Steering Committee Minutes – January  23, 2008

 

Present: Voting Members: Martin Bard (Bio), Silvia Bigatti (Psych), William Bosron (Dean), Kathy Licht (Earth Sciences), Michal Misiurewicz (Math), Snehasis Mukhopadhyay (CS), Steve Randall (President), BD Rao (Phy), Stephanie Sen (Chem), Non-Voting Ex-Officio Members: Ray Chin (Past-President), Jane Williams (Secretary). Absent: Pam Crowell (Associate Dean), Andy Gavrin (Associate Dean)

 

  1. Pres. Randall started the meeting at 10:00.
  2. SR suggested that we hold off on accepting the minutes as some members needed to leave early. With this change, the agenda was accepted.
  3. The primary agenda item is the School’s response to the meeting with Chancellor Bantz VC Sukhatme. The Steering committee representatives all concur that a course of action must be taken and happen quickly.
  4. The committee discussed the need to write a statement communicating our disappointment with the results of the Dean’s search and disappointment in the lack of vision and leadership from upper administration.
  5. The committee discussed the information that needs to be included in the letter and who the letter should be targeted to.
  6. Several other options were discussed – but in the end the committee decided to develop a letter that would be reviewed and approved by the SOS Faculty Assembly, if endorsed by the faculty it would then be distributed to the Faculty Council Executive committee.
  7. Committee members will work on developing components of the letter and will meet again on Friday, Jan 25th to finalize a letter that can be presented to the SOS Faculty.
  8. Dean Bosron updated the faculty on some new initiatives – STEM initiatives that will soon be announced. These will create some graduate stipends.
  9. The committee discussed the upcoming administrative reviews. The sub-groups formed will finalize the survey items and then will be distributed in the Spring. JW will contact the individuals being evaluated to request a summary of their yearly activities. These summaries will be distributed with the survey.
  10. Changes to the bylaws were discussed at the Fall Faculty Assembly, with no changes to be made. Therefore, the voting process can occur within the next several weeks.
  11. The committee was reminded that we will need to identify a new Faculty Assembly Secretary this spring. There is now a 3-year term where the individual transitions from secretary to president to past-president.