1. Approval of the PAC minutes from 10/15/03.

Motion to approve as presented by Dr. Soltz. Seconded by Mr. Corona. No further discussion. Motion carried.

2. Approval of the Cabinet minutes from 10/15/03.

Motion to approve as presented by Dr. Soltz. Seconded by Dr. Street. No further discussion. Motion carried.

1. Provost/Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs – Dr. Soltz

Planning for the December faculty development day is underway. The focus will be on transforming the university, with emphasis on discussion of centers of excellence and integration of centers of excellence across the university.

The report to the faculty on the faculty salary base was submitted. There was an increase of $165K this year, which was smaller than may be expected, due to budget cuts. However, there was good progress made on mean salary increases through the Salary Administration Board’s plan.

The provost’s two-week trip in Asia with Chenyang Li and Michael Launius, first took the group to China and then Japan. They met with partner universities in both nations. Dr. Soltz noted that one significant social change is that many families in China now have the means to send their college age students to the U.S. The Foreign Languages department is in the process of developing a full major in Chinese and hiring a full time faculty person to that program. A major in Japanese has been offered for several years. Students in these programs spend one year in the home country. During this trip they met with some of our students studying abroad. Dr. Soltz anticipates a substantial increase in exchange students, if the problem of incoming student visas can be solved on the national level.

The HECB draft interim strategic master plan was distributed at last week’s meeting. If it is adopted, it may cause large changes in higher education in Washington State. The plan tends to be very outcome driven and could lead to an eventual increase in the statewide higher education student population to 45,000. Funding for an enrollment increase of this magnitude has not yet been discussed. Another part of the proposed plan may lead to the combining of the HECB, CC/TC Board, and workforce training board into one strong governing board, essentially creating a statewide system approach to higher education governance. The addition of the workforce training component to a governing board like this is unique, to the provost’s knowledge. Other dramatic changes would allow for “mission drift,” i.e., branch campuses and community colleges to become four-year institutions. The HECB acknowledges that there needs to be a stable funding base if any of this is to come to pass, and several groups are examining how to make this a reality. The master planning process is out of sync with the legislative system, with the interim plan coming forward in December and the final plan in June. In total, it is the most radical proposal for higher education change in Washington State in many years.

2. Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management – Dr. Tullos

Yesterday Dr. Tullos attended a meeting at YVCC with several of their administrators to discuss student services needs at CWU - Yakima. The Transitions to Success group’s next meeting is meeting this morning. They are still working on the details of transfer agreements between the member institutions. The search committee will be inviting the senior director of development finalists for campus interviews tomorrow.

3. Vice President for Business & Financial Affairs – Mr. Corona

Campus construction projects are moving along well, despite the arrival of cold weather. More work will be going on indoors for the winter. Shelly Johnson and Mr. Corona will travel to Olympia for a meeting on the new requirement for submission of a single list of capital projects to the legislature for all of higher education. Preparations are underway for the classified staff collective bargaining process. ITS is developing a technology plan for the university. This plan will integrate capital and operations, looking at university in a more holistic way and will include staff needs, equipment needs, lab use, etc.

4. Vice President for University Relations – Mr. Anderson for Dr. Baker

Dr. Baker in Albuquerque making development calls. The Alumni Association is gearing up for the annual event in Las Vegas. A series of videos, ”Inside Central,” is being produced. The first spotlights Dr. Holly Pinkart’s research at Soap Lake, the inaugural “Battle in Seattle” football game, and the Music Department’s production of West Side Story. The series will feature academics, culture, athletics, and other university happenings. Mr. Anderson also made several media calls in Eastern Washington recently to pitch various news items.

5. Executive Assistant – Dr. Street

Dr. Street was in Billings, MT last week for an accreditation visit at MSU. She submitted a FIPSE grant proposal for the Transition to Success program.

Dr. Street has received some feedback that the campus leaders are having difficulty with the concept of the “lampshade” budgeting model. She described it as a continuous planning process so that as each biennial planning process ends the new biennium cycle begins. The “lampshade” metaphor, first coined by Bill Vertrees, was used to symbolize that this process goes “around and around” continuously.

The cooperative problem solving groups are meeting now. Dr. Tullos is working with Mike Reilly, Dr. Street, and Dean Meghan Miller on the memorandum of understanding with the Yakama Nation.

The childcare task force is now moving ahead again, working on the next phase to develop a “family center” for the campus.

6. President – Dr. McIntyre

The Japan trip was a very positive experience and will be helpful to CWU’s relationship with all of its Japanese sister institutions in many ways. Shimane Women’s College had initially invited Dr. McIntyre to be a guest speaker at the College’s 50^th anniversary celebration and paid for her travel expenses. While in Japan, the trip was extended to include visits to University of Shimane, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Asia University, and Takushoku University. It is clear that this is a time in Japanese higher education when universities are open to having foreign exchange students. Dr. McIntyre heard a willingness to develop more mutual educational relationships. Thus, possibly creating a need for CWU to focus its international education efforts in a more targeted manner than has occurred in the past. 

Dr. McIntyre met with Ann Anderson yesterday on developing the annual round of contacts with legislators and HECB members on west side to take them CWU’s message for the supplemental session. Enrollment, salary, and capital concerns are all part of that message.

The community leaders group met last week for the first time this academic year. The group will continue to meet once each quarter to discuss informally issues of common interest.   

1. University Bulletin items – Mr. Anderson.

ROTC program has received an award for exceptional program quality. Results of the Asia trip should be summarized in an article. IET Professor Bill Bender is the construction site engineer for the new high school. The problem solving group has been approached by WWU, EWU and WSU to learn about their innovative and effective interdisciplinary approach to student issues on campus.

1. Diversity Council description to become a university committee. 

1. Regular report: Enterprise Information Systems update.

2. Debt-ratio policy.

3. Equipment replacement policy.

4. Copying policy for campus.

5. Overall management of computing support and resources on campus.

6. Campus tree management plan.