Minutes of the Steering Committee Meeting
November 3, 2006
1:00 p.m.
208 Samford Hall

Attended by: Rich Penaskovic, David Cicci, John Heilman, Roger Garrison, Jim Bradley, Kathryn Flynn, Conner Bailey (non-voting)

Rich Penaskovic provided an overview of the comments he planned to make at the January Senate meeting.  He said he would address the safety issues on campus and that he had been in touch with Don Large about this issue.  He said he had made sure Dr. Large’s office knew that the Senate leadership was aware of problems and concerned about them.  Rich Penaskovic said he would discuss the COIA and refer to their report on intercollegiate athletics.  He said he would mention that Jay Jacobs takes academics very seriously and that the national certification process is stringent and thorough.

The process by which the academic calendar and schedules are approved was discussed.  It was agreed that we need more information on the process and who has final approval of calendars and schedules.

The Minutes of the October 19, 2006 Steering Committee meeting were approved with noted changes.

The committee then discussed the field-testing of Post-Tenure Review that will take place this academic year.  Dr. Heilman said that Bill Sauser would work on the field test.  Rich Penaskovic said he would address the field test in his remarks at the Senate meeting.  The administration does not yet have a date for distribution of the draft process for PTR.

An overview of the changes in enrollment management and the Registrar’s office was provided.  Dr. Heilman said there would be dual reporting lines.  Wayne Alderman will report to the President’s office and the Registrar will report to Dr. Alderman on all issues related to enrollment prior to actual enrollment.  The Registrar will report to the Provost’s office on any enrollment-related issue after enrollment of a student has taken place.  Rich Penaskovic noted the formation of a new enrollment management oversight group that is being chaired by Sharon Gaber.  The committee noted that academic involvement in enrollment management should be significant.  It was noted that enrollment management goes beyond undergraduate recruitment and admissions.  There will be some organization and staffing changes related to the new structure.

The committee discussed the current draft for Post-Tenure Review and sabbaticals.  It was noted that even though the Senate leadership had worked in good faith on the PTR document they were still not supportive of the concept.