From: Carol DeVolder
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005
To: Kathleen
Trujillo
Subject: BOS committee final report
Board of Studies
2004-2005 Annual Report
The following is a list of actions
taken by the Board of Studies in 2004-05:
|
Issue |
Decision |
|
Requesting
MUS-201 & 202 to count toward Gen Ed |
Approved |
|
Requesting
to graduate under the 99-01 catalog |
Approved |
|
Requesting
CRJU-430 to complete the MATH-121 Gen Ed reqmt |
Denied |
|
Requesting
to have THTR-205 satisfy Gen Ed |
Approved |
|
Requesting
exception to 300 level PHIL/THEO reqmt |
Denied |
|
Requesting
permission to follow 99-01 graduation reqmts |
Approved |
|
Requesting
IS-201 to complete language reqmt |
Denied |
|
Requesting
readmission following May 04 dismissal |
Denied |
|
Requesting
retro-active withdrawal from Spring 2004 |
Approved |
|
Review
file for possible dismissal |
Dismissed |
|
Requesting
past experience in Jr Thtr to satisfy Gen Ed |
Tabled |
|
Requesting
permission to follow 99-01 graduation reqmts |
Approved |
|
Requesting
waiver of 3 hour Natural Science due to advising error |
Approved |
|
Requesting
retro-active withdrawal from ACCT-202 (85SP) and MATH-151 (87FA) |
Denied |
Big Board
Decisions (218 students reviewed)
1 no action
taken
16 issued a
letter of concern
120 removed
from “Subject to Review” status
39 placed
on probation
17
continued on probation
4
dismissed, returned on probation following appeal
21
dismissed
1 appeal was missed by the initial
review of the BOS on 1/5/2005, but his file was brought before the Board and the student was granted an option to appeal 1 week
later; however, the student
chose not to appeal
3 did not show up at appeals
hearings; however, 1 was subsequently reviewed by the Dean of Academic Affairs
Our work
will continue in May with a second “Big Board” meeting. At this meeting we will
review students who have been previously placed on probation as well as
students with GPAs that have fallen below the University
standards. Our work will conclude with an appeals meeting approximately two
weeks later.
The chair
wishes to thanks the members of the committee for all their hard work.
Members
are:
Justin Ball Kenneth Grenier Mark McGinn
Rita
Dziedzic Carol Haywood Daniel Zeimet
Janet
Enslein Kirk Kelley
Respectfully
submitted,
Carol DeVolder, Chair
Faculty Grievance Committee Annual Report, 2004-5
Committee Members:
Ryan Dye (Chair), Katie Trujillo, Andy Kaiser, Janet Enslein, Ken Grenier (sabbatical replacement for Lew Marx)
The Faculty Grievance Committee completed one formal grievance procedure during the 2004-5 academic year. The grievance was filed on January 27, 2005 and the hearing was held on February 27, 2005. The results of the hearing then were forwarded to the complainant, the respondent, and to the Director of Personnel.
2004-05 Annual Report – Faculty Finance Committee (FFC)
The FFC met six times during this academic year; committee members were John Barr (chair), Brenda DuBois, Art Moreau, Bonnie Leonhardt, Tom Yang , & Lori Rodrigues-Fisher (Vice-president of Academic Affairs, ex officio member).
FFC served as a representative of the faculty in all university Strategic Planning meetings, participated in two meetings of the Academic Affairs & Services Committee of the Board of Directors (10/8/04 & 1/14/05), and met with President Rogalski and Vice-president for Finance Ed Henkhaus to discuss the Faculty Compensation Proposal on 12/8/04. We advocated for an increase in compensation of 6%, with a bottom line of 4.6%. This proposal was discussed at the Faculty Assembly on 12/9.
In Strategic Planning, FFC: supported the Faculty Development Committee’s proposal for a budget enhancement; supported the Vice-president of Academic Affair’s proposal for enhanced sabbatical funding; advocated for faculty compensation at the median level for our institutional peer group, that we assessed to be IIA institutions; recommended an adjustment to baseline be requested for chair compensation.
FFC conducted a faculty salary study that included data from a CIC dean’s survey. Per President Rogalski’s directive, FFC member Art Moreau worked with Lew Sanborne to conduct a peer group analysis. A proposed peer list was submitted to SAU deans. While we intended to propose a lump sum correction for faculty compensation as SAU moves to a IIA institutional rating, Lori Rodrigues-Fisher recommended a planned three year phase- in.
Again this year, the FFC was not invited to participate in discussions with SAU administration concerning health care plan cost-saving initiatives.
Submitted by John O. Barr, FFC chair
Student Life Committee Annual Report
Academic Year 2004-2005
Committee members:
Lynn Frank (Co-Chair), Brian Miclot, Craig Shoemaker, Katie Van Blair (co-Chair), Stan Kabat (replaced by Jamie Loftus), Tryphena Ebizie (student rep Fall), Elizabeth Pfeiffer (student rep Fall), Carol Haywood (student rep Spring), Kari Rogers (student rep Spring), Sana Harb (grad student rep)
Summary:
The committee met September 9, October 7, November 4, January 20, February 17, and March 17. A meeting is also scheduled for April 14. The main focus of the committee this year was to investigate and define the role of the Student Life Committee and how it best fits to contribute to the Faculty Assembly, the campus community, and the University.
- Faculty members of the Student Life Committee conducted focus groups in the fall with on-campus undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty. (Attempts were made to recruit a focus group of off-campus undergraduate students without success.) Focus groups discussed the various groups perceptions of: student life on St. Ambrose campus, awareness of the Student Life Committee, the role of the Student Life Committee, and how much faculty seem to understand student life issues.
- The committee discussed with Dr. Jamie Loftus and Dr. Paul Koch the role the Student Life Committee might play in contributing to ongoing University Assessment related to student life at St. Ambrose University.
- The committee came to consensus that, as a Faculty Assembly committee, we should be the vehicle for communication with the Faculty Assembly about what happens in the various aspects and offices of student life at St. Ambrose, as that may also impact what happens in the classroom and advising. The committee can also act in an advisory role as the offices related to student life carry out their own assessments, thus contributing to the University’s assessment needs and ultimately benefiting students.
The result of all of the above is the following proposed description for the Faculty Handbook, which will be on the agenda for the first reading at the Faculty Assembly on April 14, 2005:
Proposed Handbook Description
Student Life Committee: Reviews policies affecting students and faculty developed by offices of the Student Services Department, including the following offices:
|
Student Activities |
Residence Life |
|
Security |
Campus Recreation |
|
Health Services |
Counseling Services |
|
International Student Services |
Campus Ministry |
The Committee reviews and evaluates annual reports of these offices and meets with directors of these offices on a regular basis, at least once every two years. The Committee addresses concerns about the policies and procedures of the above offices or about other issues related to student life raised by members of the campus community. The Committee makes policy recommendations to the Dean of Students and/or to the appropriate administrator, and communicates to the Faculty Assembly through regular reports. The Committee submits regular reports to the University official responsible for assessment and evaluation as part of the University’s on-going assessment and evaluation of student life issues to help ensure organizational excellence and accountability. Procedures for submitting reports to be considered by the Committee can be found on the SLC pages of the Academic Vice President’s web page. After Committee review, a file of these reports is kept in the Assessment and Evaluation Center.
Membership includes the Dean of Students, a staff member appointed by the Dean of Students, a representative from the Accel Program of the College of Professional Studies, and four faculty members: one each from the College of Education and Health Sciences and the College of Business and two from the College of Arts and Sciences elected to two-year overlapping terms. Three students will be named by the Deans, one from each of the colleges, selected from students in good academic standing. One of these students should be a graduate student.
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Year-End Report -Spring 2005
New Faculty Orientation and Mentor Introductions:
The committee began working early last summer in preparation for the New Faculty Orientation Program scheduled for the end of August. The New Faculty Orientation Program included an orientation packet of materials, a presentation on the history of St. Ambrose University, an introduction to blackboard and tours of the campus followed by an introduction to library services. The orientation session ended with a formal dinner in the faculty dining room. One week later, new faculty met their mentors and listened to presentations by Ann Austin and Dan Zeimet at a new faculty luncheon.
Sabbatical Reviews:
Fall Grant Requests:
The Fall semester was quite busy. Two time-consuming events took place: reviewing sabbaticals for the first time in the history of the faculty development committee and reviewing applications for fall grants. Five faculty members submitted sabbatical applications. There was some discussion regarding specificity of sabbatical applications. To aid in the committee’s recommendation process as well as to assist future applicants develop their sabbatical proposals, FDC designed an outline, based on the sabbatical application form in Appendix J of the faculty handbook, which will be made available to faculty in last spring 2005.
Eleven faculty members received fall grants worth up to $1200.00. FDC discussed a need to increase the amount of grant awards for full and adjunct faculty and submitted a proposal to academic planning to increase the committee’s annual budget for the 2005/2006 academic year.
Fall Workshop:
An informal roundtable discussion for new faculty and their mentors was held in October. The session’s goal was to provide a forum in which new faculty members could share their experiences about teaching at St. Ambrose. Additionally, participants were given a survey assessing the value of the different activities during New Faculty Orientation so that feedback from the surveys could be implemented for the fall 2005 New Faculty Orientation Session.
Spring Workshop: Advising Issues
Maureen Baldwin spoke to new and veteran faculty about some of the changes to general education two weeks prior to the start of the registration period.
Spring Grants:
FDC reviewed spring grant applications. Thirteen grant applications worth up to $1200.00 were approved.
Spring Event: Faculty and Academic Staff Recognition Reception.
The 18th annual faculty/academic staff recognition reception will be held on April 19th in the faculty dining room. Nominations are due by April 12th. This event, which recognizes the scholastic work and creative talents of the faculty and academic staff offers everyone an opportunity to interact with the participants as well as to enjoy an upscale assortment of hors d’oeuvres. Gift receipts from the Bookstore are to be awarded to the honorees.
Future Activities:
FDC’s work is not completed at the end of the academic term. During the summer months, the planning cycle begins anew regarding scheduling New Faculty Orientation as well as procuring mentors for the new hires. Additionally, FDC usually has a certain level of responsibility regarding securing a guest presenter for the presidential assembly in the fall. To date, it is unclear as to whether that event will include a guest speaker or if the fall workshop will be organized by faculty/academic staff. Last FDC is experimenting with the idea of creating a handbook of activities that would be distributed to new and veteran faculty entitled: Great Ideas for Teaching or G.I.F.T. This idea is still in its infancy but will be discussed in more detail during the next academic year.
Meeting Time:
The Faculty Development Committee typically met twice a month throughout the year and several times during the summer.
Final Comment:
I would like to thank all of the committee members for their hard work and dedication this year.
I look forward to the continuation of our committee’s quest to be a valuable resource of information and guidance for the next academic year.
Respectfully Submitted,
Carla Stevens, Ph.D.
Chair, 2004-2005
2004-2005 FDC Members: Cathy Daters, Barbara Pitz, Less Bell [fall], Michael O’Melia [spring], Paul Jacobson [ex officio]
Annual Committee Report (2004-2005) from the
Advisory Committee of the Center for Teaching Excellence
Advisory committee met about every other week in the fall, less frequently in the spring
Weekly “News from the Center” sent to all faculty by campus email
Subscriptions to 3 publications stocked in three wall pocket locations on campus
Several other publications ordered and kept in Ambrose Room in Library
CTE joined the Midwest Faculty Seminar and sponsored three faculty attending MFS seminars this year—Fr. Joe DeFrancisco, Dr. Sandy Quinn, Fr. Bud Grant
There will be four seminars in Chicago available to SAU faculty next year.
Co-sponsored (with FDC), helped to plan and implement the fall faculty in-service program offered by Dr. Craig Nelson in August at fall Presidential Assembly
Co-sponsored January presentation by Teri Stumbo and Alecia Thiele on the ways that having different generations of students in the same classroom affects teaching
Sponsored a November panel on ePortfolios
Sponsored a presentation by Jon Stauff and James O’Gorman on “A Model for Faculty/Librarian Cooperation in a Course” in September
Sponsored a classroom and equipment survey during the late fall and early spring semesters that will lead to a survey of faculty desires for types of classrooms and equipment
Sponsored an April presentation by Carol Lyon and Ken Colwell on using PowerPoint, video taped the presentations and made the video and notes from the presentation available to faculty
Co-sponsored with FDC the orientation for new faculty in August
The CTE has a web site maintained by Barbara Muenster which contains a series of “Teaching Tips”
Develop and maintain the Center’s library of books and periodicals on teaching as well as back issues of our subscriptions (e.g., College Teaching and Change) in the Ambrose Room of the Library
Sponsor and support two “teaching circles” continuing from last year (Organizers of the circles are: Carol Lyon, Grace Johnson, Christine Urish, Terry Schlabach, Nancy Hayes)
The Center is working more closely with ACCEL and has involved some of their faculty in our activities on campus
Members of the Advisory Committee of the Center for Teaching Excellence:
Keith Haan, Music Michael Hustedde
Katherine Lampe, Physical Therapy Ann Preston, Communication
Kevin Farrell, Physical Therapy Paul Jacobson, Philosophy
Barbara Muenster, Mathematics
Promotion, Tenure, and Standards Committee in 2004-2005
The committee has still more work to complete before the end of the semester. The following is what the committee probably will have completed when it meets for its last time in the first or second week of May.
The committee had an all day retreat on August 23rd. The first meeting of the committee in the fall semester was September 3rd, the last December 14th, the committee meeting fifteen times in the course of the semester. The first meeting of the spring semester was January 21st, and as of April 12th, the committee had met eleven times. The committee will probably meet several more times in the spring semester before business is completed.
The work of the committee for the year will have been as follows: interviews with fourteen first-year faculty; review of thirty-six probationary faculty; ten tenure decisions; five-year review of eighteen tenured faculty; eight requests for promotion, two requests for emeritus status.
The President must make decisions on second-year faculty by December 15, on first-year faculty and faculty who have been at SAU for three or more years by March 1st. All tenure interviews were scheduled for the spring. For all of these decisions members of the committee review voluminous materials: in the case of probationary faculty, a letter of self-evaluation, a letter from the chair and dean, and syllabi from two courses; in the case of faculty applying for tenure, a letter of self-evaluation, a letter from the chair and dean, all syllabi, and all course materials for two courses. Tenure interviews range in length from thirty to forty-five minutes.
Interviews for first-year faculty were usually about fifteen minutes; the point of the interview is to familiarize new faculty with the committee. Interviews with faculty who are undergoing a five-year review range from thirty to forty-five minutes. To prepare for five-year review interviews, members of the committee review a letter of self-evaluation, a letter from the chair, and course materials.
Probationary faculty and faculty undergoing their five-year review receive feedback forms from members of the committee, which are written by two-person teams, then revised by the rest of the committee. The committee will have written fifty-four feedback forms this year.
The committee tries to be open and flexible. Most importantly, it tries to remain respectful of the needs of its colleagues on the faculty. The chair and the members of the committee invite questions and comments from the faculty.
Submitted by Owen Rogal, Chair
Academic Support Committee –Annual Report
2004-2005 Academic Year
Members: Karl Hickerson (Chair), Tom Burns, John Pollitz, Carol Lyon, Fr. Bud Grant, Irene Kramer-Palmer, Sanjeevi Vemuri (GSGA), Emma Crino (SGA), Jessica Delp (SGA)
The Academic Support Committee (ASC) conducted 12 meetings between 1 Sept 04 and 13 April 05, with a 13th meeting planned for late April. We began the year with discussion of current issues brought to the committee through member contacts. Meetings early in the year also included invitations for several staff department directors to meet with us for discussion of their current activities.
Issues discussed in the Fall included (a) student book ordering practices and book availability through the Bookstore (and other sources); (b) student computer network connections, virus issues, and IT’s ability to provide support and troubleshooting; (c) IT plans for upgrading to Office 2003; (d) the University’s approach to e-portfolio standards and formats; and (e) the ASC’s role in staff department assessment plan development and oversight.
Our first guest was Maureen Baldwin (10/13/05), who reported on staff and services from the Student Success Center. The Committee also met with Merredyth Beno (10/27/05) on Student Retention; and Meg Halligan (11/10/05) on Admissions standards, goals and recent results.
In early December, the ASC adopted a policy of formal review and approval of minutes prior to their distribution to the faculty. At the request of Paul Koch and in response to the President’s letter to staff department directors of 11 Nov 04, we also turned our attention to creating a more focused and structured approach to our meetings with staff department directors on the subject of assessment.
The ASC agreed that its role should include:
· Education and guidance about the purposes and content of assessment plans (mission, past goals, measures of performance against goals, connections with learning outcomes, where possible, and future goals).
· Review of staff department assessment plans (including feedback and possible suggestions)
· Posting of staff department assessment plans to the assessment website
The Committee established a process for performing this new, more proactive and structured role that included (a) the creation of a schedule for preliminary meetings with all staff department directors identified by the Faculty Handbook as the ASC’s oversight responsibility; (b) a letter of invitation to meet to discuss assessment plan development and the Committee’s roles for consultation and review of plans (due in the Fall); and (c) a plan to meet again with each staff department director in the Fall 05 to review and discuss their plans.
We met with six directors through April 13th (with two additional scheduled for the end of April). Several of these were repeat visits from the Fall and late Spring 04 (Maureen Baldwin, Meg Halligan, Jennifer Timmons). In general, the ASC found most directors to be very well started in their assessment planning, including significant numbers of relevant measures and, in many cases, direct connections to student learning outcomes. Most reported that the guidelines for staff department assessment plan development were helpful. Well started plans include the Library, Career Center, Admissions, IT and Student Success Center. Student Accounts had just begun the process of thinking about plan development at the time of our meeting (3.2.05). As of the date of this report, the ASC was continuing to try to find suitable meeting times with the Kathy Cameron (Bookstore), Merredyth Beno (Student Retention) and Carol Glines (General Accounting). We have had informal communication with Merredyth Beno and she reported that there is a written statement of philosophy and goals for Student Retention and that they will be doing additional work on their plan over the summer.
A proposal to rethink the current “system” of copying and copy support was brought to the ASC by Ryan Dye on behalf of Caryl Altemus. Some preliminary investigation revealed that this is a very complicated issue involving both staff and faculty use of machines—and considerable variability in use of equipment across the campus. The ASC believes that this requires a comprehensive study and the development of several alternative solutions. One such study was conducted by Chris Westensee in 1998. We believe an updated study is appropriate, but that this project is beyond the charter of the ASC and should be conducted by a staff department.
The Committee wishes to express thanks to Paul Koch for his great direction and support of work with the staff departments for assessment plan development.
Respectfully submitted,
Karl A. Hickerson
Department of Marketing
College of Business
Educational Policies Committee, Annual Report, 2004-2005
Membership:
College of Arts and Sciences: Mara Adams, Martin Hansen, Bill Hixon, Corinne Winter
College of Education and Health Sciences: Barb Weise, Ragene Gwin
College of Business: Tom Hill, David O’Connell
SGA: Kim Bennett, Kari Rogers
Ex officio: Lori Rodriguez-Fisher, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Brenda Peters and Jeremy Burke, General education; Dan Zeimet, Records and Registration
Officers: Fall semester – Bill Hixon, chair; Corinne Winter, secretary
Spring semester – Corinne Winter, chiar; Barb Wiese, secretary
Meetings: The committee met weekly as business demanded. As of the reporting date, we met 17 times during the year.
Minutes: Are posted on the web under what is still identified as “Provost’s page”
Actions:
We have approved 5-year reviews from the following departments:
Psychology (Nov. 16)
Math (Nov. 30)
Nursing (Feb. 8)
Music (Feb. 22)
Computer Science and Information Systems (Mar. 22)
Women’s Studies (Apr. 12)
Catholic Studies (May 3)
Justice and Peace (May 3)
The following departments have been granted extensions:
Art (until Fall, ’05)
Criminal Justice (until Fall ’05)
MBA/ MBA Healthcare (until Fall’o5)
Education –(all programs to coincide with the state review, Spring ’06)
The following new or revised programs have been approved:
The Loras St. Ambrose Consortium for Educational Leadership, Masters degree in Educational leadership (Mar. 1)
Masters of Education (Apr. 5)
Masters of Nursing (Apr. 19)
Certificate in Assistive Technology (OT) (Apr. 26)
ECE 380 – Administration of Early Childhood Programs with Emphasis on child nutrition (Oct. 5)
LS 204 Advanced College Reading – Standardized Test Preparation, (Oct. 12)
EDUC 459 Elementary Content Reading (Nov. 9)
STBE/ECON 447 – Econometrics (Mar. 22)
Course changes have been approved as follows:
NURS 300 – add WI
THEO 401 – becomes Gen ed.
DPT 990 – revise credit arrangements
MKTG 322 – cross list as INTL 322
COMM 230, 331, 432, and 435 add WI
STAT 213 – require that student demonstrate sufficient background in one of four ways.
Other curricular revisions have been approved as follows:
MSW – changes to increase field experience and integration of theory and practice (Feb. 1)
Move Criminal Justice and Computer Security major from CRJU dept. to CSCI dept.
College of Business – several changes to update requirements
Education and Languages and International Studies cooperatively add three courses and create endorsements for elementary teachers in French, Spanish and German
SPED – Changes to match other schools and state requirements
Psychology department – curriculum changes beyond those in the Dept review.
Other Issues have been discussed:
Review of minors by EPC. There was a motion in October to leave them up to the department. After further discussion with the deans and the Academic Vice President, that motion was rescinded in March. EPC will review minors and departments should give some reflection during their program reviews to the rationale for and value of their minors.
The committee requested that all programs submit 5-year reviews electronically as 3 documents:
1) The Review proper
2) Syllabi and Course Fact Sheets
3) General Education materials.
Submitted by Corinne Winter