Executive Committee Meeting Minutes: August 4, 2003


Whetten Graduate Center - Giolas Conference Room
1:00 P.M.

  1. The meeting was called to order at 1:12 P.M. Vice Provost Janet L. Greger presided.

  2. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to approve as distributed the minutes of the 6-26-2003 meeting.

  3. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to approve the Doctoral Plans of Study and Dissertation Proposals.

  4. 4. J. Greger provided the committee with progress reports on:

    - Graduate Assistant Health Insurance
    A plan has been secured although, a reduced version of the current state employee plan with a larger co-pay, it will contain prescription and dental coverage and an optional family plan. Rates are a bit more but it is a better plan than most universities offer. Currently, we are awaiting Lori Aronson's approval. Once approved, informational workshops will be held. New Grad Assistants' coverage will be effective 9/1/03 while continuing grad assistants' coverage will be effective 10/1/03. Post-doc and pre-doc fellows on training grants will also be eligible to receive this health insurance. The majority of these fellows work at the Health Center.

    - Alumni Database
    UConn Foundation Millenium System will merge information into PeopleSoft with the majority of the entry done by the Foundation. It is anticipated that lists will be distributed to departments this fall. Some cleanup will be required but is expected to be easy. The establishment of an alumni database will be beneficial not only for NRC requirements, but also on training grants and for quality control.

    - Electronic Graduate Applications
    The admissions module was NOT included in the PeopleSoft contract thus we must modify our plan for electronic application in Fall 2004. Applicants can still complete the on-line graduate school application but Graduate School staff will have to key the information directly into PeopleSoft. Credit cards will be accepted as a form of payment.

    - Public Health cross-campuses Ph.D. program
    J. Greger reported that progress was occurring and that there were many knowledgeable people involved.

  5. Consideration of new EEB 306 internship course as part of the new BS/MS program in Biodiversity & Conservation Biology
    G. Anderson answered some minor questions. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to approve the new internship course.

  6. Consideration of a proposal from the School of Nursing to implement an off-campus RN/MS degree program in Nursing to be offered at the Waterbury campus. NOTE: Any time a change in venue is requested, DHE must grant approval.

    The committee felt the proposal was fine although there was some concern with regard to who was conducting the teaching. Are the classes taught by UConn faculty or by adjuncts? The committee felt that if the classes were taught primarily by UConn faculty then they were satisfied and they were comfortable with practice-based classes being taught by adjuncts. Executive Committee granted approval pending requested information below:

    • The table on page 12 needed to be re-worked to show a comparison between the Storrs campus profile and the Waterbury campus proposal. Faculty rankings should also be included.
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    • How many courses will be offered on-line?

    (Footnote: Nursing responded affirmatively to the Executive Committee requests and the application was modified to reflect the changes/additions. The application will be considered at the September 23rd meeting of the Board of Trustees.)

  7. NRC field of study affiliation survey
    Adjunct/Emeriti faculty should only be included in the survey if they serve on student advisory committees or if Department Heads feel their inclusion can greatly contribute to the overall success of the department's ranking.

    Executive Committee members agreed that weaker programs should be excluded from the survey if they risk being ranked last.

    E. Pagoulatos informed the committee that he spoke with Charlotte Koo, head of the Statistics Analysis Division at the NRC. The NRC will ask for affiliation and percentage of affiliation of each individual faculty and then obtain the same information from the official administration of each college. They are concerned about the fairness of the statistical analysis so the NRC will compare the two results. Administration and faculty must agree where faculty are placed. Ms. Koo also indicated that the NRC will be concerned whether an alumni database has been established.

  8. UCHC Policy on Postdoctoral Research Fellows Employment, Mentoring & Career Development
    Chancellor's staff and Human Resources agree that the Graduate School should take leadership on post-doc issues with the Executive Committee taking charge of establishing a defined title for this group.

    A DRAFT Post-doc Fellow Definition was made. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to adopt the DRAFT Post-doc Fellow Definition as outlined below:

    POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW DEFINITION
    v post-doc experiences (generally known as post-doc fellowships) are "training" experiences for individuals with Ph.D.'s and Sc.D.'s

    v expect primary focus to be research or scholarship

    Accordingly, the duration cannot be >5 years and faculty have a responsibility to mentor with Graduate School oversight.

    Additional related topics of interest were discussed. All of these will need follow-up:

    • Career counseling promoted by the Graduate School.
    • Can we allow same benefits for fellows of programs such as Sloan, as for NSF and NIH fellows?
    • Should post-docs be allowed to purchase insurance through the university if they receive their check directly from their sponsorship rather than through UConn? How?
    • Limiting the term one can serve as a post-doc fellow (ie., >5yrs) and then forcing them to a decide to move or take a staff position. J. Greger recommended obtaining job descriptions from Human Resources of those types of positions post-docs could hold after serving in such capacity besides faculty positions (i.e., Research Associate, Adjunct faculty, non-tenure track positions.)
    • Post-docs should not be a form of cheap labor.
    • Training faculty to be mentors.
    • Should post-docs be allowed to teach? How do we avoid confusion with adjuncts?
    • Should TA money be converted to post-doc positions to help new Ph.D.'s get started?


    Sub-committees were formed to look further into Post-doc Fellow concerns listed below:

    • Annual review (E. Smith with J. Marsden collaboration)
    • Appropriate training (G. Anderson & G. Clifford)

  9. How could $50K improve recruitment of the best U.S. graduate students? (see announcement attached to minutes)
    • This money should be concentrated on a few programs (5-7) that present the most creative or practical ideas. These could include recruiting weekends, signing bonuses, combined efforts of several programs.
    • The program should be willing to provide a match.
    • The programs/departments should submit a proposal (no more than 2 pages in length.)
    • More details need to be worked out.

  10. G. Anderson, Univeristy Senate Liaison reported housing for visiting scientists was still an issue.

  11. The next meeting of the Executive Committee is scheduled for Friday, September 12, 2003 at 1pm in the Giolas Conference Room of the Whetten Graduate Center.

  12. Adjournment was at 3:17 PM.

Present:

  • Clifford, J.G.
  • Pagoulatos, E.
  • Smith, E.
  • Marsden, J.
  • Anderson, G.
  • Herzberger, D.
  • Greger, J. (Vice Provost)
  • Henkel, J. (Associate Dean)
  • Maxwell, G. (Associate Dean)
  • Morneau, C.

Regrets:

  • Baldwin, A.
  • Cournoyer, D.
  • Strausbaugh, L.


Respectfully submitted,

Carleen Morneau
Administrative Assistant