ANNUAL
REPORTS
2005-06
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS COUNCIL (Norman)
ATHLETICS COUNCIL (University)
BUDGET COUNCIL (Norman)
CAMPUS PLANNING COUNCIL (Norman) [inactive]
CONTINUING EDUCATION COUNCIL (Norman)
COUNCIL ON FACULTY AWARDS AND HONORS (University)
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL (Norman)
RESEARCH COUNCIL (Norman)
Distributed by the Faculty Senate Office
July 2006
Academic
Programs Council
2005-06 Annual Report
Submitted by Eleanor Weinel, Chair
The membership of the
Academic Programs Council consists of nine faculty appointees, four student
appointees, and four ex-officio, non-voting members. The faculty members for 2005-2006 were
Rozmeri Basic (Art), Paul Christman (Musical Theatre), Marcia Haag (MLLL), Catalina Herrerias (Human
Relations), Jack Kasulis (Marketing), Jos Raadschelders (Political Science),
Laurie Scrivener (Library and Information Studies), Aondover Tarhule
(Geography) and Eleanor Weinel (Architecture).
The ex-officio members are Paul B. Bell (Vice Provost for Instruction),
Matt Hamilton (Vice President for Admissions and Records and Financial Aid),
Nancy L. Mergler (Senior Vice President and Provost), and Judy K. Cain (Editor
of Academic Bulletins). Jean Ware
(Manager of Administration and Operations in Admissions and Records) provided
valuable administrative support and ably coordinated the flow of the Council’s
rather substantial paper work. While we
had names of two student members of the council and they were routinely
notified of meetings, none attended. We
believe the efficacy of assigning students to the Council might be reviewed
since they do not attend.
Eleanor Weinel served as
chair of the Council, Marcia Haag served as chair of the Policy & Program
Subcommittee, and Paul Christman served as chair of the Course & Curriculum
Subcommittee. The Council met eight
times during the academic year (September 7, October 5, November 2, December 7,
February 1, March 1, April 5 and May 3).
The council regularly meets on the first Wednesday of every month at
3:00 p.m. in Buchanan Hall. However, an
extra monthly meeting was added in March to accommodate the large volume of
course requests and program changes received during the Spring 2005
semester. The normal turn-around time
for program and course proposals was one month from the time the proposals were
distributed to the Council. Proposals
that lacked information or needed clarification usually required two months.
The following table gives a
numerical summary of the Council’s work for the current academic year (figures
for the previous three years are shown for comparative purposes):
|
Action/Year |
2005-06 |
2004-05 |
2003-04 |
2002-03 |
|
Program Additions |
3 |
3 |
4 |
9 |
|
Program Deletions |
2 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
|
Program Modifications |
58 |
64 |
84 |
68 |
|
Course Additions and
Changes |
340 |
412 |
496 |
519 |
|
Course Deletions |
30 |
15 |
16 |
25 |
|
Designator
additions/changes |
4 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
The Council also reviewed 1
request for a new minor program and 7 changes to minors; and a request from
Arts and Sciences to change the number of hours required for their degrees from
124 to 120 involves 54 separate programs.
Two issues of particular
concern arose during the year. The first
concerns the scheduling of the Council’s work.
Because requests of all kinds can be submitted on a regular basis
throughout the academic year, there is no mechanism to regulate the work
flow. In the last two years we have had
a very light load in the fall semester and a very heavy load in the spring
semester. As an example, the bulk of the
course requests were submitted in February and March, putting the
considerations at the very end of the school year. We are investigating means for achieving a
more even distribution of effort for the Council and for the Staff.
Secondly, with the
implementation of Degree Navigator for tracking student records, some
procedural issues have arisen that need to be clarified to insure that course
and program decisions are driven by policy rather than procedure. There are several aspects to the issue that
we hope to consider for recommendations at the beginning of the 2006-07
academic year.
At the last meeting on May 3,
the Council elected Eleanor Weinel (who has been appointed to complete Catalina
Herrerias’s term) to serve as chair for the 2006-2007 academic year. Chairs for Courses and Programs Subcommittees
will be determined at the September 2006 meeting.
ATHLETICS COUNCIL
2005-06 ANNUAL REPORT
SUBMITTED BY RICHARD MARSHMENT, CHAIR
The
The four Subcommittees are (1) Governance and
Compliance (chaired by alumnus Sue Lunsford), (2) Academic Integrity &
Student Welfare (chaired by Professor Margaret Kelley), (3) Fiscal Integrity
and Personnel (chaired by Professor Don Bogan), and (4) Gender Equity and
Sportsmanship (chaired by Professor Keith Gaddie).
The Governance and Compliance Subcommittee
reviews and reports to the Council on the University's activities and
procedures regarding compliance with NCAA and Big Twelve rules as well as
University policies and resources applied to recruiting, the granting of
financial aid to student-athletes, awards to student-athletes and others, and
the scheduling of intercollegiate games and contests, and other matters related
to compliance. The Academic Integrity
& Student Welfare Subcommittee reports on admissions and academic
performance of student-athletes and makes suggestions and recommendations on
how to better serve the needs and interests of the student body, faculty,
staff, alumni, and community. The
Fiscal Integrity & Personnel Subcommittee reviews the Athletic
Department Budget, reviews major capital improvement needs, fund raising and
development practices, basic accounting and auditing procedures, and makes
recommendations to the President and Athletics Director in these areas. The Gender Equity & Sportsmanship
Subcommittee reviews and reports to the Council on intercollegiate sports
competition and makes suggestions or recommendations on facilities, scheduling,
recruiting, rule changes, and other matters.
In addition, this subcommittee reviews progress on the gender equity
plan and reviews diversity, dignity, ethics, and sportsmanship across all areas
of the Athletics Department.
Meetings
The full Athletics Council met five times during the
2005-06 year: September 21, 2005,
November 14, 2005, February 6, 2006, April 10, 2006, and June 19, 2006. Subcommittees met independently of the full
Council to accomplish their charges. The
subcommittees made intermittent progress reports and a final report to the full
Council at predetermined dates. Copies
of the complete final reports from each subcommittee are available in the
Athletic Department.
Membership
The 2005-06 Athletics Council membership included:
Faculty Members:
Don Bogan, Keith Gaddie, David Garrison, Richard Marshment, Margaret
Kelley, Linda McKinney, Allen Knehans, and Abimbola Asojo.
Staff Members:
Eric Johnson and Les Ellason.
Student Members:
Britney Shumann, Jaclyn Stelzer, Jason Penland, and Lamont Robinson.
Alumni: Sue
Lunsford.
Ex Officio:
Joseph Castiglione (Athletic Director), Connie Dillon (Faculty Athletics
Representative to the NCAA), and Franz Currier (past Council Chair).
Athletics Department:
Keith Gill (Associate Athletics Director, Administration), Gerald Gurney
(Associate Athletics Director, Academics), Larry Naifeh (Executive Associate
Athletics Director), Stephanie Rempe (Associate Athletics Director, Senior
Woman Administrator), and Robert Smith (Assistant Athletics Director, Business
Manager).
Secretary:
Francene Monenerkit (Office of the Athletics Director).
S u m m a r y
1. The council meetings were planned and
scheduled for each semester after a survey was conducted of the members.
2. One of the most pressing issues confronting
the Athletic Department is graduating student athletes. Impediments to graduation include high
transfer rates in some sports, professional opportunities, and student athletes
admitted to the University who have not met minimum admission standards. The NCAA continues to stress the importance
of graduating student athletes and is in the process of implementing new rules
which provide incentives and penalties depending in part of the academic
progress made by an institution’s student athletes.
3. The class attendance policy recommended by
the Athletics Council the previous year has resulted in fewer absences by
student athletes.
4. The budget for the Athletics Department has
increased from $28 millions in 1999 to $62 millions at the close of fiscal year
2006. The Department continues to repay
the institutional loan at a faster rate than called for by the loan schedule.
5. The Academic Integrity and Student Welfare
subcommittee presented its annual report.
Student Athletes graduate at higher rates than the general student
body. Female student athletes graduate
at much higher rates than male student athletes. The Athletics Council approved the report. The Athletics Department has copies of the
report available for interested readers.
6. The Governance and Compliance subcommittee
presented its annual report. The
Department’s compliance program consists of four elements: (1) monitoring compliance with OU, Big 12,
and NCAA rules and regulations; (2) internal and external audits; (3) review of
departmental administrative compliance programs and activities; and (4) rules
education for coaches and athletes. The
Athletics Council approved the report.
The Athletics Department has copies of the report available for
interested readers.
7. The Athletics Director reported at each
Council meeting on recruiting violations detected in the men’s basketball
program. The Council expressed great
interest in this issue and asked many questions regarding how such violations
can be avoided in the future and the role the Council can play in assisting the
Department.
8. In a major action, the Council adopted a
recommendation of the Academic Integrity and Student Welfare subcommittee
titled “University of Oklahoma Student-Athlete Fulfillment of Degree
Requirements.” This policy, which the
Council recommends to OU President Boren and Athletics Director Joe
Castiglione, sets minimum standards for student progress towards
graduation. Student athletes will have
to take at least fifteen course hours of work each semester to maintain their
eligibility. The policy is generous with
respect to exceptions and appeals. This
policy is attached to this report.
9. To honor Professor Emeritus Dan Gibbens many
years of service to OU’s intercollegiate athletics program, the Athletics
Council voted to rename the Council’s most prestigious student athlete award,
the “Outstanding Scholar Athlete Award,” to be the “Dan Gibbens Outstanding
Scholar Award.” The first award winners
were honored at the April Scholar Athlete breakfast at which Professor Gibbens
was present.
10. The Council was briefed on the external audit
of the Department conducted by the accounting firm of Cole and Reed.
11. The Council was briefed on the FY06 Athletics
Department master plan, capital and operating budgets. The Department reported that most of the new
facilities included in its facilities plan had been completed and that the
Department was now focusing on maintaining its facilities.
12. The Fiscal Integrity and Personnel
subcommittee reported on the Department’s annual giving and endowed
scholarships programs. Annual giving in
the preceding year amounted to $17,000,000.
13. The Council approved the annual report of the
Fiscal Integrity and Personnel subcommittee.
14. The Academic Integrity and Student Welfare
subcommittee recommended changes to the procedures used by its Admissions
Review Committee. These revisions
included: (1) requiring coaches to
submit their requests sufficiently in advance of early signing dates to allow
the committee to adequately review each case; (2) requiring coaches to explain
how they intend to mentor specially admitted students to assure they will
succeed academically at OU; and (3) changing the threshold triggering a
committee review to students with high school GPAs below 2.5 on core courses or
an ACT score below 17. The Council
endorsed these recommendations.
15. The Athletics Council met on June 19th
to review the Department’s proposed FY 2007 budget. The Fiscal Integrity and Personnel
subcommittee presented the proposed budget and explained that a final budget
cannot be completed until the end of the current fiscal year. The Council reviewed the budget presentation
and asked many questions. The Council
accepted the subcommittee report.
16. A special Council task force presented an
“Academic Improvement Plan” aimed at improving academic performance for any
sport which falls below the NCAA defined “academic progress rate” of
0.925. OU has four sports in this
category: wrestling; men’s basketball,
men’s golf; and men’s baseball. Although
the plan is due this summer, the Department advised the Council that a draft of
the report could be submitted at this time and that deferring adoption to the
Fall would not jeopardize the standing of any sport. The Council voted to table the proposed plan
to its first Fall meeting.
17. The Gender
Equity and Sportsmanship subcommittee failed to perform their duties this
year. They met once early in the year
and did not produce a report. The
subcommittee chair asked for several postponements of their report and
ultimately indicated there would be no report.
No other subcommittee member took any initiative to verify departmental
compliance with its gender equity goals.
----------
Freshmen and transfer
student-athletes who first enroll at the University on or after fall, 2006 must
meet the academic progress toward degree standards listed below to be eligible
for competition. A student-athlete entering his or her second year of
collegiate enrollment shall have completed successfully at least 30 or 25% of
credit hours of the course requirements in the student’s specific degree
program. A student-athlete entering his
or her third year of collegiate enrollment shall have completed successfully at
least 60 or 50% of credit hours of the course requirements in the student’s
specific degree program. A
student-athlete entering his or her fourth year of collegiate enrollment shall
have completed successfully at least 90 or 75% credit hours of the course
requirements in the student’s specific degree program. A student-athlete entering his or her fifth
year of collegiate enrollment shall have completed successfully at least 120 or
100% of credit hours of the course requirements in the student’s specific degree
program.
During the first two years of
enrollment, a student-athlete who has not yet designated a specific degree
program may use credits acceptable toward any degree program. By the beginning of the third year of
enrollment, the student-athlete must pass 60 or 50% of credit hours in a
specific degree program.
Transfer students who enter
the
Exception to Fulfillment of Degree Requirements Rule
One time during enrollment, a
student-athlete who otherwise meets all NCAA and Big 12 eligibility
requirements may be granted an exception to the
Waiver Process
The credit hours required for
the fulfillment of the University of Oklahoma Student-Athlete Fulfillment of
Degree Requirements may be appealed to the Senior Associate Athletics Director
for Academic Affairs. Student-athletes
who otherwise meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements and demonstrating unusual
circumstances such as medical injury or illness, remediation, prerequisite
coursework, and those receiving accommodations from the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), etc. may be considered for a waiver of this rule. A final appeal may be made to the Athletics
Director for consideration of these requirements.
Regaining Eligibility
A student-athlete who does
not meet the University of Oklahoma Student-Athlete Fulfillment of Degree
Requirements but who otherwise meets all NCAA and Big 12 eligibility
requirements may become eligible at the beginning of the next academic term by
successfully completing 15 credit hours during the previous term.
New Policy #7
BUDGET COUNCIL
2005-06 ANNUAL REPORT
SUBMITTED BY HUGH BENSON, CHAIR
The 2005-2006 Budget Council
meetings were held 9/14/05, 10/12/05, 11/9/05, 12/14/05, 1/18/06, 2/8/06,
3/8/06, 4/12/06, 5/10/06. All of these
meetings were held at 3:30 pm in the Provost’s Conference Room, Evans Hall.
The following topics were
discussed and presentations were made to the Council.
Date Speaker
9/14/05 General discussion concerning
speakers for the year
10/12/05
11/9/05 Cheryl
Jorgenson, Asst Provost/Director of Institutional Research and Reporting
(Topic: Faculty Comparative Data)
12/14/05 Julius
Hilburn, Director of Human Resources (Topic: Faculty Comparative Benefit
Packages)
1/19/06 Danny
Hilliard, Director of Government Relations (Topic: Legislative Budgetary
Outlook)
2/18/06 Drafting this year’s letter to
President Boren
3/8/06 General Discussion
4/12/06 President David Boren
5/10/06 Election
of Brian Grady of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering as Budget
Council Chair.
Budget Director Linda
Anderson gave a short report on budgetary matters at each meeting.
In terms of themes of the
year, the Council had an interest in the budgetary costs and benefits of
research, employee benefits packages, and salaries. Many council members also worried about
faculty and staff morale. While the raises
last year improved morale, one year doesn’t completely allay concerns. Hence, the Council was unanimous in its
desire for a salary program with the goal of a regularized program. Finally, many Council members were concerned
about the increasing health costs to faculty and staff. We were concerned to learn more about the
total benefits package offered by OU and peer institutions. We were also concerned with the abnormally high
level of premiums for faculty and staff with their spouse and/or children on
the plan.
As partial fulfillment of our
charge to recommend to and advise the President on matters concerning fiscal
policies and resources, the Council transmitted one memorandum to President
Boren regarding the FY 07 budget (below).
This memo recommended putting as much new money as possible into a
salary program for FY07. The Council
also emphasized the need to see that such a salary program become
regularized. We received a brief and
supportive reply from President Boren.
-------------
May 2, 2006
Memorandum
TO: President David L. Boren
FROM: Budget Council (Norman Campus) Hugh H. Benson, chair
RE: FY2007 Budget Priorities
Consistent with our charge
“to recommend and to advise the President and other appropriate administrators
on matters concerning fiscal policies and resources of the University,” we on
the Norman Campus Budget Council offer the following encouragement and guidance
in your attempt to assemble the operating budget for FY 2007. Our first priority on the Council is a salary
program for faculty and staff.
First, we appreciate your
successful efforts to secure a salary program for FY2006. We strongly believe that a salary program
should be a regularized feature of the University’s operating budget. Given the regularity of increases in
cost-of-living and sizeable health care costs, years without the salary
programs (and even some with salary programs) amount to years of a negative
salary program and negatively impact faculty and staff morale. Consequently, we thank you for your efforts
in delivering those much needed raises.
In addition, we thank you for
your excellent work in improving the capital structure of the Norman
campus. We are impressed by your efforts
to find multiple sources for funding these improvements. What has transpired in terms of capital
construction on the Norman campus during your tenure has been spectacular. Although these improvements are welcome, they
are not without costs. We continue to be
concerned about the increased costs for building maintenance and operation that
make substantial demands on the operating budget.
We believe that the time has
come to systematically and comprehensively turn our attention to an investment
in human capital. While world class
facilities, modern infrastructure, and perhaps even championship athletic
programs are vital features of a great university, no one doubts that the sine
qua non of a great university is its people.
Consequently, if we are to be the sort of university that we all want us
to be, we must develop and maintain a long term program aimed at recruiting and
maintaining the best faculty and staff in the world.
We believe that the first
priority of such a program should be
It cannot be exaggerated how
vital a regular salary program is. In
order to recruit and retain excellent faculty and staff we must at least be
able to assure them that their income will not decrease. With regular increases in cost-of-living and
health care costs such an assurance cannot be forthcoming without a regularized
(unfortunately substantial) salary program.
For example, current faculty salaries are at 88% of the Big 10/Big 12
average. It will take a 5 year salary program at 6% a year to bring
faculty salaries up to 99% of the Big 10/Big 12 average. (This assumes a
3.5 % increase that the other schools have averaged over the last five
years.) We do not want and we do not
have an average faculty. A long term salary program would leave an
enduring legacy of excellence (not of mediocrity) in recruiting and retention
for years to come.
Other factors which we
believe are vital to address in order to be competitive in the retention and
recruitment of first class people are:
In conclusion, we want to
emphasize two things. First, we
appreciate your efforts on our behalf in challenging fiscal times. We realize that numerous factors influence
the operating budget and many of them are beyond your control. Nevertheless, we encourage you to focus the
University’s attention on an investment in human capital. Second, we believe that the first priority of
such an investment ought to be the implementation of long term salary
program. We hope that you find our
recommendations useful.
The following are the
2005-2006 voting members of the Norman Campus Budget Council: Karen Antell,
CONTINUING EDUCATION COUNCIL
2005-06 ANNUAL REPORT
SUBMITTED BY JOS RAADSCHELDERS, CHAIR
Composition of CEC
Ex-officio, non-voting: Nancy
Mergler, T.H. Lee Williams, James Pappas
Faculty Senate (Norman)
appointees: John C. Duncan, Frank O. McQuarrie, Teri Jo Murphy, Jos
Raadschelders (chair February-May 2006),
Faculty Senate appointee
(HSC): Eleni Tolma
CCE & PS Staff
Appointees: Ernest Clark, Randall Doerneman, Cynthia Timmons,
Presidential appointees: Laku
Chidambaram (until Dec. 2005) Teresa Shaft (since Dec. 2005, to finish
Chidambaram’s term, 2007), Anderson White (chair Sept. 2005 - Jan. 2006;
stepped down since accepting a position with OCCE).
Meetings during 2004-2005
academic year
The CE-council serves as a
forum of information dissemination, helping the Norman Campus to become more
familiar with the various activities of OCCE, and as a sounding board for
OCCE’s Dean James Pappas.
- November 3: CE-Council
- February 8: CE-Council
- April 14: CE-Council
- individual meetings between
James Pappas and CE-Chair prior to each meeting to discuss agenda.
Unfortunately, travel of various members of the CE-council prohibited any
meetings earlier than November. A third meeting will be scheduled in April.
Issues discussed
1.
CCE is among the top 10
programs of this type in the country with a large range of different
activities. Its revenue supports the Norman campus significantly.
2. Base closures
BRAC is moving quickly. AP is
considering expanding its operations in CO, TX, and VI.
3. OCCE new grants
Dean Pappas informed the
council of recent successes with grants acquisition:
- 67 M from U.S. Postal
Service for the USPS national Center for Employee Development;
- 11 M (DoE) for the
- 3.9 M (DoE) for Sooner TALK
(Teachers Advocating Literacy to Kids)
- 3.7 M (DoE) for
- 1 M: (NSF) Tech Success (to
help handicapped people get a science degree)
OCCE is by now equal to the
rest of OU in terms of sponsored programs.
4. OCCE -
Given the
5. The CCME Conference
Dean Pappas reported on the
Council on Collegiate and Military Educators, convening in
Army created CTAM
(Centralized Tuition Assistance Management), a website portal listing all
education opportunities. Any service member must use this portal that provides
access to approximately 150 accredited institutions. The student chooses a
class, the materials are sent to the relevant institution which has three days
to decide to accept the student. Basically the student is self-advising and
transactions are handled through the portal. This model is very good for large
scale admission, registration and financial aid services; it is not so great
for institutional control, advising and curriculum control.
6. International programs
The
7. Tinker LEAN Institute
Workforce training (three
different programs), including some 500 individuals, at Tinker AFB, focused on
transforming engineering and technology staff. Very successful and other AF
logistic centers are looking into adopting this model.
8. Navy Pace (NCPACE)
Program providing voluntary
education to navel personnel while on sea duty. A total of ten schools are
involved through instruction but only OU’s
9. Invest Ed
This partnership between OU’s
CCE and the Oklahoma Securities Department started in 2004 and is aimed at
providing anti-fraud education (through, e.g., TV documentary, radio minutes, investment
games, a Youth Investor Education Project (for teenagers), town hall meetings,
etc.)
10. CLS Online education
In 1996 CLS started some
online programs, and by now 150 courses have been developed for online
delivery; each course has four units with two assignments (one content based,
the other a course spanning writing assignment). Students can achieve a BA
degree in four locations: OU, OKCCC,
11. Election of Chair,
2006-07
Frank McQuarrie nominated
John Duncan as chair and the committee vote unanimously supported this.
COUNCIL ON FACULTY AWARDS AND HONORS
2005-06 ANNUAL REPORT
SUBMITTED BY MARJORIE CALLAHAN, CHAIR
1.
The University
Council on Faculty Awards and Honors met on Thursday, January 12, 2006, to
consider nominees and recommend recipients of awards. The following Council members attended the
meeting:
Marjorie
Callahan Architecture
Boris
Apanasov Mathematics
Musharraf
Zaman Civil Engr.& Envir.
Science
Victor
Youritzin Art
Elena
Cuaderes Nursing
A.F.
Al-Assaf Health Admin. &
Policy
Toni
Ripley Pharmacy
Satish
Kumar Nephrology
Zoltan
Laszik Pathology
Helen
Parker Alumnus
The
following Council members were absent:
Alan
Roche Mathematics
Ben
Blosch Student
2.
The Council
considered an outstanding group of 57 nominees.
Our recommendations for the 2005-06 academic year are as follows (in
alphabetical order, by category):
David Ross Boyd Professorship. (10 Nominations Received)
·
John E. Fagan,
Electrical and Computer Engineering,
·
Frank J. Miranda,
Operative Dentistry,
·
Nancy K. Hall,
Dean’s Office,
·
Calvin D.
Stoltenberg, Counseling Psychology,
General
Education Teaching Award. (2 Nominations Received)
Good
Teaching Award. (7 Nominations Received)
Regents’
Professorship. (1 Nomination)
Regents’
Award for
Regents’
Award for
Regents’
Award for
3.
Members of the
Council volunteered to compose brief synopses regarding the awardees. These synopses (biographical sketches) will
be used for their introduction at the appropriate award ceremonies and/or media
releases. The synopses will be sent to
Mechelle Gibson by February 1, 2006.
4.
The Council
elected Professor Toni Ripley,
5.
The Council
recommended that the Office of the Senior Vice President’s and Provost’s
conduct departmental workshops to educate the coordinating faculty and staff of
the type of awards available and to instruct departments on how to prepare
appropriate dossiers.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL
2005-2006 ANNUAL REPORT
SUBMITTED BY DON MALETZ, CHAIR
Crowther-Heyck, Hunter
(History of Science
Maletz, Donald J., Chair
(Political Science)
Murphy, Teri J. (Mathematics)
Robbins, Sarah E. (Library)
Trytten, Deborah A. (Computer
Science)
Carney, Cheryl L. (Industrial
Engineering)
Sewell, Michael K.
(Information Technology)
Skibsted, Jamie J. (Budget
Office)
Deeg, Matthew D.
Matos, Matthew R.
Hathaway, Nicholas S.,
President’s Office designate
Millsap, Byron (HSC), VP for
Administrative Affairs designate
Papavassiliou, Dimitrios V.
(Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering; and VP for Research
designate)
The ITC met monthly, August
05 through April 06 (the April meeting was moved to May 1).
Particularly helpful
throughout the year was the consistent support provided by Information
Technology. All meetings were attended either by Dennis Aebersold or by his
representative Loretta Early. In addition, Matt Singleton from IT also attended
most meetings and frequently briefed the ITC on issues at hand.
1. Robert Kelly agreed to
take responsibility for re-designing, maintaining and up-dating the ITC web
page. The page (http://www.ou.edu/committees/itc)
now links to information about ITC activities, including meeting minutes, as
well as all current information technology policies.
2. The ITC reviewed in detail
the ITC booklets providing a “Guide to Core Services” and a “Guide to Enhanced
Services” and proposed a wide variety of improvements or clarifications. A
major item requested was the development of a comprehensive list of all
software site licenses held by the
3. The ITC pressed for and
received an IT commitment to eliminate the social security digits from the OU
4x4 userids. The conversion to new userids was originally promised for summer
2006 but was pushed back to summer 2007 after review of the complexities of
re-configuring both the account creation and the email systems.
4. The ITC debated a proposed
“network policy” at several meetings, and reviewed a draft with the Faculty
Senate Executive Committee. Difficulties in formulating an acceptable policy
statement, plus the new commitment late in 2005 by President Boren to a campus-wide
wireless network, led to the shelving of the policy draft for the time being.
The ITC reviewed plans for building up wireless connectivity across the campus.
All new and renovated buildings are configured for wireless, while expanded
wireless connectivity in some additional classroom buildings and in some
outdoor areas will be installed during the spring and summer of 2006.
Completion of the wireless program will likely extend well into 2007.
5. Major software
developments 2005-2006 included the transition from Blackboard to Desire2Learn
as the main campus course management system, as well as the transition from
McAfee to Symantec for campus-wide antivirus protection. The former appears to
have proceeded without major difficulty, while ITC members sought increased
user flexibility in scheduling virus scans with the latter.
6. IT is pursuing a site
license for the Symantec LiveState backup program, which will provide an
enhanced and comparatively inexpensive backup system for faculty and students
with stand-alone computers. IT hopes to integrate off-site storage with the
LiveState program in the future, for a charge that has not yet been determined.
7. ITC received Senate and
Provost approval for the addition of a concluding statement, referencing approved
information technology policies, to section 8.12 of the Faculty Handbook. The
section now reads as follows:
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
OU
Information Technology’s (IT) vision is to create and sustain an environment
where all students, faculty, and staff have easy, accurate, secure, and
reliable access to the information services and resources they need to succeed.
IT provides world-class information technology services that support and
advance the mission of the
8. Loretta Early reported on
IT projects for 2006-2007. These include review of outdated system software
used by the Bursar, Financial Aid, Student Services, and Admissions/Records offices and decision by
the end of 2006 on whether to buy or build replacement systems; continuation of
the President’s initiative to strengthen system security; continuation of
classroom improvements; continued development of disaster recovery measures;
support for research needs on the south research campus;
9. Don Maletz was elected to
serve as Chair for 2006-2007.
RESEARCH COUNCIL
2005-2006 ANNUAL REPORT
Submitted by shivakumar raman, Chair
The members of the 2005-2006
Research Council, their departments and terms:
Shivakumar
Raman Industrial
Engineering 2003-06
Tomasz Przebinda Mathematics 2003-06
Eleanor Weinel Architecture 2003-06
Ralph Tanner Botany/Microbiology 2003-06
Andrew Strout* Music 2004-07
James Martin Educational
Psychology 2004-07
Robert Shalhope History 2004-07
Michael Bemben Health
& Exercise Science 2004-07
Caryn Vaughn
Hong Liu Electrical
and Computer Engineering 2005-08
Ron Schleifer English 2005-08
Peter Gross Journalism
& Mass Communication 2005-08
Chung Kao Physics
and Astronomy 2005-08
(* replaced Nancy Barry in February 2006)
Ex-Officio Members:
T.H.
Lee Williams Vice-President
for Research
Susan Wyatt Sedwick /Andrea
Deaton Office of
Research Services
Secretary:
Linda
Kilby
Professors Raman, Tanner,
Przebinda and Weinel are completing their terms at the end of the 2005-06
academic year. The 2006-2007 Chair of
the Research Council was elected at the April meeting and will be
The Faculty Senate has
appointed Professors Yiqi Luo, Ramkumar Parthasarathy, Traci Carte and Robert
Houser to the 2006-2009 terms. They will
replace Professors Tanner, Raman, Weinel and Przebinda respectively.
In accordance to the charge
of the Research Council (January 7, 2004), appointments to the Council did
include two members in each of the following six areas and one member from Fine
Arts:
a)
Engineering: Shivakumar Raman and Hong Liu
b)
Physical
Sciences: Chung Kao and Tomasz Przebinda
c)
Social Sciences
and Education: Michael Bemben and James
Martin
d)
Biological
Sciences: Caryn Vaughn and Ralph Tanner
e)
Humanities and
Arts: Robert Shalhope and Ron
Schleifer
f)
Other: Peter Gross and Eleanor Weinel
g)
Fine Arts: Andrew
Strout
Activities (2005-2006)
The primary activity of the
Research Council during the 2005-06 academic year was to advise and make recommendations
to the Vice-President for Research pertaining to expenditures and awards under
his administration, namely
a)
Small Grant
Awards (< $1,000)
b)
Reprint Awards
($100)
c)
Large Grants
(> $1,000 <$6,000)
d)
PI Investment
Awards (> $6,000 < $10,000)
e)
Junior Faculty
Fellowships ($6,000)
The first two awards are
decided by the VPR directly without Council involvement; the Council decided
that the time the Council would spend on reviewing these applications did not
justify the monetary resources involved.
A summary of the Council recommendations approved by the Vice-President
for Research for the period July 1, 2005 through April 30, 2006 is attached.
Also, the Council reviewed
nominations and made recommendations to the Provost for the George Lynn Cross
Research Professorship and the Henry Daniel Rinsland Memorial Award for
Excellence in Educational Research.
In addition, the Council:
Finally, the Research Council
would like to thank the Vice-President for Research T.H. Lee Williams for his
commitment to research and creative activities on this campus as evidenced by
his support of the Council’s activities.
We would also like to express our thanks to the Executive Directors of
the Office of Research Services, Susan Wyatt Sedwick and Andrea Deaton for
their support and assistance, and to Linda Kilby for her secretarial effort, as
well as her ability to gather data on RC activities when required.
Future Challenges
The role and scope of RC was
discussed at the April meeting from a strategic standpoint. The following points were discussed.
One suggestion to consider is the possibility of
external sponsorships of these awards (through corporate/foundation
donors). In that case, a
donor/foundation will provide a maximum of $25,000/faculty (to be disbursed
over 3 consecutive summers) to assistant professors to further their research,
and in addition they will be named that (titled) foundation’s Fellow. This helps in visibility and morale. They may be allowed to use the funds for
faculty/student salaries and/or for supplies/equipment. Currently, the Presidential Professorships
support Associate and Full Professors. This way Assistant Professors can
recognized/ groomed/ nurtured to excel. A total endowment of $10 Million (5%
interest) will be able to support about 20 faculty each year. Sub-committees
from the RC could lead efforts in proposal development, in conjunction with the
OU President’s office.
FY06 Summary of the Council
Recommendations Approved
By the Vice President for Research
Number Amount
a)
Small Grant Awards
Engineering 0 $
Physical Sciences
0
Social Sciences & Education
1 900
Biological Sciences 2 1,972
Humanities & Arts
8 7,345
Other 3 3,000
TOTAL 14 $ 13,217
b)
Large Grant Awards
Engineering 2 $ 7,222
Physical Sciences 0
Social Sciences & Education 0
Biological Sciences 3 16,900
Humanities & Arts 7 32,711
Other 0
TOTAL 12 $ 56,833
c) PI Research Investment
Engineering 1 $ 5,700
Physical Sciences 3 25,000
Social Sciences & Education 0
Biological Sciences 2 18,777
Other 0
TOTAL 6 $ 49,477
d) Junior Faculty Fellowships
Engineering 2 $ 12,000
Physical Sciences 4 24,000
Social Sciences & Education 2 12,000
Biological Sciences 1 6,000
Humanities & Arts 11 66,000
Other 2 12,000
TOTAL 22 $132,000
e) Reprint Awards 22 $
3,200
TOTAL GRANTS AWARDED 76 $
254,727