University Advisory Council at Western Carolina University

Members Present: MaryLou Argueta, Robert Blankenship, Joe Cowan, Andy DeGrove, Nancy Dillard, Tori Ellison, Bill Haggard, Jane Hall, Mary Jean Herzog, Fred Hinson, Casey Hurley, Jeanine Knowles, Dianne Lynch, Bob Orr, Carolyn Parris, Will Peebles, John Ritchie, JJ Rowe, Linda Sutton, Roger Turk, and Dave Whitaker

The meeting was convened at 3:37 PM. After an announcement, the minutes were approved as distributed. In addition, the minutes will only be distributed electronically, with exceptions of those without access to email, and those members will receive a hard copy.

The Communications Committee report was given my Subcommittee Member Debbie Connelly. Mrs. Connelly announced that the committee had met and also distributed the minutes from their first meeting. Additional meetings are, for the time being, on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. Member Carolyn Parris also confirmed the report. The report will be filed and posted to the Council Home Page.

The Mission Statement Ad Hoc Committee report was given by Nancy Dillard. The group met and drafted a mission and vision statement. After discussion, it was decided to review the statement for the next meeting. Bill asked that everyone review that document and be prepared to offer feedback at the next meeting. That document was filed and will also be posted to the Council Home Page.

Bob Orr offered a summary on the Town Conversation on Retention sponsored by the Staff Forum. He said that it was not only a positive experience, but that the voice of students and staff were expressed well. Future meetings will be held in the future in a slightly different format. Please direct questions on that subject to Bob.

The Leadership Committee report was given by Dianne Lynch. That group will meet on October 12, 2000 at 3 PM in 540 HFR. A report will be available at the next general Council meeting.

On the topic of retention, 2 handouts were distributed to the membership. One was a summary from Dr. Tom Canepa, Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and the other was prepared by Dr. Bob Caruso, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and focused on the work that has been done by the two standing bodies that study retention for the university. The documents will be posted to the Council Home Page as time allows. Related discussion on that topic focused on comments by Chancellor Bardo on the One Stop concept that is in development, and member comments included the Webmaster position and UNCA program similarities and comments.

On the issue of empowerment, conversation turned toward whether or not this body was to generate ideas on its own or allow issues to surface on their own volition. Two issues that have been already mentioned have been 24 hour visitation and pay periods for those who work for the University. The question was raised about whether or not issues should be submitted in a particular format, whether written or on a standardized form. The rationale behind this was so that members of the Council could have uniform information before deliberation began. After discussion, it was decided that the need for a particular format for submission need not exist, because the Executive Committee was charged by definition to take all concerns and filter them into the Council's domain. It was also mentioned that the UAC exists to bring all voices into the conversation. Members mentioned that our environment would not be conducive to introducing concerns if bureaucratic barriers were in the way. Some processes that were mentioned for introducing concerns included public hearings and allowing the most vested party to do the majority of research about the issue before approaching the UAC.

The next general Council meeting will be on Wednesday November 1 2000 at 3:30 in the afternoon in the Grand Room of the UC. The next Executive Committee meeting will be on Thursday October 26, 2000 at 3:30 in the Rogers Room of the UC.