Approval of minutes. The minutes for the meeting of May 14, 2003 were approved as amended. The minutes for the meetings of June 4 and September 17, 2003 were approved as submitted.

Remarks by the Secretary. Professor Lattman reported that the Deans will be attending the dinner meeting on October 7 to discuss the departments that the Council is reviewing. Council members agreed with a suggestion that Dean Falk attend as well.

Open Discussion. A Council member relayed concerns from a faculty member about INS changes since September 11 and their adverse impact on the creation of knowledge.

Provost Knapp acknowledged that this is a source of great concern to Hopkins and many other institutions around the country. He chaired a panel at a recent meeting of provosts and chief academic officers of the Association of American Universities (AAU) on a series of issues involving homeland security and its impact. One of the topics was that the formerly bright line between classified and unclassified research has been blurred by the category of "sensitive but unclassified research," in which the government may not approve sharing certain kinds of information that was not in advance stipulated as unacceptable for circulation either nationally or internationally. Another issue is that students need to be educated on what the technicalities are so that they do not inadvertently fall out of status. Finally he mentioned that Hopkins is trying to establish better relationships with a re-formed INS. This is difficult because of significant personnel changes in INS, and the current attitude of presumption in favor of deportation.

It was noted that some university presidents have made clear statements about what can be demanded of Universities in regard to freedom of access to information. The Provost commented that there is a constant struggle with the government which is trying to attach various constraints to research funding that are unacceptable because of the limitation of information that the government is demanding. The first meeting of the Academic Affairs committee of the Board of Trustees will address classified research and sensitive but unclassified research. Dean Weiss said they are trying to make sure that people are protected and supported. He noted that President Brody addressed related issues in his Commencement speech and suggested that it would be good to hear from the President on this issue. The speech is available on the Web at URL www.jhu.edu/news/commence03/speeches/brody.html.

The Deans were asked about plans for more smart classrooms on campus. Dean Weiss said that the project is very costly and that a quick fix is to purchase portable equipment. Dean Falk added that the classrooms in Hodson Hall have raised expectations in many ways.

A Council member raised issues regarding Graduate Board Oral exams. It was noted that in Arts and Sciences it can be difficult to get faculty outside the department to serve. A suggestion was made to inform faculty of the number of Ph.D.'s produced so that faculty would realize how often they are needed to serve on Graduate Board orals. A standard expectation would be helpful. Dean Douglas commented that serving on a final GBO exam is a waste of time for faculty if they cannot understand the subject. It was suggested that departments with a final GBO in highly specialized areas should bring in experts from other universities. A discussion ensued about whether service on an exam should be included in activity reports, and about the practice of some departments restricting GBO's to certain time periods. The Graduate Board has the data and it was suggested that it should address these difficulties.

The Deans were asked about procedures and criteria for appointments to the Krieger-Eisenhower professorial chairs. Dean Weiss said that no endowed chairs are approved by the Academic Council, that the Dean nominates endowed chairs to the President, and the President and the Board of Trustees approve these appointments. It was suggested the procedures be clarified because perceived fairness and transparency are important to morale.

A Council member commented that when a University holds a lot of professorial chairs, in effect it starts to evolve into a four-ranked faculty. Dean Weiss said that there is more flexibility in some chairs than others and that he wanted the Krieger-Eisenhower Chairs to recognize certain virtues that they wanted to make clear to the world are valued. It was noted that when a named chair becomes available in the School of Engineering, the Dean appoints a committee of chair holders, typically three, who then evaluate candidates and make a recommendation to the Dean.

Professor Khan, Chair of the Appointments and Promotions subcommittee reported that the following appointments have been approved: 1) Dr. Dominique Iogna-Prat as Louis Marin Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of History for the period 2/9/04-3/6/04. 2) Dr. Marcus Wood as Hinkley Visiting Professor in the Department of History for the period 1/1/04 - 6/30/04.

Remarks by the Deans. Dean Falk distributed a chart illustrating historical data on the number of Council members from various areas. He said that there seemed to be no evidence of serious problems in Council representation, and that the chart will be shared with the Chairs.

The meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m.

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Last updated 09Nov03 by dgips@jhu.edu