SOS Steering Committee Meeting 4/5/2002

Minutes

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Attending: Jack Breen (Chem), Pam Crowell (Biol), Shiaofen Fang (CS)Kathy Johnson (Chair), Fritz Kleinhans (Sec), Joe Kuczkowski (Assoc Dean), Jon Luke (Math), Beth Neal-Beliveau (Psych), Kim Nguyen (Assist Dean), David Stocum (Dean), Gautam Vemuri (Physics), Kathryn Wilson (Assoc Dean).

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Faculty Council Report: Bart Ng has been elected VP of the Faculty Council while Pam Crowell and Kathy Johnson will be Representatives at Large.

Bob Martin discussed the cuts IUPUI will face because of the State budget shortfalls. Cuts at IUPUI exceed 900k$.

Academics/Admissions: Joe Kuczkowski reported on the fine successes of our College Bowl and Math Competition teams.

University College Faculty will take over some responsibilities for admissions. We need to be sure we have good representation. Also, the Admissions Office has set up some new rules (thought official responsibility resides with the faculty).

The SOS is seeking approval for a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies. Liberal Arts has a similar degree. Such a degree would allow us to customize the BS science degree.

Administrative Reviews: We decided that the just finished, Administrative Reviews should be sent to the Dean, to the SOS President, and to the appropriate Department. Reviews will not be posted on the web.: Administrators are welcome/encouraged to include their responses to the reviews. The question of the appropriate cycle for reviews was raised again and will be sent to next year's SOS Steering Committee. There continues to be a sense that evaluating everyone every two years generates work out of proportion to the benefits.

SOS Faculty Assemblies: Despite hard work to put on interesting faculty assemblies, especially by Kathy Johnson, we have had poor to very poor attendance this year. Schemes to improve attendance were discussed, but there was a feeling that faculty will only come out when there are burning issues and otherwise be absent. It follows, that when there are no 'burning issues', the faculty assemblies are only a formality.

Lecturers: Some of our senior lecturers have requested more input to the administrative/educational operations at the Dept, School, and University levels. This is potentially a large question with many ramifications, particularly as the SOS plans to increase it's number of lecturers. In the short term, a minor change to the SOS Bylaws would allow senior lecturers to participate in the 'Faculty' review of administrators which is currently done every two years. This action is recommended to next year's SOS Steering Committee. Then it may be appropriate to form a task force to look at the larger issues. The general sense is that lecturers should be given an opportunity for input, but should not 'dominate' the input. To be resolved are such things as voting rights and membership rights on committees.

Midsemester Course Evaluations: It is planned to include gateway courses in the next iteration of this process.

IUPUI OnLine: The Steering Committee should respond to Dean Plater's vision of IUPUI OnLine. There have been concerns from many quarters in the SOS about this initiative. Biology brought a draft statement to the meeting which will be used as a basis for an SOS SC response. Some specific areas of concern included the use of online courses for freshman and the modularization of coursework/credit. Suggestions should be sent to KJ. In any event, it looks like the initial stages of IUPUI OnLine are already being initiated and funded.

Accolades: KW reminded us that the SOS had some fine wins this spring which we should be proud of and share with the community where appropriate. She specifically mentioned our student team wins and Simon Rhode's substantial new federal grant.

Indirects: Efforts are being made to more efficiently/fairly allocate indirect costs with multi-school grants. Where possible, this is best done with separate accounts. Apparently there has been a problem in the past with Co-PI schools not getting a fair share of indirects. Agreement's for Indirect sharing should be put in writing and filed with grants. When time is pressing, informal agreements with written to follow are acceptable. Eventually R&SP plans to use an electronic route sheet which specifically outlines the split and will be signed by all the usual Route Sheet signatories.

Misc: We will finally pave the SE entrance to the LD building. There will be a special 'mud breaking' ceremony at which KW will place the first brick.

PostScript: Our new SOS President for 2002-2004 will be Ruth Allen, Biology. Kathy Johnson, Psych, will take up the Secretarial responsibilities and assist Ruth with the transition.

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Fritz Kleinhans

Secretary SOS Faculty

May 14, 2002