Sage Minutes
November 1, 2006
3:00 p.m., 3132 Wescoe

Attending: John Wiehl, Heather Bastian, Jen Humphrey, Angela Glover, Ryan McCarty, Katie Egging, Steve Mitchley, Justin Sevenker, Stephanie Scurto, Micah Hawkinson, Keri Behre, Eta and Alicia Sutliff.

President’s Report:

• Changed the SAGE lab again. The first arrangement was awkward for the printer. Our next meeting will be in January, when we’ll meet about fundraising and work out the kinks.

Secretary Report: Minutes approved.

Treasurer’s Report (Keri):

• We are back under $400. There are still a couple of boxes of books to move from the SAGE lab.

First year liaison (Justin):

• The first two social events have been met with enthusiasm.

Academics Anonymous (Micah):

• On Nov. 17 at noon we’ll have an Academics Anonymous at noon in the conference room. Edible food will be available. It will be a talk on Absolom, Absolom by Sumimni Masami. .

Advisory Committee (Alicia):

• Meeting was cancelled. We were going to discuss the 2-page mission of the department requested by the Provost. We’re meeting next week instead.

FSE (Angela):

• The goals committee will meet next week about revising goals. Textbook adoption begins soon. Do you need a reader for English 101? Maybe not. We need to make it distinct from 102. One way is to remove the readers. All of this relates to the anticipation that there will be calls for elimination of a course from the English curriculum. The goal is to move all the focus to writing.

Graduate Assembly (Keri):

• Please attend the workshops and panels offered by the Graduate School. Also, graduate senators are criticizing the decision to deemphasize their vote in recommendations about faculty hires.

Grad Committee (John / Ryan):

• Haven’t met yet but email John about ideas for recruitment of graduate students. We also need your ideas about English 800, so email Ryan about those.

GTA/L (Angela):

• We’ve discussed the position of lecturers in the department. There’s inequality from semester to semester as far as work load.

Lecturers:

• The next event is Gwendolyn Pough, “It’s My Beat: Women, Hip-Hop and a Feminist Agenda” is scheduled for Nov. 9.

Library (Stephanie):  Nothing to report.

MFA (Chloe): Nov. 10 is the next reading, and Dec. 10 is the last one.

Professionalization (Alicia / Kristin):

• We’ve tentatively planned an event for Nov. 13 on networking and conferences. Byron Caminero-Santangelo and William Harris participating. Topics to be covered include, How do you make the experience productive, how do you talk to people in your area, etc.

Public/Alumni Relations (Jen):

• We talked about the suggestions from graduate students about the Web site and whether or how the site could be improved (what funds are available to pay someone). Also discussed ways to reach alumni and polling undergraduate alumni. Next meet on Nov. 30.

SAGE Advice (Sarah):  Nothing new.

Social Committee (Keri):

• Halloween party was a great success. Next social event is Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.

Summer Institutes (Stephanie):

• Next Monday is the next meeting. So far, dealing with the two institutes, the Holmes and the multicultural. The question we are exploring is should there be a department member, in addition to the guest faculty member, who offers a lecture on the subject of the institute. We’re also reviewing candidates.

Supplemental funds (Katie):

• Want to offer thanks to Keri for hosting Halloween. Nothing else to report.

Web master (Kristin):

• Posted photos of Halloween and the email about Academics Anonymous. Also exploring a list of specialties that people study – please email Kristin.

Old business:

• John: Please fill out the course requests that Byron has asked us to do. The roster for spring 2007 is set, but make a request now for next year.

Meeting adjourned.

Minutes submitted by Jen Humphrey, Secretary.