Midyear Report to Faculty from Faculty Council
January 10, 2004

In the fall semester, Faculty Council held six meetings. The major issues addressed were the amendment of the Faculty Council Constitution, Revision of Committee charters, suggestions for the Quality Enhancement Plan, Parking, and the Provost Search.

Constitution
Faculty Council completed the amendment of its Constitution to change the quorum from two-thirds to half of the membership of the Council plus one (1). Faculty approval was obtained at the General Faculty meeting on August 22 and Presidential approval on September 15th.

Committee Charters
Faculty Council received ten revised charters from Committee on Committees (COC). The Council approved charters for the following committees: Athletic Services, Awards, Computer Services, Core Curriculum Oversight, Faculty Development, Library Services, Sabbaticals, and Scholarship. The revised charters for these committees are available on the respective committee website. One of the most significant changes was making the membership of the Sabbatical Committee independent of the Faculty Development and Research Committees. Also the Athletic Services Committee is being returned to a Faculty Council Committee. The National College Athletic Association believes faculty has a role in ensuring athletic programs reflect institutional values and missions. Two charters, Curriculum and Instruction and COC have not been reviewed. The Council is waiting for a subcommittee report on the survey of faculty of the Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET). Academic Board recommended Faculty Council expand the tasks of Curriculum and Instruction to include the SET. The COC charter must be completed last so all committees it will assign can be included. Both of these charters will be reviewed this spring.

The charters for Research and Financial Affairs are in the process of being reviewed by COC. The following six committees have not submitted revised charters to COC: Campus Affairs, Community Relations, Employment, Internal College Relations, Tenure and Promotion, and Undergraduate Admissions.

Additionally, the COC recommended Faculty Council deactivate the following committees: Campus Affairs, Community Relations, Faculty Employment, Financial Affairs, and Internal College Relations. Council will be discussing the deactivation of these committees in the spring.

Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)
The Faculty Council discussed recommendations for the College to take toward reducing obstacles to learning and academic performance for freshman and first semester sophomores. The Council forwarded its recommendations to the Provost in September. The Council has recommended that the Provost present the QEP to the faculty in January and meet with Council at its January 22^nd meeting for further discussion.

Parking
The Council has discussed the current parking situation. In October we requested the administration provide the objective of the current parking policy and the relationship of the objective to the mission of the College," to educate and prepare graduates to become principled leaders in all walks of life by instilling the core values of The Citadel in a challenging intellectual environment". According to Col Tomasik, the objective of the parking policy is to satisfy the parking needs of all our faculty, students and staff in the most efficient and convenient way possible (given existing constraints), where folks pay additional dollars for added convenience. He believes that assigning parking priorities based upon the mission of the college is an idealistic approach to the problem. He feels a multifaceted group, such as the Strategic Planning Committee, should address parking.

Additionally, Faculty Council was unanimously opposed to a proposal by Col. Tomasik for next year. He proposed to install a card activated gate in A Lot adjacent to Capers Hall, to make all parking in the lot "Reserved" open parking, and to overbook parking to 120% of its parking capacity.

Provost Search
Faculty Council elected Bob White and Peter Greim in September to represent faculty on the Provost Search Committee in September. Faculty Council has requested to Dean Finch, Chair of the Search Committee, to provide access to the candidates CV and other materials prior to their visit and to meet with the Provost Candidates during their on-campus interviews.

Update on Faculty House
The Faculty House remains closed due to the cost of necessary repairs to bring the facility up to code. The costs of the repairs have been estimated at over $100,000. Col. Holland (VP of Finance and Business Affairs) and Jerry Chamness (Director of Auxiliary Services) have been exploring options to obtain funds for the repairs as well as possible alternative locations.

Respectively submitted,
Lisa Zuraw
Chair of Faculty Council