ANNUAL REPORTS

 

 

2007-08

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS COUNCIL (Norman)

 

ATHLETICS COUNCIL (University)

 

BUDGET COUNCIL (Norman)

 

CAMPUS PLANNING COUNCIL (Norman) [inactive]

 

CONTINUING EDUCATION COUNCIL (University)

 

COUNCIL ON FACULTY AWARDS AND HONORS (University)

 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL (Norman)

 

RESEARCH COUNCIL (Norman)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distributed by the Faculty Senate Office

University of Oklahoma (Norman campus)

July 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Academic Programs Council (norman)

2007-08 Annual Report

Submitted by ROZMERI BASIC, Chair

 

The membership of the Academic Programs Council consists of nine faculty appointees and four ex-officio, non-voting members.  The faculty members for 2007-08 were Rozmeri Basic (Art and Art History), Jerry Crain (Electrical and Comp. Engineering), Craig Hofford (Health and Exercise Science), Irene Karpiak (Educ. Leadership), Ben Keppel (History), Kieran Mullen (Physics & Astronomy), Lawrence Rossow (Educ. Leadership), Laurie Scrivener (Library and Information Studies), Gerard Walschap (Mathematics).  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. 

 

Rozmeri Basic served as chair of the Council, Kieran Muller served as chair of the Policy & Program Subcommittee, and Gerard Walschap served as chair of the Course & Curriculum Subcommittee.  The council regularly meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 1:30 p.m. in Buchanan Hall.  At the last meeting on April 29, the Council elected Craig Hofford to serve as chair for the 2008-09 academic year.  Chairs for Courses and Programs Subcommittees will be determined at the September 2008 meeting.

 

The following table, prepared by Judy Cain, gives a numerical summary of the Council’s work for the current academic year.

 

Courses (C) and Programs (P) Reviewed 2007-08

 

Colleges

Sept. 2007

Oct. 2007

Nov. 2007

Dec. 2007

Feb. 2008

Mar. 2008

Apr. 2008

 

C

P

C

P

C

P

C

P

C

P

C

P

C

P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Academic Affairs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Architecture

2

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Arts & Sciences

6

 

2

2

 

 

16

3

40

7

51

4

83

25

Atmospheric & Geog. Sciences

1

2

1

 

 

 

 

 

1

2

 

 

 

 

Business

10

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

3

1

2

 

21

5

CCE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

1

 

 

Earth & Energy

4

 

 

 

4

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Education

7

2

1

 

 

 

 

 

13

1

2

 

1

3

Engineering

13

1

20

2

1

 

4

 

7

3

1

 

6

9

Fine Arts

 

 

10

1

14

 

8

1

9

3

6

 

3

1

Graduate

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journalism

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

17

 

13

1

Law

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60

 

 

 

Liberal Studies

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

University College/Special

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL REQUESTS

44

5

37

5

19

1

29

4

73

18

139

5

129

45

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL FOR ENTIRE YEAR

470

83

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

athletics Council

2007-08 Annual Report

Submitted by allen knehans, Chair

 

The University of Oklahoma Athletics Council is charged with advising the President and the Athletic Director on intercollegiate athletic policy matters regarding compliance, academics, business and budget, personnel, NCAA and Big Twelve Conference relations, athletic competition and student affairs. 

 

The four Subcommittees are (1) Governance and Compliance (chaired by Mr. Les Ellason), (2) Academic Integrity & Student Welfare (chaired by Professor Abi Asojo), (3) Fiscal Integrity and Personnel (chaired by Mr. Eric Johnson, OUHSC staff representative), and (4) Gender Equity and Sportsmanship (chaired by Professor Margaret Kelley).

 

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 regarding 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 2007-2008 year:  September 19, 2007, November 6, 2007, February 19, 2008, April 10, 2008, and June 12, 2008.  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 2007-2008 Athletics Council membership included:

 

Faculty Members:  Mike McInerney, Aimee Franklin, Margaret Kelley, Frances Ayres, Allen Knehans, Satish Kumar, Sridhar Radhakrishnan, and Abimbola Asojo.

 

Staff Members:  Eric Johnson and Les Ellason.

 

Student Members:  Emily Boehm, Ryan Huddleston, Jaclyn Stelzer.

 

Alumni:  Sue Lunsford, Jane Crain.

 

Ex Officio:  Joseph Castiglione (Athletic Director), Connie Dillon (Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA).

 

Athletics Department:  Jason Leonard (Executive Director, Athletics Compliance), 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).

 

Summary

 

The following summarizes the activities of the Athletics Council 2007-08.  

 

·        The Council approved the budget report which shows a 2009 FY budget of $71,500,000, an increase of 5.9 percent over the FY 2008 budget.  The report noted that the Athletics Department contributed over $800,000 to academic programming of the University, monies generated from the academic enhancement fee attached to football ticket sales and that Department continues to repay the institutional loan at a rate exceeding the loan schedule. A copy of the report is attached to this report (Attachment A). 

·        The Council was briefed on the external audit of the Athletics Department conducted by the CPA firm of Cole & Reed. 

·        The Council approved the gender equity report noting that the Department is making good progress toward meeting the goals outlined in this Gender Equity Plan.  The committee recommended an external review of the Minority issues plan.  (Attachment B).

·        The Council approved the Governance and Compliance subcommittee report which described enhancements in rules education and enhancements in monitoring. (Attachment C).

·        The Council approved the Academic Integrity Report which noted that graduation rates for the student body are slightly higher than for the student-athlete population.  The report also noted that academic services increased for students identified as high risk, such as students with diagnosed learning disabilities and specially admitted students.  Included in these services are tutoring and learning specialists. Finally, the report showed that the average GPA for student-athletes was about 2.91, similar to last year.  Women have a higher GPA than men. (Attachment D).

·        The Council reviewed a proposal submitted by the Academic Integrity subcommittee designed to meet the new NCAA guidelines for a four-year review of academic support services.  The Council received a report summarizing the findings of the Academic Integrity subcommittee’s review of tutorial support, learning specialist support, and writing and study skills center services.  (Attachment E).

·        The Council developed and recommended the adoption of Academic Improvement Plans for Men’s Baseball, Men’s Basketball, and Men’s Golf as required by the NCAA for any team with a four-year APR rate less than .925. It was determined that no athletic team was subject to historical penalties from the NCAA based on team Academic Progress Rates (APRs).  Historical penalties are a more severe penalty imposed when a team’s graduation rate and progress toward graduation fall below certain NCAA standards. It was determined that two teams were subject to contemporaneous penalties, which are less severe penalties imposed when a team’s graduation rate and progress toward graduation fall below certain NCAA standards.  The University appealed these penalties on the basis that problems were due primarily to coaching changes, and the NCAA found in favor of the University, so no team received any penalties based on APRs.

·        The Council selected student-athletes to receive awards which were presented at the annual scholar-athlete breakfast held on Tuesday, April 15, 2008.

·        The Athletic Director reported at each Council meeting on matters concerning the university’s athletic program including advising the Council of our successful NCAA infractions appeal and the progress of capital improvement projects including plans for a new indoor tennis facility.

·        A new intercollegiate sport, Women’s Rowing, has been adopted by the University, and a timeline was announced for implementation of the sport, with scholarships offered over a period of several years and competition projected to begin during the 08-09 academic year.

·        It was announced that the Athletics Department is one of only four D1-A programs that is fiscally self-sustaining.  Annual giving was reported at $17.4 million and OU ranked 8th out of over 200 programs in licensing revenue.

·        The Council allowed representatives from the University of Central Oklahoma to observe a meeting, as they are in the process of creating an Athletics Council.

 

(Copies of the attachments are available in the Faculty Senate office or from Prof. Knehans.)

 

 

 

 

BUDGET Council (norman)

2007-08 Annual Report

Submitted by KIMBALL A. MILTON, Chair

 

The 2007-8 Budget Council meetings were held on 9/11/07, 9/24/07, 10/9/07, 11/13/07, 2/12/08, 3/11/08, 4/8/08, and 5/13/08.  All the meetings were held in the Provost’s Conference Room, with the exception of the second September, the October and the December meetings, which took place in the Faculty Senate Conference Room.  For the Fall Semester the Chair was Donna Nelson, but she had to step down after she received a Fulbright Fellowship, so in January Kim Milton took over as Chair.  A letter was sent by Brian Grady to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate reporting activities of the Budget Council in Fall 2007 (see Appendix 1).

 

The following topics and presentations took place throughout the year:

 

9/11/07             Steve Bradford, Chair Faculty Senate.  Discussion topic: Final Report of Task Force on health benefits contribution strategy.  Special meeting on September 24 scheduled.

9/24/07             Robert Dauffenbach, Chair Faculty Welfare Committee.  Discussion topic: OU Health Contributions Strategies.  After this meeting, a letter was drafted to President Boren (see Appendix 2).

10/9/07             Discussion topics: Upcoming speakers; revenue and budget projections.

11/13/07            Anil Gollahali, Vice President for Technology Development.  Discussion topic: role, responsibility, and functions of Office of Technology Development.

12/11/07            Meeting cancelled due to lack of business

2/12/08             Clarke Stroud, Vice President for Student Affairs.  Discussion topic: Overview of activities of Student Affairs, including security issues.

3/11/08             Danny Hilliard was unable to come because of legislative discussion of the endowed chairs program.  Discussion topics: Contents of forthcoming letter to President Boren.  The Provost discussed the gloomy financial prognosis for the University next year.

4/8/08               Chris Kuwitzky, Associate Vice President, Administrative Affairs, and Linda Anderson, Director, Budget Office.  Discussion topics: Tuition caps and FY Budget Request.  Letter to President Boren approved (attached: See Appendix 3).

5/13/08             Cecelia Brown, Chair-Elect, Faculty Senate.  Discussion topics: budget, OU’s carbon footprint, wellness.  Kim Milton was re-elected as Chair of the Budget Council for 2008-9.

 

The major themes discussed by the Budget Council this year were health care contributions, the necessity for a salary program for 2008-9, and the importance of increased recycling and conservation efforts.  These themes were communicated to the President through the attached letters. 

 

Voting members of the Budget Council:

Melody Astani, Bursar’s Office (replaced Wanda Gress in January)

Brian Grady, Chemical, Biological & Materials Engineering

Kyung-Bai Lee, Mathematics

Cerry Leffler, Oklahoma Climatological Survey

Jeffrey Maiden, Educational Leadership & Policy Studies

Sue-Anna Miller, Physical Plant

Kimball Milton (chair), Physics and Astronomy

Donna Nelson, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Susan Shaughnessy, Drama

 

**********

Appendix I

    Date:  11/26/07

       To:  Executive Committee of Faculty Senate

    From:  Brian Grady, 2006-2007 Chair, substituting for 2007-2008 Chair Donna Nelson

       Re:  Budget Council Activities:  March 07 to November 07

 

Spring 07:

Final Letter to Pres. Boren in Spring of 07 stressed health care and salaries.  The former was a change; normally health care was not considered to be “equal” to salaries.  In the latter, we talked of how much we appreciated Pres. Boren’s work on the topic, and stressed how important a regular salary program is to the morale of the faculty.

 

Fall 07:

September 2007:  Steve Bradford, Faculty senate chair.  We mostly talked about Health care.

 

September 24, 2007:  Special Meeting of Budget Council to consider the Final Report of the Contribution Strategy and Health Insurance Options Committee dated September 6, 2007.  Bob Dauffenbach was guest.  The Budget Council sent a letter to President Boren which had the following main points

·         There was general agreement with the recommendations contained in the Final Report.

·         The Council supports a phased in approach over more than one year to allow people to plan for changes in the structure of health insurance.

·         The Council supports the building of formal incentives for healthy behaviors such as physical fitness and smoking cessation, especially to offset higher premiums that employees will be paying under the proposed plan.

·         The Council believes that a strong marketing campaign will be important so that people understand their new choices and the impacts of those choices both for them personally and for the University as a whole.

 

October 2007:  No guest, discussion of our upcoming speakers (Anil Gollahalli, Danny Hilliard, Clarke Stroud)

 

November 2007:  Anil Gollahalli: University Vice President for Technology Development

 

Voting Members of the Budget Council for the 2007-2008 term are

Cynthia Byars, Physical Plant

Donna Nelson, (chair) Chemistry & Biochemistry

Brian Grady, Chemical, Biological & Materials Engineering

Cerry Leffler, Oklahoma Climatological Survey

Jeffrey Maiden, Educational Leadership & Policy Studies

Kyung-Bai Lee, Mathematics

Kimball Milton, Physics and Astronomy

Sue-Anna Miller, Physical Plant

Wanda Gress, Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth

Susan Shaughnessy, Drama

 

**********

Appendix II

 

September 24, 2007

 

 

Dear President Boren,

 

At its last regular meeting, the Budget Council decided that it was desired to take a position on the Final Report of the Contribution Strategy and Health Insurance Options Committee dated September 6, 2007, and to provide comments to you. A special meeting of the Budget Council was called for September 24, for the purpose of allowing the Budget Council to develop its response to the Final Report and to construct comments to the President.  The Budget Council met today and determined that the following points should be included in our letter to the President:

 

    • There was general agreement with the recommendations contained in the Final Report.
    • The Council supports a phased in approach over more than one year to allow people to plan for changes in the structure of health insurance.
    • The Council supports the building of formal incentives for healthy behaviors such as physical fitness and smoking cessation, especially to offset higher premiums that employees will be paying under the proposed plan.
    • The Council believes that a strong marketing campaign will be important so that people understand their new choices and the impacts of those choices both for them personally and for the University as a whole.

 

Thanks for your consideration!

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Donna Nelson, Chair

Budget Council

 

**********

Appendix III

 

Memorandum

 

TO:                  President David L. Boren

 

FROM:             Budget Council (Norman Campus), Kimball A. Milton, chair

 

RE:                   FY2009 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 2009.  Our primary concerns this year continue to be two components of faculty/staff compensation: faculty/staff salaries, and healthcare coverage/costs.

 

First, we appreciate your successful efforts to secure a salary program for FY2008.  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 sizable health care costs, years without the salary programs (and even some with salary programs) amount to years of a negative salary growth, and result in decreased faculty and staff morale.  We thank you for your efforts on our behalf, and strongly support a salary program in FY2009 as well, even in view of the stringent financial circumstances.

 

The budget council believes that the University’s budget program for FY2009 should include an increase in faculty and staff salaries via a salary program.  Unlike in FY2008, we recommend a combination of across-the-board and merit raises. We recognize that, due to your hard work, things have been 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 “Center of Excellence.”  

 

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.  As noted in our letter to you dated September 24, 2007, the Budget Council strongly supports the Final Report of the “Contribution Strategy and Health Insurance Options Committee.”  We are pleased that you chose to follow the recommendation of the Budget Council and others to phase in the program over more than one year.  We remain concerned about coverage for retirees; it is particularly imperative that those existing employees for whom the university has made a commitment to provide retirement healthcare benefits not be subjected to an unexpected drop in this vital coverage.  We are looking forward to the new report of the Committee on the subject of retiree benefits.

 

We certainly appreciate the budget difficulties anticipated in FY2009.  Since it appears impossible to initiate programs that involve significant financial resources, we would like to suggest that the university enhance its existing programs to reduce energy expenditures and reduce OU’s carbon footprint.  Not only is this imperative from the point of view of our stewardship of the earth, but it is likely that significant cost savings can  be identified through more conscious and efficient use of energy and enhanced recycling efforts.  Additionally, we recommend that the University move toward sustainability wherever possible; where resources continue to be limited, it only makes sense that we encourage the wise use of those resources at all levels of the University.  We believe that faculty, staff and students are becoming increasingly aware of resource constraints, and now is the time to both implement and re-emphasize existing programs where resource conservation is a central idea.

 

The Budget Council has identified healthcare and salaries as the two most important budget issues facing the University; however, that does not preclude other areas are of concern.  Beyond the environmental initiative suggested in the previous paragraph, library funding, faculty startup, academic maintenance and operation, maintenance of our existing facilities, and faculty-to-student ratio are all concerns of the Budget Council. 

 

In conclusion, we want to emphasize three 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.  Third, we encourage a revitalization of conservation efforts.  We hope that you find our recommendations useful.

 

The following are the 2007-2008 voting members of the Norman Campus Budget Council:

 

Melody Astani, Bursar’s Office

Brian Grady, Chemical, Biological & Materials Engineering

Kyung-Bai Lee, Mathematics

Cerry Leffler, Oklahoma Climatological Survey

Jeffrey Maiden, Educational Leadership & Policy Studies

Sue-Anna Miller, Physical Plant

Kimball Milton (chair), Physics and Astronomy

Donna Nelson, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Susan Shaughnessy, Drama

 

 

 

 

continuing education Council

2007-08 Annual Report

Submitted by frank o. mcQUARRIE, JR., Chair

 

 

Composition of the Continuing Education Council

·      Ex-officio, non-voting: Nancy Mergler, T.H. Lee Williams and James Pappas

·      Faculty Senate (Norman) Appointees: Janet Croft, Frank McQuarrie (chair), Al Schwarzkopf, and Linda Wallace

·      Faculty Senate Appointee (HSC): Eleni Tolma

·      CE&PS Staff Appointees: Susan Grossman, Pamela Lewis, and Mark Pelfrey

·      Presidential Appointees: Kirby Gilliland, and Dan O’Hair

 

2007-2008 Meeting Schedule

·      October 17, 2007: CE Council

·      December 14, 2007: CE Council

·      February 14, 2008: CE Council

·      April 21, 2008: CE Council

·      Meetings between James Pappas and CE-Chair are held prior to each Council meeting.

 

2007-08 Discussion Topics

 

1.       Linkages between and among Continuing Education and the Health Sciences Center and the Norman and Tulsa Campuses.  (Additional information regarding these discussion topics is available in the minutes of the Continuing Education Council meetings or the Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 Continuing Education Reports Submitted to the Faculty Senate Large Executive Committee.)

a.       Eleni Tolma, Health Sciences Center representative, presented the information she collected regarding continuing education efforts through the Health Sciences Center colleges.

b.       Jim Pappas discussed the existing support that Continuing Education provides for Norman Campus research, teaching, and service.

c.       Jim Pappas reviewed the screening tool that is used by Continuing Education to determine if the projects qualified as research.

d.       Janet Croft, Norman campus appointed representative, presented how the services and the assets of Bizzell Library support the research, teaching and services of all OU campuses.

e.       Mary John O’Hair, Vice Provost for School and Community Partnerships, presented how the OU Carnegie Engagement Efforts would benefit Continuing Education and the Norman, Health Sciences, and Tulsa Campuses.

 

2.       China Initiative.  Jim Pappas and Richard Little recently traveled to China and met with nine institutions to talk about developing cooperative programs.  These programs will be cooperative programs between (1) China and OU Continuing Education and (2) Continuing Education and colleges, departments, and programs at OU.  Examples of these linkages include:

a.       Political Science and International and Area Studies

b.       College of Public Health and College of Medicine

c.       College of Education, Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum

d.       College of Earth and Energy

e.       Price College of Business

f.        Regional and City Planning.

g.       College of Liberal Studies

h.       Center for English as a Second Language

CE already has a joint project with Arts and Sciences for the Confucius Institute.  Dr. Pappas stated that by the end of this year we will have at least 3-5 “China” programs functioning.

 

3.       Status of Continuing Education.  At two meeting during 2007-08 and overview of the status of Continuing Education was presented.  Listed below are comparative data from FY 1987 to FY 2007.

 

                                                               CE & PS (FY87)     University Outreach (FY07)

a.          Total Revenues                                         $27,000,000                             $111,000,000

b.          FAA Grant Activity                                   $16,000,000                               $18,000,000

c.          Non-FAA Grant Activity                               1,700,000                                 55,431,604

d.          Non-Grant Activity                                       9,000,000                                 39,000,000

e.          Number of Employees                                           676                                        1,245

f.           Credit Enrollments                                            10,944                                       24,118

g.          Non-Credit Enrollments                                     35,034                                     644,911

h.          OCCE Conferences                                              580                                           422

 

4.       Professional Development.  Two Continuing Education professional development activities were discussed by the Council.

a.       Engaged Institutions. The Continuing Education Council, selected Continuing Education staff members, and representatives from the Norman Campus were invited to an overview presentation of the concept of engaged institutions.  The presenter was Hiram Fitzgerald, Associate Provost for Engagement, Michigan State University.
The concept of engaged institutions is based on the findings a Kellogg Foundation study.  One conclusion of the study was that public universities should reestablish their mission of reaching out to communities, and these efforts should be incorporated in the traditional areas of teaching, research and service.
Based on the discussion of the Advisory Council Lee Williams and Jim Pappas agreed that when Hiram Fitzgerald in invited back to work with Continuing Education it might be appropriate for him to meet with groups such as the Research Cabinet, the President’s Staff, and deans and chairs.

b.       A New Generation of Learning:  Diverse Students, Emerging Technologies, and Sustainability Challenge.  Two guest speakers were invited to meet with the Continuing education staff.  One of the speakers focused on customer service.  The second speaker, Mark Milliron, a technology futurist, talked about technology’s future and the significant generational difference. 

 

 

 

 

COUNCIL ON FACULTY AWARDS AND HONORS

2007-08 ANNUAL REPORT

SUBMITTED BY ALAN ROCHE, CHAIR

 

1.       The University Council on Faculty Awards and Honors met on the Norman Campus on Thursday, January 31, 2008 to discuss and finalize recommendations for recipients of awards.  The Council members had earlier submitted votes on nominees for the various awards and these formed the basis for the discussion at the January meeting. The following Council members attended:

 

Alan Roche

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Mathematics

Karen Hayes-Thumann

College of Fine Arts

School of Art and Art History

S. Lakshmivarahan

College of Engineering

School of Computer Science

Amir Khaliq

College of Public Health

Dept. of Health Admin. and Policy

Michael Pullin

Alumnus

 

 

     The following Council members were absent:

 

Linda McKinney

College of Education

Instr. Leadership and Acad. Curr.

Fred Beard

College of Journalism

 

Ari Mwachofi

College of Public Health

Dept. of Health Admin. and Policy

Toni Ripley

College of Pharmacy

Department of Pharmacy

Steve Hoppes

College of Allied Health

Department of Rehab. Sciences

Rebecca Phillips

College of Nursing

 

 

2.       The Council considered an outstanding group of 46 nominees.  Our recommendations for the 2007-2008 academic year are as follows (in alphabetical order, by category.):

 

David Ross Boyd Professorship. (5 Nominees)

·         Chittur A. Sivaram, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine

·         Don Wyckoff, Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences

 

General Education Teaching Award. (0 Nominees)

 

Good Teaching Award. (9 Nominees)

  • Bruce Mason, Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Andy Miller, Department of Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences

 

Merrick Teaching Award. (2 Nominees)

  • Katheleen Guzman, College of Law

 

Regents’ Professorship. (3 Nominees)

The Committee recommended the following faculty members for Regents’ Professorships:

  • A.F. Al-Assaf, Department of Health Administration and Policy, College of Public Health
  • Eliot Schechter, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine
  • Mary Jo Watson, School of Art and Art History, Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts

 

Regents’ Award for Superior Professional and University Service. (4 Nominees)

  • Kenneth E. Blick, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine
  • Andrew Strout, School of Art and Art History, Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts

 

Regents’ Award for Superior Research and Creative Activity. (12 Nominees)

  • Hélène Carabin, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, College of Public Health
  • Michael Richman, School of Meteorology, College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences
  • Terry Rugeley, Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences

 

Regents’ Award for Superior Teaching. (11 Nominees)

  • Kar-Ming Fung, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine
  • Roberta Magnusson, Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Kyran D. J. Mish, School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, College of Engineering
  • Zahed Siddique, School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering

 

3.       The position of Council Chair alternates between the Norman and Health Sciences Center Campuses.  Ordinarily, the Chair for the upcoming year is selected by Council members present at the annual meeting.  This year, however, low attendance from the Health Sciences Center (due in part to inclement weather) prevented us from following this practice. The Council has therefore requested that the Provosts of the Norman Campus and the Health Sciences Center Campus select the Chair for 2008-2009.

 

 

 

 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Council (norman)

2007-08 Annual Report

Submitted by DARIN FOX, Chair

 

Faculty Representatives:

• A. Loraine Dunn, Instr. Lead. & Acad.

• Darin Fox, Chair, Law

• Suleyman Karabuk, Industrial Engineering

• Teri Jo Murphy, Mathematics

• Sarah Robbins, University Libraries

 

Staff Representatives:

• Jeff Boles, CCE

• Chris Cook, Geography

• Colin Fitzsimons, Office of Technology Development

 

Ex Officio:

• Dennis Aebersold, CIO and VP for Information Technology

• Edward Baron, for the VP for Research

• Nicholas Hathaway, for the President

• Robert Kelly, for the Senior Vice President & Provost

• Burr Millsap, for VP for Administrative Affairs

 

The Chair would first like to thank Information Technology for providing valuable information to the Council during the year. In particular, the Chair would like to thank Vice-President Dennis Aebersold, Nicholas Key, Matt Singleton, and Mike Sewell for their ongoing support for and participation in Council meetings and discussions. The Chair would also like to thank Sarah Robbins for taking minutes this year and Robert Kelly for his continued willingness to maintain and develop the ITC web site which provides a record of past ITC activities through minutes, annual reports, and membership rosters. Finally, the Chair would like to thank the members of the Council for their active involvement in Council discussions and investigations during the year.

 

Projects and Issues

 

1.  4x4 Project: Information Technology (IT) plans to remove the last four digits of the Social Security number from all 4x4 logins before the end of June 2008. The SSN numbers will be replaced with the last four digits of the Sooner ID. IT conducted two tests in April in preparation for this project, and IT will begin notifying affected users in the coming weeks. All 4x4s created since 2005 have used the Sooner ID numbers in the 4x4, not the Social Security numbers. So, not all users will be affected by this switch.  The Faculty Senate passed a resolution in June of 2007 calling for the removal of the SSN numbers by June 2008.

 

2. Exchange Migration: In August of 2007, IT began migrating all users onto a new email system, called Microsoft Exchange. The previous email system, by Sun Microsystems, experienced some reliability issues and lacked the functionality, especially spam control functionality, that Exchange possesses. All users have now been migrated to the new system, and ITC notes that the new system has been very reliable this year.

 

3.  Web-Based Calendar and Portal System: ITC received a report from Melanee Hamilton of the Web Communications Office in November. Ms. Hamilton reported that her office is developing a new portal system which will provide a single sign-on option for students, faculty, and staff to access the various university systems (enroll, pay, etc.). The portal will also integrate email, calendaring, and group information, which can be customized by the individual user based on their particular interests. Ms. Hamilton also reported that a web-based calendar will be available to departments in the summer of 2008, and it will be accessible by the university community at the start of the fall 2008 semester. This new calendar system will allow individual departments to maintain event calendars and automatically “push” events up to the larger College-wide and University-wide event calendars for review.

 

4.  Mass E-Mail and Spam Reduction: ITC reviewed the various options for sending mass email on campus. Currently, mechanisms exist for sending mass emails to the entire University and to the staff and students specifically. The forthcoming portal system, mentioned above, is reported to create additional options for communicating with specific groups on campus. IT also reports that it will be replacing the current spam filtering technology with a new technology which will allow for more aggressive filtering of spam at the option of the individual user. Users will have the ability to reject email that is flagged as spam, instead of directing it to a junk e-mail folder.

 

5.  Wireless Networking: IT reported that wireless access is being added to all classroom renovations and new construction. IT reports that approximately 75% of the campus is covered by wireless service now. Recent wireless installations include Gittinger, Kaufman, and Dale Hall 112/116. Wireless is planned for Dale Hall 107/122/125/200, Physical Sciences 100/102, and Burton Hall 201/205/210 and common areas.

 

6.  Information Technology Web Site: IT reported that the IT web site will be redesigned for fall of 2008. Currently, some support information is found in the IT knowledgebase and other information is found on IT web pages. The new web site will allow users to each both of these sources of information at once, and support information will be targeted to specific user groups, like faculty, staff, and students.

 

7.  Information Security Training Software: IT has purchased a new software package by Symantec designed to train users on information security. The software is primarily directed at faculty and staff who handle sensitive information. IT plans to communicate the availability of this software to Deans, Directors, and Department Heads. This software may be accessed through learn.ou.edu.

 

8.  Data Wiping Policy: At the April meeting, ITC reviewed a new policy being developed by Purchasing and IT regarding the disposal of surplus computer equipment. The new policy is designed to ensure that all University data is removed from surplus systems. Under the new policy, IT will begin offering a data wiping service to remove data from obsolete equipment, and this service will be free for equipment that is six years old or less. Members of the Council expressed some concerns about the potential cost of wiping data from equipment that is older than six years. ITC is considering another meeting to discuss the policy further.

 

9.  Election of New Chair: By a unanimous vote of the Council members, Sarah Robbins was elected to serve as Chair of the Council in 2008-2009.

 

 

 

 

RESEARCH COUNCIL (NORMAN)

2007-08 Annual Report

Submitted by Fred Beard, Chair

 

Membership

 

The members of the 2007-2008 Research Council, their departments and terms:

 

 

Fred Beard

Journalism & Mass Communication

2005-08

 

Edgar O’Rear

Chemical, Biological & Materials Science

2005-08

 

Ron Schleifer

English

2005-08

 

Kimball Milton

Physics & Astronomy

2005-08

 

Robert Houser

Chemistry/Biochemistry

2006-09

 

Yiqi Luo

Botany/Microbiology

2006-09

 

Ramkumar Parthasarathy

Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering

2006-09

 

Suliman Hawamdeh

Library & Information Studies

2006-09

 

Mary Dinger

Health & Exercise Science

2007-10

 

Sanna Pederson

Music

2007-10

 

Joe Rodgers

Psychology

2007-10

 

Melissa Stockdale

History

2007-10

 

Laurie Vitt

SNOMNH

2007-10

 

Ex-Officio Members:

 

T.H. Lee Williams, Vice-President for Research

            Andrea Deaton, Office of Research Services

 

Secretary:

 

Linda Kilby

 

Professors Hawamdeh and Milton joined the council in January 2008 to complete the terms for Traci Carte and Richard Henry.

 

Professors Beard, Milton, O’Rear, and Schleifer, are completing their terms at the end of the 2007-08 academic year.  The 2008-2009 Chair of the Research Council was elected at the April meeting and will be Dr. Robert Houser, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

 

The Faculty Senate has appointed Karen Antell, University Libraries and Joanna Rapf, English to

2008-2011 terms.  They will replace Drs. Fred Beard and Ron Schleifer respectively.

 

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:  Kimball Milton and Robert Houser

c)                  Social Sciences and Education:  Mary Dinger and Joe Rodgers

d)                  Biological Sciences:  Laurie Vitt and Yiqi Luo

e)                  Humanities and Arts:  Melissa Stockdale and Ron Schleifer    

f)                   Other:  Fred Beard and Suliman Hawamdeh 

g)                  Fine Arts: Sanna Pederson 

 

 

Activities (2007-2008)

 

The primary activity of the Research Council during the 2007-08 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, 2007 through May 1, 2008, 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 had a yearly appropriation of $130,000 plus $12,885 of supplementary funds ($2,237 in FYO7 Carryforward, $6,000 in unused Junior Faculty Fellowship funds, and $4,648 in Reprint Carryforward) for spending in FY 2008. Awards were made in three categories using this appropriation: under 1,000 (handled by the VPRA); over 1,000 up to $6,000 (evaluated by RC); and PI research investment projects (evaluated by RC). The total commitments for FY 2008 were $276,013 based on actual expenditures. Fifteen (15) awards were made in the over 1000 category and five (5) more in the PI research investment program.
  • The Council funded twenty-five (25) Junior Faculty Fellowships for a total of $150,000. All applicants received feedback from Council reviewers for the first time this year.
  • Prior to FY2008, the Council exhausted its budget before the end of the year. In 2006-2007, the Council exhausted its budget by March, the earliest month in which this had occurred. This did not occur this year. The surplus this year likely occurred as a result of the increase of $20,000 in the RC budget. The increase was at least partly in response to the expressed concerns of last year’s Council that the RC budget had remained static for a number of years.
  • The Council chair spoke at the new faculty orientation organized by ORA about the Council, its activities, and internal funding opportunities for faculty.
  • At meetings throughout the Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 semesters, the Council reviewed the set of internal funding opportunities available to faculty. The review was conducted at the recommendation of the new Advisory Committee for the Norman Campus Vice President for Research (AC/VPR). As a result of the review, recommendations were made to the Vice-President for Research T.H. Lee Williams that the upper limit of the Small Grant Program be increased from $1,000 to $1,200 and that the upper limit for the Large Grant Program be increased from $6,000 to $7,500.
  • The Council also discussed whether ranked, renewable-term faculty members should be eligible to participate in the Junior Faculty Research Program. The Council recommended to Dean Williams that renewable term faculty should continue to be ineligible for the Junior Faculty Grant Program because it would be inconsistent with the stated goal of the program: “The Junior Faculty Research program is designed to help new tenure-track faculty members establish their research/creative activity and make progress to tenure by providing support in areas critical to the development of their programs.” Council members noted in their discussion that renewable-term faculty members are eligible for the other Council grant programs.
  • The Council recommended to Dean Williams that comments from the Research Council reviews and recommendations on non-funded grant applications no longer be included in the letters sent to unit heads. Applicants will continue to receive the comments.

           

On behalf of the Research Council, the Chair would like to thank Vice-President for Research T.H. Lee Williams for his enthusiastic, consistent and creative support of the OU faculty in their efforts to produce quality research and creative activity. The Council also thanks Executive Director Andrea Deaton, Office of Research Service, for her efforts on behalf of the Council and faculty, and Linda Kilby, for the many contributions she made to the smooth, efficient and successful functioning of the Council this year.

 

 

FY08 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             0                         

  Biological Sciences                            0                         

  Humanities & Arts                             12                        10,511

  Other                                                   0                          

  TOTAL                                              12                    $  10,511

 

b)                  Large Grant Awards                                                   

              Engineering                                         2                    $   8,271

              Physical Sciences                              0                               

              Social Sciences & Education             1                         5,876

              Biological Sciences                            1                         6,000

              Humanities & Arts                             10                       46,960

              Other                                                   1                         3,000  

              TOTAL                                              15                    $  70,107

 

c)         PI Research Investment                                            

              Engineering                                         1                    $    6,375

              Physical Sciences                              1                        10,000

              Social Sciences & Education             0                         

              Biological Sciences                            3                         24,030

              Other                                                   0                   

              TOTAL                                                5                    $   40,405 

 

d)         Junior Faculty Fellowships                                         

              Engineering                                         2                    $  12,000

              Physical Sciences                              2                        12,000

              Social Sciences & Education             6                        36,000

              Biological Sciences                            0                           

              Humanities & Arts                             15                        90,000

              Other                                                   0                         

              TOTAL                                              25                   $150,000

 

e)         Reprint Awards                                                           $    4,990

 

            TOTAL GRANTS AWARDED                       57                    $ 276,013