President Halligan called the meeting to order with the following members present: Ackerson, Arquitt, Bertholf, Bice, Bierman, Buchanan, Cole, Edgley, Farr, Finn, Gedra, Horn, Kimbrell, Krenzer, Lawry, Locy, Martin, Miller, Moder, Montgomery, Robinson, Schwarz, Scott, Sisson, Smith, Warde, and Wilkinson. Also present: Bale, Beer, Birdwell, Collins, Dahl, Graalman, Greteman, Harp, Jones, Keener, Lingelbach, Matoy, Middlebrook, Mitchell, Najd, Vuong, and Watkins. Absent: Dawson, Hsu, and Richards.
HIGHLIGHTS
Dr. Warde moved acceptance of the November 11, 1997, Minutes. Dr. Horn seconded the motion. The Minutes were approved. Dr. Buchanan proposed that the Agenda be modified to include an introduction of Blaine Greteman by Dr. Robert Graalman before the Special Reports. Dr. Warde moved acceptance of the December 9, 1997, Agenda as modified. Dr. Moder seconded. The Agenda was approved. Dr. Halligan introduced Dr. Graalman. Dr. Graalman said that he thought it was very appropriate that Blaine appear before this group since so much help came from the faculty to help him reach his dream of being a Rhodes Scholar. Dr. Graalman thanked Edward Jones who worked with Dr. Graalman to apply some lessons learned from Kansas State University to put together a program to find OSU’s first Rhodes Scholar. He thanked Drs. Ed Walkiewicz, Bruce Ackerson, Robert Spurrier, Doren Recker, Elizabeth Williams, Peter Moretti, and Paul Bishoff, who gave much time in helping Blaine prepare for his interview. He said that two other students, Jennifer Dobbs and Shannon Ferrel, applied this year and did well. Shannon did well enough that in many years she too would have been a finalist. As for Blaine, the strength of his intellect and breadth of his learning are matched only by his character and his concern for humanity. Blaine was called by OU President Boren and told that at the final session the deliberations lasted for three hours in order to locate three students that would go forward with Blaine since he was immediately picked as the best candidate in this years competition. Blaine Greteman thanked the faculty for all the help they had given him, especially the one on one help he received when struggling with difficult concepts of a course. He also thanked them for not only teaching the facts of the course but for teaching him about life and about himself. He also thanked Dr. Graalman and the others that helped to prepare him for the competition. He said that the previous applicants were also helpful by telling him what to expect. Dr. Halligan congratulated Blaine and the faculty on a job well done. Dr. Halligan asked if there was any consideration of restyling his hair before the competition. Blaine said there was some consideration but that his sister told him to keep the hair. You need something. You are not that memorable. (I do not think the faculty agrees with his sister.)
SPECIAL REPORT: DUTIES AND VISIONS OF THE ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS — Randall Dahl
Dr. Dahl said that his responsibilities are management and policy oversight for the offices of Admissions, Registrar, University Scholarships, and University and High School Relations, and is responsible for enrollment planning and management with an institutional perspective. He is also the project leader of the new student information system project. He is chair of the Strategic Enrollment Initiative Task Force established by Dr. Halligan. The goal of the task force is to develop a comprehensive plan for improving undergraduate enrollment and retention. A plan, whose focus will be on action recommendations, will be ready in the spring. Once approved, the plan will be implemented. The implementation will need faculty involvement in order to be successful. He is also the chair of a large number of committees that handle waivers of various regulations. His major role is to deal with enrollment and retention. Dr. Dahl said, that coming here from outside, "this is the best university that not enough people have heard about." We have many outstanding programs here. Some specific things that need to be done are to increase undergraduate enrollment, to continue to recruit academically strong students, and to increase the graduation rate. Graduation is not the only indicator of success but it is the largest indicator and we are not doing well at it. Our academic support services for both students and faculty need to be improved. The new student information system will provide better support for both students and faculty. Faculty need to be involved on a strategic basis for recruitment and there will be many opportunities for faculty involvement in retention. The students that are recruited are among the best in the state of OK and we need to do well by them. Oklahoma State University is a university of opportunity, Blaine has taken advantage of that opportunity. OSU is also a university of considerable value. Value is a combination of quality and cost. Dr. Ackerson asked if there was a conflict between retention and academic standards. Dr. Dahl said that we have an obligation for talent development. Our admission standards are selective but they are appropriate for this institution and not exclusionary. Students that are admitted under these standards have business being here. Our resources should be directed to facilitating their success without giving anything away. Good students are attracted to places which have good students. Dr. Halligan said there is interest in having a special initiative for graduate students as well. Penny Williams has expressed interest in this area.
SPECIAL REPORT: ACADEMIC ADVISING FOR STUDENT ATHLETES —
Marilyn Middlebrook
Dr. Middlebrook said she has been in her current position for three months and wanted to share with the faculty what the Academic Services for Student Athletes Office is and what it is not. The personnel in this office are not academic advisors. They work with the academic advisors to help with scheduling, especially to help in scheduling around practice times. They try very hard to work with, not in place of, the academic advisor. A high priority is the development of a learning center, not a study hall. Part of the center is to be a tutorial program that involves emeriti, faculty, graduate students and undergraduates. Some faculty are already involved in setting up supplemental instruction. Dr. Keys is helping to develop some interactive tutoring. Many of the athletes are active learners and have trouble learning by passively listening in class. The staff is looking at ways of developing interactive learning opportunities. Next fall peer, emeriti and faculty mentoring will begin. A student athlete, especially one who may need extra guidance, will be paired with a mentor. This fall Catherine Costanza, Director of the Mathematics Learning Resource Center, has been a big help. No math tutoring is provided unless it is suggested by Ms. Costanza in the MLRC. Any student that is at risk in math is set up a tutorial program under her guidance. This semester the MLRC worked with basketball and football players and next spring more sports will be added when Ms. Costanza says the time is right. Some of the athletes have more MLRC points than any of the other students. The goal is to incorporate other learning resources on campus, like the writing lab. Each sport is assigned a sports counselor. Each counselor works with the students in that sport and communicates with the coach. The counselor reports to Dr. Middlebrook who reports to Dr. Keener. The sports counselor tracks student progress and class attendance. This cannot be done effectively without faculty cooperation. One problem this fall was misplacement in classes. Some students were in classes that were not in the proper sequence. But a bigger problem arises from the NCAA rule that says a student has to take 24 hours per year toward their degree and that 18 of these must be in the fall and spring semesters. In our system a student athlete gets a list of courses from his/her academic advisor, the athletic counselor then helps schedule these courses. The courses chosen by the academic advisor could be very good courses for a student in this particular major but if they do not fit on the degree sheet then they cannot be counted as part of the 24-hour rule. No one is at fault, but a student might not be eligible. Some of this will be easier when the new student record system with its degree audit program is in place. Until then the sport counselors will be going over all schedules and checking them to see that the appropriate number of courses meet requirements on the degree sheet. If it is not clear where a course will count then the degree audit person from the student’s college will be contacted to find where the course can be counted on the degree sheet. The goal is to protect the student as a student and as an athlete. Dr. Middlebrook assured the faculty that they will not be asking for grade changes or dealing with faculty in any underhanded way. If you have a concern about a student athlete, please bring it to her attention. They want to be the cleanest shop with the best graduation rate in the conference. Dr. Buchanan asked if an athlete is in academic trouble how are they informed of the trouble. Dr. Middlebrook said that the counselors try to keep in contact throughout the semester. But it is very difficult for the counselor to know about the trouble if the faculty do not let them know. This semester three requests for grades were sent out and the return was not very good. The counselors would much rather work with a student during the semester than having to wait until the end. If an athlete is in trouble at the end of the semester then they will be contacted by their counselor and the problem and possible options explained to them verbally and in writing. A report of this will be given to Dr. Keener. In this way the student, coach, athletic director, student services director and Dr. Keener will all know what is happening. Dr. Horn said that most faculty are not aware of NCAA rules about eligibility. An effort should be made to get this information to advisors. Dr. Middlebrook said that such information is being shared with the Student Academic Service Directors of the colleges. The rules are not very complicated with regard to enrollment but advisors need to be reminded. The counselors sometimes have to make some hard decisions as to the number of hours in which to enroll an athlete. An athlete has to have 12 hours. If there is a class that may have to be dropped then the student will have to start the semester with 15 hours or else another class with a later starting date will have to be found. Dr. Edgley said that in the past the Athletic Student Services office has lost interest in the athletes when their eligibility expired. OSU has a moral obligation to these students even after they have used their eligibility. Dr. Middlebrook said as long as the students are willing to work with her she will continue to help them. Many see the possibility of a pro contract and lose interest in school. Hopefully we can get them close enough to graduation that at some time they can come back and graduate. Dr. Halligan said that he has written letters to athletes and told them to write to him when they are interested in continuing their work toward a degree and he will assist them in getting their degree here or somewhere else.
REPORT OF STATUS OF FACULTY COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS:
President Halligan, Executive Vice President and Vice Presidents
Dr. Halligan read the following Report to FC concerning appointment of the Dean of the Graduate College and distributed a letter from Charles E. Drake, University Legal Counsel.