Provost Todd Diacon announced the co-chairs of his academic affairs strategic planning committee at Monday’s Faculty Senate meeting.

The committee will work to develop a plan that will define how the university moves forward with its academic affairs.

Co-chairs Carey McDougall, associate art professor at Stark campus, and Stanley Wearden, dean of the College of Communication and Information, presented the specific plan to move forward with this project.

“Our goals are that [the plan] is ambitious but realistic about who we are and where we want to go,” McDougall said.

The committee will build off the strategic plans that already exist within each university department. In addition to the co-chairs, 38 members will fill six subcommittees, which will provide feedback for the plan as well.

All senators received a handout detailing six subcommittees and their members.

Later in the meeting, Diacon proposed the establishment of an additional ad hoc subcommittee that would look at how academic policies align with student success, such as possibly changing add/drop dates.

“Are there [policies] that made sense long ago but no longer make sense?” Diacon asked the senate. The senate motioned to establish the committee, and the vote was unanimous.

Other items covered during the meeting include:

• A presentation by Senator Linda Williams explaining how to access the new form for dealing with plagiarism and cheating
• The passage of a motion to create a Bachelor of Science Degree in Construction Management
• Discussion about establishing a new norming group based on more specific, comparable criteria for the Student Survey of Instruction at regional campuses
• The establishment of a committee to review the current Student Survey of Instruction and decide if it is suitable for online courses and courses offered by alternative methods, such as those of the Math Emporium
• The next Faculty Senate meeting will be Nov. 5 in the Governance Chambers of the Student Center.

Contact Audrey Fletcher at [email protected].