Present:	Larry Baldassaro (ex officio), Lee Ann Garrison (Chair), Linda Krause, John Lynch, Donovan Miyasaki, John Schroeder, Alan Singer, Jennifer Urbanek, Robin Weigert (ex officio), Jessie Wilcox, Chaoyang Zeng.
Guests:	Kate Coffaro and Kathryn Silvestre
Absent:	Margaret Atherton, Marcus Bullock, Reinhold Hutz, Jonathan Marks

1. Chair Lee Ann Garrison called the meeting to order. Those present observed a moment of silence in observance of the murders at Virginia Tech and the recent death of Marcus Bullock's wife. Committee members introduced themselves.
2. Honors College Advisory Committee (HCAC) meeting minutes from September 27, 2006 were unanimously approved.
3. At 8:20 a.m., the HCAC Committee went into closed session to discuss the report of the Bradley Professor Search and Screen Committee. The Committee rose out of closed session at 8:30 a.m.
4. Larry Baldassaro announced that Visiting Professor of Philosophy Donovan Miyasaki will be leaving the Honors College at the end of the current semester to take a tenure-track position at Wright State University. We thank him for his outstanding contributions to the College, and wish him well in his new endeavor.

   Currently, one of the three HC Bradley positions is being filled by Scott Spiker who agreed to stay for a fourth year to fill the vacancy left by the departure one year early of Philip Lorenz who left to take a tenure-track position at Cornell. The HC has been conducting a search, and is at the point in the process of extending an offer to a candidate. As a result of Donovan's departure, Larry sought approval from Dean Meadows of L&S to hire both of the candidates who recently had been brought in for campus visits as part of the search for a Visiting Professor of Literature, and that approval was granted. Both candidates have been contacted with an offer. If either says no, we can bring the other two finalists to campus for interviews.

5. Lee Ann Garrison was nominated to be Chair of the HCAC for the 2007-2008 school year. The vote was unanimous that she be re-elected.
6. Larry reported that, along with earlier gifts to the HC of scholarship money from the Mosher Family and Baird, the HC has received another award to be used for scholarships. The Edward and Diane Zore Honors College Scholarship Fund provides $50,000 per year for ten years.

   The Baird funds are to be used primarily for recruitment of minority students. We have offered two $5,000 scholarships for the 2007-2008 school year, one to Yakira Frank, and one to Christopher Powell, both of whom have accepted and will attend the Honors College starting in September of 2007. We identified and recruited these students with help from Jennifer McKenzie Flynn in L&S, and staff in the Department of Recruitment and Outreach.

   For the 2007-08 school year, HC is offering up to ten $7,000 scholarships for seniors and up to ten $3,500 scholarships for juniors, the $2,000 KleinOsowski scholarship to a freshman or sophomore, $12,000 for Study Abroad, and small cash prizes for the Essay Competition which is currently being judged.

   Robin Weigert reported that the HCSA helps fund the essay competition prizes. The HCSA moved its annual book sale to the Union Concourse this spring. In the past, this sale has brought in between $300 and $400. This year in the new location, revenues were nearly $1600.

   New officers have been elected for the 2007-2008 school year. They are:

   President - Jonathan Marks

   Vice President - Sandra Figueira

   Secretary - Kristina Islo

   Treasurer - Stas Krakovyak

   The HCSA participated in the April 14th Hunger Clean-Up drive sponsored by the Center for Volunteerism and Student Leadership.

   Larry reported that, effective April 1, 2007, Kate Coffaro was granted indefinite status and promoted to Senior Student Services Coordinator.

   Larry noted the special challenges of the past year due to the shortage of staff during the entire fall semester, and commended the extraordinary efforts of Robin, Kate and Laura which made it possible for the Honors College to function effectively and efficiently.

   Larry thanked the members of the HCAC for their participation and support. He gave special thanks to outgoing members Margaret Atherton, Reinhold Hutz, Jonathan Marks, Jessica Wilcox, and John Lynch (who was commended for his seven years of service on the HCAC). He also thanked Scott Spiker for his exemplary work during his years as a Bradley Visiting Assistant Professor.

7. Robin reported that the spring enrollment is lower than fall which follows the traditional pattern. Numbers are down in departmental seminars. Students are more vocal than ever about what kinds of classes they want offered. Recruitment is on the increase, and we are keeping close watch on numbers to be sure we have enough class space in the fall.

   We are always looking for qualified and interested seminar instructors. However, the combination of more research funding from the Provost's office, and an increased number of freshman seminars means that even fewer faculty are available than in the past. Individual instructors may wish to teach an Honors course but their departments are unwilling to release them to do so. In response to a question about expansion, Larry said that he is concerned that we maintain our standards and only accept those students who are qualified. Also, in order to expand we would need more funding for staff and more space. We are hoping to acquire the large room vacated by Cultures & Communities, add media upgrades, and use it to hold as many HC classes as possible. The upper level classes are all held away from the HC offices, and this isolates HC students from their peers, from the HC tutor, advisors, and administration.

   The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 a.m.

 

Respectfully Submitted by Laura Murphy, Program Assistant