ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COUNCIL
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
1. Announcements
Fred Jandt announced that PDC will be having its first ever Entering Student Orientation this year.
Milton Clark announced that Debbie Flores will be stepping in as Acting Director of SAIL, replacing Norma Romero.
Sandra Kamusikiri informed the deans that she will be renewing outcomes assessment initiatives with departments in the near future and asked for their support.
Jim Monaghan distributed information on recently acquired software called Avacast that makes live internet courses possible and might also have other applications on campus.
Tapie Rohm announced the Faculty Senate Forum on Monday, September 22, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The main item of business will be a discussion of a revamping of SETEs.
Rowena Santiago announced beginning of the year TRC Workshops on September 19, to be co-sponsored by the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities. There will also be a poster session/lunch event on September 23 and she asked for help in getting the invitation out to new faculty who may not have e-mail access yet.
Olga Morales requested that any colleges who have not yet done so get to her a plan for paying the first phase of budget reductions.
William Aguilar announced Technology Day, to take place on October 16.
Pat Arlin requested that all colleges with credential programs submit to her ASAP the annual reports that were due on June 30 so that the COE can submit them to NCATE. She also announced that much progress had been made on the joint Doctorate in Education with UCR since the appointment of a new acting dean on that campus.
Susan Summers distributed information on the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute which is targeted at the retired community in the Palm Desert area. She also announced that department chairs will soon be receiving pamphlets with information on Open University for them to share with their faculty.
Paul Vicknair announced that Juan Delgado’s book of poetry has just been released by the University of Arizona Press.
Jerry Pritchard reminded the group to keep their calendars as open as possible for the WASC visit on October 15, 16 and 17. He will attempt to come up with a firm schedule for the visit as soon as possible.
Rob Carlson announced that the groundbreaking for the new Science Annex will take place on September 23 at 10:00 a.m. and that invitations will be going out soon. He also announced that as a result of the Southwest Border Regional Initiative, a grant has been funded through the IECE to provide business training to small, disadvantaged farmers. He is also working on a housing project in Coachella and is in need of technical expertise in meta analysis. Any interested faculty should contact him.
Lou Fernandez clarified the understanding with Enrollment Services regarding admissions deadlines for various groups of students. Enrollment is open only for credential and Palm Desert Campus students until the end of the first week of classes (September 26). International students will be treated the same as all other students with the exception of those in the ACLP program who were under a previous agreement with the university (50 – 60 students). Any international students whose applications are already in the mill will be processed. The issue of international students will be revisited for the winter and spring terms, depending on what happens in the fall.
Dr. Fernandez also asked the chairs be encouraged to offer the option of Open University to students who were unable to get in during the Fall term. Information is being distributed by CEL.
He also reported on the Vice President’s retreat. Major cuts are coming and everyone needs to be sure to hold in reserve what was held back last year. So far, Academic Affairs has returned 1% of the predicted 2.25%. It is possible that the remainder may need to be returned mid-year. Dr. Fernandez will confirm and pass on information as it becomes available.
Regarding the issue of the point at which classes should be considered for cancellation, the agreement is to continue to use the standard numbers used in the past to determine low enrollment.
Regarding concerns that smaller programs will be cut because of the budgetary situation, Dr. Fernandez emphasized that there are no plans to eliminate programs because of size and that the university feels a need to protect such programs wherever possible.
2. December Commencement Morales/Moran
Olga Morales reported that it is estimated that 650 – 717 students will participate in December Commencement, so the question was whether or not there should be two December Commencements this year. A vote was taken and the majority of AAC members favor two commencements.
A copy of the commencement survey questions was distributed. These can be added to or revised as needed. All suggestions should be sent to Olga Morales.
Recommendations are also being sought for a speaker for commencement. Suggestions (names with brief background/justification) should be sent to Olga Morales ASAP.
3. Academic Affairs Retreat Follow-Up Fernandez
Notes from the Academic Affairs retreat were distributed. A strategy was agreed upon to continue the process that was begun at the retreat on the issues of enrollment management, graduate rates, WASC, YRO, and academic technology. Subcommittees were formed in each area to be convened by the respective facilitators on September 24 in order to flesh out the items identified in the notes from the retreat and make recommendations to appropriate committees and task forces. Each group will report at the AAC meeting on October 1 and steps will be taken to get the recommendations into the right hands. Recommendations should include timelines, priorities, and long- and short-term goals.
Subcommittees were established as follows:
YRO
Facilitator:
William Aguilar
John Conley
Pat Arlin
Paul Vicknair
Laurel Lilienthal
Enrollment Management
Facilitator:
Fred Jandt
Milton Clark
Ross Moran
Susan Summers
Frank Rincon
Graduation Rates
Facilitator:
Eri Yasuhara
Norton Marks
Sid Kushner
Olga Morales
Milton Clark (Liaison with Enrollment Management)
WASC
Facilitator:
Jerry Pritchard
Juan Delgado
Sandra Kamusikiri
Johnnie Ann Ralph
Academic Technology
Facilitator:
Rob Carlson
Tapie Rohm
Rowena Santiago
Jim Monaghan
4. New Business
Deans need to tell chairs that if they cannot make it to the Leadership Retreat on September 19, it is important that they send a representative on their behalf.
The next AAC meeting will be Wednesday, October 1, 2003.
