Homewood Schools Academic Council

Homewood Schools Academic Council Minutes
April 18, 2007 | Board Room
Shriver Hall | 3:00 p.m.

The meeting of the Academic Council was called to order at 3:00 p.m. by Provost Steven Knapp. In addition to Provost Knapp, those attending were Dean Adam Falk, Acting Dean of Faculty Gabrielle Spiegel, Associate Dean Andrew Douglas, Professors Robert Cammarata, Victor Corces, Paul Dagdigian, Veena Das, Paul Feldman, Frances Ferguson, Ali Khan, John Marshall, Charles Meneveau, Jerry Prince, and Sarah Woodson. President William Brody, Dean Nicholas Jones, and Professor Gregory Ball were absent.

The minutes for the meetings of April 4, 2007 were approved as amended.

Remarks by the Secretary. Professor Das said that she had received a communication from a Council member about the restructuring of Academic Council and she pointed out the information on the table. She suggested that if anyone had any comments before the May 2 meeting to circulate them by email.

When Professor Das asked whether or not members of the Council wanted a May dinner meeting, Council decided in favor of the meeting on May 8. She said she would draft a summary of issues raised this year for Council to approve and then pass it on to the Deans and the Secretaries for next year. A Council member suggested continuing the discussion on diversity.

The promotion of Dr. Kellee Tsai to full Professor in the Department of Political Science effective July 1, 2007 was approved.

The appointment of Dr. Marcel Detienne as Professor Emeritus in the Department of Classics effective January 1, 2008 was approved.

Professor Feldman, Chair of the Adminstration and Bylaws subcommittee, reminded Council of the goal of having a report on the restructuring of Academic Council ready for the Deans to take to the Chairs meetings in May.

Open discussion. A Council member asked if Council is informed about cases where people are turned down by the department. Dean Falk said that normally he tries to report those cases to Council. Dean Douglas added that Deans report on the interim reviews of faculty members in their fourth year. Another Council member said it would be useful for Council to know the practice of departments in terms of recommending that candidates be reviewed by Council. Dean Falk explained that if the Dean declines to follow the departmental recommendation, the Dean is required to come to Council to discuss the case before making a final decision. A discussion ensued over whether or not the Council should be informed if a department decided not to bring someone forward. The Provost said that there is probably an impression among the faculty that most negative decisions are a result of Council's actions which is probably not the case statistically.

Remarks by the Chair. Provost Knapp commented on the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Many of the faculty, staff, and students have relations to people there. Hopkins will be conducting a thorough review of emergency procedures in light of information from Virginia Tech. Hopkins does have a crisis response team that came out of the crisis management committee that has done a lot of work over the years and especially after September 11. Hopkins is looking at the technology for broadcasting text messages. One thing that may come out of this is better communication. Dean Douglas commented that crime statistics at Hopkins are declining.

Remarks by the Dean. Dean Falk reported that Army Captain Jonathan Grassbaugh was killed in Iraq. He was a member of the class of 2003. His wife Jenna is a 2006 graduate. There will be a memorial service on Friday, April 20. Dean Douglas added that he will attend the interment for Captain Grassbaugh at Arlington National Cemetery

The meeting adjourned at 5:21 p.m.

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