Minutes - Sept. 2005

Meeting Minutes
Tufts University Council on Graduate Education
Sept 26, 2005 8:30-11:30 AM
Medford Campus

The meeting was called to order at 8:45 AM. Present were David Walt (Chair), Bea Rogers, Art Donohue-Rolfe, Shafiq Islam, Vin Manno, Ayesha Jalal, Bill Moomaw, and Laura Liscum.

Shafiq Islam was welcomed to the Council as the new representative from Engineering.

Minutes

Minutes of the March meeting were approved. From now on minutes will be posted on the UCGE website.

Provost’s Fellows

Application letters will be sent from the Provost’s Office. This year schools will be required to submit all documents in electronic form. Web-based reviewing will be set up to minimize the need to circulate paper or burn disks and get them to everyone on a timely basis.

Set agenda for the year
In order of priorities:

1. What should be the criteria for new Ph.D. programs that will be successful? As a start, we should look at existing programs and see whether they map to the Strategic Plan. This information can be found in the Tufts Factbook at: http://www.tufts.edu/ir/FACTBOOK%202005%20wv5.pdf see pages 69 and 94-95.

The criteria primarily address mechanism rather than program.

Incentives for departments to develop Ph.D. programs within the established criteria. We should start with the existing procedure/process and make sure it meets the need. New programs should align with University goals. How many and what kind of programs? Flexibility, quality control. Would we recommend a policy of encouraging new Ph.D. programs?

2. Interdisciplinary Doctoral and Post-doctoral Programs—should it remain within A&S or be moved to university level? Cross school Ph.D. programs. Funding incentives? How do doctoral and postdoctoral programs relate to one another? Targeted postdocs can advance the interdisciplinary programs. Diversity.

3. Creating a supportive environment.


4. Mechanisms for attracting and funding more Ph.D. students—e.g. unfunded students, travel grants. Diversity.

5. Improving departmental productivity, a range of issues—linkage between Ph.D. and undergrad research, mentoring, feedback to faculty during annual review, “stuck” associate professors

Other issues—Scholarship, linkage between Ph.D. and non-Ph.D. departments.

The ‘Operational Changes to Build Excellence in Graduate Education’ document

The Council is scheduled to meet with the deans at the first Provost’s Council Meeting in October. Discussion topic will be the “Excellence” document. Assignments were made for individuals to lead discussion.

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Meeting Dates

Oct 24, 2005 morning, Medford—Provost’s Council Meeting

Nov 23, 2005 Grafton 8:30 AM—Dean Sternberg to be invited. If he can attend, then hold in Medford.

Dec 19, 2005—Sackler, 8:30 AM

Jan 20, 2006—Engineering 8:30 AM

Feb 28, 2006—Fletcher, 1 PM

March 28, 2006—Grafton, 1 PM

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 AM.