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.