May 3, 2006

Tony Ahrens called the meeting to order at 1:45 p.m.

Present: Professors Ahrens, Becher, Bennett, Burke, Cochran, Durant, Fantie, Flug, Gill, Girard, Belson, Isaac, Jacoby, Loesberg, Mardirosian, Petit, Richardson, Riley, Rosenbloom, Samarsignhe, Sampson, Schaeff, Weaver, Dean Mardirosian, and Provost Broder. The following are new members: Brian Forst, Kiho Kim, Ira Klein, Mary Mintz, Andy Pike, Stephen Silvia, John Willoughby, Josette Wisman, and Brian Yates.

Welcome and Introduction, Tony Ahrens

There were introductions of both the old and new members. The January and February minutes were approved.

Report of the Provost, Ivy Broder

As of today, there were 1,482 freshman deposits which is the highest number in recent history. The quality is just slightly above where it was last year. In other words, for next year there is an increase in new freshman with no sacrifice in quality. During the summer, there is expected to be a melt of about 7% from the high number of deposits. There is a difference in the timing compared to previous years because now more deposits come electronically on the web with a credit card, thus making it more difficult to make exact year-to date comparisons since electronic deposits are faster. It is expected that the new fall freshman class will be around 1,400, meeting and probably exceeding the goal of 1,350.

The Washington Mentorship Program is at 129 deposits. There was an unprecedented deluge of deposits this year. With the summer melt, there should be a little more than 100 students in the program which will be four sections.

Transfer applications are still up about 3.5% over where they were at this time last year. Most transfer applications come in later in the summer. There is actually a hold currently on accepting transfers until it is more clear how many students can be admitted.

The Washington College of Law deposits have increased more than 20% for the JD program and 17.5% for the LLM program. Despite the fact that nationwide applications for JD programs have declined by 7% this year, the Washington College of Law’s JD applications have only dropped by 2%.

The Masters Program applications are down by about 3% year-to-date, admits are down by 7.5%, and deposits are down by 16%. There is a great deal of variation from school to school.
The quality of students is extremely high. Additionally, the Doctoral Program is doing about the same as last year.

Summer enrollments are at about 75% of the budgeted targets, compared to 85% of this time last year.

There were two winners of the Presidential Fellowship Awards, Lesley Gill (Anthropology) and Richard McCann (Literature). This completes one of the parts of the Fifteen-Points that was related to Faculty Scholarship. This scholarship was originally slated to be funded at $500,000 and funded externally. Instead, this money comes from the Board of Trustees and is base-budgeted at $100,000.

The American University has been named a Truman Honors Institution for 2006. There were several Truman Scholars and Finalists in the last ten years. There were three other universities named: MIT, Emory, and Seattle.

The University College has about 150 applications for the 200 spots being reserved. Most likely all students who apply will be accepted.

Questions and Answers

• What is the Washington Mentorship Program?

Rather than having a waiting list, over the past few years, AU has decided to accept students for the spring semester and these students have the option to come to school in the fall as full-time non-matriculating students. As such, they live on the Tenley campus, take a College Writing course, Washington Semester type seminars equivalant to General Education courses, and an elective, and they do an externship. They can carry over these credits when they begin their spring semester. There are additional programs by the Career Center, Residential Life, and others to help the students. The program acclimates these students, who were not admitted to the fall freshman class, to AU expectations and standards in preparation for their matriculation in the spring semester when more space is available.

• When is the deadline for university college applications?

The deadline is May 10. We are still expecting some applications. When the full number of applications does come in, the number of sections will then be allocated.

• Can you please explain about the yield?

Historically, AU’s yield rate has been low relative to other schools. This year AU has hired an educational consultant, Noel-Levitt. The consultant has given advice about repackaging the financial aid and looking at the “ability and willingness” of students to pay. As a result of these suggestions, AU has made some reallocations. Thus far, the gross numbers are better, but it’s too early to understand how the yield in various categories will end. Additionally, the consultants devised a scoring system for prospective students based on their level of interest, as expressed in the form in which they applied to AU, the number of times they visited AU, and their zip code. This scoring system will help us to be able to direct more recruiting resources to students who have a higher prospect score. Provost Broder has asked Cheryl Storie, from the Office of Enrollment, to do an analysis of different mechanisms by which we recruit students.

Changes in Academic Regulations Concerning FERPA, Linda Bolden-Pitcher,
University Registrar

The idea is that the university needs to bring the regulations up to date with what is already being done and to take into account some changes that have happened to FERPA. FERPA is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, and was designed to protect the privacy of education records. An education record is defined by FERPA as any record maintained by an institution that is directly related to a student. This record contains information by which a student can be personally identified, and includes: name, identification, address, parents’ name, and physical characteristics. The records can be from any media, such as: written, printed, tape, disc, or any electronic format. The records are located in any office on campus. There are a few exceptions as education records do not include law enforcement records, medical records, parental financial records, and employment records.

To remain in compliance with FERPA regulations, the university must notify students of their FERPA rights every year. This can be done by publishing information in the student handbook, university catalogue, and by sending students emails. The university must notify students of their right to inspect and review their education records, the right to request an amendment, the right to request a hearing, the right to request that the university not disclose those records, the right to request that the university does not disclose directory information. FERPA allows the disclosure of directory information to a third party if the students do not disallow this. Any officer from the university must obtain written consent from the student before disclosing any personal, identifiable information. The written consent must be signed and dated by the student, and must identify the specific records to be released, and exactly to whom it will be released.

The university takes very seriously its obligation to protect the confidentiality of student records. With these revised efforts, there can be extra training and increased awareness about FERPA.

Open Discussion

Professor Riley asked if students can give a blanket permission to have discussions about their grades. Ms. Bolden-Pitcher replied that students can provide a blanket permission.

Professor Isaac brought up the notion of sole possession. Specifically, would the grade that the teacher posts to the Registrar’s Office be considered sole possession or shared information? What the Registrar’s Office receives is just the grade, not the calculations.

Professor Weaver asked if records are kept or destroyed after a student graduates. Ms. Bolden-Pitcher replied that the records are destroyed after five years. The student would still need to provide a written request to the university to have the records released.

Professor Isaac mentioned again that he is quite concerned about the issue of sole possession. In support of this, Professor Loesberg said to Mr. Nathan Price that “you worded it badly and you’re missing something.” Mr. Price responded that definitely the words could be reworded and articulated better. Professor Fantie suggested that the right of students to view records is somehow getting mixed up with their access to records.

Ms. Becher brought up the issue of library records and whether parents of adult students can actually see what their children are checking out of the library. Mr. Price reminded everyone that the language is governed by the term “may disclose.”

Professor Schaeff’s committee supports the regulations the way they currently stand, and she suggests that the Senate could perhaps approve the document now and then at some later date the controversial wording in point A.03 (“a faculty member”) could be reworded.

Professor Ahrens asked if there is a motion to approve the amended change. The change was approved with a 19:1 in favor vote and no abstentions. Three words were crossed out on A.03, “a faculty member.”

Changes to Academic Regulations Concerning Financial Aid, Sarah Irvine Belson

Last September this committee was asked by the current Dean of Academic Affairs to align the current academic regulations to fit with changes that were made at the Graduate Awards. In other words, supervised learning components were written in to the academic regulations. This was an attempt to align the academic regulations with the current practice, which is not to connect the work component with the actual awards. The learning components were taken out throughout the document.

Open Discussion

Professor Fantie mentioned a concern about section on dissertation fellowships. He would like to drop the word “seminar” or add “seminar or research credits”. Ms. Mintz suggested that this issue be discussed at a later date by the committee.

Professor Cochran asked in which academic year does the summer fit? Ms. Ettle defined the academic year as beginning September 1 and ending August 31.

Professor Ahrens asked if there is a motion to approve the proposed change. The change was approved with a 19:0 in favor vote and no abstentions.

Proposed Changes in Regulations, Tony Ahrens

There is an issue of timing the Senate membership. The proposed change would be to push back the start of the new members from May 1 to June 1, and to likewise push back the start of the new chair of the Senate from June 1 to June 15.

Discussion took place regarding when the vice chair and chair should actually start since it is currently May 15. Many members feel that the new members should start in September with the new school year, while other feel that the new members should be in place in June over the summer.

Professor Ahrens decided to defer the discussion until the fall, where they could work on the exact wording for the proposed changes.

Report of the Chair, Tony Ahrens

Governance Update

The Board’s governance committee has been working on their proposal for governance reform since last April. They intend to discuss their proposal at their next Board meeting on May 18-19. Professors Ahrens and Silvia believe that their committee’s report has been highly influential in shaping the way the Board approaches Board reform, and their feedback in being taken into account. At the May meeting, the faculty will once again have representatives. The Senate’s governance committee will still exist and will be available to provide faculty voice as needed.

Talloires Declaration

Signing this document is a way that universities can publicly show that they are aware of and support environmental concerns. AU already does a very good job of recycling. Professor Ahrens suggested that the discussion be deferred until the fall.

Tony Ahrens Stepping Down

Professor Ahrens hopes that everything that was mentioned as agenda items back in September were taken care of, and if not, perhaps the new chair, Professor Loesberg can handle those items in the new year. Also, Professor Ahrens mentioned that he was honored to be the chair this past year and that he thanks everyone.

Professor Loesberg presented Professor Ahrens with two tickets for a Washington Nationals game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Professor Rosenbloom presented him with two baseball hats, one Nationals and one Cardinals.

New chair Professor Loesberg nominated Gary Weaver as the new vice chair for next year and everyone approved.

Open Discussion

Professor Willoughby brought up the issue of on-campus parking. He wondered also if the extra revenue gained from parking fees could be reinvested back to the faculty in the form of salary increases. Ms. Flug said that she will discuss this issue with her Budget and Benefits Committee.

Professor Schaeff asked whether the time of the Faculty Senate meeting could be changed to start at 2:15 rather than 1:45, and the Senate did agree to this change.

Ms. Vogelsong brought up to the Senate where do members see the Library heading and where should its energies be directed?

The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.