Report of the AP Committee

October 12, 2005

While there are no action items today, I do want to let everyone know what the AP Committee is working on. We are currently looking into three items of business.
  1. Karen Hallows is reviewing the catalog copy for the Academic Policies section of the next GMU catalog. Specifically she will be looking for any changes that are in error, and making sure that the new catalog will reflect recently approved policies.
  2. Bob Ehrlich has taken the lead in an investigation to determine if there is sufficiently strong interest in the creation of an Undergraduate Council, that would be similar to the Graduate Council already in existence. A link to a short description of this proposed body can be found near the bottom the the Academic Policies Committee web page --- please read it over and send any feedback to Bob. Bob has already received feedback, some positive and some negative, from the Provost, some of the deans, and a department chairman.
  3. Peter Pober and I are working together on investigating several issues related to changing the academic calendar. We have already met with representatives from Student Government to find out what their concerns are, and we have begun researching what other state and local universities do with their academic calendars. I'll ask Peter to give a progress report at our next Senate meeting. We will be working steadily on the calendar issues, and plan to keep you informed along the way, so that when we possibly present some motions pertaining to the calendar towards the middle of next semester, they should not come as a complete surprise. Peter and I welcome any suggestions that you have pertaining to the academic calendar.