The Interim President of The Citadel, Brigadier General R. Clifton Poole, opened the meeting. The minutes for the meeting of 17 September were approved.
The Interim President introduced a new agenda item and passed out copies (copy attached) of a Faculty Council Resolution. He indicated that LtCOL Jim Leonard, Chair, Faculty Council, was available concerning the search for a new head of the Department of Education to give comments. He further indicated that those in the administration did not usurp faculty privileges; rather, the misunderstanding was due to a communications error on both sides. He, BGEN Poole, greatly supports faculty process and privilege, and, in any case, he would not err again.
The Interim President stated that we would not initiate a national search for Head, Department of Education; we have one now -- Bob Carter. We did not want to start another search -- it does not send a good message nationally. We will have to eliminate one program in Education. He wants to come to a departmental meeting of the Education Department and look at the issue on a cost-benefits basis.
The Interim President turned the meeting over to COL I. S. Metts, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs, who then presided.
COL D. H. Reilly, Dean of the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, asked LtCOL Leonard if his (Dean Reilly's) response was contained as part of the Faculty Council report. He further stated that the first paragraph of the resolution was completely misleading at best.
Lengthy discussion followed. COL Reilly raised the issue of whether Faculty Council has the right to interfere with the academic freedom of a department, and said he deeply resented a member of one department writing a resolution and then giving it to a member of another department for submission to Council. LtCOL Leonard responded that any member has the right to submit a resolution. Further discussion by COL Reilly dealt with the propriety of this, suggesting that it leads to contentiousness and division, and asked if Council would next undertake to determine the type of search that should be followed (i.e., internal, regional, national, etc.)? LtCOL Leonard stated that it was just a statement of concern, not an attempt to set policy.
COL Lindbergh asked if this topic could be placed on agenda for next meeting. COL Metts responded that this was an information item, and that it called for no action.
The Interim President responded that he had accepted the document in the spirit in which it was tendered and that he would respond in writing.
After a discussion of Robert's Rules and tabling/reintroduction issues, LtCOL Bob Carter stated that the Faculty Council Resolution was an intrusion into the business of the Department of Education and its prerogatives, and that there was no plan for retaliation on the part of the administration. He raised the question: Does the Faculty Council intend to involve itself in all searches? To which question LtCOL Leonard replied that, no, the Council has no role in that at all.
The Interim President observed that the Faculty Council had the best intentions, and he would interpret the matter in that way.
Questions were asked regarding the parent support group, the nature of charges, etc. COL Gordon expressed appreciation for the certificates distributed to each cadet company showing numbers of the above population of 250 who had achieved Gold Stars and Dean's List.
The Interim President stated that the Department of Special Services was doing remarkably well, and that we understand its functions much better now.
The Interim Presdient pointed out that three outside agencies AACSB, ABET, and NCATE visit our campus to review and accredit several of our programs and this was obviously of critical importance to us. COL Lindbergh would take us through the steps regarding the ABET visit.
COL Lindbergh discussed the main features of the ABET team's composition, leadership, schedule to be followed, etc. He stressed the importance of the social services and humanities in the overall evaluation. He also covered other aspects of the visit, to include the importance of the cadet lifestyle, the money "crunch," equipment, Project Challenge, The Lowcountry Engineering Fair, etc., that would be addressed during the various interviews.
COL Askins, Head, Electrical Engineering, stated that "we were ready."
COL Gordon asked about the consultant's report, and COL Lindbergh indicated that it had been a good report and that all the points in it had been covered. COL Askins stated that it should be emphasized that there were two separate programs, Day and the CGPS one.
This arrangement was moved (COL Reilly) and seconded (COL R. A. White). Discussion followed, regarding how to tell from the transcript if the course had been counted and for what value, and what role SACS had played in this. The motion passed unanimously.
Discussion followed. It was agreed that the form would be modified to give copies to the student, the department, and the Registrar. The motion passed unanimously.
LtCOL Leonard raised the question of why this had come to Academic Board, when the Graduate Council is a body that can make policy changes.
The Interim President stated that this should come to Academic Board, since it must come to the VPAA and in the future all policy decisions of the Graduate Council would come through the Academic Board.
COL Reilly provided a certification update on members of the Education Department. Faculty members may not, he indicated, take courses (independent study) from colleagues, nor could the tuition grant system be made available to faculty members. He said that there was no policy on this at CofC, Winthrop, and USC, but that we needed a policy. He would write this up and refer this to the appropriate Academic Board subcommittee.
He provided an update on this topic, giving particular attention to the sector committees involved with this, and to the actual list of performance indicators.
COL Gordon asked if there was some way to use this new set of indicators with SACS, since we would have to comply with two different sets of reporting standards, and COL R. A. White asked where we could influence the process.
The Interim President indicated the very intense schedule that lay before us, including visits by the BOV, the CDF Board, the weekend visitor program, the Watts Barracks dedication, ABET, and requirements for each.
COL Metts and COL Gordon reported on the NROTC visit to Jacksonville, FL., and academic requirements for same. LtCOL Emory and others expressed concern over commitment to military requirements, especially physicals that get cadets out of class, and lengthy discussion followed. COL Gordon was instructed to not let that happen.
The Interim President complimented the History and Political Science departments for the Dent Scholarship presentation. He also indicated that he liked the arrangement of the room, so that everyone could sit facing each other. LtCOL Wilson asked about an incident that supposedly occurred on Ring Night, and was informed that there was an ongoing investigation.
The meeting was adjourned at 1715.
Respectfully submitted,
John W. Gordon
Colonel, USMCR
Dean of Undergraduate Studies