Minutes of the Awards and Ceremonies Committee Meeting
for November 28, 2001

The Awards and Ceremonies Committee met in Molinaro 236 at 1 P.M. on Wednesday, November 28, 2001. Present were Stuart Hansen, chair, Alan Goldsmith, Simon Akindes, Tom Sundstrom, Trenton Baylor, William Streeter and Cynthia Jensen.
Excused: Wei Song.

The meeting was called to order at 1 p.m. The minutes of the meeting of September 24, 2001 were approved.

A discussion was held about the administrations intention to change to two ceremonies for Spring 2002 commencement. Bill Streeter shared with the committee the discussions that have taken place in the Chancellor's Cabinet. The basic problem is there has not been enough space for all attendees at the last several Spring commencements. Having two ceremonies, one for the College of Arts and Sciences and one for the School of Business and Technology would alleviate the space problem. Two ceremonies does
require significantly more planning and effort.

It was the general sense of the committee that two ceremonies makes sense.

Motion by Goldsmith (second by Akindes) The committee recommends to the administration that the Outstanding Student Award and the student merit awards be given out at the ceremony in which each student is participating. Further, we recommend that
the Outstanding Alumni Award be given out at the ceremony with fewer students, to help equalize the time of each. Motion passed without descent.

Motion by Goldsmith (second by Baylor) The committee recommends to the administration that the ceremonies alternate a.m and p.m. on an annual basis. Motion passed without descent.

The committee was curious about how speakers will be handled. It was not clear whether there will be one speaker for both ceremonies, or whether multiple speakers will be invited. It was also not clear whether it is the administrations intention to award honorary degrees at just one or both ceremonies. A practical consideration in both cases is whether there will be different programs for each ceremony. The committee did not come up with any definitive recommendations on these issues.

A question was raised as to how the outstanding alumni is chosen. No one on the committee has any idea. The chair was directed to invite the Secretary of the Faculty or the Alumni Office Director to the next meeting to discuss this.

A question was raised as to what process is used when the committee selects the outstanding graduate and other student awards. The chair will contact the Secretary of the Faculty and report the process at a future meeting.

Concern was expressed by several members that it is not clear what the committee's role is to be in planning the transition to two ceremonies. It was agreed that the issue will be revisited at a future meeting, once it is clear what actions we are to take.

Cynthia Jensen introduced changes to the scholarship program for 2002-2003. The major changes are attached. Cynthia also discussed a recommended process for the committee to make scholarship awards. The Admissions Office has handled entering student scholarships in the past. The committee then reviews and approves of these. The committee is responsible for awarding several scholarships and for approving of awards recommended by departments and other campus units.

Meeting was adjourned at 1:55 p.m.