EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE

ACADEMIC, APPELLATE, AND SENATE COMMITTEE

ANNUAL REPORT

 

2009-2010 Academic Year

 

COMMITTEE:  Admission and Retention Policies

 

1.                Membership (include ex-officio members): Natalie Stewart, Dana Espinosa, Wendy Sharer, Baohong Zhang, Rose Bailey, Amy Frank, W. Joseph Thomas, Anthony Britt, Jayne Geissler, Catherine Rigsby, Sherri Jones, Tyler Richardson/Emily Litzenberger

2.      Meeting Dates (include members present*).
                      * and members who contributed to committee action, but were not at the meeting.

August 31, 2009: Thomas, Stewart, Espinosa, Sharer, Bailey, Frank, Britt, Geissler, Jones, Walker.

September 14, 2009: Thomas, Espinosa, Sharer, Bailey, Stewart, Britt, Geissler, Jones.

October 5, 2009: Thomas, Espinosa, Sharer, Bailey, Stewart, Frank, Britt, Geissler, Jones.

November 2, 2009: Thomas, Espinosa, Sharer, Zhang, Frank, Stewart, Britt, Geissler, Rigsby, Martinkovic.

December 7, 2009: Thomas, Sharer, Frank, Stewart, Britt, Geissler, Rigsby, Jones.

January 11, 2010: Thomas, Zhang, Frank, Bailey, Sharer, Stewart, Britt, Geissler, Jones, Rigsby, Walker.

February 1, 2010: Thomas, Frank, Sharer, Stewart, Zhang, Espinosa, Bailey, Britt, Geissler, Jones, Rigsby, Sprague.
March 1, 2010: Thomas, Sharer, Frank, Stewart, Espinosa, Bailey, Britt, Jones.
April 5, 2010: Thomas, Frank, Stewart, Britt, Jones, Geissler, Rigsby. Others in Attendance: Kristen Bonatz, Mark Sprague

3.      Subcommittees established during the year (include progress and/or completion of work).

A. Academic Integrity Policy subcommittee: Wendy Sharer, Sherri Jones, Catherine Rigsby, Hunt McKinnon, and Maggie Olszewska. Subcommittee has revised multiple times and begun meeting with the University Attorney’s Office (UAO) for input. This policy should be ready for official UAO review by early in the fall semester.

B. SEMTF Response subcommittee: Jayne Geissler, Amy Frank, and Natalie Stewart. This subcommittee examined the SEMTF report, to suggest any further revisions to the Undergraduate Catalog. Their work resulted in the Faculty Senate resolution #10-30 below. Task complete.

C. Class Attendance subcommittee: W. Joseph Thomas, Rose Bailey, Dana Espinosa, and Baohong Zhang. This subcommittee met with the Medical Director of Student Health and with members of the Academic Standards Committee. The Class Attendance policy is Faculty Senate resolutions #10-28 and #10-29 below. Task complete.

4.      Accomplishments during the year, especially as addressed through committee goals.  Please include recommendations made to any University agency other than the Faculty Senate that will be noted under #5.

A. Our committee worked with the Academic Standards Committee on several policies, including the Disruptive Academic Behavior Policy, Student Conduct, and the Student Attendance Policy. Our committees co-presented the reports to Faculty Senate on Student Attendance (see #10-28 and #10-29 below). The Academic Standards Committee presented reports to Faculty Senate on Disruptive Academic Behavior (#10-27) and Student Conduct (report given April 20, 2010).

B. Faculty Forum attendance:

1. October 14, 2009: Ways to Improve Retention and Graduation

2. November 11, 2009: Academic Integrity and Academic Retention

3. January 13 and 27, 2010: Reported on progress toward revisions to the Faculty Manual

 5.       Reports to the Faculty Senate (include dates and resolution numbers).

#09-38 November 3, 2009. Revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part V. Section I.J. Grade Appeals.

#09-42 November 3, 2009. Revisions to the University Undergraduate Catalog, Section 5: Academic Regulations (Dropping and Adding Courses, Grading System, and Academic Eligibility Standards).

#10-09 February 23, 2010. Proposed implementation dates for revised University Undergraduate Catalog, Section 5: Academic Regulations (Faculty Senate Resolution #09-42) relating to Dropping and Adding Courses (FALL 2010), Grading System (FALL 2010), and Academic Eligibility Standards (FALL 2011).

#10-10 February 23, 2010. Information in the current manual (Part V. Academic Information, Section I. Academic Procedures and Policies, Subsection D. Class Roll Verification) be retained with no revision at this time.

 #10-28 March 30, 2010. Revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part V. Academic Information, Section I. Academic Procedures and Policies, Subsection I.W. Student Attendance Regulations.

 #10-29 March 30, 2010. Revisions to the University Undergraduate Catalog, Section 5. Academic Regulations,   Class Attendance and Participation Regulations

 #10-30 March 30, 2010. Revisions to the University Undergraduate Catalog, Section 5. Academic Regulations,   Special Readmission (Forgiveness) Policy

 #10-31 March 30, 2010. Revisions to the University Undergraduate Catalog, Section 5. Academic Regulations,   While Enrolled in East Carolina University.  

#10-66 April 27, 2010. Revisions to the University Undergraduate Catalog, Section 5. Academic Regulations, Subsection Grading System, Grade Appeals.

6.       Business carried over to next year (list in priority order).

·        Receive response from University Attorney's Office regarding draft revisions to the Academic Integrity Policy, make any necessary further revisions, and report to Faculty Senate.

·        Work with Committee on Committees to clarify distinctions between the charge of this committee and Academic Standards to prevent future confusion and duplication of effort.

7.      Evaluation of the committee (include anything that hindered or assisted the committee's work during the year).

A.      Charge: The distinction between the charge of this committee and the Academic Standards Committee is not always clear. Several policies that seem to fall under the Admission and Retention Policies Committee seem as if they could also fall under the purview of the Academic Standards Committee and vice versa. It would be very helpful if the Committee on Committees could review, revise, and clarify the charges of these two committees. See also this item in Business Carried Over (above).

B.      Personnel: It has been very helpful to have committee membership from the Admissions Office and Academic Advising, especially as our committee considers those policies directly affected by the Provost’s encouragement on “goals to improve retention rates and committee’s role in assessing suggested actions for improvement.” (From August 2009 minutes)

C.      Attendance: Overall attendance was good, although the committee did not reach quorum for its April meeting.

          D.      Responsibilities: See comments about the committee’s charge, above.

          E.      Activities: The committee has been very active this year, in part reaping the fruits of last year’s labor. Committee members should be recognized for their hard work.

8.      Suggestion(s) to the Chair of the Faculty and/or Faculty Senate for improving the effectiveness of the committee.

None apart from clarifying the charge of our committee, as mentioned above.

 9.      Does the Committee’s organizational meeting next year need to be earlier than the date set this year?  No.

 

Signed:           Chairperson ___William Joseph Thomas_____

             

 

Secretary   ___Rose Bailey_______