MINUTES OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL
TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

    The Academic Council met at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, September 8, 1999, in the Deans' Conference Room of Derryberry Hall. Dr. John Harris, Chairperson, presided at the meeting.

    The following members of the Council were present:

Dr. Marvin Barker		Dr. John Harris	
Dr. Roy Loutzenheiser		Dr. Mark Stephens
Dr. Jack Armistead		Dr. Norman Williams
Dr. Donald Elkins		Dr. Ed Griggs
Dr. Rebecca Quattlebaum		Dr. Joseph Anderson
Prof. Rebecca Tolbert		Prof. Darlene Franklin
Dr. Winston Walden		Prof. Mary Lou Fornehed
Ms. Sammie Young		Dr. Corinne Darvennes
Ms. Kim Vance			Dr. Kurt Eisen
Mr. Jason Wilds			Dr. Brian O'Connor
Mr. Casey Schewe		Prof. Ken Hunter
Ms. Jenny Bradley		Dr. Gretta Stanger
Ms. Charlene Mullins		Dr. Andrzej Gutek
Dr. Bruce Greene		Dr. Linda Null

Also attending as a resource person was Dr. Panos Linos.

    The following members of the Council were absent:

Dr. Jeff Roberts                                                Dr. Harry Smith
Prof. John Dodson                                            Dr. Edward Lisic

1.  Approved the agenda.

2.  Approved the minutes of the March 31 meeting.

3.  Approved a curriculum change for the Computer Science Department.

4.  Approved as official practice listing the degree and major on diplomas.

PROCEEDINGS

Approval of the Agenda

    Council members introduced themselves, and Dr. Harris noted that updated Academic Council Procedures had been distributed with the agenda. Ken Hunter MOVED approval of the agenda, and Jenny Bradley SECONDED the motion. The agenda was APPROVED.

Approval of the Minutes of the March 31 Meeting

    Prof. Rebecca Tolbert MOVED to approve the minutes of the March 31 meeting, Jason Wilds SECONDED the motion, and the minutes were APPROVED as distributed.

    Dr. Panos Linos, Chairperson of the Computer Science Department, presented the request to add the following statement to the Department of Computer Science description in the section entitled "Academic Divisions" on page 71 of the current catalog:

    A computer science major is required to complete all prerequisite computer science courses with a grade of "C" or better before enrolling in a subsequent course.

    Dr. Linos said that the proposal is an attempt to make sure their students have an adequate level of technical knowledge for the courses for which they enroll.

    Dr. O'Connor MOVED approval of the change, and Dr. Gutek SECONDED the motion. Professor Tolbert clarified that the reason the Curriculum Committee referred this change to the Council was because it is an academic issue imbedded in the curriculum, and she said that we have done several of these. The motion CARRIED by a unanimous vote.

Appropriate Degree Designations on Diplomas

    Dr. Barker distributed a handout showing the undergraduate degrees that have been approved by TBR for Tennessee Tech to offer. The history of this campus and our unofficial practice has been to list on the diploma the degree and also the major if the major is not included in the degree. Because no formal action has been taken in this regard, Dr. Barker said he is requesting approval by the Council to make this the official procedure.

    Dr. Loutzenheiser MOVED to approve including the major as part of the degree title, and Kim Vance SECONDED the motion. Dr. Elkins proposed as a FRIENDLY AMENDMENT that no concentrations or options be added, and the amendment was accepted. Dr. Barker said this would apply to both undergraduate and graduate diplomas. After discussion, the motion was APPROVED with one dissenting vote. Dr. Barker said he would take this action to the Administrative Council as an informational item.

Such Other Matters

    In response to a question about the TBR mandate to renumber courses, Dr. Harris said that the Curriculum Committee would be the body to deal with this issue first and make referrals to the Academic Council. Dr. Barker provided background information and said the renumbering idea is one intended to benefit the student by providing better articulation between the community colleges and the four-year institutions. Graduate courses are not included in the renumbering.

    Jason Wilds asked if the faculty would be agreeable to making public student evaluations of faculty, and Dr. Eisen said he would be comfortable if the evaluations were student-generated and not the official University faculty evaluations.

Adjournment

    The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m.

Return to Index