DePauw faculty filled the Union Building Ballroom yesterday for their October meeting, tackling general housekeeping items, voting on a motion to create a new course and announcing Tim Good of the communication and theatre department as this year's Fisher Fellowship recipient.
According to DePauw's website, the purpose of the Fisher Fellowship is to provide one faculty member with "a one semester of paid leave to work on a scholarly, creative, teaching or curricular project."
English professor Eugene Gloria spoke on behalf of the Faculty Development Committee, describing Tim Good's Fellowship award as "the important announcement for today."
After completing the independent project, the Fisher Fellow shares their work with the DePauw community so that all niches of campus are able to learn from it. In addition to one semester paid leave, the recipient is also granted a $5,000 stipend and $1,000 reimbursement for project related expenses. Good plans to devote the semester to a book project on the movie theatre in the 21st century.
From the ever-evolving course catalogue front, the sociology department will have a new course listing during future semesters. Faculty voted to pass a motion to approve SOC 217: Queer Theory/Queer Lives, as a one-credit social science course. Brian Howard of the Management of Academic Operations committee, presented the motion, saying the course "has been taught as an experimental course before, but this will give it a proper number."
Additionally, geosciences professor Fred Soster spoke on behalf of the Committee on Academic Policy and Planning to announce its intent to propose an amendment to the current graduation requirements, which will be voted on in November.
Currently, students are required to complete six core credits that include two arts and humanities credits, two science and mathematics credits, and two social sciences credits, in addition to completing a language requirement along with W, Q and S competencies. As the requirements stand, all of the six core subject courses must be within different departments or programs. The amendment, if passed, will allow students to complete the six core course credits to be from different course listing areas rather than completely separate academic departments.
President Casey also took to the podium for a brief discussion of the upcoming board of trustees meeting. He remained quiet on most issues, saying that the bi-annual October meeting "is more of a check in" compared to its spring counterpart. However, he did disclose that the administration has taken a look at the university's athletic facilities and has come up with a 10- to 15-year plan to finance it.
Other business included passing a motion to reinstate faculty meeting oral remembrances dedicated to deceased members of the DePauw community as they occur. The ongoing search for a new Vice President for Academic Affairs and a statistical break down of faculty composition was also briefly addressed.