Consideration of proposed revisions of the Tenure Regulations and of the Appointment and Promotion Procedures. Provost Knapp explained that the agenda had been rearranged, because if the proposed new tenure regulations are approved by Council a memo needs to go to the Board of Trustees tomorrow at the latest. It is not necessary to finalize the Appointment and Promotion Procedures for that purpose.

Dean Falk recalled that at a previous meeting Council had indicated that it was at the point of considering approval of the Tenure Regulations document. Since that time only one issue has come up, which concerns a provision about extending the tenure clock. Dean Falk said that a Council member had proposed alternative language that would read "Untenured faculty … promotion be extended, provided that the total period of all extensions does not exceed twelve months in aggregate." A motion approving the Tenure Regulations draft of May 18, 2004, as amended, passed unanimously.

Dean Falk then proceeded to the Appointment and Promotion Procedures document. He said that from the discussions with department chairs and faculty there were four new issues to be addressed. The first issue concerns a change in the role of the liaison as described in the document. Dean Falk asked if there was any objection to having the liaison see the referees' letters. A Council member reiterated his opposition to a liaison instead of the current departmental representative, noting that Council had spent three times as much time when the department chair visits as compared to when the ad hoc committee chair visits. He further noted that the nature of the questions to the visitors is quite different and opined that the reports without departmental input will be less useful. Another Council member commented that he was much more comfortable with the proposed system. The role of the department will be amply represented in the discussions, and he spoke in favor of segregating the department's work in a formal way. Another Council member asked to be reminded of the rationale for having the liaison read the letters. He expressed concern that the liaison is constantly acquiring further input so that at the end of the day the liaison might as well be a member of the committee. He spoke in favor of having one system or the other. A Council member said that a formal difference between the systems is that the liaison does not vote and is not present when that final discussion takes place. She said that the committee should feel free to ask the department what it needs to know in order to make its decision, and she would like to insert language to this effect in regard to the liaison.

A Council member commented that it has become evident that the department would have sufficient opportunity to make their position clear in terms of the ad hoc committee's report and in the interpretation of the letters. Discussion of this issue continued and resulted in the adoption of changes that include the following statement. "Beyond consulting on the selection of the referees, the role of the liaison shall be confined to questions the ad hoc committee may ask for other information it deems relevant to its deliberations." After some further discussion, Provost Knapp suggested tabling this matter and proceeding with the agenda.

Remarks by the Deans. Dean Weiss reported that Dean Ostrander will take on a new role and will be shifting his responsibilities from Arts and Sciences to the Provost's office to spend more of his time on developments at Montgomery County. Dean Ostrander will continue to chair the Graduate Board and oversee the Howard Hughes grant for which he is the principal investigator, though he will no longer be Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Education in the Krieger School. Dean Weiss announced that the new Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Education will be Professor Eaton Lattman.

Provost Knapp added that Dean Ostrander has had a role in the University administration focusing on the development of the Montgomery County campus. That work is accelerating and expanding, and that is the reason for this shifting of effort. Provost Knapp said that this is not a new position, it is more time going into the position which Dr. Ostrander already held as Associate Provost for Research.

Professor Lattman reported for Professor Khan, Chair of the Appointments and Promotions subcommittee that the following appointments have been approved: 1) Dr. Ibrahim Sakaji as Lecturer, part-time, in the Language Teaching Center for 7/1/04 - 6/30/05. 2) Ms. Yuko Takakusaki as Lecturer, part-time, in the Language Teaching Center for 7/1/04 - 6/30/05 3) Dr. Eugene Schnell as Lecturer in the Program in Entrepreneurship and Management in the Applied Mathematics and Statistics Department for 7/1/04 - 6/30/05.

Professor Das, liaison to the Board of Review committee reported that the appointment of Dr. Bharat Doshi as Research Professor in the Department of Computer Science effective 4/1/04 was approved.

The Council approved the following appointments to the 2004-2005 Graduate Board: Faculty members Blake Hill and Joel Grossman, Krieger School; Peter Maloney, School of Medicine; Gayle Page, Nursing; Janet DiPietro, Public Health; and graduate students James Williams, Krieger School, and Erin Holve, Public Health.

Approval of minutes. The minutes for the meeting of May 5 and May 12, 2004 were approved as amended.

Remarks by the Secretary. Professor Ditz reminded Council members to attend to the tenure policy transition document in preparation for final consideration.

Open Discussion. A Council member said that he and another Council member modified the letter to department chairs about departmental reviews based on the dinner meeting discussion. He called Council's members attention to material that was on the table and suggested that it be discussed at the next Council meeting.

Remarks by the Chair. The Provost reported that everything seemed to go very well at the Commencement ceremonies, and he thanked the faculty and others who participated.

The meeting adjourned at 6:13 p.m.

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Last updated 22Sep04 by dgips@jhu.edu