Approval of minutes. The minutes for the meeting of April 21, 2004 were approved as amended. The minutes of April 28, 2004 were distributed for information, but not proposed for approval. Remarks by the Secretary. Professor Ditz reported that the last evening meeting will be Tuesday, May 11. Two potential topics for discussion are the letters to department chairs and program directors about Departmental Reviews for 2004/05 and the tenure policy transition document.

Open Discussion. A Council member asked about the yield rate for the incoming freshman class. Dean Weiss said he did not think these numbers were available yet, but the admission rate for the class was 28%.

Professor Hobbs, liaison to the Graduate Board, reported that the Board met last Friday and there was some unhappiness concerning the Council's rejection of their recommendation on the GBO Exam composition. Three issues were raised: 1) the process, where some members of the Graduate Board do not feel that Council took their work seriously; 2) some Graduate Board members feel that Council should defer to the Board's judgment, and 3) the structural problem that arises since the Graduate Board has members from other Schools in addition to the Homewood Schools. Professor Hobbs suggested that he and Dean Ostrander discuss process changes and present their proposal to the Council. A Council member commented that process improvement can make more work for the Council, and the workload is already very significant. Provost Knapp suggested that the Secretary write a letter explaining the Council discussion of the issue, and he further noted that the Council decision was not cavalier. Professor Ditz agreed that in the future the Secretary should write a letter of explanation when a request is turned down.

The promotion for Dr. Louis Whitcomb to the rank of Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering effective July 1, 2004 was approved.

Remarks by the Chair. Provost Knapp reported that he attended the International Advisory Council meeting for the Bologna Center, and noted that next year will be the 50th anniversary of Center. He added that it was designed for about 60 masters students, but currently has about 150, and they are extraordinarily impressive. He described the Bologna Center as a thriving institution with a strong core of faculty.

Remarks by the Deans. Dean Falk pointed out that there are faculty comments on the table concerning the tenure documents. In further discussion, concerns were noted about early promotion cases, the issue of criteria for promotion from untenured Associate Professor to tenured Associate Professor, and about the short deadlines posed for referee responses. Dean Falk said that both the Krieger School and the Whiting School have department chairs meetings scheduled where the proposed changes to the tenure policy are going to be discussed. Dean Falk said he would wait until after these meetings before bringing issues back to Council.

The meeting adjourned at 5:12 p.m.

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Last updated 01Jun04 by dgips@jhu.edu