The Council on Academic Affairs discussed a memo announcing the suspension of the ad hoc Committee for the Assessment on Student Learning.

According to the memo sent by Provost Jay Gatrell, CASL will be suspended for the academic year 2019-2020 and may be eliminated or reconfigured.

No program reports will need to be turned in come June; however, the memo requests that annual data is still collected.

The memo also announced a committee will be made consisting of faculty member from each college, the chair and vice-chair of CAA, a representative of the General Education subcommittee, a department chair, the general education coordinator and all associate deans, that will be chaired by Karla Sanders, the executive director of the Academic Success Center.

The committee will be responsible for providing recommendations to the Office of Academic Affairs for “sharpening the assessment plans of academic majors by emphasizing program-specific learning outcomes only,” “repositioning the administrative feedback for program assessment closer to the programs” and “honoring the work of faculty in externally accredited programs and developing a streamlined reporting process for these programs” among other things.

Suzie Park, assistant dean of the Pine Honor College and professor of English, was named as the 2019 Faculty Laureate at The Council on Academic Affairs meeting Thursday afternoon.

Park graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in English and in African and Asian Languages and Literature from Duke and her doctorate in English from the University of California at Berkeley, according to her profile on Eastern’s website.

While at Duke, Park was inducted into the national honors organization, Phi Beta Kappa. She has served as the President of the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association of East Central Illinois since 2008 and also serves as a National Senator on the National Phi Beta Kappa Senate.

Park’s areas of interest include “British Romanticism, the novel, poetry, women writers, sentimental culture, literary theory, information theory, and the medical humanities,” according to the website.

CAA also held a faculty open session with Grant Sterling, a general education coordinator candidate.

Sterling was asked where he sees the relationship between with the general education coordinator position and the CAA general education committee.

“As I envision the position, I don’t see the gen. ed. coordinator as someone who is assigned to impose a vision on everything,” Sterling said. “I don’t see my role, if I get the position, as coming in and telling the gen. ed. committee, ‘this is what gen. ed. is going to be.’”

Sterling also said he would try to collaborate and work with the committee, but he would report back to the provost with his opinion on what the general education committee is in favor of.

CAA’s chair and vice chair positions were voted on for the 2019-2020 academic year, and the new vice- chair will be Claudia Janssen Danyi, and Marita Gronnvoll will continue as CAA chair.

Barry Kronenfield and Misty Rhoads have finished their CAA terms and will not return to the council in the fall.

Revisions were made to the theatre arts major to be aligned with the requirements for accreditation through the National Association of Schools of Theater, according to Nicholas Shaw, associate professor of theater.

No items were added to the agenda to be acted upon.

Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at cebrock@eiu.edu.