April 19

CAS Chairs Meeting Notes 4-19-2013
Present: Jane Halonen, Paula Wilson, Mike Huggins, Greg Lanier, KIris Behan, John
Bratten, Ermalynn Kiehl, Hedi Salanki-Rubardt, Amy Mitchell-Cook, Leonard ter Haar,
Eman El Sheikh, Ron Belter, Charles Houghton, Joe Spaniola, Sally Ferguson, Brian
Hood, Jocelyn Evans, John Markowitz, Matt Schwartz, Bob Yeager, Jaromy Kuhl,
Elizabeth Benchley, Fernaundra Ferguson, and Don Thompson
The Carl Bernstein Writer in Residence/Seligman First Amendment event was a huge
success with Carl Bernstein letting President Bense know that he would like to come
back to UWF. There are more names for upcoming events being considered.
PNJ Coverage
Many faculty were interviewed for the article; Be objective in defending UWF. Unclear
whether or not there will be another article.
Improving "yield" by calling potential students
Lists of potential students for summer and fall admissions were distributed by
Admissions Office. First calls should be made by chairs or faculty, not students. Followup
calls can involve students if necessary. Let the Dean know if your department has
an inordinately large number of contacts.
Eman – Announcements:
Scholar’s Week, April 22 through April 26
CCR system should be ready before September 2013. Continue to prepare docs using
Word document. Training before implementation this summer.
Travel – All RAC funds were expended.
STEM Steering Committee –Focus on retention. Workshop planned. Updatingwebsite.
Pace/Merit Scholarships – Waiting on final data….looks as good or better than last year.
Legislative Update
Potentially positive news pending final legislative decisions – raises, DPT, DNP funding.
Building Update
Groundbreaking for East Village soon; Retail space may include Olive Garden.
Web Upgrades
Keep up with communications and meetings regarding CMS Migration; Contact Don
Thompson for more info.
STEM Progress
Jane commended the STEM Steering Committee on their work and enthusiasm
Pace Development Grants
Jane is working on a Pace proposal for "eminent scholars"; Jane asked anyone
planning to submit a proposal to let her know.

Gen Ed Update
Still waiting for state-level decisions: 2 initatives that may impact positively
Kit Nast Project
Still waiting for student coverage for some programs, including IT.
Protocol: department should contact the student to provide background, and then notify
Kit with student contact info after the student has agreed to participate
SPARA
Jane's 19 submitted proposals didn't make the high priority cut. Top 10 proposals The
spreadsheet is available at uwf.edu/spara/ - Track Your Proposal
Administrator Review
Overall, the process worked well. Jane shared the summary for chair evaluations.
Big Profile Search Update
Announcement for new AVP for Enrollment expected today
Retention Officer position and Chief Diversity Officer position still open
Annual Evaluations
Suggestions for creating grievance-free conditions for annual faculty evals:
- For chairs doing faculty evaluations for the first time, it would be good to start by
looking at faculty annual evaluations ratings and recommendations for the past several
years to get an idea about each faculty member's trend, previous chair's expectations,
and avoid any potential bias or "uninformed" decisions
- For pre-tenure faculty who are nervous about future P&T decisions, it may help to
meet with those faculty as a group or individually to discuss T&P expectations. If posttenure
faculty who will be part of the review process haven't subscribed to the new T&P
culture, it may be helpful for the chair to meet with them separately to help get everyone
on the same page and prevent any potential future conflicts
- It's helpful to have clear bylaws to follow in the annual evaluations
- Faculty are encouraged to judge themselves accurately. For example, if faculty think
that a distinguished rating is warranted, they should include that in their self-reviews
instead of aiming lower and expecting that their chair or dean would bump them up
- If the former department chair is still a member of the department, would it be okay to
ask him/her to provide mentoring on annual evals?
- If they think it would be helpful, chairs can have a conversation with faculty to discuss
what they think they will submit or share a draft of their letter BEFORE submitting the
final version. In the future, the system may be modified to allow faculty to review and
confirm their chair's evaluation before it is routed to the dean

- It may help for chairs to have conversations with faculty in advance, especially where
there's a potential difference in expectation between the chair and faculty member,
rather than surprising the faculty member after their eval is forwarded to the dean
- Promotion to full professor requires distinction in at least one area for a 3-year window.
For faculty working towards promotion to full, it may be helpful for chairs to talk with
faculty about their plans for distinction in teaching, research, and/or service, and to
remind them about the financial incentive (13% raise)
Announcements:
Three Penney Opera – performances the next two weekends.
Richard Tabor – BFA Exhibition today at the Yeager Library.
Check UWF Events calendar for upcoming Music Department offerings.
Some backlog with IRB and SCAC proposal notifications due to Cheryl Allen's
departure.
Brendan Kelly, new VP for Advancement. Kyle Marerro leaves July 1. Jane is meeting
with Com Arts faculty today and will be further meetings soon.
Lutimothy May is a new UWF Board of Trustees member.