Provost Knapp welcomed new Council members: Professors Robert Cammarata from Materials Science and Engineering, Paul Dagdigian from Chemistry, Charles Meneveau (in absentia) from Mechanical Engineering, and Jerry Prince from Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Approval of minutes. The minutes for the meetings of May 10, May 17, and May 31, 2006, were approved as submitted and the minutes for the meeting of July 24, 2006, were approved as amended by the 2005/2006 Council members.

Remarks by the Secretary. Professor Ball welcomed the new Council members and reminded everyone of the dinner meeting on Tuesday, September 19. As is traditional, the Deans of the School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School will attend this dinner meeting to give a précis of the departments that Council will evaluate in the fall. Professors Ball and Das (Secretary Spring 2007) have discussed the topics of future dinner meetings. They propose that the Council consider issues related to long-term academic programs and the pursuit of scholarship. Professor Ball asked Council to email him with any suggestions.

Open discussion. A Council member raised concerns about the potential exposure of faculty and the institution to identity theft and ensuing liability issues, especially during the transition to HopkinsOne and related to the use of social security numbers. The Council member encouraged faculty members to think about these issues and wanted the administration to know that some faculty are already concerned.

A discussion of ways in which the University is moving to improve the security of information systems followed. Provost Knapp encouraged Council to contact him if they notice any security vulnerabilities. This information will be passed to Dr. Ed Roulhac or Mr. Darren Lacey, the head of information security for the network or Ms. Stephanie Reel, who is Chief Information Officer for the University.

A Council member asked about the class schedule change. Dean Falk said it would go into effect in the Spring 2008. The first step in the transition to the new schedule is to convene a group from departments that teach large service courses in chemistry, mathematics, physics, biology and engineering. A Council member asked about the planned increase in undergraduate enrollment. Dean Falk said that the past two freshmen classes have been larger than anticipated. The planned increase in the enrollment of humanities Arts and Sciences students will begin next year. Dean Jones added that no growth in the freshmen class is scheduled for Engineering.

The Academic Council subcommittees (and liaisons) were approved as assigned.

The Departmental Review Committees were approved as assigned.

Professors Charles Meneveau, Baruch Awerbuch and Takeru Igusa were approved as new Board of Review members.

Dean Falk raised the issue of whether the bylaws currently allow a tenured Associate Professor to serve on the Board of Review, and if not, whether they should be amended so as to allow this? After a brief discussion, a motion to allow tenured associate professors on the Board of Review was approved.

A Council member presented proposed changes to the Appointment and Promotion Procedures as recommended by the 2005/06 Administration and Bylaws subcommittee. After some discussion it was decided that page 4 should read "The liaison shall be given the opportunity to review the contents of the packet of materials before it is transmitted to the referees." Page 5 was changed to read, "The Chair may at the Dean's discretion ..."

The Council approved a recommendation from the Deans proposing an insertion to the Description of Academic Titles document regarding the right of Centers, Institutes, and Programs to request Lecturer appointments as follows: "At the request of the Dean and with the approval of Academic Council, a Center, Institute, or Program may be given the right to make requests for teaching appointments (non tenure track Lecturer and Senior Lecturer) directly to the Dean (and then to the Council), on an on-going basis."

A motion granting this right to the Language Teaching Center in the Krieger School, and to the Information Security Institute and the Center for Leadership Education in the Whiting School was approved.

Dean Jones reported that the appointment of Dr. Natalia Trayanova as a full Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering effective retroactive to July 1, 2006 was approved by Council in July and her arrival on campus is imminent. She will also be affiliated with the Institute for Computational Medicine.

It was reported that the following appointments were approved by the Board of Review over summer: 1) Dr. David Rust as Research Professor in Physics and Astronomy effective 7/1/06. 2) Hal Weaver as Research Professor in Physics and Astronomy effective 7/1/06. 3) Dr. Ruth Neild as Research Scientist in the Center for Social Organization of Schools. 4) Dr. J. Michael McCaffery promotion to Associate Research Professor in Biology effective 9/1/06 - 8/31/07.

Dean Falk reported that the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences has modernized the names of all its Ph.D. concentrations. These changes must be registered with MHEC and thus require the notification of the Council. There was no further discussion.

The Council approved the KSAS Curriculum Committee new members. The following faculty members were approved to serve a two-year term (through 2008): Professor Richard Bett from Philosophy and Professor Richard Jasnow from Near Eastern Studies. The following student members were approved to serve 2006/07: Paige Cantlin, Jared Esopo, Vijay Phulwani (returning) and Johanna Sheu.

Remarks by the Chair. Provost Knapp said that all of the Deanships in the University are currently filled, and that the institution is entering a period of stable leadership at the senior levels.

He encouraged everyone to visit Charles Commons, which is breathtakingly attractive as a dormitory and should revitalize the community through expanded retail space. It seems to have been greeted by the community as a positive gesture on the part of the University.

Remarks by the Dean. Dean Falk said he was looking forward to this year. He said that Professor Spiegel will serve one more year as Acting Dean of Faculty and then Professor David Bell from the Department of History will step in as Dean of Faculty. He will start working with them in the spring in order to ensure a smooth transition.

Dean Jones made no remarks.

The meeting adjourned at 4:27 p.m.

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Last updated 17Oct06 by dgips@jhu.edu