Council of Graduate School Programs
Regular Meeting
September 27, 2002
Rubloff Reception Room, 25 E. Pearson,
Water Tower Campus
MINUTES
[Approved, 10/25/02]
Members Present: Gad Bensinger, Barney Berlin, Matthew Bozovsky, Pamela Caughie (chair), Andrew Cutrofello, Adam Driks, Mary Elsbernd, O.S.F., Lewis Erenberg (for Patricia Mooney-Melvin), Jawed Fareed, Anthony Giaquinto, Paolo Giordano (for Susan Cavallo), Thackery Gray, Maureen Hellwig, Grayson Holmbeck, Stephen Jones, Patricia Jung (for Jon Nilson), Claudio Katz, James Keenan, Maya Kelly, Fred Kniss, James Krueger, Randolph Lucente, Michael Maher, Mary Manteuffel, Marcia Maurer, Duarte Mota de Freitas, David Ozar, Kayhan Parsi, Jeanine Seitz-Partridge, Elizabeth Vera, Pauline Viviano, Yolande Wersching, Alan Wolfe.
Members Excused: Susan Cavallo, Allen Frantzen, Patricia Mooney-Melvin, Jon Nilson, Diane Suter.
Members Not Present: Joan McLane, E.J. Neafsey.
Graduate School Deans: Max Caproni, Douglas Davis, Marianne Gramza, Frederick Wezeman, William Yost.
Call to Order
Pamela Caughie, chair of the Council, called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
Approval of the Minutes
One necessary revision to the draft of the minutes of the April 26, 2002 regular meeting was noted: to correct item #3 of the chair's report (p. 5) to note that Susan Hirsch, Claudio Katz, and James Keenan will be leaving the Executive Committee. The Council approved the minutes as revised by a unanimous vote.
Dean's Report
William Yost distributed a written report and provided an overview of its contents. He also noted personnel changes within The Graduate School: Frederick Wezeman was named associate dean for Graduate School programs at the Medical Center; Douglas Davis was named assistant dean, replacing Trevor Bechtel; and Marianne Gramza was promoted to associate dean.
Chair's Report
Dr. Caughie introduced this year's Executive Committee members (Pamela Caughie, Chair; Diane Suter, Past Chair; Fred Kniss, Chair-Elect; Marcia Maurer, Curriculum Committee Chair; Patricia Mooney-Melvin, Program Review Committee Chair; and Pauline Viviano, at-large member). Dr. Caughie reported on (1) the existence of a vacancy in the second at-large position on the Council's Executive Committee and asked members to consider volunteering or nominating another member; (2) several items remaining from the Council's 2001-2002 business; and (3) the provost's proposal to revise the university's academic calendar. The text of Dr. Caughie's report is attached. Discussion followed each item.
Proposed Amendments to the By-Laws
Program Review. Dr. Caughie summarized the proposed amendments to the Council's by-laws regarding program review that were introduced at the Council's April 26, 2002 meeting (the proposed amendments are described in the material distributed to Council members). Discussion followed, much of which concerned the need for flexibility in the timing of the Council's program review, so that it might coincide with other reviews necessary for some specialized graduate programs such as those in nursing, education, and social work.
Patricia Jung made a motion to revise the proposed amendments by adding the following sentence to section II.5.: "A program may request of the dean that its program review be scheduled to coincide with other reviews." Pauline Viviano seconded the motion. The Council approved the motion by a vote of 29 in favor, 0 against, and 0 abstentions.
The Council approved the proposed amendments, as revised above, by a vote of 29 in favor, 0 against, and 0 abstentions.
Membership and Attendance. Dr. Caughie summarized the proposed amendments to the Council's by-laws regarding membership and attendance that were introduced at the Council's April 26, 2002 meeting. Discussion followed concerning the question of the necessary qualifications of a representative's "designated alternate." For example, should the alternate also be a member of the graduate faculty? Should there be a single designated alternate, or could the alternate vary from meeting to meeting? A consensus emerged that, although the Council agreed with the amendment in principle, it should be voted down at this time and returned to the original drafter of the amendment for rewording and consideration at the next meeting. Consequently:
The Council rejected the proposed amendments on membership and attendance by a vote of 2 in favor, 22 against, and 5 abstentions.
Curriculum Committee Report
Marcia Maurer, chair of the Curriculum Committee, noted the names of the committee members: David Chinitz (English), Peter Gilmour (Institute for Pastoral Studies), Randolph Lucente (Social Work), and Duarte Mota de Freitas (Chemistry). She reported that the committee expects to receive soon proposals for new courses.
Report of the Committee on Program Review
Dr. Caughie, reporting for Patricia Mooney-Melvin, chair of the Committee on Program Review, noted the names of the committee members: Joseph Durlak (Psychology) and James Keenan (Classical Studies).
Nominations to the Executive Committee
Dr. Caughie called for volunteers or nominations for an at-large representative to the Executive Committee. Dr. Keenan nominated Barney Berlin, who accepted the nomination. The Council approved the nomination by a unanimous vote.
New Business
Dr. Caughie provided an overview of the provost's proposal "Proposed Change in Spring Academic Term," which was announced to the university via e-mail on September 10, 2002. Discussion followed, including the following comments and questions:
- For some programs, such as Nursing and Chicago Studies, the shortened summer posed a severe problem for its summer courses.
- There was some uncertainty about the costs and benefits of the January intersession for graduate education.
- Would faculty ultimately be pressured to teach during the January intersession?
- The pros and cons of the proposed calendar changes varied significantly by program. Some were strongly opposed to the changes, while others saw them as potentially beneficial.
- A later summer start might be good for attracting summer school students from other schools.
- Perhaps the start of fall semester could be delayed until after Labor Day as a way of ameliorating some of the problems associated with a shortened summer term.
David Ozar made the following motion: "That the chair prepare a report for the provost regarding graduate-program and faculty-research matters affected by the proposed calendar change for a January inter-term and that the chair solicit from members of the Council relevant information to prepare this report." The motion was seconded. The Council approved the motion by a vote of 29 in favor, 0 against, and 0 abstentions.
Adjournment
Dr. Caughie adjourned the meeting at 2:30 p.m.
Council of Graduate School Programs
Chair's Report
Friday, September 27, 2002
1. First, let me introduce the Executive Committee members for this year (see list attached to the agenda for today). Since Susan Hirsch, the chair-elect last year, became chair of History over the summer, she declined to serve as chair of the Council this year. Therefore, by default (no one else volunteered) I am chair again this year, and Diane Suter is in her second year as "past chair." Fred Kniss is chair-elect and will be chair next year, and should I feel compelled to address the Council as a representative, I will yield the chair to Fred for that purpose. I am grateful to Marcia Maurer for staying on as chair of the Curriculum Committee, and to Pat Mooney-Melvin (who can't be here today) for agreeing to serve as chair of Program Review. (Membership of these committees will need to be approved today.) Pauline Viviano remains on the committee as an at-large representative. We are missing one more at-large rep, and I would like to solicit nominations at this time.
2. I do not have much to report so early in the year. I thought I would instead briefly review what we did last year and mention some issues we might discuss at this meeting or in the near future.
Program Review was suspended for last year in response to a motion made by Claudio Katz at the April 27, 2001 meeting. The Program Review committee was directed to review our by-laws for program review and to make recommendations for any necessary changes. We have before us today the changes to the by-laws proposed by this committee to the Council last April as a result of that review. This will be the first action we take up today.
But we did take up a review in progress (Chemistry) and passed the motion in support of continuing that program presented by Program Review. Dean Yost accepted that recommendation.
The Curriculum Committee proposed guidelines for distance-learning courses, which we approved. We also accepted the Committee's recommendations for approving a web-based (i.e., distance-learning) MA program in bioethics and health policy, and a dual degree MA/MSW program with Women's Studies and Social Work.
In response to Father Garanzini's statements on graduate education and Dean Yost's paper on the future of graduate education, we surveyed Council representatives on their ideas about "niche" and "focused" programs and share those results with the Council. We also hosted Father Garanzini at our last meeting.
And Dr. Suter proposed a change to the by-laws that would address the ongoing concern about having a quarum at Council meetings and having informed graduate faculty representing the programs in the absence of the appointed Council representative. This is another action we must take up today.
3. Some issues that have carried over from last year concern the students' protest of the tuition increases and their research into where Loyola stands in terms of costs. In response, Dean Yost has agreed that tuition should be frozen at $1300 and that 600A should be reinstated.
We also need to revisit the issue raised by Dean Yost last year concerning the number of graduate faculty constituting a program, the number of dissertations any one faculty member can direct at one time, and the number of students required for 500-level courses to "go."
In light of our approval of the MA program in health policy and the dual degree with WOST and Social Work, we might want to return to the issue of interdisciplinary programs and joint appointments.
4. Finally, a new issue that has recently come up that Council might want to discuss is the proposed change to the academic calendar presented by our new provost, Peter Facione. That calendar change might have implications for graduate education that should be reported to the Provost, who is soliciting responses. I know this issue is being taken up by other elected bodies, such as Faculty Council and the Academic Council of CAS.