MINUTES OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL

1:30 p.m., Monday, July 7, 1997, in the Lyceum Board Room

PRESENT: Dr. Walton, Deans Abadie, Boxx, J. Davis, S. Davis, Dingerson, Chambless, Meador, Smith, M. Wilson (for Roberts), Drs. Eftink, Green, R. Oesterling for Clark, and M. Buchanan for Fant

ABSENT: C. Staton and S. Wilkins

1. Approval of Minutes. Dr. Walton announced that the Chancellor had approved the Minutes of the January 13, 1997, and April 28, 1997, meetings without exception.

2. Policy Statement on Extraordinary Teaching Assignments. The policy proposal prepared by the Committee on Faculty Governance and Academic Responsibility was discussed. Concerns were raised over the general definition of extraordinary assignments, the desire to have ways to encourage full-time faculty to participate to a greater extent in off-campus assignments, the concern over the impact of the growth of such courses and sites on the central mission of the University, and the concern of the quality of instruction and grading at off-campus sites.

Upon a motion by Smith, seconded by Abadie, the proposed policy was not approved. Dr. Walton expressed his intent to appoint a sub-committee of the Academic Council to draft a similar policy statement that might be acceptable.

3. Policy on Class Enrollments by Members of Instructors' Immediate Families. Boxx moved, with a second from Smith, that the policy proposed by the Committee on Faculty Governance and Academic Responsibility be accepted with the following two revisions: 1) deletion of the last phrase "such as requiring that the student be graded on a pass-fail basis," and 2) changing the "or" to "and" (at two places) in the second paragraph, to have the effect of requiring approval by both a departmental chair and dean. A third friendly amendment was also accepted to strike the words "prior and" from the first sentence of the second paragraph. A fourth amendment, by Abadie (seconded by Wilson), to make the policy more restrictive, was withdrawn after discussion. A fifth amendment, made by Green, seconded by Chambless, and unanimously accepted, was to further define the meaning of immediate family members, by adding a separate sentence. The amended motion, which appears below, was accepted unanimously.

Policy on Class Enrollment by Members of the Instructor’s Immediate Family Because of the appearance of a potential conflict of interest, immediate family members at the University of Mississippi are discouraged from enrolling in courses taught by that faculty member. For the purpose of this policy, immediate family is defined to include parents, spouses, children, and descendants of the faculty member and his or her spouse. Situations may nevertheless arise where, in order to complete the requirements for a degree or to fulfill some other valid educational purpose, immediate family members may wish to enroll in a course taught by a faculty member.

Whenever an immediate family member of an instructor seeks to enroll in a course taught by that faculty member, the instructor must obtain explicit approval for such enrollment from the department chairman and appropriate academic dean. In granting special permission for an immediate family member to enroll in the instructor’s course, the department chairperson and dean may impose special conditions.

4. Tenure and Promotion Timetable. On a motion by Smith, seconded by Abadie, the following timetable and insertion (into the Tenure and Promotion Policies) was approved.

a. change the timetable to read-

"On or before September 1--faculty member's application to department head; on or before November 21--department's recommendation to appropriate dean." (These two dates are changes from October 1 and December 1, respectively.) b. insert the following sentence- "The department chair is responsible for making certain that the complete dossier, including statements from external evaluators, is on file in the department office and available for review by the tenured department faculty no later than November 1." following the existing sentence "Each department shall establish firm timetables for submission of the various parts of the application." (Note that any changes to the Tenure and Promotion Policies need to be considered by the Faculty Senate.)

5. Length of Final Exam.: It was moved by Abadie and seconded by Boxx that the sentence "Examinations should be concluded in three hours.", which appears in the final examination schedule booklets, be replaced by the following sentence. This motion passed unanimously.

"The time allotted for final examinations is 3 hours, unless otherwise specified in the course syllabus." 6. Schedule for Final Examination.: It was moved by S. Davis and seconded by Smith that the following changes be made to the Undergraduate Catalog (in the Final Examination section). change the sentence "In order to take a final examination at any time other than the time shown in the published examination schedule, the student must have prior approval of the instructor and the dean in whose college or school the course is offered."

to "In order to give a final examination at any time other than the time shown in the

published examination schedule, an instructor must have prior approval of the department chair and dean."

7. Additional Items and General Information.

Dr. Walton announced that he has been asked by Roy Klumb, a new IHL Board member, to develop a statement on faculty teaching loads. Suggestions were made regarding the need to consider accreditation requirements, regarding course loads, that exist in certain disciplines, and the need to explain that a faculty member's duties include research, service, advising, etc., as well as teaching.

Dr. Walton briefly mentioned several IHL Board items.

Gerald W. Walton, Chair Date

Carolyn Ellis Staton, Secretary Date

APPROVED:

8/18/97

Robert C. Khayat, Chancellor Date