1. Professor Hack Ezell, chair of the Faculty Council, called the meeting to order at 11:00 am.

2. Members attending: Professors Alford, Berlinghieri, Brannan, Carter, Durgun, Ezell, Greenawalt, Hoyle, Lipovsky, Rushing, Brown, Thompson, Wallace, J. Moore (for White), and G. Williams.

Members absent: Professors Barrett, Epple, Feurtado, Hutchisson, Koob, and Toubiana.

Guest: Col. Dennis Rhoad, Board of Visitors

3. Approval of minutes. The minutes of the 25 February meeting were approved as written.

4. Attendance by faculty at graduations. Prof. Ezell reported that Gen. Poole expressed concern over the sparse attendance by faculty at graduation activities and he asks that the departments work out a method of sending 1/3 of the departmental faculty to each of the three events - CGPS Graduation, Baccalaureate, and Corps of Cadets graduation. Faculty Council members are asked to take this back to their departments for information, but this is an administrative matter.

5. Application for position of College Marshall. Anyone interested in this should let the VPAA know.

6. Schedule for turning in mid-term and final grades. Prof. Hoyle moved, and Prof. Greenawalt seconded, that the administration schedule three working days between the end of a grading period and the deadline for submission of grades. The motion carried with thirteen yes votes and one abstention.

7. Action by Academic Board on Core Curriculum Review Report. Prof. Ezell distributed a report to be acted upon at the next Faculty Council meeting. The most important aspect of the report is that the oversight committee will be reinstated. Prof. Thompson's subcommittee found that the oversight committee had no data on which to base recommendations. The reinstated oversight committee will be charged with gathering data.

8. Faculty Council elections. A chair-elect and secretary will be elected at the next meeting.

9. Search procedure and result - VPAA and Dean of the College. Prof. Ezell said Faculty Council should leave the meeting with an up or down vote of the candidate. Prof. Lipovsky moved, and Prof. Alford seconded, to support the findings of the VPAA search committee. Discussion: Prof. Rushing said the controversy seems to arise from the fact of only one candidate and asked the search committee why only three finalists were chosen. Col. Rhoad explained how the top three candidates were selected and what happened to the other two. Prof. Greenawalt asked if any of the 14 "semi-finalists" could be considered. Col. Rhoad explained the selection criteria and how those invited for interviews were selected. Prof. D. Moore asked if the salary was a hindrance in attracting candidate. Col. Rhoad said the Board of Visitors was committed to hiring the best candidate and was prepared to offer a fitting salary. Prof. Thompson said he hears two objections, (1) concern that the candidate has not "beat out" other candidates, but in fact he "beat out" 85 candidates, and (2) there was no faculty representation, when in fact there were 2 faculty representatives. Prof. D. Moore said in past searches the entire faculty got to vote on representatives, but this time Faculty Council and Academic voted on search committee members. Prof. Gordon disagreed saying that Faculty Council selected faculty representatives to the last VPAA search. Prof. Ezell said the procedure was in accord with the faculty manual. Prof. Rushing said there was concern that the names on the short list and vitae were not made available to the faculty. Col. Rhoad said those things were to have been made available and expressed regret that they were not. Prof. Hoyle asked if the committee felt anything could be gained by revisiting other candidates. Col. Rhoad said no. Prof. Greenawalt asked if after using elimination factors (e.g., earned Ph.D.) if there were categories for which applicants got additional points. Col. Rhoad described and explained the rating form that was used. Prof. Lally said that there was more faculty involvement in previous searches and asked if the faculty manual needs to be changed. Prof. Ezell said the faculty manual was not at fault but that this was an unusual situation -- the timing was unfortunate (the President was off campus for a week) and the withdrawal of two finalists. Prof. Rushing said that except for the timing this process followed that of the last VPAA search. Prof. Greenawalt said she has concern with communication, i.e., a vehicle for faculty input. Prof. Ezell said that from the time the search committee was selected, faculty members always were encouraged to forward names and comments.

The motion carried unanimously.

Prof. J Moore moved, and Prof. Thompson seconded, that Faculty Council conduct a debriefing of the process so a document is in place to be used next time a search takes place. Prof. Rushing said committee members could write down their comments and suggestions for improving the search process (i.e., what worked and what didn't). Prof. Greenawalt said results could be used to amend the faculty manual. The motion carried unanimously.

10. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 12:05.