June 18, 2019

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

I. Approval of Dean’s Council Minutes dated May 7, 2019.

The minutes of the Academic Dean meeting, dated May 7, 2019, were approved as written.

ADDITIONS TO AGENDA :

• Kenny Rodriguez, Manager of Budgets and Analysis, came to give a brief update on where we are with budgets. He reminded everyone that nothing is official until it has been submitted and approved by the TSUS Board of Regents.  July 3rd is the deadline for him to have all budget information submitted.  Lamar University plans to give 3% merit increases to  eligible faculty and staff.  These individuals must have been employed prior to February 28, 2019 and have a base salary less than $150,000. Again, this is not official until the President declares it at convocation.  Nothing else has been granted.  Colleges will need to find new money through re-purposed funds.  HEAF is the same process as in years past.  Distance Education was adjusted 2.1 million, not in salary, but for operating expenses associated with the contract agreement for Academic Partnership.   NOTE: Kenny stated beginning in August he will be more available to meet with deans on an individual basis and discuss 2019-20 game plans for each college. 

• Marquart announced that Dr. Brian Craig has accepted the position as Dean of the College of Engineering. Appreciation was extended to Dr. Zaloom for his sacrifice and help during the interim period.

 II. GUESTS: Deidra Mayer, Executive Director of Admissions/Recruitment

                      Niki Contreras, Director of Admissions/Area Recruiting

Deidra and Niki came to discuss several new policies being developed and to give updates within the areas of Admissions and Recruitment.  The Dean’s Council is the first step in the approval process.

• Provisional Admission policy :

With this policy, graduate and undergraduate applications (both domestic or international) would be considered using unofficial copies of documents and test scores.  If applicant accepted, a hold would be placed on the account until original documents received and verified before registration. There was discussion on whether to delay the hold until the 2^nd semester.  Everyone agreed this is a great opportunity and will speed up the process.   

• Readmission policy :

This policy proposes that if a student who sits out for less than two long semesters or one calendar year and then wants to return, he/she would not have to reapply.  The current practice is one semester and has increased the readmission process.   

• Graduate Admissions Criteria:

Niki stated they are working with David Short on a process so anytime admission criteria changes are made, everyone will be made aware. The first step is to meet with department chairs and deans to gather admission criteria for each college/department.   

• Community College Transcripts for Graduate Applicants

A proposal has been made for grad applicants to not require community college transcripts as they are not necessary.  If a department wants to see them, they can still be requested. 

• Deidra gave an update on articulation agreements/transfer planning guide meetings.
  • AA’s – 9 partnerships, 15 in progress
  • Transfer planning guides – 7 executed
  • In progress – 60+ completed by end of summer

There is a new process on campus and Deidra is working with George Saltsman and Paula Nichols.  These partnerships will help the marketing recruiters. Deidra shared what’s been done in the last several months.  She also plans to make an appointment with each dean to go over this information.   

• Lamar Link update
  • 90 applications
  • 8 enrollments 

• Partnership at LIT going well. Lamar Orange will be the next one. 

• Hiring of the Enrollment coordinator for the McAllen Student Center is in the final stages. Specialized events are being held there now.

III. Brenda Nichols  

• Handout distributed with data from Academic Partnerships for online programs. The data was reviewed and discussed.  For each program the data showed average times from apply to file complete, from file complete to admit, and from apply to admit.  The red indicated numbers more than 4x best practice and the green indicated at or below best practice. Deans were asked to look over the areas in red and try to figure out what is causing the delay, and to look in to how many times AP is connecting with the students during the waiting period.  Communication with the students is important.     

• Syllabi needs to be put in Concourse. It can be created in the parent course and then imported to the “children” with just 3 clicks of a button.  

• There is a new form created for verification purposes for financial aid. The form asks 5-6 simple questions and must be completed for financial aid verification for “every” course taken. The form pilot will be in Summer II and should roll out for fall 2019. 

• Tech Credit – A draft policy, Transfer of Technical Credit, was discussed. (see handout). The policy states any Bachelor’s degree may accept technical credit if the degree is professionally or occupationally related to the certificate or Associate Degree program of study.  The degree or certificate MUST be from a regionally accredited institution.  No more than 33/34 semester credit hours can be obtained via this method.  Brenda then read the required conditions and asked the deans to send any feedback to her after further review.   

IV. Joe Nordgren

• Cardinal Conversations

Last year went well.  Dr. Nordgren will continue to partner with Bianca Easterly on planning these events for the President.  (Three in fall, two in spring) If interested, let him know. 

• Drops/Reinstatements/Late Adds

Dr. Nordgren requested that there be a deadline for approval of reinstatements/late adds on Fridays at 12 noon.  He also asked when deans send an email requesting  reinstatement for a student, to please help by identifying the CRN number, part of term, course name, etc.     

• SACS preparations are ‘in good shape’. 

• Enrollment numbers for summer look strong.

V. Faculty Senate Update

Dr. Marquart gave a brief update on faculty senate.  The senate is seeking to create an Adhoc Committee to look in to the recent allegations made on April 3, 2019.  A request for an Ombudsmen has been made and we are responding to this. Dr. Marquart, along with Dr. Brenda Nichols and Craig Ness addressed the faculty senate on May 1^st on LU financing/budget and college score cards.  

In addition, it was noted that the faculty handbook is being revised to match with TSUS Rules and Regulations.  With the revisions of our faculty handbook, the policies and procedures will be separated out.   

VI. Other

Arne Almquist – Update given on upcoming projects in the Library.   

Vic Zaloom – Appreciation expressed to everyone for working with him during his term as Interim Dean of Engineering. 

Paul Bernazzani – Dr. Kelly Bradley has been hired as Director of Makerspace. 

Derina Holtzhausen – Several faculty resignations received over last few weeks.  The college will not be doing searches, but will utilize visiting faculty or adjuncts.  

Lynn Maurer –

• The College of Arts & Sciences has come up with a rank order of who/which positions to replace from those that are leaving.
• The ORSP Search Committee is trying to bring another candidate back for the position.

VII. Adjourn – The meeting was adjourned at 4:00pm