OUS Provosts’ Council Meeting
The OUS Provosts’ Council met on May 5, 2005 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in Basement Room C of the Public Services Building in Salem.
Attendees: Lorraine Davis, Chair, UO; Lesley Hallick, OHSU; John Miller, EOU; John Moseley, UO; Earl Potter, SOU; Sabah Randhawa, OSU; Jem Spectar, WOU; Dave Woodall, OIT; Bill Feyerherm and Roy Koch, PSU (for Michael Reardon); Maureen Sevigny, IFS; George Pernsteiner, Susan Weeks, Ruth Keele, and Helen Stampe, OUS.
1. Introduction
Lorraine Davis welcomed Roy Koch from Portland State University who will become the new provost beginning July 1, 2005.
2. Academic Program Proposals
WOU – Master of Music in Contemporary Music
· Jem Spectar reported that this is a flexible degree that allows students to study temporary music in areas of collaborative piano, composition, conducting, instrumental performance, jazz studies, or vocal performance. In addition to a 9-credit common core, students will take 15 credits of academic electives in music and 30 credits of applied music.
· Specific concerns were raised in writing by UO and shared with Jem.
· Question was asked about the graduate level – whether it has a larger impact both internally or externally.
· It was the consensus of the Council to approve the program for external review. Helen will send Jem the guidelines and he will work with Lorraine on the external reviewers. The program can also proceed with the ODA notification process.
WOU – B.A. in German Studies
·
Jem Spectar reported that this proposed program is to
provide intellectual and critical approaches to the study of literature,
philosophy, and history. The interdisciplinary courses encourage students to
draw connections across disciplines and relate their study of German to a
larger historical/perceptual field. All courses but one would be taught
entirely in German.
·
Specific questions and concerns were raised about this
proposal:
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Teaching load with only an associate professor and an
adjunct professor;
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UO and OSU sent concerns in writing to Jem;
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Program sustainability with current resources.
· It was the consensus of the Council to delay further discussion of the program to the June meeting and have Jem respond to the concerns raised, as follows: (a) with just two faculty members to teach the program, identify which courses each of the faculty will be teaching each year; (b) will the program be sustainable given the resources; (c) what kind of investment will the program bring to the area; (d) if there is a model being taught, how do you get the kind of diversity and quality that is needed in these courses, e.g., faculty-wise, resource base, faculty expertise, and research base; and (e) if there is a model of area study that makes sense to make this a concentration, it needs to be addressed.
3.
Chancellor’s Report
George Pernsteiner reported on the Phase II session of the Ways and Means. An agreement with Attorney General Myers for legal representation was reached, effective immediately. HB 2104, Optional Retirement Plan technical corrections, is still moving forward. The House Co-Chair released his budget, which takes another $2.6 million from us and then adds back $1.8 million to Extension Service. The $2.6 million reduction includes $800,000 from the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) program; $800,000 from the Fee Remission and Equity Program; and $1 million from the campus public services programs, which includes the Vet Clinic, Labor Education and Research Center (LERC), and Population Research Center. George said that there are four moveable parts in our budget: enrollment growth, opportunity grants, tuition freeze, and fund balance. The interplay among those four parts will determine how we end up in the session. Further discussion was held on the tuition plateau, capital construction, and sustainability of campuses, including the OSU‑Cascades Campus.
4. Legislative Update
Susan Weeks handed out a packet on information prepared in response to several questions raised during the Phase I session of the Ways and Means hearings. She also provided the provosts with a letter (dated 4/28/05) from Senator Devlin, Chair of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education, that listed four questions regarding the ability to attract and retain faculty in OUS institutions. Susan indicated that she will be contacting provosts directly as she needs to respond as soon as possible.
Agenda items addressed at the May 16 meeting:
5. New Performance
Indicators Requested by the Ways and Means
Ruth Keele, OUS Director of Performance Measurement and Outcomes, handed out a chart displaying the Proposed Additional OUS Performance Measures for 2005-2007 and asked for the provosts’ assistance in developing data and targets for the measures related to teacher preparation in the specialty areas of foreign language, special education, and math. The campuses, in turn, will be asking their Education Departments to help collect the data. Ruth indicated that she will be reviewing the missing health disciplines, collecting historical data for health professions, developing targets on 3%-5% growth, and contacting OHSU for nursing degree data.
Susan Weeks reported that she needed responses from campuses on faculty adjuncts in order to respond to one of Senator Devlin’s questions – #4. Please provide the absolute number of adjuncts and their FTE and proportional numbers of adjuncts and their proportional FTE. Susan handed out samples of what UO and PSU had provided her earlier and indicated that she needed the other campuses by the end of the week.
6.
Other Items
· Provost Chair for 2005-06: Provosts should think about who will be chair for the next fiscal year. Discussion will take place at the June meeting.
· JBAC Membership: There are three OUS positions that need to be replaced for 2005‑06. Provosts should think about campus representation for these positions. Helen will e-mail provosts the current membership roster, along with the appointments that need to be filled. Discussion will take place at the June meeting.
· High School Connection (America Diploma Project): This discussion needs to include the Chancellor and will be held over for the June meeting.
·
Education Pathways Project: Materials on this project were sent to
provosts via e‑mail (dated 5/4/05); the first meeting is May 20 in Salem.
Provosts should determine who will be going from their campus – OSU, PSU,
UO, and WOU already have representatives attending.
7.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Provosts’ Council will be held in Salem on June 2, 2005 at the Chemeketa Eola Northwest Viticulture Center from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Submitted by Helen Stampe