Minutes of the University Committee
for September 8, 2000

The Committee met at 1:05 in 262 CART. Members present were John Buenker,Walter Feldt, Laura Gellott, Fran Kavenik. Greg Mayer, and Carol Lee Saffioti-Hughes. Alan Crist and Larry Duetsch were also present.

Members of the Committee welcomed Dr. Crist, the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management, and offered to work closely with him on enrollment and retention issues. Dr. Crist described our current enrollment as sufficient to maintain our funding and expressed confidence that our enrollment could be substantially increased within a few years.  In response to a question about our recent financial aid audit, Dr. Crist said he did not expect a speedy resolution of the issues the audit raised. At Dr. Crist's request, the Committee will soon identify two faculty nominees for a search and screen committee to find new Directors of Admissions and Financial Aid.

Dr. Crist thanked the Committee for their support and left the meeting,

The Committee discussed how to proceed with its survey of faculty perceptions of administrative performance. It was agreed that faculty views should be sought in regard to the performance of three administrators - the Chancellor, the Provost, and the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. No faculty member who is now in her/his first year of service will be invited to respond. Moreover, views of the Dean's performance will be sought only from members of the College faculty. The Dean of the School of Business & Technology has not been with us long enough to become one of the subjects of this survey. The survey is to be conducted as soon as the Secretary of the Faculty can arrange to do so.

The Committee discussed a revised proposal for creation of a standing Committee on Teacher Certification within the College of Arts and Sciences. It was agreed that the draft should be sent to the Dean and to the Department of Teacher Education, along with the suggestion that the draft specify that the Chair of the Committee will be named each year by the Dean and will be one of the five members who are departmental liaisons to teacher education.

Marwan Wafa, Dean of the School of Business and Technology joined the meeting. Members of the Committee welcomed Dean Wafa and inquired about the status of the School's programs. Dean Wafa said he is pleased with the quality of teaching, research productivity, and level of service activity in the School. Enrollment is strong in the business and computer science programs. The Dean said he is pleased with the redesigned MBA program and expects to move forward with plans to redesign the undergraduate business program as well. Work will soon be completed on our entitlements to plan a master's program in computer science and an undergraduate program in engineering management. Dean Wafa said that he is placing his highest priority on the recruitment of new faculty and enhancement of the faculty culture within the School. Campus-wide, he called for reconsideration of our admissions policies, greater attention to our physical facilities, and greater integration of technology into our curriculum through partnership with a major PC manufacturer that would lease laptops to staff members and students. Committee members wished Dean Wafa well and offered to be of assistance in whatever way they could.

Dean Wafa thanked the Committee for inviting him and left the meeting.

Turning to other matters, the Committee elected Professor Kavenik as its Vice Chair for 2000-01 and identified faculty appointees to fill seats on a number of committees. Finally, because of schedule conflicts, the Committee agreed to continue meeting on Fridays - September 22 at 8:30 and October 6 at 8:30.

The meeting adjourned at 3:30.