Minutes of the University Committee
April 24, 2001

The Committee met at 2:00 in 262 CART. Members present were John Buenker, Walter Feldt, Laura Gellott, Fran Kavenik, Greg Mayer, and Carol Lee Saffioti-Hughes. Also present were Larry Duetsch and John Ostheimer.

Provost Ostheimer said he had asked to meet with the Committee to express his concern about the continuing role (after his retirement) of two groups he has relied on - the Committee on Alternative Delivery and Programming and the Distance Education Planning Group. He said the CADP (8 faculty members and 4 staff members) has given him input on a wide variety of topics and helped develop important initiatives. The DEPG (6 faculty members and 4 staff members) has helped him determine realistic distance education objectives. The Provost said he hoped the University Committee would find suitable ways to carry on the functions of these groups.

Professor Kavenik told the Provost she has been concerned about the lack of marketing of new program initiatives and he said that recent staffing changes were certain to produce better results. He agreed with Committee members who said that the leadership of the next Provost would be critical in this regard. With that, the Provost thanked the Committee and left the
meeting.

The Committee then discussed concerns raised in an email from Dean Cress about variations in the departmental specifications of criteria for tenure and promotion. Some go well beyond the guidelines found in UWPF 6; others do not. He wondered whether departments need to seek approval of their criteria through governance channels. The Committee agreed to ask Dean Cress to meet with them to discuss these matters.

Finally, the Committee agreed on a slate of faculty nominees for appointment to standing faculty committees and asked the Secretary of the Faculty to verify that designated nominees would be willing to serve.

The meeting adjourned at 3:30