Deans’ Council Minutes
September 19, 2006

Presidential Leadership Retreat – A tentative agenda was distributed to the council. The retreat will be held on Thursday, October 19, 2006. A notice will be released by the President's Office regarding the specifics of the time and location. It is anticipated that the retreat will be held at the Mesquite Metroplex Center . Dr. Bill Wenrich, Chancellor Emeritus of the Dallas County Community College District, will serve as the facilitator.  The retreat will be an all day event.

Moreno/Rangel Legislative Leadership Intern Program – Information was shared with the council regarding an intern program. Additional information regarding the internship program will be distributed to all the Council members later in the week.

Deferred Maintenance Projects – Council members were asked to review the FY '07 Deferred Maintenance Projects list and notify the Provost Office of other problems not identified on the list, as well as to evaluate priorities. The list did not include routine painting. The Provost asked to be notified if any of the sites had leaks.

Turnitin Update – Craig Wheeler, Head Reference Librarian, provided Council members with a very informative presentation and overview of the Turnitin program. The plan is to rollout the Turnitin program in spring 2007.

Liberal Studies – Dean Klein shared information regarding the new Liberal Studies program. The College of Arts and Sciences plans to establish an Advisory Curriculum Committee to review applications for curriculum approval. He asked the other academic deans if they would be willing to have a representative from their college serve on the committee. Deans Langford and Vornberg agreed representation from all three (3) colleges would be beneficial to the success of the program. The Liberal Studies program is on the agenda for the September 21, 2006 Board of Regents meeting. If approved, the proposal will be forwarded to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THCB).

Application Date for Graduation – Dean Klein asked about the process for early graduation checks. Because there a several problems with CAPP, the new degree audit tool, the Registrar's office will make certain that all issues have been resolved before implementing the early graduation check procedure approved last spring. Dr. Hendrix and Dr. Murph stressed the importance of having correct information for the faculty advisors to work with before asking them to approve graduation applications.

Course Drop Deadlines – Dean Klein proposed moving the deadline to drop a course to an earlier date. Discussion was held regarding this proposal. The Provost requested Dr. Hendrix to check with other institutions and see what their policies and deadlines are for dropping courses. The Provost also requested Dr. Webber to get student input regarding the issue.

Parent Advisory Committee – Dr. Underdue Murph stated Saturday, September 23, will be the first meeting for the Parents Advisory Committee. Although initially 200 parents signed up to participate, only 37 parents have committed to attending the first meeting. Dr. Murph asked for Administration's support and for Deans or their designated representative to come by and meet the parents. The Committee will develop guidelines regarding their focus and purpose. Dr. Murph stated she would like to have a representative from each college serve as ex-officio members.

FY '07 Merit Raises – Copies of Procedure 12.01.99.RO.02, Annual Evaluation of Faculty, were disturbed to Council members. Council members were referred to Item 5 which addresses merit. Spreadsheets with detailed positions and allocations will be distributed Monday, September 25, and completed spreadsheets are to be returned to the Provost Office by Friday, September 29, 2006. The Provost apologized for the short turnaround time, but stated this deadline was required in order to meet payroll's requirements.

National Student Clearinghouse – Dr. Murph shared information regarding a free enrollment verification service called EnrollmentVerify offered by the National Student Clearinghouse. EnrollmentVerify uses information that participating universities have already sent to the Clearinghouse so they are able to verify the enrollment of financial aid students for appropriate third parties such as insurance companies, employers, etc., Dr. Murph stated utilization of this free service would be a time-saving benefits for enrollment management staff.