The meeting was called to order at 3:50 by Vice President Bob Everhardt. Guests in attendance included Peg Manring, Steve Warshaw and Joan Barber.

Announcements

• Peggy Manring apologized for the time of Thursday's celebration of the US Department of Education Grant. The time was dictated by the schedules of Representatives David Price and Bob Etheridge, who will be in attendance.
• Ginger Wilson announced that the NCSSM Management Team is looking for meaningful ways of recognizing special service by NCSSM employees. Gift certificates and released time off have been mentioned. Anyone who has ideas on this should email Ginger Wilson .

Agenda Items

1. Discussion of Mini term lead by Faculty Welfare Committee members.

Elizabeth Moorman lead off the discussion with some figures that indicated how many faculty members and what portion of their responsibilities are directed toward on-campus students. According to Personnel data, we have 34 faculty who teach only NCSSM students, 2 who are 3/4 NCSSM and 1/4 Distance Learning, 3 who are 3/4 NCSSM and 1/4 DPI, 1 who is 1/2 NCSSM and 1/2 DPI, 9 who are 1/2 NCSSM and 1/2 Distance Learning, 2 who are 1/2 NCSSM only and 2 who are 1/4 Distance Learning only. In determining how many mini courses we could offer, we have to consider the number of faculty who would be available to teach. Those who are not teaching full time could perhaps team with others who are not full time to teach a mini course. They might also teach shorter classes or act in more of the support roles (driving vans, special evening programs, etc.). Hopefully sabbaticals are still being considered, but this would take away from the number of faculty who could teach a course.

Jim Litle reported next that class sizes would vary according to the number of available faculty.

Jo Ann Lutz reported that the current school calendar has 205 workdays for faculty. This includes 10 vacation days, 151 regular class days, 20 work/inservice days, 10 exam days, 8 Alt days and 6 days for SPW. With a 3 weeks mini term, this would most likely mean 209 total days, which would include 20 work/inservice days and only 148 class days. Julie Graves added that when she looked at the calendars for the past ten year, the average number of class days was 154.5, so the 151 that we are using for comparison is already lower that the average.

Misti Anderson reported that with only 15 grants awarded this summer, the development time for over half of the courses to be taught would have to happen on our own. Steve Warshaw mentioned that there might be money for an additional 15 grants at the end of the summer.

Carolyn Maier reported that a mini term course would require 6 hours of contact per day. This is nearly double the contact hours that most faculty have per day during the regular year and greater than or equal to the time currently spent with students during SPW. In addition she reminded us that we would undoubtedly have to help with some of the activities outside of class. It seems as if the overall effect would be to substantially increase teacher's workload.

The discussion that followed centered around faculty and student workload. Some felt that January was not the best time to offer this. Extending the current SPW term was suggested. It was also suggested that we place the mini term at the beginning or end of the year. There was concern about days lost in courses that prepare students for the AP exams. It was suggested that the school year begin one week early to lessen the impact of losing a week of classes prior to the AP. An option post-graduation term was suggested.

The question of student workload was raised. This seemed to be a major issue last year and yet the impact on students has rarely been mentioned in the discussion of the mini term. Some felt like this would be an extra burden as we are unlikely to reduce what we expect of students in our regular courses, and now we are adding additional work. Others felt like we could shift things like seminars and directed study to the mini term and dedicate the regular school year to regular classes. Compacting the semesters would make life for students more difficult, but with fewer distractions maybe they would not feel like they were as stressed. We were reminded that many of our students do not take any extra seminars during the year and they are already stressed by the current workload. If Alt Days are taken to form the mini term, we are taking away days that struggling students have had to get caught up. It was pointed out, however, that weaker students might have a chance to really shine in a mini course.

A final comment brought us back to rethink the original educational objectives of the mini term proposal. The discussion has centered on details without looking at the broader goals. If the only goal is to make NCSSM more attractive for admissions purposes, this may not be a sound educational reason for making a major change to the schedule.

On Wednesday, October 21 at 2:30 the Curriculum Council will share with the community their model for the mini term. Brief, Steve Warshaw reported, they will propose a 2 week term in January with three preparation days prior to the term and two following. The credit will be mini term credit and students would be expected to work 40 hours on their course or project in this week. Mini courses, individual projects, seminars, and mentorships would all be allowed. There would also be minimum expectations for teachers, with some sabbaticals still planned.

A series of motions surfaced concerning the mini term.

1. Julie Graves moved that we vote on other times than January. The motion was seconded and a vote taken. Twenty-seven (27) voted for some time other that January, 10 for January.
2. Gloria Barrett moved that if days needed to be added to the calendar, that they be added to the beginning. After a brief discussion, in which we were reminded that most other NC schools are starting earlier in August, and some of our late rejections occur in this period, the motion was seconded and a vote taken. Again 27 voted to add days to the beginning, if needed, and 10 voted to extend the year in June.
3. A final motion not to add any days to the calendar was proposed. The current school year is from 195 to 205 days long (supposedly voted on by the Board). The motion was seconded and carried with 29 voting for and 5 against.

2. Academic Honesty

A very short discussion lead by members and former members of the Judicial Board centered on the definition of academic dishonesty? We heard that students cannot be dismissed for academic dishonesty and that in recent memory only a dozen cases of academic dishonesty have come to the Board. Such cases, however, are very difficult to handle, mainly because there is not a universal definition of academic dishonesty. Several scenarios were presented in which students submitted work that was not their own, and the faculty seemed to agree on these. As time ran out, we were urged to consider the other scenarios presented on the flyer that the Mathematics Department uses in classes when discussing academic honesty and dishonesty with students. A follow-up discussion will occur at the next Faculty Council meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 5:03 PM

Respectfully submitted
John Goebel, Secretary