February 20, 2019

Attendees: James Marquart,  Arne Almquist, Katrina Brent, Dan French, Derina Holtzhausen, Lynn Maurer, Brenda Nichols, Joe Nordgren, Bob Spina, and Victor Zaloom.

I. Approval of Dean’s Council Minutes dated January 29, 2019            

The minutes of the Academic Dean meeting, dated January 29, 2019, were approved as written.

II. GUESTS: David Short, Summer Rather, Dr. Ken Evans

      RE: Proposed Commencement Changes

A proposal was presented to the deans which would reduce the number of fall and spring commencement ceremonies from five to three. The proposal combines the Colleges of Business, Engineering, and Fine Arts and Communication in to one ceremony.  Summer Rather shared attendance data from last 5 years and went over the advantages to making these changes.  The visual impact from a marketing sense was discussed.  The numbers for the separate ceremonies are too small and need to be combined for one larger event. Three options were presented of how the combined ceremony would precede based on a trial three year period.   The Deans were given the material to review, along with a sample fall commencement program.  The choice of options is up to the deans.  Feedback should be sent to David Short, Summer Rather, and/or Dr. Evans.  

III. GUEST: Carly Broussard – Exec. Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid

      RE: Scholarship Dinner, Implications of Degree Audit, Financial Aid

• The Scholarship dinner is scheduled for April 23^rd in the Montagne Center.
• Invitations will go out in early March via email. Donors and student invitations will be mailed. RSVP’s are requested.
• Update on Top Scholar Scholarship offers and acceptances were given.
• Effective fall 2018 financial aid stopped paying for courses not on a student’s degree plan. Carly continues to meet with Department Chairs to verify degree plans, as course program of study is based on Degree Works.
• Scholarship/Financial Aid Trainings are held quarterly. The next two are scheduled for April 17^th and July 17^th in CICE. See links below:
  • • Wed, April 17, 2:30pm. Register at https://orgsync.com/135560/events/2535765/occurrences/6109241
    • Wed, July 17, 2:30pm. Register at https://orgsync.com/135560/events/2535767/occurrences/6109243
  • Financial Avenue is a financial literacy software that helps students learn about
  • basic money management, loan repayments, etc. Training is available to students or student groups if needed through the Financial Aid office. Financial Avenue is available via:
• • • For prospective students – Lamar.edu/managemoney
    • For current students – LU Connect

IV. GUEST: Theresa Hefner-Babb, Exec. Director of Office of Planning & Assessment

     RE: Changes to the Common Core

1. SACSCOC Reaffirmation report items – Theresa reviewed the must haves for the reaffirmation report items. Each of these requests are due April 1, 2019.

• 6.2.a - All faculty and administrators need to post an updated VITA in Concourse by April 1^st. This is for SACSCOC and HB 2504.
• 6.2.c - An email will be going out the requesting name, qualifications and job descriptions for all program coordinators/directors. This information is due back by April 1^st.
• 6.2.b – A spreadsheet showing the status of faculty members as full-time or part-time will be emailed to the deans. Each dean is to distribute to department chairs for review, confirmation, or corrections and have this turned in by April 1^st.

2.  Concourse Training for Admins – Concourse training sessions will be held February 26^th and 27^th for administrative assistants so they can assist with the compliance review for HB 2504. Department Chairs are asked to see that their assistant attends.

3. Future Changes to the Core Curriculum

Theresa stated THECB has requested white papers on the pros and cons of removing the Component Area Options hours from the Core Curriculum. The six hours will be left to the institution to determine where they will be placed in the curriculum. Degree plans will continue to be 120 hours. There is no timeline or final decision to date as to when this will happen.

It was mentioned that the Core Assessment committee being started to assist us with compliance.

4. Accreditation Reports and Program Reviews  

The Office of Planning & Assessment is building a repository of accreditation reports and program reviews. Deans were asked to send digital file copies of any reports and reviews to them.

Dr. Hefner-Babb will send an email reviewing all this information, no later than Friday, March 1^st.

V. GUEST: Paul Bernazzani    

RE:  Research Teams

Dr. Marquart announced Dr. Bernazzani’s promotion to Acting Assistant Provost for Scheduling, Science and Technology. He will be joining the Dean’s Council going forward.

The space allocation announcements for the new Science and Technology building will be made soon. There was a formal application process for those requesting space in the new building. From this process, four themes resulted. Dr. Bernazzani reviewed the SciTech Team Projects selected and the team members for each. This information is NOT to be shared until the formal announcements are made.

VI. Finance/Payroll for Online Students 

In looking at how much was spent last year on online education for adjuncts, overloads and one-time pays, it was discovered there were varying numbers. Because of this, Distance Learning has made some changes. The base amount will be paid at the beginning of term and the remainder will be paid at the end. The new way will also result in less paperwork. Dr. Nichols stated she will go to the colleges and explain the new process if necessary. 

VII. Chair Appointments 

A list of department chairs and length of time in position was distributed. Deans were asked to verify the information and send responses back within two weeks.

VIII. Promotion & Tenure

• Documents
• Review
• Posting

All department promotion and tenure guidelines should be online somewhere. Deans are to inform Dr. Marquart of where they are for each college and how old the guidelines are.  The handbook says they should be reviewed and updated online every 3-5 years.  They should be in the department, but there is a possibility of creating a spot on the Academic Affairs website to list them all. 

 IX. Updates

• Dr. Marquart gave a brief update on the Senate Finance and House Appropriation meetings that were held in Austin during the last couple of weeks.
• Departments need to work on ways to trim costs. Various areas discussed.
• Recruitment – we are working towards a 3% increase in enrollment. There was discussion on ways to attract new students and how to incentivize department chairs to help grow enrollment.  

X.  Adjourn