Council of Graduate School Programs
Regular Meeting
November 22, 2002
Rubloff Reception Room, 25 East Pearson,
Water Tower Campus
MINUTES
[Approved, 2/7/03]
Members Present: Gad Bensinger, Barney Berlin, Pamela Caughie (chair), Andrew Cutrofello, Jawed Fareed, Allen Frantzen, Anthony Giaquinto, Thackery Gray, Maureen Hellwig, Stephen Jones, Claudio Katz, James Keenan, Fred Kniss, James Krueger, Michael Maher, Mary Manteuffel, Marcia Maurer, Patricia Mooney-Melvin, Duarte Mota de Freitas, Jon Nilson, David Ozar, Kayhan Parsi, Jeanine Seitz-Partridge, Diane Suter, Scott Tindale (for Grayson Holmbeck), Elizabeth Vera, Yolande Wersching, Alan Wolfe.
Members Excused: Adam Driks, Grayson Holmbeck, Randolph Lucente.
Members Not Present: Matthew Bozovsky, Susan Cavallo, Maya Kelly, Joan McLane, E.J. Neafsey, Pauline Viviano.
Graduate School Deans: Max Caproni, Douglas Davis, Marianne Gramza, Fred Wezeman, William Yost.
Call to Order
Pamela Caughie, chair of the Council, called the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m.
Discussion with Provost Facione
Dr. Caughie introduced Peter Facione, the university's provost, and opened the floor to questions for Dr. Facione. Questions and discussion followed. Topics discussed included the following:
- Role of the Graduate School and the Council of Graduate Programs, given the restructuring of graduate education budget allocations and responsibilities;
- The new centralized enrollment management program for graduate and professional schools;
- How to reconstruct important graduate education and research specialties, given the departure of essential faculty;
- "Model" graduate programs;
- The undergraduate core revision initiatives and the role of graduate student teaching in the core;
- How to develop interdisciplinary programs; and
- Internet-based graduate programs.
Approval of the Minutes of the Past Meeting
Dr. Caughie asked if there were any revisions to the draft of the minutes of the October 25, 2002 regular meeting. Hearing none, she asked if there were any objections to approving the draft of the minutes. Hearing none, she announced that the minutes were approved as drafted.
Dean's Report
William Yost distributed a written report and provided a summary of its contents. Discussion followed regarding the need for teacher training and program review proposals to be realistic and pragmatic in the current fiscal context.
Chair's Report
Dean's Policy Initiatives. Dr. Caughie reported that the Executive Committee recommends approval of the policies included in Dean Yost's October 21, 2002 memorandum on the number of graduate faculty members that constitute a Ph.D. program and the number of dissertations faculty members may supervise. Discussion followed. The Dean wishes to have a school-wide policy on these issues rather than program-by-program agreements. The numbers proposed fit with the expected recommendations coming from the Faculty Work-load Task Force and the Delaware study. The university currently does not have the facilities and resources for faculty to direct more than eight quality dissertations at a time. Dean reiterated that commitments to students "in the pipeline" would be maintained.
Dr. Caughie asked if there were any objections to considering the policies separately. There were none. The Council recommended approval of the policy on the number of graduate faculty members that constitute a Ph.D. program by a vote of 22 in favor and 0 opposed, with 1 abstention. The Council recommended approval of the policy on the number of dissertations faculty members may supervise by a vote of 19 in favor and 2 opposed, with 2 abstentions.
Proposed Amendments to the By-Laws. Dr. Caughie summarized the proposed amendments to the Council's by-laws regarding membership and attendance that were introduced at the Council's October 25, 2002 meeting. The intent of the proposed amendment is to increase informed participation in the Council's meetings. Discussion followed.
The Council voted to approve the proposed amendments by a vote of 22 in favor and 0 opposed, with 1 abstention. The proposed amendments were not approved, as they were not approved by a two-thirds majority of the voting membership (23 members), as required by Article VII of the by-laws.
Ad hoc Committees. Dr. Caughie discussed the creation of ad hoc committees on program review and teacher training. She said she would be asking members to consider serving on one of the committees and/or nominating other faculty members for service.
Curriculum Committee Report
Marcia Maurer, chair of the Curriculum Committee, introduced a proposal for a new course, Social Science and Bioethics, and reported that the committee recommends approval of the course (the committee's report was distributed to Council members prior to the meeting). Discussion followed. By vote of 12 in favor and 6 opposed, with 2 abstentions, the Council tabled the proposal and requested consideration of revisions in response to the recommendations included in the committee's report.
Dr. Maurer introduced a proposal for a new course, Special Topics in Conservation Medicine, and reported that the committee recommends approval of the course. Discussion followed. By vote of 16 in favor and 1 opposed, with 1 abstention, the Council tabled the proposal and requested consideration of revisions in response to the recommendations included in the committee's report.
New Business
Dr. Caughie asked the Council if the starting time of the meetings should be changed. The Council did not support a change.
Adjournment
Dr. Caughie adjourned the meeting at 3:00 p.m.