NORTHEASTERN STATE UNIVERSITY
Minutes of Faculty Council Meeting
Friday, February 7, 2003
Members in attendance: Kenny Paris, Alicia Casas-Celaya, Bruce Kotowich, Grant Alexander,
Thom Wier, Vanessa Hardbarger, Linda West, Jackie Schumaker, Rick Matzen, Michele Bither,
Gary Wickham, John Milbauer
Substitute delegates: Joyce Van Nostrand for Diana Mashburn
Other faculty in attendance: Harriet Bachner, Ben Kracht, Paul Westbrook, John Yeutter, Chuck
Ziehr
A. Committees and Standing Reports
1. Minutes of December 6, 2002 meeting
The minutes were approved with one correction. Under D. Other business, the first
sentence should read: "Mimi Bentley asked if NSU has plans . . . ."
2. Treasurer's Report
K. Paris, reporting for the Treasurer, stated that the balance as of 01/10/03 was
$3,648.04. On 01/17/03, we received 90% of our year-end balance, $2,952.00, bringing
the balance to $6,600.04.
3. Welfare Committee Report
Dr. Casas reported that the web-based survey should be produced soon.
B. Old Business
1. NSU Undergraduate Research Day - Request for Contribution (Ben Kracht, Ph.D.)
Ben Kracht and Asst. Dean Westbrook came requesting partial funding for the
Undergraduate Research Day expenditures. They received about 30 project proposals
representing all undergraduate colleges. They reported that of $4,000 of anticipated
expenditures, about $1,000 will come from the VPAA office. These expenditures
represent mostly costs of publishing the papers, and costs to purchase awards. A motion
(moved R. Matzen, second B. Kotowich) that we appropriate $1,500 for expenditures for
printing and other costs related to the Undergraduate Research Day passed.
2. Instructor Evaluations (Update)
K. Paris met in January with VP Pate regarding the proposed instructor evaluation forms.
Official approval has not yet been received. Some concern was expressed about the
usefulness of the evaluation data, given their return late in January. It was suggested that
perhaps if data were to be received after the start of the following semester, then the
evaluations should be moved later in the semester, to enhance the feedback value of the
instruments.
C. New Business
1. Higher Education Day at the Capitol
K. Paris announced that Higher Education Day this year is Tuesday, 02/25/03. Unlike
prior years, there will be no University provided transportation to OKC for this purpose.
2. Appointment of Nominations Committee
K. Paris appointed K. Paris, B. Kotowich, and G. Wickham to comprise the nominations
committee.
3. Faculty Awards Committee
K. Paris appointed D. Eversole, C. Owen, R. Matzen, J. Schumaker, G. Wickham, V.
Hardbarger, Michael Turner, to comprise the Faculty Awards Committee.
4. Workshop on Portfolio Development
K. Paris reported that VP Pate expressed concern that the portfolios he received were not
always consistent in format with that mandated by Appendix C, and that the faculty
activities were not always categorized in a manner consistent with the Boyer model. A
discussion centered on the following items:
- •Many departments have yet to develop the departmental guidelines that were to be
developed. As a result, the infrastructure has not adequately provided guidance
for junior faculty in categorization of their activities.
- •The format of the annual evaluation has not been consistent with the format of the
portfolios. This leads to confusion about format.
It was suggested that VP Pate might be the best person to speak directly to the junior
faculty about presentation format and activity characterization, rather than having this
information filter through multiple levels of management to the junior faculty.
5. Academic Technology Committee (Update)
A two page summary of the discussions of the Academic Technology Committee, dated
01/27/03, was distributed. This document reports, among other things, a meeting of
January 30. Highlights of this meeting are:
- •A change in the campus operating system from Windows NT to XP.
- •A change in the Campus Standard Software Suite from Corel Suite to Microsoft
XP Office Suite.
D. Other Business
G. Alexander reported that the next Academic Advising Workshop will be February 12 & 13,
3:30 pm, PA 220 (Tahlequah) & B225 (ITV in BA). Related to that, some faculty expressed
concern that faculty on the Muskogee campus were consistently excluded. It seemed that all
campuses should be included in this type of meetings, whenever technologically possible.
E. Adjournment
The next meeting of the Faculty Council will be held on Friday, March 7, 2003 at 3:00 p.m. in the
NET Tower Room.
Submitted by John Yeutter, substituting for the Secretary-Treasurer
