Deans Council Meeting
Provost Conference Room
June 9, 2009

Attendance: Dr. Gary Peer, Dr. Allan Headley, Dr. Hal Langford; Dr. David Crenshaw and Dr. Brent Mangus.  Absent from the meeting was Dr. Randy McBroom. Minutes recorded by Cynthia Rhodes. 

Four-Year Review of Degree Programs, Mission Statement and Table of Programs -
Dr. Peer informed deans that it was time for reconsideration and possible updating of the university’s Mission Statement and Table of Programs. The processes to be used for reviewing low-producing degree programs and requesting Table of Program and Mission Statement changes were shared with the Council. THECB’s established timelines and deadlines were noted.

2009-2010 Holiday Schedule – Dr. Peer shared the proposed holiday schedule options for the upcoming academic year. All members collectively agreed that option I appeared to be the best choice for AY 2009-2010.   

Procedure 12.01.99.RO.01 Academic Freedom, Tenure and Responsibility- Deans Council has spend a large amount of time reviewing the tenure and promotion procedure. An electronic copy of the final draft was forwarded to all Council members. In an effort to finalize the review, earlier in the week, Dr. McBroom forwarded an electronic copy of the final draft to all Council members and requested their review and approval.

60 Hour Rule – Deans Council agreed to revise the wording in the university catalogue to   expand the exception to the 60 hour rule to include Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) degree. 
(Note: Following Deans Council, President Jones approved the proposed revision and the approved revision was forwarded to the Registrar’s Office for incorporation into the university catalog as recorded below.)

Advanced Level Courses. A student must complete at least 36 semester hours at the advanced level, 24 of which must be completed from A&M-Commerce.Credits transferred from a junior college or community college may not be used to satisfy the advanced coursework requirement. A minimum of 60 semester hours must be completed at Texas A&M University-Commerce or another senior level institution. Specific  initiatives targeted at facilitating community college transfer to a four-year university are exceptions to this rule. The initiatives include the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree program and other degree programs, including students who transfer in with the Associate of Arts in Teaching degree, for which the combined number of hours in the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved transfer core and field of student curricula exceed 50% of total hours required for the degree.

Service Standards – The Provost received service standards from all of the academic colleges as well as Graduate Studies and Research. Based upon the information received, the Provost plans to integrate the standards into a unified document reflecting service standards for the Academic Affairs division.   

 

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