by Sarah Kostecki

 

1. I.               Approval of the Minutes: December 11, 2013 – Interim President Robinson

• Minutes approved

 

1. II.              Opening Comments Interim –  President Robinson

• First discussed Andre Aciman and Bill Kelly in Conversation – “The Art of Writing” the previous evening. Noted the event went well.
• 5 Main items discussed:

1)     Chase Highlighted Bill Kelly’s letter on his decision to return to the faculty. Chase noted the GC is what is because of Bill and that we are fortunate he is stepping down, but not leaving the GC. Stated there is currently a search to fill GC Presidency. First meeting of the Presidential Search Committee on March 4^th was well attended.

2)     Noted it was admission season. He highlighted the new funding packages (again), and the increased recruitment support to departments. He noted the quantity and quality of applicants has not fallen, though quantity varied across departments. Stated there were many exceptional candidates across the board.

3)     Paul Krugman to join LIS this year and the Economics faculty in September 2015. Highlighted a critical factor of Paul’s decision to join the GC is his public commitment to the study of income inequality.

4)     Chase nominated 2 professors for the title of distinguished professor – David Joselit (History Dept) and Joan Richardson (English).

5)     Acknowledged the budget – no new news on this. On Friday, March 7^th Chase (along with others I presume) is meeting with Gale Brewer in The City Council, and others from Albany and elsewhere to make a pitch for increased resources to the GC. Chase said he plans to be as persuasive as possible and is filled with optimism regarding the fiscal stability of the GC in the coming years.

 

III. Granting of Degrees and Certificates to February 2014 Interim Provost Lennihan

M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. candidates (only faculty vote on this item)

• Approved

 

IV. Granting of Honorary Degrees for May 2014 Commencement –   Interim President Robinson

Professor Emeritus Eugene Goodheart – Doctor of Humane Letters

Mr. Leonard A. Lauder – Doctor of Humane Letters

Ján Vilček, M.D., Ph.D. – Doctor of Humane Letters

• Approved with Abstentions. A faculty member from the Linguistics department asked why there were no women included in the list for Honorary Degrees. Chase responded with something about the search committee, lack of viable candidates, and that the search committee plans to be “more inclusive” in the future.

 

V. Committee on Curriculum and Degree Requirements – Ms. Anne Donlon

A. Major Items

1. Ph.D. Program in Art History – Changes to Curriculum p.18

2. Ph.D. Program in Psychology – Clinical Psychology – changes to curriculum p.21

3. Ph.D. Program in Psychology – Clinical Psychology – new courses p.24

a. Integrative Foundations in Psychotherapy

b. Lifespan Development

c. Health of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals

d. Clinical Issues in Adolescence

e. Contemporary Psychoanalytic Theory: Winnicott

f. Family Systems Theory, Treatment, and Research II

g. Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

h. Special Topics in Clinical Psychology

4. Ph.D. Program in Psychology – New Course p.38

a. Neuroscience Rotation

5. Doctor of Public Health Program – Changes to Curriculum p.40

6. Doctor of Public Health Program – New Courses p.44

a. Health Policy and Management

b. Health Policy Analysis Methods

7. Certificate in Critical Theory – new course

a. Critical Theory: Foundations and Practices p.48

• All approved

 

B. Minor Item

1. Certificate Program in ITP – change to course p.50 a. ITCP 89010

• Approved

 

VI. Committee on Structure –  Prof. Barbara Weinstein

• 2 Previous meetings were cancelled due to snow. At the next Grad Council meeting they will have an update on bylaws revisions.

 

VII. DSC Information Packet on Expressive Activities Appendix 2

• The policy on expressive action was tabled at the last Grad Council meeting. The item was removed from the table. There was a discussion about the merits and necessity of the Draft Policy on Expressive Activity from 6/27/2013. No statement is slated to be sent to the Board of Trustees this year. Some thought the Grad Council should not be voting to approve or not approve a policy. Another faculty member expressed confusion as to why the prohibited actions were necessary when most of them were already against the law. She didn’t think CUNY should be in the habit of making law.
• Therefore the Grad Council voted the draft of the policy from 6/27/2013 is obsolete.
• We moved to amend only the bottom three paragraphs of the proposed Resolution on Draft CUNY Policy on Expressive Conduct. The amended resolution will now read as followed:

“Whereas existing educational laws and CUNY policies already set legal standards for protests at CUNY; therefore be it Resolved, that as a university founded as the result of dissent, CUNY should uphold the highest standards for freedom of speech and assembly; and Resolved that the Graduate Center Graduate Council calls on the University Administration to withdraw from any future consideration by the Board of Trustees the proposed “Policy on Expressive Conduct and any successor draft that may be issued

 

VIII. University Faculty Senate – Report Prof. Martin Burke

• No report given

 

IX. New Business

• None.
• Meeting Adjourned at 3:49 pm