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Academic Council
Meeting Notes
March 7, 2000
Announcements:
Dean Dodds announced that there has been an offer
extended in the Music department search.
The search committee for the Japanese Language and
Literature position is conducting phone interviews before
next weekend’s AAAS conference.
Two candidates were on campus last week to interview for
the position in Theatre.
Dean Johnson reported that there will be a candidate for
the clinical psychology position interviewing Wednesday
& Thursday of this week. The candidate’s specialty
is Health Psychology. The committee is also narrowing the
list of finalists for the sensation and perception position
in psychology.
There has been an offer extended to Lawrence Baum for the
Ulysses G. Dubach Chair in Political Science.
There has also been an offer made to the Environmental
Studies position. Elizabeth Safran, currently a University
of California President’s Post-doctoral Fellow will
join the MNS faculty in the fall as an Assistant Professor
of Geological Sciences. [Subsequently, Dr. Safran
verbally accepted the position.]
Dean Atkinson said that the Committee on Promotion and
Tenure had a discussion this week regarding concerns raised
by a junior faculty member over the inclusion of Inventing
America teaching evaluation stats with stats from courses
taught within a faculty members primary discipline. The
committee agreed that the statistics in aggregate are not
very meaningful. There was also agreement that the
comparative stats are seldom if ever used in CPT
deliberations, but the comments and rankings from individual
students are read. The committee decided to present a
resolution at a special April 19 faculty meeting to
eliminate the comparative stats.
Agenda Items:
Animal Care. The college is exploring the necessary
equipment and renovations needed on campus to accommodate
federal guidelines on animal care. Estimates are in the $50
- $100K range.
The Council reviewed and approved five proposals for
Faculty/Student Summer Research Stipends. They include:
- Andrew Cortell & Yumi Shimabukuro –
Understanding the Domestic Consequences of International
Institutions.
- Robert M. Eisinger and Andrew S. Zahler –
Reconciling the Public Opinion Among Political
Elites.
- Kurt Fosso & Lynn Nolan – The Romantic
Animal: Representatin and Subjectivity in Poetry and
Painting, 1785-1820.
- Sherry Fowler & Aubrey Lyon – Research and
Collaboration in Japan and Portland.
- John Fritzman & Wendy Lynn Clark –
Hegel’s Method: Phenomenological or
Dialectical?
Dean Dodds asked how much short-term replacements should
be paid to when filling in for the unexpected absence of a
faculty member. It was decided to pay $250/week (or the
equivalent of the prorated adjunct salary) and if the
replacement is not approved in advance, the department will
be required to pay half. Dean Atkinson will draft broader
policy language to include in the Instructors Guide.
Professor of International Affairs Bob Mandel has voiced
a concern about inconsistencies with due dates and with the
criteria used to determine departmental honors. For
instance, the Music department requires a 3.6 g.p.a, while
the International Affairs requires a 3.5 g.p.a. Other
questions, such as who determines which students receive
honors and the timing for senior theses were raised. The
divisional dean will speak to their respective chairs about
their methods for awarding departmental honors and bring
their findings back to the Council.
Department & program reviews for 2000-01. The council
discussed which departments might benefit from a
departmental or program review in the coming year. It was
suggested that Environmental Studies do a self-study this
spring and have an outside reviewer brought in next year.
The new program has a large number of majors and it is
timely to check on its progress and needs. There is also a
need to conduct a review of Music and possibly So/An.
The divisional deans briefly reported back from inquiries
to their constituents about possible dates for Faculty
Technology Workshops. Dean Atkinson will contact Kelly
Wainwright with their ideas.
The Council discussed Jean Ward’s request to reviews
the standard teaching evaluations from Inventing America
sections for visiting faculty and lecturers. The evaluations
for the two groups are typically reviewed by academic
department chairs, but the IA Director has up to now
reviewed only the special evaluations issued by Inventing
America. The Council agreed that the IA Director should
function as the department chair and review the standard
evaluations of participating lecturers and visitors at the
end of each semester.
The Council reaffirmed their decision to have the chairs
of the East Asian Studies Program join the A&H
Divisional chairs meeting and the Environmental Studies and
BioChem chairs join the Mathematical & Natural Sciences
chairs as non-voting members. It is hoped that their
attendance at the divisional meetings will serve to head-off
problems with better communication.
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