Graduate Faculty Council Meeting Minutes: March 26, 2003


Whetten Graduate Center, Room 200
3:00 P.M.

  1. The meeting was called to order at 3:08 P.M. Vice Provost Janet Greger presided.
  2. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to approve as distributed the minutes of the 2-26-2003 meeting.
  3. The following resolution was introduced:

    AUTHORIZATION TO CONFER GRADUATE DEGREES --

    It is recommended that the degrees of Master of Arts, Master of Business Administration, Master of Dental Science, Master of Engineering, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Music, Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Health, Master of Science, Master of Social Work, Doctor of Education, Doctor of Musical Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy be conferred on those candidates who have satisfied all requirements and have been duly certified by the Graduate School for award of said degrees throughout the conferral periods ending May 18, 2003; August 31, 2003; and December 31, 2003.

    It was moved and seconded to adopt the resolution. The motion passed unaimously.

  4. J. Greger introduced Karla Fox and Richard Brown, Co-Chairs of the Academic Plan Task Force (APTF), who were present to continue the discussion begun at the February meeting concerning the work of the Task Force.

    Following brief introductory remarks, Fox and Brown noted sepcific modifications made by the Task Force in the proposed Chancellor's competition:

    • matching fund opportunities to help in competing for external support
    • new strategic initiatives
    • proposal evaluators to include local and external reviewers
    • the option for departments and schools to submit proposals in addition to the cross-boundary type initially included

    Fox and Brown fielded questions from the floor. Topics included:

    • proposal evaluation teams
    • the source of the money for the biennial competition
    • differences between this program and the RAC process
    • the evaluation plan for the proposed program
    • the balance between research and teaching emphases
    • faculty collaborations (including external people)
    • the independent nature of research in the humuanities vis-à-vis the faculty collaborations called for in this proposal
    • small windows of opportunity for matching situations
    • how to deal with lapsing money if not spent in a timely manner

  5. There was discussion about health insurance for graduate assistants. A provision pending in the Legislature may eliminate State-provided health insurance for graduate assistants.

    J. Greger noted that Purchasing will issue RFP's for the needed insurance plan(s). The specific coverages needed by graduate assistants have to be identfied. Greger has requested that a graduate student be included on the team that will review the RFP's. Seamless coverage for continuing graduate assistants must be a high priority. It is planned that coverage for new graduate assistants would commence in the summer when they arrive rather than on October 1 st , which is the current practice.

    Many faculty members and students who were present attested to the importance of good health insurance coverage for graduate assistants in recruiting the best graduate students.

  6. Adjournment was at 4:55 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,
Thomas B. Peters
Secretary

Present:
Abikoff, W. Boster, J. Dunne, G. McAvoy, R. Strausbaugh, L. Achenie, L. Brody, H. Enderle, J. Mukhopadhyay, N. Streifer, P. Albert, Amy Brown, R. Fernandez, M.L. Myers, K. Tian, X. Albert, Arlene Calabrese, A. Hesselbrock, M. Rios, D. Troyer, J. Barnes-Farrell, J. Cajka, K. (alt) Karan, O. Schultz, E. Warner, G. Basu, A. Cormier, V. Klein, L. Segal, J. Zhang, B. Bohlen, W.F. Cromley, E. Matheiu, J. Shvartsman, A.

Graduate School: J. Greger, J. Henkel, and T. Peters, Cournoyer, D. (Executive Committee)

Graduate Students: Sean Daley and Laura Sabadini

Regrets: G. Anderson, A. Baldwin, R. Cusson, D. Herzberger (on leave)