Faculty Council Minutes

Faculty Council
Business Meeting
Jan. 22, noon — Cohen House

Present:
Bob Patten (speaker), Ed Akin (deputy speaker), John Ambler,
Stephen Baker, Kathleen Beckingham, Janet Braam, Bala Dharan,
André Droxler, Barry Dunning, Tom Haskell, Lynne
Huffer, Joe Hughes, Seiichi Matsuda, Kathleen Matthews,
Gordon Mutchler, Doug Natelson, Barbara Ostdiek, Robin Sickles,
Tayfun Tezduyar, Herb Ward, Jennifer West and John Zammito.
Absent: Caroline Levander.

(1) Minutes
(Dec. 10 and 11): The minutes were accepted as written.

(2) Secretary
to Faculty: The speaker described the status of the
search for a professional secretary to serve as faculty
secretary, and the following motion was made and approved:
“Faculty Council recommends to the faculty that a Rice
University staff person be sought for the position of secretary
to the faculty.” The vote was unanimously approved.

(3) Interdepartmental
Nonthesis Professional Master’s Degree Programs (Kathleen
Matthews): Matthews, dean of the Wiess School of Natural
Sciences; Beckingham, professor of biochemistry and cell
biology; Dunning, the Sam and Helen Worden Professor of
Physics and Astronomy; Hughes, professor in civil and environmental
engineering; Natelson, assistant professor of physics and
astronomy; and Tezduyar, the James F. Barbour Professor
in Mechanical Engineering, attended this meeting in order
to provide input regarding the programs.

Matthews provided
copies of the following described documents, which were
sent to the Faculty Council from the Steering Committee
for the Sloan Professional Master’s Program:
(a) memo dated Dec. 17 that described the Steering Committee’s
request to the council, regarding processing its proposals;
(b) summary of the proposal;
(c) full proposal (also sent to the Graduate Council Dec.
3 to request its approval of the Professional Master’s
Degrees in Natural Sciences) for the Professional Master’s
of Science programs (in energy exploration, nanoscale physics
and environmental analysis and decision making).

Matthews requested
that (b) and (c) be presented to the faculty for consideration
at the Jan. 29 Faculty Council meeting. After much discussion,
the following motion was made and passed: “Faculty
Council approves the proposals for professional nonthesis
master’s degrees in nanoscale physics, energy exploration
and environmental analysis and decision making” (vote,
13 yeas and 2 abstentions).

(4) Petition
from the Graduate Council to Approve an Interinstitutional
Ph.D. in French with the Sorbonne (Patten): The speaker
provided copies of the Dec. 18 memo sent to him by Gale
Stokes, dean of the School of Humanities, in support of
the proposal by Michel Achard for a “joint Ph.D. with
the Sorbonne.” The following motion was made and passed:
“Faculty Council does not approve of the joint degree
with the Sorbonne” (vote, unanimous).

The speaker
referred the proposal back to the French department and
the Graduate Council for further consideration.

(5) RUAC
Charge and Future Activities (Sickles): Sickles, professor
of economics, provided copies for the council of the following
items:

(a) Dec. 29,
1976, memo to the Rice University Athletics Committee (RUAC)
from then president Norman Hackerman regarding “Committee
Organization and Functions”;
(b) May 25, 1999, document, “Rice University, Five-Year
Gender Equity Compliance Plan, FY 2000-2005”;
(c) Sept. 24, 1999, memo, to Sickles from Athletics Director
Bobby May regarding “RUAC Oversight of Athletics”;
(d) Oct. 26, 1999, document by Mark Scheid, assistant to
the president, “Rice University, Actions in Progress
to Fulfill Obligations Made to the NCAA”;
(e) Aug. 20, 2001, document, “Rice University Athletics
Committee Charge”;
(f) 2001-2002 list, Rice University Athletic Committee;
and
(g) Rice University Self-Study Report.
After Sickles’s presentation, council scheduled further
discussion of these matters for February. In addition, Sickles
stated that the council is welcome to suggest names of representatives
from the council to attend future meetings of the Athletics
Committee.

(6) Report
from Ad Hoc Committee on Athletics (Tom Haskell): Postponed
because of time constraints.

(7) Topics
for Discussion in Feb. 12 Meeting with Administration:
(a) Curricular issues;
(b) Information technology;
(c) Salary disparities;
(d) Retirement issues; and
(e) Intellectual atmosphere and student-life issues: postponed
because of time constraints.

(8) Other
Business: Faculty and Staff Benefits (Patten): The speaker
stated that Braam has prepared a report to present to the
council regarding family benefits. The members agreed that
this matter will be the first item on the agenda for the
Feb. 26 business meeting.

(9) Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 2 p.m., and the next Faculty
Council Business Meeting was scheduled for Feb. 12 at noon
in Esther M. Cohen Dining Room, Cohen House.

Ellen Butler
Secretary