COMMITTEE ON INSTRUCTION

MINUTES, NOVEMBER 11, 1997

Members Present: Mary Ellen Cowser, Phil Davis, Dwight Gatwood, Mary Gibbons for Jo Margaret Aden, Robbie Green, Tom Greer, Wes Henson, Jenny Johnsonius, Dan McDonough, Martha Whitt, Ben Hays, Bill Zachry, Linda Ramsey (ex officio), Jerald Ogg (ex officio), K. Paul Jones for Kendall Blanchard (ex officio), Phil Watkins (ex officio)

Member Absent: Jim Clark

The third meeting of the Instruction Committee was called to order at 3:05 p.m. in Room 247 Humanities.

CORRECTION: In the minutes for the second meeting, the presence of Mary Gibbons for Jo Margaret Aden was inadvertently omitted.

ISSUE #1: ADJUNCTS

The committee spent a considerable amount of time discussing the use of adjuncts and the effects of this practice upon the quality of education. It was pointed out that the use of adjuncts is a particular problem in English and Math. There was some debate concerning the percentage of classes being taught by adjuncts. Dwight Gatwood pointed out that the use of adjuncts is sometimes a very good thing, as they sometimes possess expertise which members of the regular faculty lack. Tom Greer supported this statement. The committee finally decided to suspend discussion of the issue, at least until K. Paul Jones can provide the figures for adjuncts during the present school year.

ISSUE #2: NEW BUSINESS

Tom Greer raised the question of whether or not international students are held to the same standards concerning entrance deficiencies, particularly in History, as other students. K. Paul Jones replied that entrance deficiencies do not apply to international students, though they must comply with Tennessee law which mandates some courses for admission.

In a related issue the committee discussed the conversational English language skills of international students. It was pointed out that more than a few international students appear to lack the ability to understand English which is necessary to success in lecture sections. It was agreed to discuss this issue at our next meeting and invite John Eisterhold, Ivan Augsburger, and Phil Miller to the discussion.

Meeting adjourned at 3:55.