Provost Knapp introduced Adam Falk as the new James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. He welcomed Professor Matt Roller who is serving on Council for the semester while Professor Marshall is on sabbatical.

Approval of minutes. The minutes for the meeting of December 7, 2005 were approved as amended.

Remarks by the Secretary. Professor Naiman reminded Council members of the upcoming lunches with junior faculty. He reported that there was a free wheeling discussion at the dinner meeting on January 17 including the appropriate length of term on Council, the representation of different fields on the Council, how to handle close votes, issues of external reviewers, number of letters for the humanities, and how to make Academic Council service more attractive. No consensus was reached on any of the topics. Council needs to decide on a topic for discussion at the February 7 dinner meeting. The meeting on March 7 will be used to prepare for the meeting with President Brody on March 15.

Open discussion. A Council member said that she promised her colleagues that she would raise their deep concerns about funding at the NIH and its potential implications for reduced funding for graduate students and potentially stalled promotions. She asked how the University expected to cope with this situation? Another Council member added that it is now taking junior faculty longer to obtain funding than it did five or six years ago and sometimes taking four applications to get funded. Even very good people are reapplying multiple times. He considered this a major concern and saw no change on the horizon. He suggested having a discussion on external funding outside the context of any particular case. Dean Falk commented that the Deans are every bit as worried about the implications of tight funding for the development of young faculty, the research base of the school, and the broader career trajectory for the faculty. The Dean's office has a certain amount of money to bridge people, but not enough for everyone. The bridge funds will be used strategically, where the Deans think that the investments will have the greatest payoff. President Brody commented that although the NIH budget is down for the first time, NSF funding levels aren't down, just not growing. Competition has dramatically intensified. He cautioned that universities should not see federal funding as a zero sum game. The message, he said, should be stronger support for research and innovation across the board, with a basic floor for spending on science and technology. He recommended the recent National Academy report, "Gathering Storm."

The Council discussed procedures following departmental decisions not to proceed with a request for an ad hoc committee. Dean Douglas gave an example of a situation where a department solicits letters and then after soliciting the letters decides that it doesn't want to proceed. The formal rules say that the department needs to submit the letters to the Dean. Should the Dean agree with the department then the process can be halted without informing the Academic Council. What happens to the letters when the department does proceed? A Council member expressed concern about the department pulling out unfavorable letters for the second round. He said it would be somewhat inappropriate not to have the prior views known. Dean Falk spoke in favor of more information and openness rather than less. Dean Douglas suggested making it clear in the procedures that more letters are desirable. Dean Falk agreed that the idea is to not worry so much about how to count letters, but to provide the materials on which the earlier negative decision was made. The Provost expressed concern about an increased burden in interpreting a record.

Provost Knapp suggested having a committee such as the Administration and Bylaws committee discuss this and come back to Council. Dean Falk added that trust is paramount, that the Dean's office and the Council must weigh positive and negative evidence. Provost Knapp said he was concerned about a case where there is a significant chronological lag, where, using old information might become a problem. He suggested implementing a statute of limitations. Dean Falk said that if confusion is the worry, the Dean can forward the dossier to the ad hoc committee and to Council so that the letters come with an interpretative framework.

The Council then turned to further discussion of reform of Academic Council structure and elections. Dean Falk reminded Council of its earlier decision to form a committee consisting of some members of Council and some other members. Deans Falk and Jones had taken this to the chairs meetings. The Krieger School chairs were very much in favor of forming a committee. The Deans will put a committee together to discuss the reform of Academic Council structure and election procedures.

It was reported that the following appointments were approved by the Appointments and Promotions Subcommittee: 1) Dr. Francois Noudelmann as Visiting Professor in Romance Languages and Literatures for 9/7/06 - 10/19/06. 2) Dr. Jean Marie Goulemot as Adjunct Professor in Romance Languages and Literatures for 7/1/06 - 6/30/08. 3) Dr. Arthur Robson as Hinkley Visiting Professor in Economics for 9/1/06 - 12/31/06.

It was reported that the following appointments that were approved by the Deans during Council's winter break had been reviewed by the Appointments and Promotions Subcommittee:

1) Dr. Cristina Cenciarelli as Lecturer in RLL for 1/16/06-5/31/06. 2) Dr. Ralph Ubl as Visiting Professor in Humanities Center for 3/10/06 - 4/15/06. 3) Thomas Llanso as PT Lecturer in Information Security Institute for 1/1/06 - 5/31/06. 4) Lynn Kingsley as PT Lecturer in W.P. Carey Program in Entrepreneurship & Management (E&M) for 1/30/06-5/15/06. 5) Judy Grier Smylie as PT Lecturer in E & M for 1/30/06 - 5/15/06. 6) Eric Rice as PT Lecturer in Professional Communication Program for 1/30/06 - 5/15/06. 7) Joanne Cavanaugh-Simpson as PT Lecturer in Professional Communication Program for 1/30/06 - 5/15/06. 8) Giovanni Careri as Visiting Professor in History of Art/Humanities Center for 1/25/06 - 3/7/06. 9) Dr. Roger Remington as Lecturer in PBS for 7/1/05 - 6/30/06. 10) Kamili Jackson as Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering for 1/1/06 - 12/31/06.

It was reported that the Board of Review approved the promotion of Dr. Caroline Fohlin to Research Professor in the Department of Economics.

Dan Naiman, Chair of Academic Affairs subcommittee, reported that the subcommittee had reviewed and recommended approval of an online degree program for a Master of Science in Environmental Planning and Management offered by Engineering and Applied Science Programs for Professional (EPP) Environmental Engineering Science and Management in collaboration with WSE Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering. The Council approved the program.

Remarks by the Chair. The Provost reported that they are very glad to have completed on schedule the search for the Dean of the Krieger School. It was a national search in which there were a number of finalists considered by the search committee. They are very pleased with the outcome. There is a search still for the Director of Peabody Institute. The University will also be starting a search for the replacement of Robert Lindgren, Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations.

Provost Knapp summarized the University's current fundraising campaign. The University has actually passed the $2 billion threshold yet many unmet priorities remain. He noted in particular capital projects such as the Computational Medicine building and the renovation of Gilman Hall on the Homewood campus and the replacement of two hospitals in East Baltimore, the critical care tower and the women's and children's hospital. The Provost said that Hopkins has hired a chief investment officer. Hopefully bringing in a professional investor will make a difference. Despite the fact that we have been so successful in fundraising, the comparative ranking of our endowment has remained stagnant. Hopkins is number one recipient of research funding and yet does not have an endowment to match.

Remarks by the Deans. Dean Falk announced that Greg Ball has been selected as the 2006 Region 2 Outstanding Faculty Advisor by the National Association of Academic Advising. Dean Falk said that he is told by the professionals in Academic Advising that this is a terrific accomplishment.

Dean Falk said that he is very happy to be the next James B. Knapp Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. He is looking forward to sitting at this table for many years to come.

Dean Douglas said that the Whiting School is happy about Dean Falk's appointment. He reported that there was a very strong early decision application pool. There has also been a nice increase to the regular decision pool.

The meeting adjourned at 5:27p.m.

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Last updated 21Feb06 by dgips@jhu.edu