ANNUAL
REPORTS
2006-07
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 2007
Academic
Programs Council
2006-07 Annual
Report
Submitted
byEleanor 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 2006-2007 were
Rozmeri Basic (Art), Irene Karpiak (Educ. Leadership), Jack Kasulis
(Marketing), Kieran Mullen (Physics & Astronomy), Joz Raadschelders
(Political Science), Larry Rossow (Educ. Leadership), Laurie Scrivener (Library
and Information Studies), Gerard Walschap (Mathematics) 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. One student member of the council,
Asher Killian, was appointed by Student
Senate and he attended one meeting. We
believe the efficacy of assigning students to the Council might be reviewed since
they do not attend regularly.
Eleanor Weinel served as
chair of the Council, Laurie Scrivener served as chair of the Policy &
Program Subcommittee, and Rozmeri Basic served as chair of the Course &
Curriculum Subcommittee. The Council
met eight times during the academic year (September 5, October 3, November 7,
December 5, February 6, March 6, April 3 and May 1). The council regularly meets on the first
Wednesday of every month at 3:00 p.m. in Buchanan Hall. 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
|
2006-07 APC
Materials |
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Additions |
Deletions |
Modifications |
Total |
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Programs: |
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3 |
0 |
61 |
64 |
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Minors: |
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9 |
3 |
14 |
26 |
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Total of Programs/Minors |
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|
90 |
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Substantive |
13 |
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Non-Substantive |
44 |
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Administrative/Internal |
33 |
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Courses: |
|
283 |
16 |
172 |
471 |
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Designators: |
|
2 |
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2 |
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These figures compare to the
previous three years as follows
|
Action/Year |
2006-07 |
2005-06 |
2004-05 |
2003-04 |
|
Program Additions |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
|
Program Deletions |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
|
Program Modifications |
87 |
58 |
64 |
84 |
|
Course Additions and
Changes |
455 |
340 |
412 |
496 |
|
Course Deletions |
16 |
30 |
15 |
16 |
|
Designator
additions/changes |
2 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
While the number of requests
to be reviewed was down slightly, concerns about the scheduling of the
Council’s work continue. 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. We are considering a proposal
to stage submission deadlines for types of proposals in relation to the time
they need to go through the review process all the way to the regents.
There is still some concern
that colleges and departments be aware that course and program decisions are
driven by policy rather than procedure.
While advisors and administrative staff are important players in the
preparation of proposal, the contact person should always be the senior
academic responsible, for instance.
At the last meeting on May 3,
the Council elected Rozmeri Basic to serve as chair for the 2007-2008 academic
year. Chairs for Courses and Programs
Subcommittees will be determined at the September 2007 meeting.
ATHLETICS COUNCIL
2006-2007 ANNUAL REPORT
SUBMITTED BY RICHARD MARSHMENT, CHAIR
The
The four Subcommittees are (1) Governance and
Compliance (chaired by Professor Mike McInerney), (2) Academic Integrity &
Student Welfare (chaired by Professor Allen Knehans), (3) Fiscal Integrity and
Personnel (chaired by Eric Johnson, OUHSC staff representative, and (4) Gender
Equity and Sportsmanship (chaired by Professor Joanna Rapf).
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
2006-2007 year: September 19, 2006,
November 14, 2006, February 26, 2007, April 5, 2007, and June 13, 2007. 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 2006-2007 Athletics Council membership included:
Faculty Members:
Mike McInerney, Richard Marshment, Margaret Kelley, Ben Alpers, Allen
Knehans, Satish Kumar, Joanna Rapf, and Abimbola Asojo.
Staff Members:
Eric Johnson and Les Ellason.
Student Members:
Amanda Watson, Bethany Griffin, Scott Mason
Alumni: Sue
Lunsford, Jane Crain.
Ex Officio:
Joseph Castiglione (Athletic Director), Connie Dillon (Faculty Athletics
Representative to the NCAA)
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), Greg Phillips, Associate Athletic Director, 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 has implemented new rules which provide
incentives and penalties depending in part on the academic progress made by an
institution’s student athletes.
3. The Council developed and recommended
adoption of an Academic Improvement Plan
designed to raise academic performance for any sport which falls below the NCAA
defined “academic progress rate” of 0.925 (Attachment A). The Athletics Director raised several
concerns about the plan and suggested places where clarification was
warranted. As the plan is advisory to
the administration, the Council felt the Athletics Director could modify the
plan as he sees fit. The NCAA requires
member institutions to prepare academic improvement plans.
4. The budget for the Athletics Department has
increased from $28 millions in 1999 to more than $65 millions at the close of
fiscal year 2007. The Department
continues to repay the institutional loan at a faster rate than called for by
the loan schedule. The Council reviewed
and recommended approval of a FY 2008 budget for the Athletics Department of
$67,530,000, a projected increase of $2.2 millions from FY 2007 and an increase
of just under $4 millions from FY 2006.
A final budget cannot be prepared until year end totals are available.
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, a copy of which is attached to this report
(Attachment B). The major change in the
compliance program involved its organization.
The University created a new position, Executive Director of Compliance,
reporting to the University’s General Counsel rather than the Athletics
Director. This assures the complete
independence of the compliance program from the operation of the Athletics
Department. This change took effect in
December, 2006. The change reflects
recommended organizational practices rather than a response to problems
detected in the Athletics Department compliance program.
7. The Athletics Director reported at each
Council meeting on recruiting violations detected in the intercollegiate
athletics 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. The Council was briefed on the external audit
of the Department conducted by the accounting firm of Cole and Reed.
9. The Gender Equity and Sportsmanship Committee
reported that the Athletics Department continues to make good progress on
implementing its Gender Equity and Minority Issues Plans as set forth in the
NCAA certification report in 2004 (Attachment C).
10. The Council approved the annual report of the
Fiscal Integrity and Personnel subcommittee.
11. The Council selected student-athletes to
receive awards which were presented at the annual scholar-athlete breakfast
held on Tuesday, April 17, 2007.
12. The Council heard and endorsed the “Sooner
Oath” (Attachment D), developed by OU student athletes. All student athletes will be asked to recite
the oath at a special ceremony. The oath
embodies the values of OU’s intercollegiate Athletics program.
Copies of all Athletics Council agendas, handouts, and
meeting minutes can be obtained from the Athletics Department office or by
contacting Prof. Marshment.
(Copies of Attachments A, B, C and D are available in
the Faculty Senate office.)
BUDGET COUNCIL
2006-07 ANNUAL REPORT
SUBMITTED BY BRIAN GRADY, CHAIR
The 2006-2007 Budget Council meetings
were held 9/20/06, 10/25/06, 11/29/06, 12/20/06, 1/17/07, 2/28/07, and
4/18/07. 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
9/20/06 General discussion concerning speakers for the year, discussion of letter to President Boren to thank him for raises.
10/25/06 Julius Hilburn, Director of Human Resources (Topic: Health Care)
11/29/06 Mike Moorman, Director of Architectural and Engineering Services (Topic: Campus Construction)
12/20/06 Sul Lee, Dean: University Libraries (Topic: Library Operations and Funding)
1/17/07 Danny Hilliard, Director of Government Relations (Topic: Legislative Budgetary Outlook)
2/28/07 J.P. Audas, Vice-President of University Development (Topic: University Development)
4/18/07 Discussion of Letter for President Boren
e-mail Election of Donna Nelson of Chemistry and Biochemistry 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 was very positive about the large salary program of the past year. The Council is concerned about increasing costs of the University, including health care, building maintenance and library costs. High health care premiums for families especially are a concern. Development was identified as a means to help ameliorate these concerns and was of interest to the Council. The two most pressing concerns of the Council as communicated to President Boren were (1) the salary disparity between OU and other institutions which should be addressed by regular salary programs, and (2) health care costs.
As partial fulfillment of our charge to recommend to and advise the President on matters concerning fiscal policies and resources, the Council transmitted two memorandums to President Boren. The first thanked him for the salary program in FY07 (Appendix 1), while the second was our letter regarding the FY 07 budget (Appendix 2).
Appendix 1
October 30, 2006
David
Boren, President
Dear
President Boren:
The
purpose of this letter is to thank you for the overall 4% faculty and staff
salary program in FY 07.
At
the last session of the Budget Council for FY 06, it was thought by all
involved that the appropriation from the legislature would be such so as to
preclude a salary increase for faculty and staff at the
Thank
you once again, from the members of the Budget Council and all of the employees
at the
Sincerely,
Brian
Grady, Chair, on Behalf of the Budget Council
Members
of the Budget Council
Karen Antell, University Libraries
Hugh Benson, Philosophy
Cynthia Byars, Physical Plant
Brian Grady, Chemical, Biological & Materials
Engineering
Asher Killian, Law Student
Jeffrey Maiden, Educational Leadership & Policy
Studies
Kyung-Bai Lee, Mathematics
Donna Nelson, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Joann Nilsson, Education
Appendix 2
Memorandum
TO: President David L. Boren
FROM: Budget Council (Norman Campus) Brian P. Grady, 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 2008. Our primary concerns this year are two parts
of faculty/staff compensation: faculty/staff salaries, and healthcare
coverage/costs.
First, we appreciate your
successful efforts to secure a salary program for FY2007, as we expressed in
the letter dated October 30, 2006 sent to your office. 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 healthcare 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. Conversely, the rather large salary program
for FY 2007 was seen as a positive boost of faculty and staff morale all over
campus. We thank you for your efforts on
our behalf, and strongly support a salary program in FY 2008 as well.
The budget council believes
that the University’s budget program for FY 2008 should include an increase faculty
and staff salaries via a salary program.
As in FY2007, we recommend a combination of an across-the-board and
merit raises. We recognize that, due to
your hard work, things are getting better in the University with respect to
faculty and staff salaries. However, we
must continue to try and reach at least the Big 10/Big 12 average salary
package. Achieving this compensation
level will make it much easier to recruit and retain the hard-working faculty
and staff at OU, and better allow us to meet and exceed our shared goal of
making OU a place that truly deserves to be called a “
The other area of
faculty/staff compensation that the Budget Council has identified as being
critical is healthcare costs and coverage.
The Budget Council understands that healthcare costs for the University
have gone up for reasons largely outside of your control, but this issue is
critical for all faculty and staff, especially those with families.
Historically, the University has
tried many things to control cost at a minimum sacrifice of coverage, and we
commend the hard-working faculty and staff that have developed these
strategies. However, as many, including
yourself, have recognized, the time has come for an overall review of the
healthcare benefits program at the University.
The Budget Council strongly
supports the formation of the “Contribution Strategy and Health Insurance
Options Committee”. We also commend you
and your staff for selecting a diverse group of faculty and staff for the
committee. It is important that all
faculty and staff feel connected to the healthcare debate within the committee
and University and the decisions that will follow, to obtain the best possible
solution for the University. The Budget
Council eagerly awaits the recommendations of this committee, and has high
confidence that any changes to the University’s healthcare benefits will be
well thought out and represent the best balance of quality coverage and fiscal
responsibility.
The Budget Council has
identified healthcare and salaries as the two most important budget issues
facing the University; however, that does not mean other areas are not of
concern. Library funding, faculty
startup, academic maintenance and operation, and faculty-to-student ratio are
all concerns of the Budget Council.
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. Second, we encourage you to continue to focus
the University’s attention on faculty and staff compensation. We hope that you find our recommendations
useful.
The following are the
2006-2007 voting members of the Norman Campus Budget Council:
Karen
Antell, University Libraries
Hugh
Benson, Philosophy
Cynthia
Byars, Physical Plant
Brian
Grady (chair), Chemical, Biological & Materials Engineering
Asher
Killian, Law Student
Jeffrey
Maiden, Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
Kyung-Bai
Lee, Mathematics
Donna
Nelson, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Joann
Nilsson, Education
CONTINUING EDUCATION COUNCIL
2006-07 ANNUAL REPORT
SUBMITTED BY JOHN C. DUNCAN, JR., CHAIR
Composition of CE Council
Ex-officio, non-voting: Nancy
Mergler, T.H. Lee Williams and James Pappas
Faculty Senate (Norman)
Appointees: Teri Jo Murphy, Frank McQuarrie, Janet Croft and Al Schwarzkopf
Faculty Senate Appointee
(HSC): Eleni Tolma
CE&PS Staff Appointees: Randall
Doerneman, Ernest Clark and Susan Grossman
Presidential Appointees: John
C. Duncan (Chair) and Terri Shaft
Meetings during 2006-2007
- December 13: CE Council
- February 22: CE Council
- April 26: CE Council
- May 10: CE Council
- Meetings between James
Pappas and CE-Chair were held prior to each Council meeting.
The 2006–2007 academic year
for the CE Council has been a most invigorating year of not only engrossed,
deliberate discussion but also diversification of ideas and concepts as well as
reconsideration of some basic tenets of the purpose of continuing education and
OU’s role in the process. We also heard
various guest speakers on topics pertinent to our mission. Of prime importance is the encouragement of
faculty and departmental participation in CE programs.
Issues discussed during 2006-2007
1.
CCE is among the top 10
programs of this type in the country with a large range of different
activities. Its revenues support the
Norman campus significantly.
2.
International Programs
Other countries want American
style education and satellite campuses.
The possibility of exporting programs should be seriously
considered. Targeting the best students
and faculty for these programs could assist in building in-depth linkages.
3. Advanced
Programs (AP)
The military has reduced its
educational support system resulting in the loss of students. The military is shifting towards an interest
in online classes, which could impact the campus directly. However, Advanced Programs is only 25% of the
graduate student body and provides an opportunity for M&O and overload pay for
departments. Advanced Programs holds classes
on 31 military bases worldwide.
Currently, the program is struggling for several reasons: 18 month deployments make military personnel
hesitant to start a program, capped tuition assistance, de-emphasizing of
education and looking for low cost providers, the military pushing online
programs, and limited knowledgeable onsite ESOs promoting OU. Enrollment fell 10% this year and is expected
to continue, causing an estimated drop of 30-40% over the past four years. It is reaching a critical level, and shutting
down operations at several bases may be the only option. Once a theatre is abandoned, it is almost
cost-prohibitive to return. This makes
the decision to abandon a theatre quite permanent. Child care programs at military bases were
discussed. CCE with the
4. Online
Education
Extending the number of AP
students through the use of electronic classrooms is a possibility. Bandwidth issues and concerns with
synchronous vs. asynchronous classes pose difficulties. It is not very expensive to re-format a
course for an AP class. New technologies
resolved many past problems with online courses, but some professors may have
reservations about teaching online. A
survey needs to be done concerning professors’ needs. The
5. Certificate
Programs
The military is requesting
more certificate programs. This could be
accomplished by allowing certificates at the bachelor level (rather than a
minor). Faculty may also have interest
in these programs. This is an area that
CCE has much experience. Certification
programs could provide educational benefits to departments and are important in
the commercial world. Many schools are
utilizing certificate programs as a tool for enticing certificate-seeking
students to enter full degree programs.
Departments could collaborate to create interdisciplinary certificates.
6. Encouraging
Faculty/Departmental Participation in CE-Programs
While focusing on the
self-supporting nature of CCE, attempts are being made to increase the public
service of the institution. CCE is
looking at other faculty incentives beyond overload pay. Programs set up to accumulate research data
and provide greater access to research could encourage faculty participation
more effectively. CCE’s Outreach magazine should be used as a
marketing tool. Also, shifting the focus
towards showing what CCE can do for the faculty could be very beneficial to the
program. Applied grants, new audiences,
and community outreach activities at several forums, including faculty
luncheons and HSC outreach activities, could also encourage participation.
7. Guidelines for Program Priorities
Working with the
Institutional Review Board (IRB) to determine guidelines for research in
conferences and activities was suggested.
The guidelines could be in CCE’s next faculty newsletter.
8. Selection of Chair CE-Council 2007-2008
Dr. Frank McQuarrie was
unanimously elected Chairperson by the CE Council, and will begin his duties
this summer.
COUNCIL ON FACULTY AWARDS AND HONORS
2006-07 ANNUAL REPORT
SUBMITTED BY TONI L. RIPLEY, CHAIR
1.
The University
Council on Faculty Awards and Honors met on Tuesday, January 16, 2007, to
consider nominees and recommend recipients of awards. The following Council members attended the
meeting:
Toni
Ripley Pharmacy
Musharraf
Zaman Civil Engr.&
Envir. Science
Elena
Cuaderes Nursing
A.F.
Al-Assaf Health
Admin. & Policy
Alan
Roche Mathematics
Karen
Hayes-Thumann Fine Arts
The
following Council members were absent:
Boris
Apanasov Mathematics
Helen
Parker Alumnus
Linda McKinney Art
& Sciences
Steven Hoppes Allied
Health,
Amir Khaliq Health
Admin & Policy
Kenah Nyant Student
2.
The Council
considered an outstanding group of 51 nominees.
Our recommendations for the 2006-07 academic year are as follows (in
alphabetical order, by category):
David
Ross Boyd Professorship. (3 Nominations
Received)
·
Michael Buchwald,
Drama, College of Fine Arts
·
James Schmidt,
Student Affairs,
·
James Tomasek,
Cell Biology,
General
Education Teaching Award. (1 Nomination Received)
Good
Teaching Award. (10 Nominations Received)
Regents’
Professorship. (2 Nominations Received)
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
Debbie Griggs by February 15, 2007.
4.
The Council
elected Professor Alan Roche, Department
of Mathematics,
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. The Council also
recommended that criteria for the awards be revised, refined, and updated.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL
2006-07 ANNUAL REPORT
SUBMITTED BY DON MALETZ, 2006-07 CHAIR, AND DARIN FOX, 2007-08 CHAIR
Dunn, A. Loraine (Education)
Fox, Darin (Law)
Maletz, Donald J., Chair
(Political Science)
Murphy, Teri J. (Mathematics)
Robbins, Sarah E. (Library)
Boles, Jeffrey (CCE Training
and
Carney, Cheryl L. (Industrial
Engineering)
Cook, Chris (Geography)
Sewell, Michael K.
(Information Technology)
None appointed
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 regularly from
September 2006 through April 2007.
Particularly helpful
throughout the year was the consistent support provided by Information
Technology. All meetings except one were attended either by Dennis Aebersold or
by his representative Loretta Early; for the one missed meeting, Eddie Huebsch
attended on their behalf. In addition, Matt Singleton from IT also attended
most meetings and frequently briefed the ITC on issues at hand.
1. Robert Kelly continued to
take responsibility for 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 full meeting minutes,
as well as all current information technology policies. It provides a thorough
overview of ITC activities and is generally quite up-to-date.
2. Noted by the ITC with
appreciation: Computerworld recently
listed Dennis Aebersold among the country’s “Premier 100 Information Technology
Leaders” and called OU’s IT department one of the “100 Best Places to Work in
2006.” PC Magazine and the Princeton Review listed OU as one of the
“top 10 Wired Colleges” in the nation.
3. The ITC received reports
at each meeting about the gradual expansion of the wireless coverage on campus.
By the end of this academic year, about 65% of the campus was readily
accessible wirelessly and plans are in place for expansion of wireless access
in 07-08. IT reports that it consults regularly with UOSA representatives about
student preferences for future wireless development. Requests from students led
to emphasis on completing the wireless network throughout Bizzell Library in
06-07.
4. IT had agreed to replace
the social security digits from all of the OU 4x4 user IDs with the last four
digits of the Sooner ID. The conversion to new user IDs, originally promised
for summer 2006, was pushed back to summer 2007 after review of the
complexities of re-configuring both the account creation and the email systems.
At one meeting, ITC was informed that the technical plan for the conversion
project was ready. However, in April the ITC was informed that the project had
been put on hold at the direction of higher authority. As a fallback, ITC
discussed simplifying the process by which an individual could initiate the
change in his/her user ID. Change of the user ID is possible upon request, but
not necessarily convenient.
5. Major software
developments in 2006-2007 included the implementation of the Net Registration
program, requiring computer users to register with IT on their first login each
semester. The registration enables more accurate communication between IT and
computer owners in case of difficulties or hardware loss/theft. Secondly, IT is
testing Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7, as well as Office 2007. It does
not currently recommend use of
6. IT has purchased 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 discussed problems reported with the
student e-mail system this year. Students reported problems with the current
“mail.ou.edu” e-mail system being slow or unavailable at times. The high volume
of spam received by students was also discussed. IT plans to upgrade the student e-mail system
during the summer of 2007 to an Exchange system, like the e-mail system used by
most faculty and staff. IT reports that
this upgrade will improve the reliability and functionality of student e-mail.
It will also improve the spam filtering capability of student email. Students
will use a web-based interface for Exchange, similar to what most faculty use
to access e-mail remotely. IT plans to move student e-mail accounts to the new
Exchange system in August, prior to the start of the next school year.
8. Dennis Aebersold reported
at the final ITC meeting on numerous IT projects underway or planned for the
immediate future. These include: 1) a major up-grade of the student email
system, moving students to Exchange 2007; 2) a planned up-grade to D2L; 3)
enhancement of data storage and backup capability; 4) continuing the up-grade
of classroom technology; 5) strengthening the campus emergency communication
system; 6) refreshing student computer labs; 7) upgrading the campus network;
8) provision of IT services in all new construction.
9. Darin Fox was elected to
serve as ITC Chair for 2007-2008.
NORMAN RESEARCH COUNCIL
2006-2007
ANNUAL REPORT TO THE FACULTY SENATE
Submitted by
Caryn Vaughn, Chair
The members of the 2006-2007
Research Council, their departments and terms:
|
Caryn Vaughn |
|
2004-07 |
|
Andrew Strout |
Art |
2004-07 |
|
James Martin |
Educational Psychology |
2004-07 |
|
Robert Shalhope |
History |
2004-07 |
|
Michael Bemben |
Health & Exercise
Science |
2004-07 |
|
Edgar O’Rear |
Chemical, Biological &
Materials Science |
2005-08 |
|
Ron Schleifer |
English |
2005-08 |
|
Fred Beard |
Journalism & Mass
Communication |
2005-08 |
|
Vacant |
|
2005-08 |
|
Yiqi Luo |
Botany/Microbiology |
2006-09 |
|
Ramkumar Parthasarathy |
Aerospace & Mechanical
Engineering |
2006-09 |
|
Traci Carte |
Management Information
Systems |
2006-09 |
|
Robert Houser |
Chemistry/Biochemistry |
2006-09 |
Ex-Officio Members:
T.H.
Lee Williams, Vice-President for Research
Andrea Deaton, Office of Research Services
Secretary:
Linda
Kilby
Professors Bemben, Martin, Shalhope,
Strout and Vaughn, are completing their terms at the end of the 2006-07
academic year. The 2007-2008 Chair of
the Research Council was elected at the March meeting and will be Fred Beard,
Journalism and Mass Communication.
The Faculty Senate and
Presidential appointments will be forthcoming.
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: Ramkumar Parthasarathy and Edgar O’Rear.
b)
Physical
Sciences: (Vacant) and Robert Houser
c)
Social Sciences
and Education: Michael Bemben and James
Martin
d)
Biological
Sciences: Caryn Vaughn and Yiqi Luo
e)
Humanities and
Arts: Robert Shalhope and Ron Schleifer
f)
Other: Fred Beard and Traci Carte
g)
Fine Arts: Andrew
Strout
Activities
(2006-2007)
The primary activity of the
Research Council during the 2006-07 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, 2006 through March 31, 2007 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:
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 thank the Executive Director of the Office of Research Service,
Andrea Deaton, for her support and assistance, and Linda Kilby for her
secretarial effort, as well as her ability to gather data on RC activities when
required.
FY07 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
1 850
Biological Sciences 0
Humanities & Arts
4 3850
Other 1 980
TOTAL 6 $ 5,680
b)
Large Grant Awards
Engineering 3 $ 17,500
Physical Sciences 0
Social Sciences & Education 2 6,754
Biological Sciences 4 21,586
Humanities & Arts 8 33,489
Other 0
TOTAL 17 $ 79,329
c) PI Research Investment
Engineering 1 $ 8,648
Physical Sciences 1 9,790
Social Sciences & Education 0
Biological Sciences 1 2,710
Other 0
TOTAL 3 $ 21,148
d) Junior Faculty Fellowships
Engineering 5 $ 30,000
Physical Sciences 0
Social Sciences & Education 4 24,000
Biological Sciences 0
Humanities & Arts 12 72,000
Other 2 12,000
TOTAL 23 $138,000
e) Reprint Awards 33 $
4,552
TOTAL GRANTS AWARDED 82 $
248,709