Academic Affairs Committee Meeting June 6, 2024

Present from the board

Lee Vreeland, Ed.D., Chair
Brently K. Archer
Christy T. Morton
Kelli Purdy Meadows, CPA, CCIFP

Absent from the Committee

C. Larry Pope
Terri M. McKnight, CPA
Daniel M. Gade, Ph.D.

Present from the University

Quentin Kidd, University Provost/Chief Academic Office and Lead Staff for Committee
Sarah Chace, Associate Professor of Leadership and American Studies and Faculty Senate Representative
Robert Colvin, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives
Sarah Herzog, Chief Financial Officer and Associate Vice President
Justin Davenport, Chief Information Officer
Benjamin (Shane) Leasure, Deputy Chief Information Officer
Anton Riedl, Associate Professor of Physics, Computer Science and Engineering, Department Chair
Jennifer Major, Office Manager for Physics, Computer Science and Engineering
Kevin Hughes, Vice President of Student Affairs
Lori Underwood, Vice Provost
Walter (Vidal) Dickerson, Special Assistant to the President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer
Lisa Duncan Raines, Vice President for Enrollment, Student Success and Institutional Effectiveness
Larry (Chip) Filer, Vice President for Facilities and Campus Operations
Rob Lange, Dean of Admissions
Nicole Guajardo, Dean of the College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Psychology
Evanne Raible, Senior Director of Transfer and Student Success Services
Julianna Wait, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services and University Registrar
Lynn Lambert, Associate Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies
Tressa Aulenbach, Associate Director of Assessment
Nannette Washington, Executive Administrative Assistant to the Provost

At 1:45 PM Chair Vreeland called the meeting to order and welcomed all present. Chair Vreeland called for a motion to approve the minutes of the Committee on Academic Affairs from April 18, 2024. The motion was provided by Christy T. Morton and seconded by Brently K. Archer. The minutes were approved by a unanimous vote of the Committee.

The Committee guests were introduced by Chair Vreeland. First was Dr. Lynn Lambert, Associate Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies. She spoke on the benefits of university research, how it enhances the college experience and brings funding to the university.

She highlighted the fact that universities of our size do not do the volume of research that we do. This has helped to enhance our reputation and enhance student research, which is based on faculty research.

Summer Scholars are paid to work during the summer on research projects and they get the opportunity to present their research during Parents Weekend.

We had two SCHEV OFA award winners; an award based on outstanding research and excellence in teaching. They are Dr. Tarek Abdel-Fattah, Professor of Molecular Biology and Chemistry and Dr. Johnny Finn, Associate Professor of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology.

She presented a snapshot of faculty research projects, including a collaboration with the City of Newport News to analyze the bacteria along the area of the James River where people swim. Dr. Jennifer Knies, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Chemistry is taking a sabbatical in the upcoming academic year to research this.

The second guest was Tressa Aulenbach, Associate Director of Assessment. She discussed the preparations for the 10-year Reaffirmation (Decennial Review) with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). This is required to ensure that each institution continues to meet member-driven standards of equality.

We are required to submit a Compliance Certification Report (CCR), which is due around September 2026.

This demonstrates the university’s judgement of the extent of its compliance with each of the Commission’s Core Requirements and other standards (73 in total).

A Compliance Audit Team will be formed in Fall 2024 to begin a self-evaluation of our compliance with these standards.

Development of the CCR will be in 2025 following completion of audit.

We are also required to submit a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), which is due around January 2027. This reflects and affirms a commitment to enhance overall institutional quality and effectiveness by focusing on an issue that the institution considers important to improving student learning outcomes and/or student success.

Beginning Fall 2024, Dr. Lynn Shollen will serve as CNU’s QEP Director during this process, beginning with QEP Topic Development over the 2024-2025 Academic Year. QEP development will begin in January 2026.

Provost Kidd linked the QEP presentation and Research presentation together because our research productivity has been so high for a number of years. This led to the QEP focusing on undergraduate research. The QEP focus states how important it is to the university and shows the level of energy we wish to invest in it for the long term.

Resolution 7R: Organizational Change, Establishment of Academic Units in the College of Arts and Humanities (Correction) was discussed.

When this was presented to the committee and full board there was an error on the document that caused it to read incorrectly. In Paragraph 6 it read, “Whereas, the faculty and administration have consulted and determined that the School of the Arts shall be comprised of the Departments of Music, Theater, and Dance…” The “s” at the end of department made it sound like there would be three different departments instead of combining them into one department.

Chair Vreeland called for a motion to accept the amended resolution and take it to the full board. It was moved by Kelli Purdy Meadows and seconded by Christy T. Morton. The motion passed unanimously.

Provost Kidd gave the following year-end highlights:

We have been awarded over $2.94 million in new grants this year (10 new grants funded out of 36 proposals submitted) and had $2.37 million in grant expenditures.
As mentioned by Dr. Lambert, we had two professors to win the prestigious SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award this academic year. There are only 12 winners statewide and this is the second year we have had two winners.
Dr. Sharon Rowley, Professor of English, was awarded a Research Fellowship at the Institute of English Studies, University of London.
Dr. Sara Black, Assistant Professor of History, received the J. Russell Major Prize in French history for her book "Drugging France: Mind-Altering Medicine in the Long Nineteenth Century" (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022).
MAT students shine – Andrew Abeyounis (’17 MAT) a history teacher at Grafton High was named the Virginia History Day Teacher of the Year and is running for the national title of History Teacher of the Year. And Elizabeth Kellum (’23 MAT/’22 History) was named the Rookie of the Year at Rappahannock High.
Our Study Abroad programs were highly ranked this year in the Open Doors report from the U.S. State Department and Institute for International Education. We are ranked in two categories among other Master’s Colleges and Universities:
- Ranked #6 in the Nation for Short-Term Program Participation
- Ranked #10 in the Nation for Total Study Abroad Participation
The number of students admitted into professional graduate programs continues to be impressive: 13 Medical School, 4 Physician’s Assistant, 3 Dental, 5 Physical Therapy, 1 Occupational Therapy, 1 Veterinarian, 8 Nursing, 8 Law School (we expect to hear about more throughout the summer).
We had four-degree programs approved by SCHEV this year:
- Baccalaureate Certificate in Data Analytics for the Social Sciences
- B.A. Degree in Elementary Education (PreK-6)
- B.A. Degree in Music
- Baccalaureate Certificate in Undergraduate Research and Creativity (We are the first in the state to offer this)
- Baccalaureate Certificate in Data Analytics for the Social Sciences
We have unique community-engaged work:
- GIS to provide solution to real work issues – students in a class taught by Dr. Federica Bono, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology, worked in small groups with community partners to provide solutions to real problems using GIS software such as locations for homeless shelters, location for a new Peninsula SPCA building and locations for fire stations. The fire station research was embraced and a new station will be under construction in 2027 and open in 2029. Chairwoman Vreeland requested that Dr. Bono present her findings to the committee in a future meeting.
- Addressing gun violence in Newport News – The Center for Crime, Equity and Justice Research and Policy (CCEJ) recently concluded two years of work for the city on an initiative to address gun violence. They conducted a community assessment and presented the results to city officials. The city then selected and funded nineteen community-based organizations to help prevent, mitigate and respond to gun violence. Seven students worked on this project, each being assigned specific organizations to assist with performance measures. And work continues…
- The audience for the History department’s the Past is Prologue podcast has more than tripled since this time last year, with 3600 plays (up from 1100) in 41 countries (up from 32) and 46 states (up from 36). The faculty participation pool has expanded to include English, Classical Studies, Art History and French.

Provost Kidd continued with year-end initiatives:

Center for Community Engagement is working toward a Carnegie Classification for Community Engaged Learning.
The Luter School is preparing for our AACSB reaccreditation visit scheduled for November.
Luter and Continuing Education (Dr. Lambert and Dr. Heuvel) are working with the Virginia Peninsula Chamber to support their business education and leadership programs.
Work continues in the College of Arts and Humanities to convert the Digital Humanities lab into a virtual and augmented reality teaching lab.

He ended with year-end budgets:

We are budgeted for 275 faculty lines and we are staffed at 275
B. We are working to increase course caps/reduce overall numbers of course sections.
C. Working to become more efficient overall, while working to provide more support to faculty in relation to their needs in scholarship and teaching.

The Provost presented the report of the Appointment of Instructional Faculty (Informational Only). Four faculty members have been hired since our last meeting.

The next Board of Visitors Committee on Academic Affairs meeting will be held at 1:45 PM on September 9, 2024 in the Freeman Center, Meeting Room 201, unless otherwise announced.

Chairwoman Vreeland called for a motion to adjourn the meeting which was moved by Brentley K. Archer and seconded by Christy T. Morton. It passed unanimously.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:52 PM.