April 5, 2004

Present: Judith Anderson, Ellen Dwyer (acting recorder), Katy Fraser, Jeffrey Hart, Kevin Hunt (chair), Al Ruesink, Rob Shakespeare

1. The meeting began at 2:00 PM with the approval of the minutes for March 29, 2004.

2. Kevin Hunt reviewed the schedule for departmental planning committees, confirming the agreement of individual committee members to attend those meetings through April 12.

3. At 2:30 PM, Michael McGerr joined the meeting to give us his feedback (as former Associate Dean for Graduate Affairs in the College) on the Policy Committee's recent discussion of the future of the Graduate School. He noted that the Graduate School had developed at a time when doctoral education was relatively new and relevant standards had not yet been widely accepted in American colleges; such standards have long since been implemented in the College.

Professor McGerr supports Dean Subbaswamy's proposal to move many of the functions and funds associated with COAS graduate programs out of the Graduate School and directly into the College, but stated that there is still a need for a university-wide Dean of Graduate Studies, who (among other tasks) would represent IU to the rest of the country, monitor curricular developments across the IU campuses, and provide specialized, centralized services, such as support for international students, to graduate programs in the different schools. However, he believes there is no longer a compelling need for the Graduate School and that eliminating it will cut duplications of effort and clarify the responsibility of individual schools for the quality and shape of their graduate programs. He argued that the College should oversee its graduate degrees just as professional schools oversee such degrees as the MBA and the JD.

A lively discussion ensued, with Policy Committee members expressing a range of views. Several members argued strongly for the need to explore the full range of structural possibilities, should the Graduate School in its present form be eliminated. While most found persuasive the notion of folding Graduate Arts and Sciences into the College, perhaps as a renamed and reconstituted School of Arts and Sciences, some also worried that, without additional structural change, graduate interests would become secondary to undergraduate.

4. Before Professor McGerr and the Policy Committee completed their discussion, Dean Subbaswamy joined the group. Having recently learned of the 2004 salary policy proposed by the Board of Trustees, he asked the Policy Committee to respond to his proposal for the allocation of salary monies during this period of fiscal austerity. After the Dean left the meeting, the Committee discussed the proposal, finally voting to approve it. The departments of several Policy Committee members attempt to distribute salary increments more equitably by using three-year moving averages to determine merit. For instance, a faculty member's publication of a book is considered in that individual's merit determination for three successive years; thus, the adverse effect on salary of publishing in a year of particularly low increment is ameliorated.

5. The meeting concluded at 3:45 PM.

Questions or comments regarding the minutes and actions of the Policy Committee may be addressed to Kevin Hunt 5-3857, Dept. of Anthropology, Student Building 248, khunt@indiana.edu. Past minutes and College Policy Statements can be found at the CPC web page: www.indiana.edu/~college/faculty/policy/policies.shtml.