The meeting was called to order at 4:10 PM by John Kolena. Guest in attendance included Steve Warshaw, Joan Barber, Marlene Blakney, and student Raoul Clements.

Announcements:Diane Futrelle stated that the Library usually opens on the Sunday evening following an extended weekend, but that often no one uses the facility. She asked if anyone on the faculty would be upset if they stopped this practice and reopened at 8:00 AM on the Monday following. There was no objection to doing this.

Dan Teague, our Faculty/SLI Liaison, announced that this Thursday is the SLI Night Off and that volunteers are needed to staff the residence halls while the SLI staff goes out to eat. He also asked that if there are activities on campus, especially on weekends, that we let the SLI staff know.

Steve Warshaw announced that faculty who are on one year contracts got a letter in their mailbox by mistake concerning their intention to return next year. These letters are not normally sent to teachers on one year contracts. These teachers should ignore these letters.

John Woodmansee, one of the faculty members on the Curriculum Council, led a discussion on the latest mini-term proposal. He first reminded us of the results of the Curriculum Council Survey which was taken on November 4^th. The results of this survey were: (1) For a 2-week January Term, 21 for, 19 against; for a 1 ½-week March term, 22 for, 18 against. The third question, which asked which we preferred resulted in 13 for January, 9 for March, and 16 for neither.

John presented the most resent Curriculum Council proposal for a vote. This proposal was identical to the previous proposal, except for the placement (March instead of January) and length (8 days instead of 2 weeks). John stated some of the reasons the Curriculum Council decided on this configuration. There was no clear mandate for either date in the last survey, so the Curriculum Council considered March to be less disruptive to the academic schedule. They also felt that juniors would have a hard time organizing a project early in the fall semester for a January term. Also they felt that the weather in March would be better for field work.

In the recent Speak Out students expressed the desire to keep as many independent projects as possible. The Curriculum Council has not really addressed implementation issues such as the number of mini-courses or the percent of independent projects. At this point we are being asked to vote with incomplete information, however, the Curriculum Council would like a final vote on this issue before making their recommendation to the Cabinet. It was noted that the previous proposal allowed for the possibility of sabbaticals, but these would be essentially ruled out if we go to the shorter March schedule.

A vote for the proposal on the floor would be a vote to support the March, 8 day mini-term. Paper ballots were requested and the vote was 19 in favor and 24 opposed.

A second motion was made to go back to the current SPW format and the motion made at the last meeting. This would keep the term to 6 days and allow for both mini-courses and some independent projects. The vote, again on paper ballots, was 25 for and 16 against.

A third motion was made to have a two-week January term. This vote, again by secret ballot, was 20 for and 20 against.

John Kolena mentioned that he was sure that the Curriculum Council would have liked a definitive vote on this issue. It was pointed out that two of the votes exceeded a three-fifths majority.

A final motion was made to have no SPW or mini-term. This vote failed by a vote of 11 for, 25 against and 2 abstentions.

Dot Doyle, our liaison to the Educational Policies and Practices Committee of the Board of Trustees, mentioned that this committee would be taking up the smoking policy proposal at their next meeting. She felt that it was important for the faculty to discuss this issue prior to their meeting. Dr. Barber said that with so little time left in this meeting for any discussion, that it might be better to wait until the next meeting of the Faculty Council, when she would have more information on the proposal and on it’s implementation. Ms. Doyle asked that the rationale behind the proposed change in the policy be included in Dr. Barber’s presentation. Dr. Barber agreed to do so.

Gretchen Skidmore, our liaison to the Finance Committee of the Board mentioned that this committee would be addressing money issues at their meeting and if any faculty has suggestions for her to take to the committee, they should email her with ideas.

The meeting adjourned at 4:55.

Respectfully submitted,

John Goebel, Secretary.