Tag Archives: fellowship

Executive Committee Minutes, 4/11 Meeting

by Rachel Brown

I. Admitted Students
A.) 14 students were offered admission to the PhD program this year
i.) Increasing number of accepted PhD applicants come in with MAs
ii.) All admitted students this year also received offers to other schools
iii.) This year, the Political Science Program has been given permission to go   above the limit of 12 admitted applicants, but anyone admitted above this number will not receive a    fellowship or tuition remission (normally 9 fellowship and 3 tuition remission offers are handed out
iv.) Starting with the Fall 2015 cohort, when students with fellowships take a leave of absence their fellowship money will be converted into money for the colleges at which they were appointed for the hiring of adjuncts, rather than given to unfunded students.
B.) 6 MA students out of 11 who were offered admissions have accepted
C.) There is some discussion of adjusting the admissions’s policy next year to offer admissions to the MA program for highly qualified applicants who are rejected from PhD program.
D.) Throughout the GC, faculty are discussing how to increase enrollment, balance the number of Phd and Master’s students, and increase revenue.

II. Website
A.) The newly convened Website Committee (Alyson Cole, Margaret Cook, Nick Micinski, Chris Michael and Rachel Brown) will work with the Marketing and Communications office to improve the website. The soon-to-be-spiffified website will have a section for PhD students on the market that lists their research interests and links to their CVs.

III. Curriculum Committee
A.) Next year’s Curriculum Committee will help establish a database of how people from our program fare on the job market (i.e. whether they are in full-time teaching or tenure track positions,working in the non-profit sector, whether they have turned their dissertation into books etc.).
B.) Next year’s committee will also work to update the guidelines for dissertation proposals and the examination procedures for first and second exams

IV. Faculty Membership Committee
A.) Next year’s Faculty Membership Committee will likely revisit the guidelines for faculty appointments to the GC. Members will consider whether it is necessary for faculty members to be a member of only one subfield and how to balance the limited number of courses and limited number of teaching opportunities with the many potential faculty members whose research and dissertation guidance could add significantly to the department.

VI. Course Credits
A.) Faculty have discussed various ways of addressing the differential amount of credits granted to 8000-level courses (4 credits) versus 7000-level courses (3 credits) despite that the workloads do not necessarily reflect this difference. This is especially an issue for non-NYC residents receiving tuition remission who must pay for any credits above 9. Potential options, which will be discussed and decided upon at a later time, include:
i.) Students could take 2 3-credit courses and sign up for a Weighted Instructional Unit. They would only need permission for adding a WIU if they add it after the registration period ends; otherwise, they could simply add it themselves.
ii.) Professors could determine whether they want to make a course 8000-level, which would necessarily entail a research paper rather than an in-class or take home midterm and final, or 7000-level, which would necessarily entail a midterm and a final instead of a research paper
iii.) All classes would be worth 3 credits
iv.) Students could determine whether they want to take a course for 3 credits (midterm/final) or 4 credits (research paper)

VII.) Program Evaluation Course
A.) There has been a student request to reinstate a skill-based program evaluation course for practitioners interested in monitoring and evaluation within NGOs. Some Executive Committee members suggested one way to address this request is to give credit to those taking the equivalent course at Baruch.

VIII. Department Colloquium
A.) Currently a coalition of faculty and students from the Executive Committee are developing a department colloquium that will take place on Thursday afternoons every 3-4 weeks. For the months of September/October 2014-2015 academic year, sessions will be mock job talks for students on the market. For the remaining months there would be 2 back-to-back talks by level III students and sometimes faculty inside and outside of CUNY, perhaps followed by wine and cheese if there is enough money. The goal is to foster an interdisciplinary intellectual community across the sub-fields and to increase professional development opportunities for students. Given the discussions about program participation, involvement and attendance following the collapse of the student conference, this is an initiative we should all support if we want to make change in program culture (and/or to make it run like an actual program!). This initiative would require regular participation or else the colloquium can do nothing to change the culture we so passionately decry on the listserv.

IX. CUNY-Wide Trends
A.) Both Queens College and Baruch are considering instituting masters programs, the former in Political Science and the latter in Global Studies
B.) Across the university administrators are under increasing pressure to consider online courses

 

Executive Committee Minutes, 2/21 meeting

by John McMahon

EO Report

Course Enrollment/Course Caps

  • course caps at 12 people will be enforced with loopholes
  • Because of new fellowship regime, there are fewer people in the program, but still need to fill seats to keep courses afloat
    • Course caps can effectively redistribute bodies
  • Need 5 people to start a course; once a class meets once, it cannot be cancelled, so need 5 people at the start even if they later drop
    • Classes not running an especially big problem for consortial faculty
  • Policy going forward: registration for a course capped at 12, above that there will be a wait list
    • Will be left to the discretion of the professor running the course how many to allow in above 12
    • Advice from the EO: if you really want to be in a course, show up, talk to the prof, talk to the EO – you should be able to get into any course you want
      • Getting in, though, will happen once the semester begins, not before

 

First Exams

  • Department bylaws require only 2 graders on First Exams; the practice going forward, though, will be that all exams should be read by 3 graders
    • Most subfields doing this already – IR sometimes only two
  • EO is instructing subfield chairs to have them/their exam graders write fuller comments and provide better feedback on first exams – at least three or four sentences (instead of the 1-2 sentences often received now), preferably at least a paragraph or two
    • This is paired with greater pressure to avoid professors writing grades like ‘low pass’, ‘high pass,’ etc. on exams: grade has to fall in a given category, but can shade/add nuance in longer comments
  • Winter First Exam Results
    • 3 CP (2 pass)
    • 5 IR (4 pass)

 

Admissions (overview from DEO)

  • 149 applicants this year (126 PhD applicants)
    • slight decline from past years, probably because of increased media/general awareness of terribleness of academic job market + balancing out from especially high application levels after 2008-9 crash
  • good subfield distribution, although PT and CP continue to be strongest
  • will be 12 PhDs admitted (9 on GCFs, 3 on tuition fellowships)
    • department may push 8th floor to allows program to exceed cap of 12 if strong international students are bringing funding from their home countries
  • some worry expressed that GC has become a “more desirable safety school” for the top candidates
    • because of better fellowship packages, probably
    • may not be able to get the top preferred candidates to actually come

 

Passing of Howard Lentner

  • Will remember him as part of Alumni Awards Night; someone will be invited to say a few words regarding his life, research, and contributions to the program

 

New Business

Student Appeal Procedures

  • In the event of any future student appeals that come to the Executive Committee, students will be asked to leave after specified amount of time to present their case and answer any questions

 

New Business from Student Reps

Methods Requirement

  • Reps noticed that there is a discrepancy between the Student Handbook – which says that taking a methods class is ‘advisable’ – and the GC Bulletin entry for our program – which says that a methods class is ‘required’
    • From Registrar’s perspective, GC Bulletin is ruling document, so for them to move a student to Level III, there must be a methods class taken
    • Students have gotten caught in this interstice
  • Student Rep request: these documents need to be brought into line with another
  • Debate: do we as a program a) need a clearly delineated requirement OR b) want to maintain the slippage between Handbook and Bulletin, so that EO has possible flexibility to massage the requirement a bit?
    • General agreement that regardless of the way it is manifested, there should not be this slippage
  • Decision: Student Handbook will be revised to say that a methods course is required, bringing it in line with GC Bulletin; paired with commitment for this requirement to be “broadly manifested” in terms of course offerings
    • Methods training necessary in terms of marketability for jobs
    • Will not narrowly apply this requirement; possibility of developing a broader course along the lines of ‘Methods of Inquiry’
      • Quantitative and qualitative methods as used in rest of political science not necessarily applicable/important for Theory students
    • Need greater commitment in the program to teach quantitative methods
    • Not one specific course that fulfills this requirement – attempt to maintain some flexibility in how students fulfill it

 

Revision of “Political Science Examination Protocols” and “Format for Preparing a Dissertation Proposal”

  • Student Rep request: Both of these documents should be reviewed and updated
    • Examination Protocols last updated 2004; Proposal guidelines last updated 2002
    • Are a number of practices in the Examination Protocols that are wrong/not consistent with practice and with Student Handbook
  • Faculty agree that these documents need to be updated
  • Curriculum and Exams Committee will be charged with performing a review and possible revision
    • Ensures both students and faculty involvment

 

Mock Job Talks

  • Student Reps presented overview of idea for Mock Job Talks; faculty agree this is a good idea
  • Meeting had run over, reps asked to follow-up over email
  • Student Reps have meeting scheduled with EO to start to finalize organization/logistics/procedures for mock job talks

10/16 Grad Council Recap

by Sarah Kostecki and Kristofer Petersen-Overton

1 – Opening Comments (Interim President Robinson)

Interim President Robinson kicked off the first meeting of the 2013-2014 Academic year and made several acknowledgements:

1 – Bill is doing well in his new position as interim chancellor

2- Expressed his gratitude for chairs of Graduate Council Committees – recognized them all by name. Said that committees are important in shaping the way we exist as a community of  scholars.

3- Stated how much he valued being a part of the community – used this to lead into his October 23rdcommunity meeting that will be taking place on October 23rd at 4 pm in room  8201.06. All are welcome to attend.

4- There was no wine at the meeting. Restaurant associates is liable for any issues if anyone drinks too much…so now it is harder for the GC to serve alcohol in public. I’m unsure if there  are going to be issues going further regarding wine and cheeses organized by our department.

5- Budget: No news (which is good news). We are in the 4th out of our 5th year of the current budget. He is hopeful with the prospective new Mayor that funding should be secured in the  future, though Gov. Cuomo is pushing for tax cuts which could affect revenue and expenditure. He will work as hard as he can to make sure that our funding is secure in the years ahead.

6 – The search for VP of Development is coming to a close.

7 – He welcomed new faculty in various departments.

8- Stated that the Advanced Research Collaborative (ARC) is off to a great start under the guidance of Don Robatham. 15 fellows from across the globe are working with 30 GC students  on various collaborative topics.

9 – Public programming – he highlighted the year long programming on the NY Economy. Emphasized for all to attend.

10 – The Grad Center submitted a bid with CSI to the state for 11 million in funding in order to create a center for data visualization.

11 – Financial Aid and Student Support – emphasized this is always on the highest list of his priorities. They are in the process of putting a Parental leave policy in place as well as figuring  out a new workload for current ECF’s. He said nothing is in place yet, but that he should have more news at the next meeting.

2- Approval of the Minutes: May 8, 2013 (Interim President Robinson) (approved)

3 – Granting of Degree and Certificates to 2013 DMA, DPT, MA MPhil and PhD Candidates (Interim Provost Lennihan) (approved)

4 – Committee and Degree Requirements (Anne Donlon) 

Major Items

1 – PhD program in Nursing – Changes to Curriculum Sequence, Revised Courses, courses withdrawn (approved)

2 – PhD program in Art History – Changes to Degree requirements (approved)

3 – PhD program in English – New and Revised Courses,

a. New Course (approved, but with a little controversy over one of the new course titles – let me know if you would like further detail)

Minor Items

1 – PhD program in English, changes to existing courses and courses withdrawn

a. Changes to existing courses (approved)

b. Courses withdrawn (approved)

2 – PhD program in Nursing – changes to existing courses, courses withdrawn

a. changes to existing courses (approved)

b. courses withdrawn (approved

5 – Committee on Structure (Prof. Weinstein) 

There are several new governance documents in the pipeline. They are working on the documents now.

6 – University Faculty Senate Report (Prof. Albrecht) 

There is a proposal to give the senate more power to amend their charter in order to streamline the process for quicker change.

4/26 Executive Committee notes

EO Report

  • Dissertation Fellowships
    • Students in program received 3 Dissertation Year Fellowships, 1 Ralph Bunche fellowship, 1 Center for Place Culture and Politics fellowship
    • 7 Doctoral Student Research Grants
    • administration working on providing health insurance in dissertation fellowships
      • problem is that must be employment line to receive health insurance, but fellowships usually come without any service obligation
    • GC-wide, 70 fellowships
  • Will be attempt to expand program funding of sending students to do research
    • Would come with requirement to present research in some form to program/GC (perhaps expansion of student conference)
  • Admissions and Fall cohort
    • Impressionistically, R.Petchesky thinks this is the highest quality pool yet; J.Rollins – got 92% of first-tier candidates to come
      • J.Rollins ascribes this to new fellowship
      • Received 1 Magnet Fellowship
    • Theory = 3, Comparative = 3, IR = 3, American = 2, Policy = 2
    • Special shout-out by Petchesky and Woodward to Mike Miller and Jamie Aroosi for their work on the admissions committee
    • Thanks to students who talked to prospective students
    • Will be some kind of Orientation on August 27
  • Grad Student Conference successful
    • Also used as recruitment, some prospective students came
    • Alumni Awards Night is May 9, everyone should come
      • 5:30 reception in lounge; 6:30 Awards in Segal Theatre

Faculty Membership

Advisement

  • there will be some kind of formalized procedure for advisement in incoming students’ first few years before they develop closer relationships and before finding a dissertation sponsor
  • likely to be assigned to central line faculty in identified subfield of incoming student

‘Pass With Distinction’ on 2nd Exam and Defense

  • There is a “Pass With Distinction” option on the 2nd Exam currently which applies only within department (in student’s department file, but does not go to registrar, etc.)
    • There was some talk of doing away with the option
    • Questions over whether it’s actually useful for funding applications, job letters, etc.
    • Ultimately decided to keep status quo
  • Will be exploration of adding a Distinction option to the Dissertation Defense as well
    • Will be some research on what other programs do
    • Potentially helpful for job letters, for communications with publishers

 

 

April DSC Meeting Notes

Bill Kelly

  • Open Meetings
    • Provost calling on all EOs to evaluate compliance with bylaws
    • 5/15 deadline to be compliant
      • not compliant: à Provost OR Structure Committee of Grad Council
      • had not received any complaints in 15 years
    • Especially vis-à-vis student
    • Not honors system but a set of bylaws
      • Own program bylaws must be in compliance
    • Not going to go on “witchunt”/not going to be
    • Can submit complaint anonymously to Grad Council or Provost
    • Current legal opinion: Program Standing Committees not subject to NYS Open Meetings Law
    • Do not necessarily want single specifically spelled out regulations – takes away local control
  • Funding Gap
    • Used to have almost no fellowships, much less valuable fellowships
    • In most years, have increased value or increased work
    • Trying to be like other universities with fellowships
    • “striking breakthrough” this year
    • yes, is still funding gap
    • will try to build, but in meantime…
      • find way to reduce teaching load moving forward
        • doesn’t kick in until 2014
      • adjuncts
        • difficult at universities
        • determined at universities, determined by collective bargaining – not much he can do
      • dissertation fellowships
        • 89 this year
        • try to grow pot every year
      • this spring, money to small grants for research
      • tuition waiver and health insurance for all who work as adjuncts
        • extending beyond 5 years not high on list of things to send money to
        • will “take under consideration” possibility of making it 10 semesters used however you want
  • NYSHIP in Dissertation Fellowships
    • NYSHIP – have to be student employee, but Dissertation Fellowships usually work-free
    • Asked Provost’s Office to look at options over the summer
  • New Chancellor
    • Goldstein leaving as “huge loss” – “remarkable” leadership
      • Has evinced “unstinting” support from Graduate Center
    • Board will name Interim, then national search conducted
      • Probably BoT naming Trustees on committee, then faculty and student representation and an alumni rep
      • Probably asking UFS and USS to delegate someone
  • Maybe potentially CUNY university press
    • Potential partnership with University of Liverpool Press
    • Think it will happen pretty soon

 

Co-Chair for Student Affairs

  • Will figure out way to coordinate governance/meeting concerns
    • Be in contact with DSC
    • 6.4b on DSC Website – direct recommendation to graduate council
      • 10% of students sign on to petition if problems directly to Grad Council
  • elections still open, VOTE
  • OpenCUNY hiring coordinators
  • Looking for new Editor-in-Chief of Advocate

 

Communications

  • Creating Emeritus DSC Leadership Advisory Board
  • Parental Leave Working Group
    • Working Group executive summary of survey results and policy recommendation
      • All full time GC students without gender of method of family forming, without regard to fellowship status
      • Automatic extension of deadlines
      • 1 semester salary at half of GCF with minimum health requirement
      • retain status and tuition remission
      • full health care
    • Draft GC Policy
      • All kinds of parenting
      • Academic accommodation for all GC students
      • Negotiation: work accommodation available only to GC fellowship students, only people working within CUNY, or all GC students
    • Expect in place by September 1
  • Information Technology
    • Email project postponed/all off
    • Migration to CUNYFirst
      • Business End (admin parts of Banner): June
      • More info in fall
    • Student printing data collection: status quo
    • Pursuing GC portal through campuseai.org (open source)
    • Wireless upgrade
  • Institutional Research
    • Received results of Doctoral Students Survey
    • Master Survey underway
  • Auxiliary Enterprise: manage revenue
    • Rentals, dining primary sources of revenue
    • Money held in reserve for student housing
    • Looking at student housing site in Long Island City
  • Meeting with Pres. Kelly
    • Parental leave
    • Condom dispensers in bathrooms
      • Condoms and other barrier forms in bathrooms on 5th floor
  • Student Affairs
    • Update on stipend limits/term limits
  • Robinson will not be pursuing relocation of student center to C level

 

Business

  • Spend money in May
  • DSC Website: “Soft overhaul”
    • Update
    • Navigation and menu problem fixed
    • Aesthetic upgrade
  • Blood Drive coming up in June
    • Balance blood drive v. discriminatory practice

 

USS Delegate

  • FOAI emails received
  • USS continues to be

 

UFS Delegate

  • CUNY 2020 – skeptical
  • UFS passed resolution against extension of Pathways Committee

 

Internet Research Team: Chartered

 

DSC Budget 2013-2014

  • Will continue subsidizing medical tests for uninsured students
  • Small reduction in grants
  • Discretionary down for Steering, Exec
  • Less money for GC Advocate freelancers
  • More money for OpenCUNY, UFS delegate
  • Slightly smaller party budget
  • Slight smaller office supply budget

 

Bylaw Changes

  • Governance Task Force
  • USS Standing Committee
  • Changes to Grants Processes
  • Funding increase for start-up grants

 

Constitution Change

  • Add additional duties to USS Delegate (chair USS Student Advisory Committee)

 

Response to Open Meeting Letter

  • Potential lawsuit to apply Open Meetings Law to program standing committees
    • CUNY never applied OML without lawsuit
    • Push back on claim by CUNY Counsel that program student committees
    • Consultation with attorneys
    • Pretty much all we have left
    • Why do this?
      • Lots of leeway in interpretation of laws
      • Students on Exec have voice on all policy
      • What students allowed to hear and communicate to constituents varies by program and by issue
      • Applying OML would clarify what situations are actually allowed to be kept confidential
        • Which situations would actually be able to kept closed and not communicated
  • Could compile out-of-compliance governance documents
  • Engage in education campaign regarding rights to representation
  • Request to be present OML and governance issues at an all-EO meeting

 

Student Life and Services

  • Survey still open
    • Have reached N
    • Try to get more
    • Average respondent: Level III, not taking clases
  • Comfort stations will be happening
  • Looking for folks to lead meditations
  • Supplies for kitchenettes

 

Outreach

  • Queen College – first week of May
  • International Student Town Hall: April 30
  • Updated CUNY Power chart coming soon!
    • CUNY, GC, DSC, programs

 

Health and Wellness

  • Wellness Festival last week
  • Health posters and flyers available and up
  • Updates to website
    • Added to NYSHIP providers
  • Health and Wellness survey coming soon

 

Governance and Membership

  • Constitution and bylaws up to date on website!
    • each page will include date last updated

 

Funding

  • Grants

Library and Technology

  • Mac Lab on C level library – use it!
    • Can reserve room through IT website
    • In danger of losing it
  • Ideas about what to do with MacLab? Send them to kmoriah AT gc DOT cuny DOT edu
  • IT Student Equipment Loan Program – use them!!!
    • See IT Website: camcorder, flip cap, netbook, webcams, macbooks, recorders
  • Still have grants to disburse: Ad Hoc Committee for Student Tech Workshop Facilitation Grant

Grad Council Meeting – March 6th

by Sarah Kostecki and Kristofer Petersen-Overton

Overview:

I. Approval of minutes of December 12, 2012
II. Opening comments
III. Granting of Degrees and Certificates to February 2013 Phd, DMA, MA, M.Phil, DPT candidates (only faculty voted on this item)
IV. Nominations for two faculty to serve on the the Student Complaint Appeals Committee for 2013 – 2014
V. Committee on Curriculum and Degree requirements
VI. Structure Committee
VII. University Faculty Senate – Report
VIII. New Business

——-

I. President Bill Kelly and the Council approved the minutes from December 12, 2012

II. President Kelly then made his opening comments:

a) Budget – nothing to report. The current 5 yr. agreement will continue as planned for the next 3 years
b) Sequester – President Kelly and others are “maintaining consciousness” of the current sequester at the federal level. There is always the potential that cuts could make their way to the state and city level. No planned changes due to the sequester at present.
c) Update on 2012 – 2016 Strategic Plan – 3 Main Goals:
1) Enhance finance support – He gave a recap of the incremental rise in PhD financial support since 2006 and has noted that support has gradually become more generous (as we all know). In 2006 the university first began tuition remission. In 2009 – out of state/international ECF’s became available. NYSHIP was also extended to adjuncts and other ECF’s. 2011 – the opening of the first residential facility.
2013 –
New students:
-New ECF’s will go into effect, value of 25K and 1/1 teaching load.
-All incoming students without an ECF will receive 5 year full tuition fellowships and will be placed into teaching positions as they become available
-Goal is that in 5 years all PhD students will be fully funded
-In total 52 million was added to financial aid roles for Fall 2013
Continuing students:
-University has expanded en route support to current PhD students (no further details)
-Expansion of dissertation fellowships – in 2013 70 fellowships were awarded totaling 1.2 million. In 2014 the goal is to expand dissertation funding and award 85 fellowships totaling 1.5 million.
Fellowships will also include full tuition.
-ARC (Advanced Research Initiative), The Demography Program, and Digital Initiatives expansion will also provide more funding opportunities to students
-Harrison Fellowships (based on academic merit and need) – funding has increase almost 96% over the past few years
Teaching disparities between current and incoming GTFs
-President Kelly said this issue will be addressed in 2014. They are identifying resources and partnerships that will help decrease the work load of current GTFs (no further detail was given)

2) Expand professional development
-As already communicated, Jennifer Furlong of Penn, NYU and the Chronicle of Higher Ed began as the head of the new Office of Career Planning and Professional development earlier this year.
She will speak at a future Grad Council Meeting.
The office was put into place as a direct result of the Spring 2012 student survey. While 88 percent of students stated they were satisfied with Grad Center resources, lack of professional
development was a concern.
3) Deepen the culture of collaborative research
-The GC’s goal is to identify important topics of increased academic interest, ie. – globalization and inequality – and provide opportunities for faculty, students, and outside scholars to work together
on collaborative research initiatives that focus on these topics. The Provost will address this more during the next Grad Council meeting.

Other topics:
1) The rooftop project will get underway this summer. A glass pavilion will be installed on the roof of 34th and 5th that will hold GC events. New artwork and a stairway will be installed.
2) Glass canopies. The glass canopies over the doors to the GC are finally being fixed. Apparently it took a while to find someone to fabricate the lost and broken pieces to match what was already there.

II. Granting of Degrees – Provost Robinson then took the floor to announcing the granting of degrees (Approved by faculty only).

III. Polly Thistlewaite announced the 2 nominations to the Student Complaint Appeals Committee; Victoria Pitts Taylor (Sociology) and David Gordon (History) (both approved). No additional nominations were made.

IV.  Our own Joe Rollins announced curriculum and degree changes. 16 changes total. Kris and I voted for all of them.

a. Major items
1) DNS – Nursing Science – Change in Admissions requirements (Approved).
2) Doctor of Physical Therapy program – CSI – Change to degree program – PHT 80000 to summer program new course – PHT – 80000, Revised Course – PHT 80500 – Reduction in credits from 3 to 2
3) PhD Music – Change to Degree Program – Revisions to First examination and Course requirements (Approved).
4) Doctor of Public Health – Creating a New Concentration in Maternal, Child, Reproductive, and Sexual Health and New Courses – PUBH 870 – Maternal Child, Reproductive and Sexual Health in Context, and PUBH 871 – Maternal, Child, Reproductive and Sexual Health – A life course (Approved).
5) PhD program in Clinical Psychology at Queens college – Increase in credits from 81 to 90. ****Discrepancy here on the voting ballots. Ballots said a decrease in credits from 90 – 81 instead of an increase in credits from 81 to 90. This was noted and approved under the condition the ballot would be re-worded (Approved).
New Courses – Psych 85408 – Supervision and Consultation, Psych 82908 – systems of Psychotherapy. Changes in existing courses – Name Changes: Psych 71000 – Advanced Physiological Psychology is now Sensory and Motor Systems. Psych 82908 – Psychodiagnostics 1: Interviewing and Assessment of Intelligence and Personality is now Psychodiagnostics 1: Intelligence Testing. Psych 766 – Psychodiagnostics II: Applied Assessment, Consultation and Supervision is now Psychodiagnostics II: Personality Assessment (Approved).
6) PhD program in Behavior Analysis – Program reduction in credits from 72 to 60 (Approved).

VI. Governance Structures and Bylaws – Professor Barbara Weinstein then walked us through a few changes to governance structures and bylaws.

a. Africana Studies – New Governance structure (Approved)
b. Change to Graduate School Governance – Section 4.2 E – Change to certificate program language (Approved)
c. Change to Graduate Council Bylaws – Addition of “one elected representative from among the Library Faculty” to section 2.1F  – Members Ex Officio and Appointed Members of Graduate Council (Approved)

VII. University Faculty Senate (UFS) –  Professor Stefan Baumrin then gave us a report on the UFS
1) The Chancellor spoke yesterday regarding putting more resources behind interdisciplinary masters degree programs at CUNY Campuses. Many were closed in the 70/80’s and need to be recreated. Faculty are invited to share their suggestions.
2) John Jay/Brooklyn College/School of Professional Studies – the names of students and faculty were made public on a site called Inyourclass.com<https://inyourclass.com/>, with no way of requesting removal of your name. Prof. Baumrin said this invasion of privacy did not go through review boards and doesn’t anticipate something like this happening at the GC.
3) Kroll Report – A report by private security company Kroll on the protest that took place at Baruch College on November 21st, 2011 was published in January. For those of us who were there and witnessed the violence unleashed against protesters, the report is a white-wash. It’s available online here: https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/chancellor/Kroll-Report2013.pdf Check out Occupy CUNY’s response here: https://occupycunynews.org/2013/01/25/12-things-to-know-about-the-kroll-report/
4) CUNY Portal – 800 more Pathways Initiatives are now a part of university curriculum
5) Cuny 2020 – 50 million dollars worth of grant money has been set aside for grant competitions. CUNY colleges will be able to propose and compete for resources that foster economic development and employment opportunities. See a statement of this initiative here: https://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2013/01/22/statement-by-chancellor-matthew-goldstein-on-governor-andrew-cuomo’s-2013-14-executive-budget-proposal/<https://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2013/01/22/statement-by-chancellor-matthew-goldstein-on-governor-andrew-cuomo%E2%80%99s-2013-14-executive-budget-proposal/>
6) UFS will be moving to 42nd street from 80th street on the 15th of March

VIII. New Business – President Kelly then closed out the session with new business. A few things to note here:
1) Someone asked if CUNY would be able to take over the SIBL and OUP space once these partners leave the building.
President Kelly answer: NO. Capital funds would need to pay for this and it won’t happen.
2) Someone else asked if the main elevators now go up to the 10th floor pavilion.
President Kelly answer: NO. This can’t happen because CUNY would have to make all elevators handicap accessible. There will be separate (handicap accessible) elevator access to the roof.
3) A student asked if CUNY would be adding NYSHIP healthcare to the dissertation fellowships.
President Kelly answer: The GC can only offer NYSHIP to students if they are employed by one of the campuses. Pres. Kelly and others are working on an arrangement where dissertation fellowships will be attached with an appointment at the GC or another CUNY campus so that students can continue to receive healthcare while they are writing their dissertation. He didn’t offer any detail as to what these appointment might be, or how many hours a week students would be required to work.

 

Dec. 2012 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes from 12/7/12 Executive Committee Meeting

(more or less in order of importance)

 

 

Course evaluations: They are happening!

  • We’ve worked on a number of drafts of the evaluations, getting lots of feedback from various faculty
  • The goal is to collect information that will be valuable primarily to students in choosing classes, but also helpful to the EO and faculty
  • There will be evaluations for this past Fall semester, which will be used as somewhat of a trial run to see how well the designed evaluation works, collect preliminary data, etc.
  • The current plan is that the results will be available online, potentially on the Political Science Student Representation website
  • Fall 2012 Course Evaluations were sent out to the student listserv last Friday, and by Margaret earlier today. The link is here.

 

New Fellowship program: will go into effect for incoming Fall 2013 class

  • A fixed number of students: 12, all of whom will receive funding
    • 9 “GC Fellowships”
      • expectation to be full-time students
      • 3 Tuition-only fellowships
        • directed to incoming students who have full-time jobs and/or other sources of funding
      • There was much debate about whether 12 is an absolute cap
        • President’s office and Provost’s Office say yes
        • Questions about whether we could add more if there weren’t fellowships attached, or if there was other money in one way or another
        • If there’s going to be any effort to admit more than 12, it will be on an individual, concrete case-by-case basis
          • More-or-less a consensus among the faculty on not wanting to make hypothetical challenge/request for flexibility
      • Our department has been at the 12 number give or take a few for the past couple of years
  • Process/logistics
    • The GC Fellowships will be a $25,000/year stipend, with NYSHIP, for a 1/1 teaching load (probably can be adjusted to a 0/2 or 2/0 depending on student and campus needs on a case by case basis)
      • Will probably be able to “bank” up to one year leave of absence
      • The Admissions Committee will be ranking all candidates and go down the ranked list to fill the 12 spots
        • MA students applying to the PhD program will apply like everyone else, and will essentially be like “new” people in the applicant pool
      • Will not lose department Grad B’s
      • There will be money (unclear from where?) provided to campuses to hire more adjuncts
      • MA programs will be used to “fill bodies in classes”
  • Concerns and Criticisms
    • Some departments (especially Sociology) has voiced concerns about the cap on the number of students
      • Especially if there is money at the department level to support more students
      • Concern that this will lessen the number of minority students
      • Possibility that this will make it more difficult for international students given visa-related and other restrictions they may be facing
  • We raised the (in our minds completely legitimate) concerns that many of you have voiced regarding the inequities that this creates: in addition to the current funded/no-funded stratification, there will now be another stratification where incoming students will be receiving $7,000/year more than current ECFs for half the work/year, not to mention the inequality created between incoming funded students and people without ECFs. The response was unsympathetic. The common responses included that this benefits us all in the long-run (reasoning: better students and a better reputation) and that isn’t a matter of great concern.
  • From the administration’s perspective, this is  a done deal in all regards.

 

Moving forward: this spring, EO wants to discuss the possibility of more strictly capping enrollment in courses

  • Concerns include too many students in some classes, too many students from other programs, too many MALS students
    • Possibility that non-political science students would have to “apply” to take (all?) (some)? POLSC classes
  • One potential problem is that if the department was to limit the number of non-political science students in POLSC classes, it might make it more difficult for us to enroll in non-POLSC classes.
  • Stay tuned…

 

Archiving of select dissertation proposals: per a request from the DSC, the department will (soon?) be implementing an online archive of select dissertation proposals

  • In attempt to collect only the “good” ones, this will be a decision made by each student’s committee at the send of the Second Exam
  • There was also discussion of adding a central database of titles of those currently working on dissertation
    • Perhaps they get added after passing Second Exam?
    • How to systematically collect for people who have already passed Second Exam?

 

Student Satisfaction Survey

  • We received results from the GC-wide student survey from this past Spring
  • EO and other faculty understood the data very positively (and there are some things to be positive about)
  • Also much to be concerned about in the report, which we plan to bring up at future meetings (discussion was cut off due to time constraints)
  • Data to be used in future professional development workshops and other areas
  • Still a question how public this data is going to be made – our hope is that at the very least all students have access to it
  • EO wants the raw data so that further, more refined analysis can be done to it

 

Career Development Office: A new Career Development Office will be opening in February

  • Will centralize letter-writing services (as opposed to using Interfolio)
  • May help with workshops on the departmental level 

 

Budget: Effect of Hurricane Sandy on budget is unclear

 

 

 

December Grad Council Meeting

by Sarah Kostecki and Kristofer Petersen-Overton

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

I. President Kelly on the state of the university:

a. No sign of budget cuts that would affect the GC and an attempt to open a new residence hall in Long Island City is in the works. The one in Harlem very popular (there’s a long waiting list) and in the green, much to everyone’s surprise.
b. The GC continues to push for better student funding packages, while simultaneously reducing incoming class size; the goal, according to Kelly is to “make sure each incoming class has better funding than the previous…” They’re also exploring ways to offer greater funding opportunities for current students and those in dissertation phase especially.
c. An emphasis on professional development is set take effect next semester. The GC just hired Jennifer Furlong of the Chronicle of Higher Education to lead the professional development initiative beginning this February (nothing more specific was offered). The idea is to offer greater placement opportunities for graduating students. Furlong recently helped NYU develope a similar focus on professional development.
Also, Kelly announced that new digital signs will replace the easels by the elevators on each floor. New spaces will be made available for posters and fliers.
II. The “dapper” Professor Rollins walked us through curriculum and degree changes. Nothing big here. Sarah and I voted in favor of each item.
Major items:
a. MALS – New track in Sustainability , Science, and Education (Approved)
b. MALS – New course MALS 75600 Sustainability and Human Ecodynamics (Approved)
c. MALS – New course MALS 75700 Field Course in Island Long Term Human Ecodynamics (Approved)
d. MALS – New track in individualized studies (Approved)
e. Ph.D. program in Psychology – LPBA name change (Approved)
f. Ph. D. program in Comparative Literature – Change in language requirement (Approved)
Minor items:
a. MALS 70500 – Repeatable course, change to existing course (Approved)
b. Ph.D. Program in Anthropology – Human anatomy change in course credits, change to existing course (Approved)

III. The University Faculty Senate (UFS) reported on its recent passage (63-3) of a non-binding board resolution to place a moratorium on the infamous Pathways initiative. Though non-binding, the resolution is the strongest rebuke yet to Chancellor Goldstein and his minions — ahem — administration. If you’re interested in the content of the resolution, you can find it here: https://www.thenewyorkworld.com/2012/12/10/pathways-resolution/ Moreover, the UFS is launching an investigation into the possible impact of Pathways. The investigation is slated to begin immediately, though doubts were expressed as to whether or not such an effort could begin so soon.

The UFS also reported that NY state has cut funding in a way that reduces CCNY’s budget for furniture and equipment by $120 million. Chancellor Goldstein has said there is funding set aside for this already, but the UFS rep speculated that there may still be a $90 million shortfall once the money made form the sale of 80th St. is accounted for (~$30 million).

IV. There was no new business to discuss.

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.

Executive Committee Minutes, 9/21 Meeting

*Submitted by Joanna Tice, on behalf of your student representatives to the Executive Committee: John McMahon, Aleta Styers and Joanna Tice

1) New Graduate Center Fellowships: Announces major shift in the fellowship funding/structure, coming into effect for students entering in the 2013-14 school year
– The Enhanced Chancellors Fellowship will be replaced by a new fellowship (Probably called the Graduate Center Fellowship)
– Stipend increased to $25,000 annually + tuition remission
– Same 5 years guaranteed funding with 1 year RA position, 3 years teaching (reduced to a 1-1 teaching load, potentially transferable to a 0-2 or 2-0) and 5th year writing fellowship
– Purpose: to make GC fellowships competitive with other institutions.
– All PhD students NOT receiving a fellowship WILL be receiving a tuition waiver
– MA funding possibilities will remain the same (i.e., limited)
– This was accomplished by requiring a 25% reduction in funded PhD students, institution-wide. However, our department already accomplished that reduction in the last few years, so it will mean a reduction of only 1 or 2 PhD students at most for PS. This does not apply to MAs (if anything, MAs may be increased).
– THIS DOES NOT CHANGE THE FELLOWSHIP FUNDING AND STRUCTURE FOR ALREADY MATRICULATED STUDENTS

2) Composition of Entering Class this Fall: a substantial majority are Theory and IR students, followed by Comparative, American, very few in Public Policy, but those few appear very focused with research objectives already clear.

3) 1st Exam results: This year was one of the most successful years on record for successful completion of the first exam
– 25 out of 30 students passed their respective exams
– 13 students changed levels
– more people taking exams earlier
– faculty from two of the fieds commented upon relatively weak responses in some of the passing exams.

4) The Gittell Chair/Samuel’s Center Faculty Search: This search has been adjusted over the summer and the position would no longer be housed in the Samuel’s Center
– The Search is somewhat up in the air, as a permanent position has been offered but most likely this scholar will not accept (based on family situation) and thus the position will be offered to a number of visiting scholars until a match is found
– The Faculty Membership Committee is still actively pursuing an IPE line

5) Budget: Budget for the department seems stable – there will be no reduction in courses or entrenchment on hiring

6) Professional Development Workshop Planning: DEO (Rosalind Petchesky) announcement about planning process of student professional development workshop.
– Several students on the list serve have expressed interest in a workshop about the 2nd and 3rd exams. We brought this up with Professor Petchesky and she suggested that students interested in those topics suggest them on the Questionnaire sent out by the department last week (sent by Margaret on the 14th).
– If you are interested in a workshop on the 2nd or 3rd exams, please submit the questionnaire ASAP and write-in that request in the “other topics” section of the form.

7) Department Website Improvement: Joe is proposing to launch a committee to overhaul the website in the coming months. He will most likely need student volunteers to participate in that committee, if anyone has particular interest, you might let him know.

8. Changing of the Guard: Just FYI, Joe will probably be taking a sabbatical for half of next year and for half of the year after that. Apropos this, he spoke of the need to identify and train new a new EO and a new DEO to replace Ros