I. CALL TO ORDER

Dr. Anderson called a regular meeting of the Academic Affairs Council to order at 9:00 a.m. He welcomed new member C. J. Vires, Director of Grants and Research Information Center, to the Council. Mr. Vires began his employment October 1. Also greeted were Dr. Scott Barton, attending for Dr. Turner, and Ms. Stephanie Cooper, attending for Ms. Armstrong.

Members Present: Duane C. Anderson, Bob Feighner, Kurt Jackson, Carlotta Lockmiller, Kenneth Moore, Jack Paschall, Charles Perry, Shirley Talley, Nancy Thomason, C. J. Vires, Bill Walden, Bruce Weems Members Absent: Pamla Armstrong, Linda Mitchusson, Alvin Turner
Others Present: Scott Barton, Marilyn Cole, Stephanie Cooper
Recorder: Sue Milner

The Minutes of the Academic Affairs Council held on September 14, 1999, were approved as posted to the web.

Continuing Education and Community Center--Ms. Nancy Thomason
The Resource and Referral Center Grant was renewed. This has enabled the institution to employ Ms. Connie Tatum as a full-time employee.

Computer Services--Mr. Bob Feighner
Mr. Dave Henley completed his certification for Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.

Computer Services has completed running phone cables across the campus and installing hardware on the second floor of the Administration Building. Internet connections to buildings for classrooms are in progress. The Horace Mann Building has been completed.

Registy--Ms. Stephanie Cooper for Ms. Pamla Armstrong
No report.

School of Graduate Studies--Dr. Jack Paschall
The Graduate Studies office will be moving to the second floor of the Administration Building to Room 254. This move should be completed by the end of October.

School of Humanities and Social Sciences--Dr. Scott Barton for Dr. Alvin Turner
Dr. Tom Cowger's book, The National Congress of American Indians, has sold out of hardback editions and a  first printing of paperbacks will be out in January.

School of Mathematics and Sciences--Dr. Bruce Weems
Eisenhower grants and academies continue to be an added activity of the school.

Faculty Senate--Mr. Bill Walden
The Senate had their second meeting Monday, October 18. Everything is going fine.

School of Education and Psychology--Dr. Kenneth Moore
The Commission has requested that schools return verification forms and indicate if the student who has taken the certification test without prior permission is accepted. Verification must be reported to the Commission by next week.

A teaching position in counseling is being advertised for the Education Department. It will be in the November issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

A mock review for the NCATE visit was conducted October 8. The School of Education faculty performed a mock site visit for faculty from other institutions.

Libraries--Dr. Charles Perry
Students are reading about "anabolic steroids" and "dreams."

The library is opening a search for a librarian/instructor position.

NCA Self-Study--Dr. Carlotta Lockmiller
The Steering Committee has met three times. They are refining the Self-Study Plan which is the first document the North Central Association will review. Team members have been selected. Dr. Shirley Mixon, Dr. Nick Cheper, Dr. Daniel Landes, Dr. Bill Osborne, and Dr. Charlie Jones are the five team leaders. They are in the process of forming criterion teams which consist of making a list to get a balance of representation across the institution. They will be asking persons to serve.

Dr. Anderson asks that faculty members be reminded that the North Central Accreditation is an institutional activity. It requires participation across the campus.

Grants and Research Information Center--Mr. C. J. Vires
Things are going well. Everyone has been very cooperative.

Assessment and Institutional Research Center--Dr. Kurt Jackson
The Center is in the process of completing the annual assessment report.

Dr. Jackson reported various findings that came out of the Alumni Survey collected since 1994. Fifty-five percent report being employed in the field of their college major. The response rate is still 10-15 percent. The questionnaire may be too long since it takes thirty minutes to complete.

Council on Instruction, October 13, 1999
a) The Attorney General was asked to make an opinion of HB 1759. The bill establishes a two-tier diploma system, honors and regular. In addition, the bill establishes a new core curriculum for secondary education. If a high school fails to provide all of the required core courses over the life of any given student and the superintendent goes to a local university to provide a course, that school must bear the full tuition cost of the student who takes a course at the university.

b) A revision of the Admission Retention Policy for higher education passed. It is effective fall 2000. ECU's admission standards for Fall 2000 will be a composite ACT score of 20 or higher or in upper one-half of graduating class and having a 2.75 GPA or higher. Added was a 3.0 GPA in the high school core classes. Dr. Anderson does not believe the addition helps ECU, only the comprehensive universities. Also changed was the admission standard for concurrently enrolled high school students. This allows a 19 ACT in English, mathematics, or science to remove deficiencies in these areas.

c) An ADN-BSN Articulation Proposal was approved. The latter part of the policy will be presented in November. This will allow advancement from LPN-ADN programs to ADN-BSN programs.

d) An Online College of Oklahoma proposal passed. The OCO proposal builds upon the existing learning site policy and is a continuation of policy makers' attempts to eliminate geographical service area boundaries of the past and allow delivery of courses wherever affordable.

e) ACE College Credit: A system is in place to validate work experience for non-collegiate instruction programs. A representative from ACE presented and distributed a four page list of vo-tech courses validated for college credit. Some institutions in Oklahoma have signed up to take these courses. Some of the schools were mentioned who are participating in the cooperative agreement.

Calendar Dates
October 20 - Wednesday night classes do meet.
October 25 - Last day to add 2nd eight-week courses. - Honors spring enrollment, 8-5.
October 26 - Transfer Student Day. For information call Todd Essary.
October 26-29 - Spring pre-enrollment, 8-5.
October 27 - Little Dixie Vocal contest November 1 - Walk-in enrollment begins.
November 2 - Beginning freshman spring orientation and enrollment.
November 12 - State-wide Economic Development Day.
November 15 - Last day to drop 16-week courses with W or WF. - Last day to drop 2nd 8-week courses w/guaranteed W.

Fall Enrollment Report
The September 13 final enrollment report shows that FTE is down 1.6% and headcount is down 1.4%. Beginning freshmen numbers are down and transfer is down. Two-thirds of the headcount decrease came from transfer students. ECU's retention rate is about 60 percent of beginning freshmen.

Online Web-based Courses
More online courses should be developed. More discussion will follow later with deans.

General Education Advisory Committee
This Committee will be reactivated After four years of new general education curriculum the Committee will go back into session to review general education syllabi and determine if they follow the format and address the general education literacy skills.

Department Writing Plans
A Departmental Writing Plan is outlined in the Faculty Handbook in Appendix VIII , Writing Proficiency Policy. Departments will be asked to update their plans.

Regents Faculty Curriculum Committee
The October 13 meeting of the Committee resulted in a full gamut of comments from faculty who attended. The Regent's matrix is still in place and still effective. Dr. Talley appreciates everyone who went to the meeting.

Enrollment--November 2
Early spring enrollment is November 2 for beginning freshmen. Deans should notify Dr. Talley of specific locations for advising as soon as possible. The students will be brought to the advising locations from 1:00 p.m. and after. Approximately 35 to 50 students are expected. Undecided majors will be taken to the Academic Advising Center for advising and enrollment.

Other
a) Advising workshops for new faculty were completed October 18.

b) Student evaluations are due. Remind department chairs to complete the process.

Research Day Follow-Up
Dr. Anderson expressed his appreciation for the help of the deans in identifying faculty to do posters for the Research Day. The conference planners were overwhelmed at the number of participants. There were 233 abstracts and 400 students and faculty who registered. East Central's poster quality and presentation was as good as any there. The Research Day highlights the research that takes place at regional universities.

Strategic Planning time lines/procedures
The Council was reminded that deadlines for strategic planning time lines are important. The plans will serve as the departmental reports for the North Central Self-Study.

Course Syllabi
This will be discussed later at a dean's meeting.

Revision of FY-2001 Budget Forms
Revision is still in progress. The forms will be compatible with strategic planning, goals and objectives, etc.

Academic Committee meetings and next Catalog
The Academic Committee meets November 2 and December 14. Requests for changes and programs should be submitted for the new catalog. No requests will be included in the catalog after January. The next catalog is for one-year.

Cancellation Policy
In the next week three vice presidents, registry, and financial aid will talk about modifications to the Cancellation Policy.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m.