MINUTES

INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING COMMITTEE

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Call to Order

9:00 a.m., Arts & Sciences Dean’s Conference Room

Members Present

Linda Gooden for Kristina Cragg (ex officio), Arlene Haddon, James LaPlant (Past Chair), Cindy Tandy,  Fred Ware (Interim Chair) and Vesta Whisler (Chair Elect) 

Apologies: Charles Backes

 

 

Members Absent

Linda Bennett Elder, Mike Holland, Kristen Johns, Jim Black (ex officio), Kurt Keppler (ex officio) and Louis Levy (ex officio)

 

 

Dr. Fred Ware, as Interim Chair, called the meeting to order. (For the record, until the end of the current academic year, Dr. Ware will act as Chair in place of Dr. Michael Noll who resigned from the Faculty Senate for personal reasons. He will be assisted by Dr. Vesta Whisler, Chair Elect and Dr. James LaPlant, Past Chair).

 

 

Reports

 

 

  1. Executive Committee Meeting, Fred Ware.  As Interim Chair of IPC, Dr. Ware attended the March 6, 2008 Executive Committee meeting. As an item for consideration by the Faculty Senate, he proposed that deans and department heads should be assigned responsibility for submitting faculty achievements to the Achievement Notes website. He suggested that, as a worst case scenario, the information could be pulled from annual faculty evaluation reports, but it would be better if it could be submitted in a more timely basis. The Executive Committee agreed to include the recommendation in the agenda for the March 20, 2008 Faculty Senate meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

  1. University Council Meeting, Fred Ware. As  Interim Chair of the IPC, Dr. Ware attended the March 25 University Council Meeting. He was asked to contribute ideas for the portfolio of recommendations that will be given to the new President. Dr. Ware submitted the suggestion that our institution should take extraordinary steps to offer competitive compensation during national searches for key administrative positions such as supplemental funding by endowed chairs. He expressed concern to the University Council that we must not allow budget constraints to prevent our hiring of the most qualified candidates. Dr. Ware encouraged IPC members to attend University Council Meetings, as observers are welcome. The next meeting is scheduled for April 29, 9:00-11:00 a.m. in Powell Hall Auditorium. (http://www.valdosta.edu/planning/uc.shtml).

Old Business

 

  1. Bylaws. A subcommittee (James LaPlant and Charles Backes) have been reviewing the IPC Bylaws. Dr. LaPlant suggested that we wait until the new President is in place before we submit our recommendations for a possible name change, e.g., “Faculty Senate Planning and Advisory Committee,” as was discussed at a previous IPC meeting this academic year.

 

  1. Committee Charge. In addition to the possible name change, a review about how IPC fits into the entire committee structure was tabled until the Fall meeting. At that time the discussion will begin with how IPC can serve the University in a more proactive manner.

New Business

 

  1. Committee Membership. Dr. Ware pointed out that the membership list on the IPC Website is different from that listed on the official Faculty Senate Website. The IPC website ( http://coefaculty.valdosta.edu/ipc/membership_IPC.htm ) includes a COSA representative and a SGA representative. With members rotating on and off at the end of the year, this discrepancy will be addressed in the Fall. The question of who would be maintaining the IPC Website was raised, and  hope was expressed by the members that Past Chair, Michael Noll, might be agreeable to continuing the Website.  It was noted that Dr. Noll has done an exemplary job as IPC member and recent Chair, and that his involvement will be sorely missed.

 

  1. Celebrating Achievements. The members present discussed the importance of celebrating and publicizing faculty achievements, such as presentations, publications, research, etc. As an endorsement of the recommendation in Paragraph 1, above, it was agreed to include this initiative as one of the IPC’s charges for next Fall.

 

 

  1. Academic Representation on the Budget Advisory Committee (BAC). Dr. LaPlant suggested that the IPC could be instrumental in lobbying for more academic representation (such as someone from the Dean’s Council and the Department Head’s Council) on the BAC. Currently, the BAC has only one academic representative, Dr. Levy. The members present agreed that this is one issue that could be proposed for the portfolio of recommendations that will be given to the new President, possibly at the next University Council Meeting.

 

  1. Feasibility of a Long Range Planning Process to Research the Placement of a Provost. Depending on the philosophy of the new President, it was suggested that a Provost could assume day-to-day operations, allowing the President to concentrate on fundraising, legislation, and other more global issues that affect the University. It was suggested that the IPC look at what other universities do. This idea will be discussed further in the Fall as a possible recommendation from IPC.

 

  1. Communication. The question was raised as to what happens with the information discussed in IPC meetings. Another discussion point for Fall will be how to disseminate that information.

 

  1. Effective Use of Work Study Students. In relation to budget restraints, Dr. Ware recommended that a point of discussion for the IPC might be more effective use of Work Study students, e.g., be more selective in job placement by requiring interviews and completion for positions—another point for discussion in the Fall.

Next Meeting

 

The next meeting is scheduled for 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, April 23.

Adjournment

 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m.

 

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Vesta Whisler, Chair-Elect and Fred Ware, Interim Chair