Homewood Schools Academic Council

Homewood Schools Academic Council Minutes
May 17, 2006 | Board Room
Shriver Hall | 3:00 p.m.

The meeting of the Academic Council was called to order at 3:00 p.m. by Dean Adam Falk. In addition to Dean Falk, those attending were Acting Dean of Faculty Gabrielle Spiegel, Dean Nicholas Jones, Associate Dean Andrew Douglas, Professors Gregory Ball, Victor Corces, Paul Feldman, Frances Ferguson, Stuart Leslie, Matthew Roller, Wilson Rugh, and Kathleen Stebe. President William Brody, Provost Steven Knapp, and Professors Veena Das, Ali Khan, and Sarah Woodson were absent.

Approval of minutes. The minutes for the meeting of April 19, 2006 were approved as amended.

Open discussion. Professor Ball brought up the issue of undergraduates as teaching assistants. It is necessary to be constantly vigilant about undergraduates grading student work. Dean Falk said that the policy was that students could only grade others' work when it was purely objective, not when judgment had to be made. Dean Douglas suggested that in the fall he bring the rules of the Joint Administrative Committee on Academic Policies and Procedures to Council for review.

Professor Leslie said he had had a number of students complaining about professors not following the posted exam schedules. Dean Falk said that the students should contact the chair of the relevant departments. Professor Ball said he received complaints about the exam schedule of the core foundational courses. A lot of students were taking their cell biology exam on Thursday afternoon and organic chemistry Friday morning. The students felt they were taking two of the most important exams of their career within 12 hours.

The Council discussed procedures for considering tenured appointments during summer. Dean Jones said that there is a standing procedure that the Deans can make non-tenured appointments over the summer. Dean Jones said that in some cases having to wait until September to offer tenure might put Hopkins at a competitive disadvantage. He asked about the possibility of a summer meeting. Dean Jones said that everything about the process would be regular including the preparation of a full dossier.

In accordance with the bylaws, the Council elected two one-year members to serve 2006/07. Professors Jerry Prince, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Robert Cammarata, Materials Science and Engineering were elected as one-year Council members.

The promotion of Dr. Giuseppe Ateniese to the rank of tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science effective July 1, 2006 was approved.

There was a report on the table from the Board of Review that the following appointments were approved: 1) Dr. Patricia McGuiggan appointment as Associate Research Professor in Materials Science and Engineering. 2) Dr. Tahir Yaqoob promotion to Principal Research Scientist in CAS in Physics and Astronomy.

Remarks by the Dean. Dean Jones reported that Andrew Bozzelli, who was an engineering representative on the Board of Trustees, passed away. He has been a great supporter of the Engineering School and the University.

He reported that Sharon Gerecht-Nir accepted the appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering effective July, 2007.

The meeting adjourned at 5:26 p.m.

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