First-Year Student Advocate – Deans discussed prospective nominees for the recognition by the U of South Carolina under their Freshman Year Experience.

Speaker of House Intern – Deans identified two students who might be nominated. Dean Webber will inquire as to their interest.

Management of Metroplex – Discussion focused on how to ensure strong academic presence at Mesquite; Deans Ashley and Headley will visit on a regular basis and Dean Langford teaches there.

Scheduling events for Homecoming – Deans expressed interest in scheduling receptions and other functions and sought clarification about times available for collegiate/departmental events.

Fire Safety – The Provost reviewed major points in the Fire Marshal’s review, including adequate egress from the MSC cafeteria and the lack of fire alarms in the Journalism building.

Institutional process for recycling old computers – M. Hendrix reviewed the process for academic and student affairs.

Graduate School Recruitment Fund – Dean Headley proposed and the deans supported an incentive fund from the Graduate School to assist departments in recruiting efforts.

Graduate Program Review – Dean Headley suggested a “neutral” committee to review department reports and make recommendations; deans concurred. Another question was raised about how much of a department should be reviewed—one program at a time or the whole department? This question will be studied during the year as we conduct two reviews—Counseling and Literature and Languages.

Post tenure review report from System – The Provost shared the A&M System report on post-tenure reviews which showed 120 faculty reviewed with no negative reports at Commerce.

University Studies Review & Capstone courses – The University Studies review for THECB has been completed and sent to the A&M System staff. Dean Doughty asked about the Capstone courses and what was their purpose presently? The question was raised whether Capstones were fulfilling the purpose originally ascribed.

Transfer Students at Commerce – The Provost distributed the summary of transfer activity among Commerce graduates for the past four years, showing only 10-12 percent of graduates are “native” (started and finished at Commerce) while 90 percent carry some transfer credit and the majority have more than 45 hours of transfer credit. Questions about implications for Core and Capstone courses need further discussion.

Turnitin software to detect plagiarism – information about this product will be referred to the Academic Affairs Technology Committee for a recommendation about whether the university should acquire it.

Morris K. Udall Foundation Scholarship – Deans recommended a faculty member to be liaison.

Academic Advising & Texas Success Initiative – Mary Hendrix will call a meeting with Deans, Academic Advisors, Wendy Gruver, and Paige Bussell to discuss implementation of new processes for academic advising and the Texas Success Initiative. Our goal is to improve retention rates and students’ academic success.

National Evaluation System Test Site – Wendy Gruver has worked with National Evaluation System for the university to be designated as a computerized testing site for TExES. We should receive the contract next week and hope to improve our service to students and area school districts by being able to administer the test and receive instant results. Once the contract has been approved, a notice will be sent to the listserv explaining the details.

Navarro, Mesquite & UCD Updates – Mary Hendrix reported Unofficial enrollment numbers are: Navarro-688 (up from 412 in fall 2003); Mesquite-2474; UCD-422; Other-458

Online Course Enrollments – Mary Hendrix reported Unofficial enrollment is 1648 (up from 835 in fall 2003)

Re-classifying GANT, GAT, & GARs – Dean Doughty asked about the process for reclassifying students. Dean Headley asked for a little more time to study the matter, and Dean Ashley distributed guidelines in use at College Station. The Provost will bring the matter up for the President’s Advisory Council and see if we can reach decisions and take action by October 1.

Confidential & Sensitive Information Survey – Vice President Terry Pankratz & CTIS Director Mike Cagle reported that CTIS will be subject to an audit this year and want to ensure that departments are handling data securely or, if not, have time to make changes before the audit. CTIS will send a survey with explanatory memo to the deans for distribution to their directors and heads. Response time will be relatively short.