Faculty Meeting Agenda, May 1, 2008

I.  Call to Order
          President Anderson called the meeting to order.  

II.  Opening Prayer
          Pastor Benson drew our attention to the fact that today is Labor Day in other parts of the world, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Ascension Day.  He invited us to broaden our perspectives but also to focus on events nearby.  With these thoughts, he offered a prayer for the graduating class of 2008. 

III.  Approval of the Minutes of the April 2008 Faculty Meeting
            The minutes were approved.

IV.  Remarks by the President

A. Admissions results.
President Anderson reported that 760 deposits for the incoming class have been received thus far.  He offered a few predictions about the make-up of the next first-year class.  For the first time in the history of the college, an entering class will be less than 50% Minnesotan.  The President welcomed this as evidence that St. Olaf is a national college. Thirty percent of the class is comprised of legacy students,  about the same as last year.  The number of students self-identifying as Lutheran is a bit lower.  (The administration will be paying close attention to this trend, if it should become one.)  The academic markers are impressive; 22% of the entering class earned 4.0 GPA’s in high school.  The President noted that there were many reasons why we should not have had such a great recruiting year, including a significant price increase, lower-priced great public universities nearby, and the contemporary economic uncertainty.  He thanked Michael Kyle and his staff for an outstanding job in recruiting a culturally and ethnically diverse and an academically superior entering class.

B.  Construction and Renovation Plans.
President Anderson reported that the new science center should receive its occupancy certificate on August 15th.  The renovation of Old Music will begin immediately thereafter, followed by the renovation of Old Science.  The President announced that he has formed a committee to act as a design team, to develop plans for how to proceed with building renovations, and to consider department relocations.  The members of this group are:  Mary Cisar (Co-Chair), Mark Schelske (Co-Chair), Mary Titus, Pat O’Brien, Pete Sandburg, Micheal Kyle, Charles Umbanhowar, Pamela McDowell, and Karen Stitsworth.  After this team selects an architectural firm, they will begin to gather information about how Old Science might be altered and what the financial costs would likely be.  The President emphasized that it has not been determined which units will relocate to Old Science, but it looks as though some academic units along with President’s Office and Admissions will move into the renovated building.  While the design team seeks the right architectural firm, there will be a period of stasis with respect to larger decision-making, the President noted.  

V.  Faculty Committee Elections
Irve Dell thanked the members of the nominating committee and distributed ballots for the faculty elections. 

VI.  Consent Agenda

The faculty voted to accept the consent agenda.  
VII.  Committee Reports

A.  Curriculum Committee
          David Booth  announced three changes to existing:

1. Declaration of Majors. The Curriculum Committee has asked the Registrar that before a student be able to declare a major he or she be must obtain the signature of his or her adviser as well as the signature of a faculty member in the department or program that houses that major.

2.  Interim and Summer Courses. All new interim and summer courses will be brought before the faculty for approval.  The most thorough review possible will now be applied equally to all courses that constitute the curriculum.   Most course proposals will be submitted to the faculty via the Consent Agenda.

3.  GE Re-Certifictation. The committee has adopted a schedule for on-going GE re-certification to be completed in six-year cycles.  Booth reminded the faculty that re-certification maintains the integrity of the curriculum and renews our commitment to that integrity.  An on-going review process is preferable to an intermittent, intense review, Booth noted. 

B.  RPC
Dan Hofrenning  reported that the committee discussed the issue of faculty moving from full-time to part-time status, decided to make no changes at this time, and referred this issue to the Faculty Life Committee for next year.  The Committee also considered different structures that might be adopted with respect to service on committees.  This matter was referred to the Faculty Governance Committee for further consideration. 
Hofrenning concluded by noting that the long-lived, soon-to-be defunct RPC has determined much about faculty life and practices over the years.  For example, RPC determined our previous committee structure, created the five divisions of faculty, created the faculty handbook, made annual salary recommendations, and, most recently, passed the long-awaited committee structure reform.   As Hofrenning concluded his remarks, and with them RPC itself, the faculty expressed its thanks through a round of applause. 

C.  Student Life Committee
Jim Hanson, the Associate Dean of Students, announced that the new Student Life Committee has been discussing academic integrity.   The Committee is considering two key questions:  1) How extensive should the new policy be, especially with respect to the Honor Code? 2) To what extent should the campus community participate in the formulation of the new policy? Hanson proposed a timeline that would see discussion of the issues in focus groups of students and faculty in the first half of fall semester, followed by formulation, adoption, and   implementation of a new policy in the second half of the first semester.  In the meantime, resources are available on-line under the Student Life Committee web page.  The existing policy can also be found there.

VIII.  New Business

Motion to Graduate the Class of 2008, Mary Cisar, Registrar.

The motion was approved to great applause. 
           
IX.  Remarks for the Good of the Order
The Dean of the College, Jim May, reminded faculty that tomorrow is Honors Day.   Faculty will convene in academic regalia for the ceremony in Boe Chapel.  The Dean also announced that on Saturday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar will be on campus to talk about global warming from 1:00 – 2:00 pm.  Dean May thanked the faculty for their part in graduating this year’s stellar class.  The Dean also thanked RPC and the faculty for passing committee reform.  He noted that the discussion of committee reform went on for more than twenty years.  The Dean ended by wishing everyone good luck in the final weeks of the semester.

X. Adjourn
            The President adjourned the meeting.

A sound recording of this meeting will be preserved in the College Archives.
Minutes prepared by Anna Kuxhausen, Asst. Professor of History.