Approval of minutes. The minutes for the meeting of April 14, 2004 were approved as amended. The minutes of April 21, 2004 were distributed for information, but not proposed for approval. Remarks by the Secretary. Professor Ditz reported that the May 11 evening meeting will be at the Hopkins Club. Two potential topics for discussion were the transition document, if not completed, and the letters to the department chairs and program directors about departmental reviews for 2004/05.

Council turned to consideration of a proposed minor in Jewish Studies. Professor Williams, chair of the Academic Affairs subcommittee, reported that the subcommittee had considered the proposed minor at some length. Initially the committee had concerns about cohesiveness because the minor involves so many departments, but after Professor Nirenberg rewrote the advising regulations the committee unanimously recommended it for approval. A Council member said that this is an issue that needs to be addressed in regard to all the programs, not just Jewish Studies, and that we need an articulation of the rationale for such programs. After discussion of the benefits of minors in structuring cross-disciplinary studies, whether there ought to be a set of criteria for how majors and minors are defined, and whether the Council should review minors and similar programs, a motion approving the Jewish Studies minor was approved.

The Council then discussed the report of the Administration and Budget subcommittee proposing changes to the Titles document regarding Research categories. Professor Poland, subcommittee chair, said that the first of the changes has to do with clarifying the sources of letters and referees. After discussion, a motion approving the amended change was approved.

Another item had to do with retiring faculty who want to change their title to research professor so they can apply for grant support. Professor Poland said that it was found that Council had previously decided that no new referees' letters were required for this change.

Dean Douglas asked if a research professor could move his appointment to a different area without getting new letters, saying that he believed Council rules would allow this. A Council member suggested exploring the corresponding nuances of titles at some point in the future.

The Council then turned to further consideration of the proposal for changes to the tenure policy and procedures for their implementation, including transition procedures. Dean Falk started with a discussion of the Appointments and Promotion Procedures document, dated April 21. He then moved to the Tenure Regulations. He said that the Transition document, dated April 21, is the report of the working group.

Dean Weiss asked if Council was ready to circulate the documents to the department chairs, noting that the Arts and Sciences chairs have a meeting on May 7. He suggested that the documents should be characterized as relatively complete, but that significant issues can be raised and the Council would consider them. Council members agreed, and further agreed that the chairs can share the documents with faculty members.

Remarks by the Chair. Dean Douglas pointed out that some detailed information about admissions had been distributed.

The meeting adjourned at 5:53 p.m.

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Last updated 17May04 by dgips@jhu.edu