Present: Susan Coultrap-McQuin (presiding), Michael Ameigh (recording), Rolando Arroyo-Sucre, Mary Beth Bell, Lanny Karns, David King, Rhonda Mandel, Linda Rae Markert, Maria Nakamura, Mehran Nojan, Walter Opello, Yvonne Petrella, Mary Schoeler, Sara Varhus.

1.  Announcements and updates:

      Deans were asked to disseminate Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship Program information broadly.

Susan indicated she has enjoyed meeting with campus groups in recent days, including the chairs of Arts and Sciences, Education, staff reporting to the Associate Provost, and Student Association.

2 - 2004-2005 Budget discussion:

The 2004-2005 budget plan has been put forward and final allocations will be announced shortly.  We have made progress in consultation with Human Resources and the Finance Office in developing agreement as to the composition of existing and available lines in Academic Affairs.  Susan indicated her office will continue to work with these offices to develop a coherent and rational approach for hiring and maintaining predictable staffing in all departments.

3- Hiring Plan for 2005-2006:

Susan handed out the first draft of the 2005-2006 hiring plan for Academic Affairs.  The Council discussed temporary hires becoming tenure track.  Susan indicated she believes a national search for a continuing line typically yields a better pool of candidates, so in the long run a search is better for the institution.

She also handed out a list of proposed searches for Fall ’05 and asked that each list be scrutinized for accuracy and to assure that positions are listed according to the latest priority. Susan and the deans will visit Priorities and Planning Council on Friday, October 8 to present the hiring plan. Those who cannot attend should develop a memo for her to take along that provides context for the priorities they have set in their areas.

4 - Developing diverse applicant pools:

A discussion into how diversity is pursued in faculty hiring ensued.  Susan indicated we need to do everything we can to reach diverse pools for our positions.

5 – Website migration:

Susan asked departments to begin migrating their websites to the new college web system as soon as possible.  She assigned Michael Ameigh to work with the campus webmaster to facilitate that migration on a schedule that would result in full migration of all websites by the end of summer, 2005.  She asked that deans and directors encourage this effort in their areas.

6 - Sabbatical proposals:  We discussed the criteria for reviewing sabbatical proposals.  The discussion will continue at the next meeting.

-Adjourned