Brown Bag: James Haley, author of Sam Houston, gave an informative and well-received presentation on his book and research with primary and secondary sources.
In attendance for Task Force Meeting: Greg Harrison, Jack Floyd, Glen Hunt, Gaye Lynn Scott, Karry Evans, Lisa Perez, Cecile Durish, Ron Fletcher, Steve Williams, Hope Williams, Nashid Rashid, Dean Cobb, Lynn Lehle, Ed Mullen, Greg Garlow, Amber Archuleta-Lucero, Frank J. Garrahan.
1. Faculty Development: New link to register for workshops: http://workshops.austincc.edu (There is a link to this site on the GOVT Dept's web page.)
No current data base for 2002-2003 faculty development hours, so every faculty member should keep track of their hours while sending documentation to Task Force Chair.
Form to document non-ACC faculty development activities can be found at http://itfd.austincc.edu/FD_ActivityReport.pdf
2. ACC's Internal web page: new address: http://insideacc.austincc.edu (launch date 10/21/02).
3. NISOD's call for proposals: http://www.nisod.org/2003conference/presentations.html
4. Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: 2003-2004 Scholars Program focusing on "liberal learning". The Carnegie Academy is specifically looking for applicants who teach undergraduates. http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/CASTL/guidelines/
Dealine to apply is November 1.
5. Focus on Great Teaching Retreat, November 1-3. Applications due October 11, 2002 http://itfd/austincc.edu/fdo/FacRetreat.htm
6. EVP is now sending out letters to those adjunct faculty who are eligible to be on the Task Force this year. This new list of eligible adjuncts is following the new rules. Once membership on the Task Force has been completed, the Task Force Chair will solidify committee assignments.
7. UIL students' social studies contest will be covering Texas Politics and Geography this year. Cecile Durish volunteered to help make up the questions for the Texas politics exam.
8. Model OAS (Organization of America States): Judy Nwachie & Karry Evans have volunteered to help coordinate this for ACC.
Adjunct Faculty Committee: The committee chair (Hope Williams) is soliciting support to be on the committee and is scheduling dates to conduct interviews. Adjunct Job Fair scheduled for end of October.
Faculty Development Committee: Symposium on Lobbying scheduled for Saturday, November 16, 2002, RGC Auditorium.
Faculty Evaluations Committee: Faculty should have received instructions and a schedule (Yellow sheet from Office of Faculty Evaluation) on holding student evaluations during the Fall 2002 semester. The deadline for classes taught during the first 8 weeks has been extended until the last class meeting date of the semester. Those faculty members who are selected to complete portfolios this academic year (list should come out from Dean Rex Peebles' office this week) should see the Government Department's Faculty Handbook for content details.
Student Assessment Committee: Sections to be tested were selected during the summer and questions were mailed to instructors whose sections were chosen at random. Some test results have already been submitted. Grading and assessment will take place during the Spring 2003 semester.
Instructional Program Review Committee: Lynn Lehle announced that after the meeting a "brainstorming" session would be conducted to develop a comprehensive list of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The session would be facilitated by Nancy Jovick. (The meeting was held and proved very informative).
There are new forms on which to request travel. Budget is very limited this year. Marilyn Mote-Yale & Gaye Lynn Scott were approved for travel to Washington, DC for a conference.
Marilyn Mote-Yale received approval to add two texts to the list for her Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Course.
1. Should the Government Department set Criteria for Honors Instructors? After some discussion, it was decided that the role of the Department should continue to focus on approval of honors courses rather than establishing criteria for honors instructors.
2. Travel Budget Shortfall: Our Travel Budget was cut in half and therefore funds are being limited to $400 per faculty member. How should we respond? It was suggested that we keep track, as a discipline, of lost opportunities to attend conferences due to low reimbursement rates. This information could then be used in next year's budget requests. In addition, it was decided that since the College publicizes and supports efforts to internationalize the curriculum, and since Department budgets have never included travel money (rather, travel money comes out of the Dean's budget), it should not b the Department's responsibility to make cuts in an already bare-bones budget in order to support the INMP and the NMUN programs. Rather, such support should be forthcoming from the College as a whole.