Meeting Minutes: Committee on Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work
Regents Academic Advisory Committee on Sociology, Anthropology and Social
Work
November 12, 1999
Jekyll Island
Janie Wolf-Smith called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m.
The agenda was approved.
The minutes from the 1998 meeting were approved.
A list of institutional representatives was circulated and signed by those present. Everyone in attendance introduced themselves.
Hassan Elnajjar was nominated by the Nominations Subcommittee to serve as chair-elect. He was elected by acclamation. His term will begin in August 2000. The other members of the Executive Committee at that time will be Kevin Demmitt, as chair, and Janie-Wolf Smith, as past chair.
Reports:
Technology/Faculty Development
Kevin Demmitt reported on the increase in the number of courses that are being offered on-line. Excerpts from the university system's intellectual property rights sample policy and Principles of Good Practice for Electronic Programs and Courses were distributed. Complete copies of these documents are available on-line from the USG web site. An update on G.L.O.B.E. was also presented.
Barbara Karcher reported on the success of the most recent workshop that was funded by the BOR faculty development grant. The theme of the workshop was Developing a Social Problems Learning Community and included training on the use of WebCT. Because this workshop was held in conjunction with the meetings of the Georgia Sociological Association, the expenses were less than had been projected. Therefore, the remaining funds will be used for a follow-up workshop in February that will build on the theme of active learning. This interdisciplinary workshop will be open to K-12 and college faculty from all of the social sciences. Participants will share successful active learning lesson plans and will learn about acquiring educational resources from the American Sociological Association and the internet. The possibility of teachers earning continuing education units for participating is being explored. The committee has begun work on a new proposal for an interdisciplinary workshop to be held in spring 2001.
After many years of consideration, an AP class for sociology has been approved for 2002. The details will be distributed as soon as they are available.
Social Work
Ernestine Thompson announced that she is working on developing a network of social work faculty in the university system. She requested that the members of the committee encourage their social work faculty to contact her for more information.
Anthropology
Roger Branch announced that he will be retiring this year, so a new chair for this committee will be needed.
Report from the Chancellor's Office
Cathie Mayes Hudson, Associate Vice President for Planning and Policy Analysis,
was introduced. The following comments are based on her report.
An announcement for the position of Faculty Associate Positions for the 2000-01 academic year was distributed. Faculty that wish to work with the University System and its campuses to achieve key goals for the future are encouraged to apply.
The University System will again be making grants available to the Academic Advisory Committees to fund faculty development activities. The purpose of this initiative is to improve teaching and learning across the University System of Georgia. This year, proposals require the collaboration of two or more Committees to initiate discussions system-wide, on approaches to improved student learning. The deadline for submitting proposals is March 17, 2000.
A memo pertaining to faculty loads from Dorothy Zinsmeister, Senior Associate for Academic Affairs, was discussed. This memo was written in response to an inquiry from this Committee last year. The memo stated that "faculty teaching load/workload is the prerogative of individual institutions rather than the System Office and the Board of Regents." Because of the complexity of the issue, the University System does not believe it would be in the best interest of faculty or the institutions to centralize the management of faculty teaching loads. Faculty are encouraged to share strategies and work cooperatively with one another to address some of the concerns related to instructional quality. Janie Wolf-Smith said she would send out a questionnaire to the members of the committee to gather data on faculty teaching loads and workloads across the University System.
A list of the priorities of the Office of Academic Affairs for the University System and a faculty development catalog for 1999-2000 were distributed.
Dr. Hudson updated the committee on the status of G.L.O.B.E. (Global Learning Online for Business and Education). This program was established to increase the number of Georgians earning degrees in fields of strategic importance to the state and to improve the distribution and efficiency of the services offered by the University System. New on-line degrees are expected to be available by early 2001. In a related effort, each institution across the system is being asked to decide what role it will play in the development or distribution of on-line courses.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:45.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Demmitt