Members present: Dr. John Cavanaugh serving as chair in Dr. Leutze’s absence, Timothy Jordan, Ms. Pat Leonard, Ty Rowell for Patton McDowell, Dr. Michelle Howard-Vital, Bobby Miller for Dr. Robert Tyndall, Dr. Jo Ann Seiple, Dr. Lawrence Clark, Dr. Virginia Adams, Dr. Neil Hadley, Dr. Terry Curran, Dr. Ronald Sizemore, Dr. Lynne Snowden, and. Others attending:  Dr. Kenneth Spackman, Ms. Nanette Manning, Dr. Jim Dragna, and Robert Fry.

Dr. Cavanaugh called the meeting to order and asked for corrections to the December 12, 2001 meeting. Hearing none, he declared the minutes approved as distributed.

Special Reports

Report on SACS Self-Study

Dr. Spackman updated the committee on the SACS Self-Study progress.  Interviews have been scheduled for some of the faculty and administrative staff but due to some changes in membership of the SACS evaluation committee things are running a little slower than planned.  We have had great cooperation across campus and at this point have not encountered any obstacles. Dr. Spackman referred the committee to the web page that shows the interviews scheduled thus far.

Director of University Planning, Assessment and Institutional Research – Job Announcement

Mr. Fry reviewed the job responsibilities for the position of Director of University Planning, Assessment and Institutional Research, which is currently being advertised. This position will report to Mr. Fry until his retirement in December and then report directly to the Chancellor.  Assessment, specifically learning outcomes, is the most important component of this position’s responsibilities. University Planning, the Provost, and the Vice Chancellor jointly funding this position. Advertisements were placed in the Chronicle and on various society websites.  Mr. Fry stated that with this addition, the Offices of University Planning and Institutional Research would be adequately staffed to respond to the university’s needs during the next several years.

Planning Items

Mr. Fry distributed a diagram showing a revised process for the first full iteration of the new planning process. To move forward more quickly, he is proposing that units be given the opportunity to list the various items that they want to see implemented during the next one to four years. These would be used to develop divisional objectives and subsequently the university-wide goals. Once these items are in place, the process will be reversed so that action plans can be fully developed by March of next year. This bottom-up followed by top-down approach will guarantee that the goal and objective statements cover items in current divisional plans. Following discussion, the Council approved this modified approach.

New Business

Dr. Noland asked that the Council reviewed the guidelines for the Master Planning Process, specifically the “Guidelines for Facilities, Traffic Flow, and Campus Parking,” at the next Council meeting.

Being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:00 PM.

Next meeting: March 21, 2002, 3:30 PM-5: 00 PM in Alderman 215

Minutes submitted by Yvonne G. Smith, February 12, 2002.