College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Council
May 10, 2006 Meeting
Minutes
Attendance: Hugh LaFollette, Joani Spadaro, Mark Walters, Mark Pezzo, Chris Meindl, Jim Gore, Susan Fernandez, Martine Fernandes, Thomas Smith, Erin Dunn (guest)
Director of Financial Aid Erin Dunn briefed the Council on the scholarship process. She stressed the importance of faculty participation on the scholarship committee. CAS’s representatives to the committee for 2006-2007 will be Joseph Dorsey and Mark Walters.
Jim Gore was selected as Vice Chair for 2006-2007. Susan Fernandez was chosen as Recorder for 2006-2007. Hugh Lafollette will chair the Council. The full state of committee appointments for 2006-2007 is appended below.
The Council welcomed a draft document on independent evaluations that emphasizes the central role of the faculty in hiring and tenure & promotion decisions. The Council hopes to insure transparency, trust, and civility in the process. The next step will be to prepare policy amendments to forward to the other college councils and then to the Faculty Senate.
The Council unanimously approved proceeding with the search over the summer with as much lead time and faculty input as possible.
It is the practice at many universities to conduct exit interviews with departing faculty. The Council encourages Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Mark Durand to conduct such interviews. Anonymous statements could also be directed to the USFSP Ombudsman. An exit survey would also be useful. The university should begin to think seriously about means of retaining our faculty, including housing assistance and strengthened child care support.
The College spent $4,500 this year funding student travel to research conferences. The Council welcomed Dean Bridges’ suggestion that student research awards be publicized and formalized through a simple application process. College funds earmarked for faculty travel and research should not be spent on students. A generous gift from the Town & Gown benefactors will underwrite student research for 2006-2007. The Council recommends that the Office of Research consider funding student research permanently through grant overhead funds, which should grow significantly next year.
Mark your calendars:
The Council calls on the administration to revive the campus tradition of asking faculty to evaluate administration and services. This is a constructive and healthy process for our campus.
In addition to finalizing divisions and carrying out the initiatives noted above, the Council will identify 3 or 4 of the minor – and sometimes major – annoyances that make it difficult for faculty to do their jobs. We will then tackle those problems. An open-ended survey will be conducted over the summer to identify such obstacles.