Recommendation

That, effective Fall Semester, 1999-2000, the Ph.D. program in the Department of Geosciences be eliminated;

That the Graduate School maintain the Geosciences Ph.D. in its programs table until the last identified eligible student has completed the degree or withdrawn from the program;

That the University provide adequate resources to permit the Department to continue to support the academic programs of eligible students until such time that the remaining students have completed, or withdrawn from, the program; and

That the Graduate School ensure that the geosciences faculty members are able to participate in and contribute to the education and training of doctoral students at UWM, and that those faculty members be included, as appropriate, in broader discussions that involve interdisciplinary programs and research efforts.

Rationale

On May 19, 1999, by a vote of 4-3-1, the faculty of the Department of Geosciences voted to approve the following motion:

Whereas the Vice Chancellor has expressed his intention to permanently bar future admissions to our doctoral program, the Geosciences faculty requests that the Geosciences Ph.D. program be terminated.

In a memorandum dated April 9, 1999, the Provost and Vice Chancellor, Kenneth Watters, instructed Dean Marshall Goodman to initiate the process of eliminating the Ph.D. program in Geosciences. Provost Watters indicated that his decision was a response to the Program Array Review, a recommendation from the Dean of the Graduate School, William Rayburn, and consultation with Dean Goodman.

The assurance of a continuing role in Ph.D. education was part of the Provost's and the Graduate Dean's earlier communications with the Geosciences faculty. The vote by the faculty was conducted in light of that assurance. The current administrative structure of multidisciplinary committee-directed Ph.D.s is quite rigid. It effectively limits admission to students whose background is in one of the traditional disciplines for which UWM grants Ph.D.s. Furthermore, it provides little opportunity for direct involvement in Ph.D. education by faculty members from outside departments with Ph.D. programs. Consequently, members of the Geosciences faculty are concerned that the above assurances cannot be met once the Geosciences Ph.D. program is eliminated.

Approved: October 15, 1999, L&S Graduate Program Committee