The Executive Committee of Academic Council met Tuesday for the first time since classes started this year.
After approving three sets of past minutes, the first major item on the agenda was to elect a chairperson and a vice chairperson for the executive committee. Jon Sticklen was re-elected as chairperson and Norm Abeles was re-elected as vice chairperson.
"I am very grateful to the committee for re-electing me," said Sticklen, a computer science and engineering associate professor. "There are some things I wanted to accomplish, like bringing the (faculty's) voice into everything more. This is a year to get things done, tie up ribbons and strings. It feels good this term."
Sticklen said he knows there is a lot to accomplish this year on the executive committee. Issues such as a new residential college on North campus, a gender identity committee, the Faculty Voice report and the five task forces that are currently being proposed all are items on his agenda this term.
Sticklen later brought up his concern that the availability of information via the Internet about Academic Governance is buried and needs to be more readily available. He shared with the executive committee some information he had gathered about access to Academic Governance Web sites at other Big Ten universities. Sticklen said he found that the link to Academic Governance Web sites at both Pennsylvania State University and Purdue University are directly on the universities' home pages, while at MSU it takes four mouse clicks to get to the information.
"I would like to see a change in the home page organization, so our Governance Web site is easier to find," Sticklen said.
At-large faculty committee member Dick Weber agreed and said MSU's Web page manager needs to "make the click chain and Governance more obvious" to students and faculty.
Provost Kim Wilcox said he would work on this task.
Toward the end of the meeting, members of the executive committee were presented with a timeline that was initially introduced at the Aug. 30 Faculty Council meeting that dealt with task force deadlines. After pushing all deadlines back one month at the Faculty Council meeting, the committee carefully looked at nominations deadlines and criteria for task force seats.
"When you come down to picking people, it will help to have some criteria," Academic Governance Secretary Jacqueline Wright said.
Weber said he felt there was no need to have specific criteria, but added that there should be a base rule for trying to "make it as representative as you can."
The deadline for faculty to nominate people to the task force positions is Oct. 7, before the next executive committee meeting on Oct. 11.
Additionally, agendas for the next Academic Council and Faculty Council meetings were approved. Some issues on the agendas for both groups include a proposal by Wilcox on the new residential college and approving the different task forces created as a result of the Faculty Voice report.
