The Council approved the minutes of the November 9, 1998, meeting in a voice vote without dissent.

President's Report

Dean Elizabeth McKinsey began by noting that Professor Richard Noer would be taking the place of Professor Dave MacCallum, who is on sabbatical for Winter and Spring Term. She reminded the Council that the President is on sabbatical until April 12, until which time she will serve as Acting President and Professor Perry Mason, Special Assistant to the President, will manage most of the daily business in the President's Office. Dean McKinsey reported that, after a nation-wide search, Dean Stephen Kelly has been requested to remain as Carleton College's Dean for Budgeting and Planning, and expressed her congratulations to him for agreeing to do so.

Dean McKinsey told the Council that the College has received two new grants from the Mellon Foundation. The first, $450,000 over five years, is for post-doctoral professors in the humanities; the second, $250,000, for faculty development. The College has also submitted a proposal to the Bush Foundation for a grant to rework the writing curriculum, as well as to the Starr Foundation for the creation of a Cross Cultural Studies Concentration.

Dean McKinsey told the Council that Carleton College ranks 3rd among the nation's small colleges for number of graduates who are current Peace Corp volunteers. Upon examining the figures, Carleton is number one in percentage of graduates serving in the Peace Corps.

Dean McKinsey noted that two positions will be opening up in the Office of Intercultural Affairs (formerly Multicultural Affairs). Both Mr. Art Rodriguez and Ms. Sanii Hernandez will be leaving the college at the end of the year; Mr. Rodriguez has prolonged his time at the College one year already at the request of the College, and Ms. Hernandez has also made her own plans to move on. A nation-wide search will be conducted by Dean Mark Govoni. There have also been a number of new appointments in the Dean of Students division: Ms. Jennifer Wagstaf will be the new Assistant Director of Residential Life; Ms. Robin Hart will be the Director of Campus Activities; and a replacement for Ms. Angie Scott, Assistant Director of Campus Activities is being sought.

Dean McKinsey informed the Council that the Board of Regents at St. Olaf College approached Carleton concerning the feasibility of a joint venture in the building of a retirement center for faculty and staff. There will be a feasibility survey to get an idea of the interest level.

Dean McKinsey explained that the new Rec. Center is 34 days behind schedule due to a delay in the delivery of steel. The fitness portion of the center can be completed on schedule; the indoor track should be finished with a few months of opening. However, the delay has resulted in unexpected expenses, for an approximate cost overrun of $1 million.

Dean McKinsey requested Dean Kelly to report on the progress of the new Dining and Languages Building. The architect is meeting extensively with the planning committee. Members of the committee trust that the building will be excellent due to the involvement of the architect and the care he takes to listen.

Dean McKinsey noted that applications for admission to the College are 33% ahead of last year on the same date. Possible reasons include the availability of the application on the Web, as well as waiving the application fee when the Web application is used. A higher proportion of applicants are applying for financial aid so far compared to last year.

Dean McKinsey requested Dean Mark Govoni to address the issue of the appearance of anti-gay hate speech chalked onto various surfaces around the school just before Winter Break. Dean Govoni stated there are no leads concerning the perpetrators, and although free speech is important, anonymous hate speech is different and not to be tolerated. He will be speaking to members of the LGBT students on how to help students under such attacks.

Finally, Dean McKinsey noted that Professor Chico Zimmerman will be taking the place of Professor Deborah Appleman on the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee, as she is preparing for a Board of Teaching review of the teacher certification process.

Subcommittee on Facilities Planning

The formation of the subcommittee is almost complete. It will be small, and consist of Dean Kelly, Associate Dean Sam Patterson, two professors, two students. Mr. Keith Covey, Director of Facilities, will serve as secretary to the subcommittee and help facilitate information flow to the group. A short written charge to direct the subcommittee will be drawn up by Dean McKinsey and Professor Scott Bierman.

Campus Parking Update

Vice President Carol Campbell informed the Council that a committee set up to review campus parking had suggested that visitor parking be moved closer to the Admissions Office and be marked with signage and maps. The committee had noted that there is adequate faculty and staff parking, but inadequate student parking.

The idea of increasing visitor parking was briefly discussed. The need to identify parking for visitors, and possibly also faculty, staff, and students, with signage and/or different colored paints was addressed.

Possibilities for more student parking include extending stadium parking, and the new lots to be built by the Rec. Center. Vice President Campbell noted that although polls have found student use of cars to be high, the College supports a pedestrian campus. The $25 parking fee per term had been originally designed to serve as a disincentive; inflation and maintenance costs suggest a new fee of $50 per term. Another option would be to charge $25 for dead storage, and $50 for cars being driven. Student Andrew Airone noted that vandalism (e.g. broken windows, scratched paint) occurs in remote parking, generally allocated to students. Vice President Campbell responded that the higher fees would allow for more lights and security in those areas.

Professor Deborah Appleman mentioned that Macalester College informs its neighbors about major events when parking on streets may close up driveways, and asked if Carleton has the same policy. Vice President Campbell noted that as yet Carleton does not do so, but the suggestion would definitely be taken into consideration as sensitivity to people's property is an issue.

Reaccreditation Report

Professor Stephen Strand questioned if there was a new approach to the self study, noting that an older self study had contained an appendix of priorities. Dean McKinsey noted that much of the changes had grown out of the 21st Century Committee, and that assessment reports were required by the Education and Curriculum Committee. Professor Bierman noted a few inaccuracies in the reaccreditation report. Professor Strand expressed disappointment with the report, and found it greatly lacking in comparison with the report of ten years ago. He noted that under Criterion Two [The Institution has effectively organized the human, financial, and physical resources necessary to accomplish its purpose] students and faculty were only mentioned nine pages after the beginning of the section, and were discussed for the space of one page. He expressed the belief that the students and faculty at Carleton are what the College is about.

Dean McKinsey told the Council that President Stephen R. Lewis unsuccessfully requested a change in the composition of the reaccreditation team. Devising the schedule for the team was difficult and they had rewritten the schedule upon arrival; they sought what information they thought important. There were some difficulties in arranging meetings since they were here within the first week of classes.

Professor Deborah Appleman suggested the team had rendered a superficial and shallow image of Carleton. She noted that in section III, B. 1, the team indicated that contentious issues were not discussed; then, in Section IV, under advice, it was suggested that discussion of stress and stress related problems not be discussed. Professor Bierman noted that on page 9 conclusions were drawn from a number of seemingly unconnected, indirectly related issues that the team claimed affected the discussion of contentious issues.

Dean McKinsey stated that many of the students and faculty who met with the team spoke to her concerning the team's apparent wish to locate problems, focusing on the negative of Carleton and thus creating a skewed picture. She also said the team did point to some important issues. She suggested that all who worked with the team fill out the North Central evaluation distributed earlier, a copy of which is also available on the internet.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:58.