 12 credit hours or more as transfer students (for admission purposes). Students with less than 12 credit hours are classified as first time freshmen. Some students are taking dual credit courses in high school and coming to the university with 12 hours or more and wanting to be counted as transfer students, with never having been to college before; which makes it easier to enroll. Other universities are moving to 24 credit hours for a person to be considered a transfer student. Students with 23 hours or less are considered as first time freshmen. After some discussion, Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED that a transfer student would be defined as having 24 hours or more, excluding developmental courses. Dr. Faw SECONDED the motion and the motion was PASSED by a unanimous vote. It was originally proposed that this change be effective Spring 2007, however, this item also needs to go to the University Assembly in November. Therefore, effective date of change will be Fall 2007.
Dr. Semmes presented an overview on the SCT Banner Project from the student section, of which he is a student team leader. (Copy of overview attached to original copy of the minutes.) Several things that are happening with Banner have academic implications. The entire administrative software system is being changed. It will be implemented across the TBR system, but not all schools are on the same schedule. There are three cohorts, and TTU is in cohort two. In summary, there will be several changes in the way repeats, grade reporting, and other academic record keeping will be handled in Banner, which will require changes in current TTU policies. Dr. Semmes stated he will work thru the Admissions and Credits Committee to implement changes in policies to accommodate Banner. Changes will have to be made prior to the student section going live in February 2008.
The meeting was ADJOURNED at 4:40 p.m.
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Carol Holley, Recorder