Meeting Minutes: Committee on Academic Affairs
Administrative Committee on Academic Affairs
October 20, 1997
Minutes
The Administrative Committee on Academic Affairs met at the Regents' Central Office in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 20, 1997. The meeting was called to order by Dr. Harry Carter, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Georgia Southern University. He introduced Dr. Arthur Dunning, Senior Vice Chancellor for Human and External Resources, who welcomed committee members and provided them with information about the Regents' Complex and other areas within the Central Office.
Next, Dr. Paula Dressel, Associate Vice President of Georgia State University spoke about the progress of semester conversion activities at her institution. Monthly meetings with academic advisors have been particularly successful, she reported. In addition, she outlined Georgia State's plans for a mini-mester to be held between spring quarter 98 and summer semester 98. However, not completely resolved are other matters related to semester conversion, she said. These issues include summer compensation for faculty, implications for student fees and financial aid, and provisions for the summer enrollment of high school students.
Following Dr. Dressel's discussion, Dr. David Morgan, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, presented to the group a document entitled, "Draft Admissions Policy and Procedures." This document incorporates earlier Admissions Policies documents and addresses questions that have arisen since the formulation of those policies. Dr. Morgan outlined highlights of the clarifications, interpretations, and revisions included in this document, and he asked that the Chief Academic Officers take the lead on their campuses with developing and submitting an institutional response to this document by November 10.
Dr. Ron Henry, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Georgia State University, presented a Program Review Committee Report next. He expressed his committee's concerns about reviewing a department as a whole and suggested that there be some flexibility about the unit being reviewed. He added that more thought needs to be given to developing ways to determine programmatic costs, e. g. ways of calculating indirect costs. He concluded by stating that the suggested frequency of comprehensive program reviews is still undetermined, but cycles of five, seven, or eight years have been proposed.
Dr. Janis Reid, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Atlanta Metropolitan College, addressed the group after Dr. Henry. She introduced two students from her campus: Ms. LaShaw Sutton and Ms. Cheri Webb. These students talked about their reasons for choosing to enroll at Atlanta Metropolitan College, their experiences on that campus, and their ideas about the value of higher education for their futures.
Dr. Carter thanked these students for their presentations and then introduced Mr. Dennis Dunn, Senior Assistant Attorney General for the Georgia Department of Law. Mr. Dunn discussed the Georgia Open Records Act. Basically, this Act states that certain public records, when requested, must be made available within three days. If an institution or agency cannot do this for some reason, then a written explanation should be issued. Examples of records covered by this Act are as follows: employment applications, personnel files, records of athletic associations, consultant reports, and student disciplinary records. He stated that student evaluations, to the extent that they are outside the scope of FERPA, and employment evaluations [except for hiring/firing records protected under 50-18-72(a)(5)] are open records and subject to disclosure. Foundation records may also be subject, depending upon the factual situation. He added that no state agency has the authority to enforce this Act, so it is up to an individual to sue a city or county agency if he or she feels the provisions of this Act have been violated. At the conclusion of questions and answers about the provisions of this Act, Mr. Dunn introduced Ms. Corlis Cummings, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs, who announced that the Regents' Office of Legal Affairs is currently reviewing and revising contracts for full-time and part-time faculty to make changes necessitated by the conversion to a semester system. She asked that anyone who had issues or concerns relating to these contacts notify her by November 10.
Dr. James Muyskens, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, presented his report next. He began by calling on Dr. Cathie Mayes Hudson, Associate Vice Chancellor for Planning and Policy Analysis, who spoke briefly about the effect of program reviews on institutional effectiveness and the need for using assessment measures already in place for informing program reviews. Then, he called on Dr. Dorothy Zinsmeister, 97-98 Faculty Associate in the Central Office, who discussed the plan for working with the Academic Advisory Committees this year. She announced that a workshop for the Executive Advisory Committees would be held on October 28 in Macon.
Finally, Dr. Kris Biesinger, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Instructional Technology, was asked to come forward. She spoke about the creation of the Southern Regional Education Board's Electronic Campus, for which several USG institutions will be providing course offerings. Also, Dr. Biesinger distributed a memo requesting information from all campuses about their Instructional Technology Support Specialists. This information should be faxed to her by November 5.
Dr. Muyskens then discussed current proposals for serving underprepared students and he distributed a memo that asked any institution who wished to submit another proposal to do so by November 1. These additional proposals should be sent to Dr. David Morgan. Dr. Muyskens also distributed a proposed Three-Year Program Review Questionnaire, which he asked all members of this group to read carefully and respond to by November 10. This response should be sent to Dr. Morgan as well. Dr. Muyskens concluded his remarks by presenting an overview of the Proposed 97-98 Regents' Teacher Preparation Agenda. Each member of the group received a copy of this Proposed Agenda.
Following Dr. Muyskens' report, Dr. Carter presided over the Business Session. He began by presenting a report from the Executive Committee, which met on September 18, 1997. He stated that the Executive Committee had voted to recommend approval of the following recommendation from the Teacher Education Committee, with one stipulation:
Recommendation: That the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia rescind the policy that states: "Credit and non credit (other than those admitted under existing policy as auditors) students are not to be allowed to enroll in the same graduate classes. The 'non-credit' students addressed are those who are interested in staff development, CEU, or other activities and who have not been admitted to the graduate school. (Policy 3.02 'Non Credit' Students: Academic Affairs Handbook)"
Stipulation: Students enrolling in any class for credit or non-credit must meet the prerequisites for that class.
A motion was made and seconded in favor of this recommendation and stipulation, and they were approved unanimously.
Dr. Carter also announced that a Listserv for Chief Academic Officers was being created.
After the Business Session, Dr. Carter introduced Dr. Lindsay Desrochers, Senior Vice Chancellor for Capital Resources. She discussed the work being done by her and her staff, and she answered questions from members of the group. She closed by inviting all present to tour the offices within her area of the Central Office. Dr. Carter then adjourned this meeting.