October Grad Council Meeting

by Sarah Kostecki and Kristofer Petersen-Overton

I. President Kelly
II. Provost Robinson
III. Prof. Rollins on curriculum and degree changes
IV. University Faculty Senate report
V. New business

I. President Kelly on the state of the university:
a. The budget is stable for now, though they’re keeping on eye on any potential cuts in federal funds, which would inevitably impact NY state and CUNY by extension.
b. The GC expects to continue with the new fellowship packages.
c. The GC residency is very popular; they’ve been getting more requests than can be accommodated and plans are being developed to acquire another location.
d. “Targeted” faculty hires will be made this year; CUNY hired more new faculty than any other university in the country (not exactly a surprise given the size of the consortium).

II. Provost Robinson had faculty vote to approve the 292 degrees awarded by the GC last semester. (Approved unanimously)

III Our own Professor Rollins made his debut appearance as Chair of the Curriculum and Degree Committee. President Kelly verbally expressed his approval of Prof. Rollin’s snazzy vest…

Four major changes were approved as well as one minor change:

a. Art History added a new specialization which will include courses in Western Civilization, Islam, and Byzantium. (Appoved)
b. Criminal Justice added a new course in the history of firearms. (Approved)
c. The MA program in Liberal Studies (MALS) added a new “emerging topics” course which will encompass a wide variety of current issues. (Approved)
d. The MA program in Liberal Studies (MALS) added a new specialization in Migration and Global Cities. (Approved)

And one minor topic:

a. The English department renumbered one of its courses. (Approved, with much laughter)

IV. The University Faculty Senate reported on the (legitimate) outrage over the Pathways initiative. Two lawsuits have been jointly filed (by the UFS and PSC) challenging the plan. Apparently the library is hosting some kind of event this Friday (Oct. 26) on open access research. No further information was offered, but it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out for anyone interested. And the rules governing library employees are being changed to grant them greater representation in the UFS.

V. There was no new business to discuss to discuss.