Associate Deans and Academic Support Group Meeting s1

MINUTES Associate Deans and Academic Support Group Meeting September 18, 2007 8:30 – 10:00 am CU 299

Present: Laura Goodwin, Sara Potter, Rene Galindo, Paul Rakowski, John Lanning, Tammy Stone, Clark Strickland, Frank Sanchez, JC Bosch, Linda Olson, Teri Burleson, Pam Erickson, Christine Stroup-Benham, Mary Coussons-Read, Linda deLeon, Manuel Rupe, Lissa Gallagher, Peggy Lore, Danielle Zieg, Cynthia Hashert, Dorothy Yates, Roxanne Byrne

The minutes from the 9.4.07 meeting were approved.

Announcements/Introductions: Frank distributed a flier announcing that Dr. Raymond Wlodkowski will be at LSC, 2nd floor, Terrace Room on Friday, September 21, 2007 from 9am to 3:30pm. He will to speak about “Creating Motivating Learning Environments for Student Engagement.” Lunch is provided.

Updates:  John Lanning encouraged the group to register for the 3rd Annual Undergraduate Symposium on-line at http://thunder1.cudenver.edu/ue/AS.htm. He asked the group to notify their staff and faculty to also register.

Calendar Items:  3rd Annual Undergraduate Experiences Symposium, Friday, October 5, 2007, St. Cajetan’s  Fall 2007 Open House, Sunday, 10/28/07, 11:30am-2:30pm, PE Events Center

Discussion Items: 1. DNC Plans and Opportunities for Students: (handout): Frank updated the group in place of Maria Guarjardo, who could not attend today’s meeting. Frank distributed a draft “Project Description and Submission Form” which was developed by the “Call to Democracy in Action” program. The form will be presented to the Mayor of Denver and approved by the DNC Education Subcommittee this week. The form invites students to submit a project, creative work, essay, etc., to be showcased during summer 2008, before and during the DNC. The projects should try to capture the democratic spirit. Frank asked that any comments about the form be sent to him and he will relay those comments to the DNC Education Subcommittee for consideration.

Frank also said that he and Laura are attending a campus-wide planning committee next week, to discuss the DNC logistics and likely impacts to the Auraria Campus. He asked that any questions or concerns be sent to him or Laura, and they will take the comments and questions to the meeting.

2. FERPA Exceptions & Student Mental Health Issues (handout): Manuel distributed an outline of the FERPA restrictions and protections (An electronic copy was sent to after the meeting.) Manuel explained the protections for students under FERPA, which limits disclosure of information from health, counseling, and educational records. He also discussed the circumstances under which information can be discussed or disclosed. The group raised several issues and questions:  How do the Early Alert notices for undergraduates relate to these issues?  What are the expectations of the Early Alert procedures once the alert is submitted?  Who assesses the components of the Early Alert procedures?  Why doesn’t the Early Alert apply to graduate students?  There needs to be training for faculty about how to respond and react to certain behaviors.  What are the university-wide policies and procedures for handling or assessing disruptive or concerning behaviors?  When faculty discuss students’ behaviors with their colleagues, they should focus on observations rather than labels.  What happens if the behaviors occur outside the classroom?  A task force, including representatives from Student Life, Faculty Development, Counseling Center and Associate Deans, is looking into these issues and preparing training information for faculty. Manuel said he is available for questions or concerns, from a legal standpoint.

Information Items:

 Laura announced that a memo will be sent today to Deans and Associate deans requesting information needed for four fall reports (sabbaticals, mentoring, post-tenure reviews, and non tenure-track faculty).  Clark reported that the software contract renewal process for CU is being slowed by legal issues  Teri Burleson announced that the new student portal will be launched at the end of September. She will be discussing this portal at the 10/2/07 meeting.