Meeting called to order at 4:03pm.

Agenda approved as read.

Attending: Pelesko, Rocek, Meyer, Holloway, Hoffman, Miller, Busch (substitute for Busch), Bernstein, Tomioka, Cakoni (substitute for Cakoni), Burton, Rogers, Towns, Sun, Szabo, Coleman, Cherrin, Rosenberg, Braham, Watson, Browning, Schenkle, Cleveland, Seraphin, Fichtelberg, Neal, Ridge

Guests: Brian Ackerman (Breadth requirements), Meg Meiman, Lynnette Overby, Maria Palacas (Undergraduate Research and Service Learning)

Excused: Noble-Harvey, Wilson, Chen, Evenson, Davis, Ardis, Pika, Barrier, Doren

Absent: Weber, Cohen, Kaufman, Moxley, Palley, Rise, Gythfelt, Haas, DeLeon, Randolph, Ussery

Vacant: CIS

MINUTES

I. Minutes of the May 18, 2009 meeting approved as presented (link).

II. President's Remarks (John A. Pelesko)

a. Pelesko welcomed the 2009-10 senate, expressed appreciation for service, and introduced new Secretary.

b. Agenda preparation: the agenda will be distributed on the Tuesday prior to each meeting; please review all materials and motions carefully. It was emphasized that any faculty member in the college may ask for an item to be added to the agenda.

c. Consent agenda: several years ago we adopted the consent agenda to rapidly dispense with non-controversial business. Consent agendas will henceforth be the third item on the monthly agenda. An effort will be made by the committees to separate out issues or motions that might deserve discussion. Anyone can move to remove an item from the consent agenda; no second or vote required.

d. Open position: an At-large Senator is on sabbatical; with no runner up on the ballot Pelesko is soliciting nominations. There will be a special election at the October meeting to fill this position for 2009-2010.

e. Parliamentarian: Please send recommendations to Pelesko. This is not a voting member.

f. New initiative: At each meeting an invited speaker will present on topics of interest to the general faculty. Please send requests/recommendations to Pelesko.

III. Special Information Session: Dr. Lynette Overby, Meg Meiman, and Dr. Maria Palacas presented on the activities of Office of Undergraduate Research and Service Learning. (link)

IV. Interim Dean's Remarks (George Watson): Watson welcomed members to the new semester.

a. President Harker’s Town Hall: Watson noted the 80-minute dialogue with senior leadership of College on strategic milestones in the Path to Prominence. President Harker will hold an additional town hall open to all faculty at a future date TBA.

b. Review of the College of Arts & Sciences Strategic plan: (link) Watson described the College’s strategic initiatives as they align with the Path to Prominence and how they will shape hiring for the life of the Plan. Question: Dr. Rogers noted that this activity seems not to include core areas within certain disciplines. Watson explained that the intention is to hire in alignment with graduate programs; to promote interdisciplinarity; and in line with known strategic initiatives such as the new University of Delaware Energy Institute, the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance, and the Institute for Global Studies. He noted that 34 of 48 hires at the University for this year were in the College of Arts & Sciences. Searches authorized by CAS for the coming year are outlined in the presentation.

V. Committee Reports

a. Educational Affairs: Brian Ackerman presented the implementation policy (link) for inclusion on the revised CAS breadth list. The Educational Affairs committee is soliciting a complete list from each dept by October 31, 2009. This will allow Ed Affairs to review the list in time for spring 2010 pre-registration. The new philosophy for breadth courses is based on INCLUSION: breadth courses must be (1) open to all students including non-majors and (2) free of onerous pre-requisites that would have the effect of restricting access to majors and minors. Honors colloquia and study abroad courses need to be submitted separately, not in a list. The Ed Affairs committee recognizes that in the sciences especially, there are courses that have to be restricted to majors and other science majors for reasons of space or other resources. Question: Are there any non-onerous prerequisites? Answer: General overview, 100-level-type courses that are open to all students. Question: What about seniors who get to senior year and don’t have courses meeting the new requirements? Answer: This should be less likely as these new requirements will presumably be more open, but it could happen in any case.

VI. Old Business - none

VII. New Business - none

VIII. Announcements - none

IX. Meeting adjourned at 5:08pm