Approval of minutes. The minutes for the meeting of February 16, 2005 were approved as submitted.

Remarks by the Secretary. Professor Hobbs reminded Council members of the evening meeting to be held next Tuesday, March 8.

Discussion of 2004/05 departmental reviews with President Brody.

Dean Falk said he thought Council wanted to discuss some common themes that arose during the reviews. He identified some key common issues — departmental configurations and the nature of interdisciplinary work, and the implications of having the size departments that we do. Dean Falk put some questions on the table. How will the KSAS continue to be excellent with these departmental configurations? Are the departmental configurations serving the School's intellectual goals? Issues that come up around this are flexibility in hiring, fluctuations in the number of graduate students, marshaling resources to pursue new initiatives, and the vulnerability of small departments to departures. Dean Falk asked Council to reflect on these questions.

A discussion ensued about merging departments, particularly the recent discussions about combining the German Department and the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. All of the questions that Dean Falk had identified came up in this decision, particularly vulnerability, flexibility and efficiency. Dean Falk emphasized this was not a question primarily driven by efficiency, yet having twenty-three small departments does not make for an efficient operation. He asked what structure serves the intellectual goals of the school best? A Council member commented that he would like to see a more aggressive approach from the top, noting that departments won't change without some pushing. Several Council members expressed concern over the merging of small departments.

President Brody added that another limitation of small departments is the difficulty of finding leadership. Culture determines interdisciplinary collaboration more than structure. Over time departmental boundaries can form a way for people to be less collaborative. His second point was that hiring and promoting the best faculty has never really been analyzed. He is proposing that we think about the way we approach these issues. Hopkins has been a leader in reconfiguring how education is delivered so why not think radically rather than incrementally? All higher education is subject to continuing pressure on resources. The more we can be effective with what we have the better off we will be. We have to ask how do we do that? President Brody commented that one of the most important decisions we make in academia is who we hire and in what field. The key is getting the best talent and what is the best structure that assures that and the best quality control mechanism. The flip side is how do we attract and hold onto that talent. Provost Knapp suggested preparing for a systematic discussion on these ideas.

The conferral of tenure to Associate Professor Mark Blyth in the Department of Political Science effective July 1, 2005 was approved.

The appointment of Dr. Ronald Paulson as Professor Emeritus in the Department of English effective July 1, 2005 was approved.

Council turned to discussion of the Administration and Budget subcommittee proposals for changing the Academic Council term length. Professor Poland asked Council members to e-mail him with any comments about the proposals. The proposals, together with a cover letter, will be circulated to the Department Chairs for their comments and this item will be brought back to Council in about a month. It was suggested that since it is almost time to solicit names for nominations, that the Deans proceed under the existing procedures.

Professor Rugh, Chair of the Appointments and Promotions subcommittee reported that the following appointments have been approved: 1) Dr. Michael Ching as J. J. Sylvester Assistant Professor in Mathematics for a 3- year period 7/1/05 - 6/30/08. 2) Dr. Daniela DeSilva as J. J. Sylvester Assistant Professor in Mathematics for 3-year period 7/1/05 - 6/30/08. 3) Denise Link-Farajali as Lecturer, part-time, in the Language Teaching Center for Spring 2005.

The meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.

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