Present:	Allen Bell, Douglas Cherkauer, David Heathcote, Robert Jeske, Connie Jo (ex officio), Sunwoong Kim, Patrice Petro, Charles Schuster (ex officio), Mark Schwartz, Gabrielle Verdier, William Wainwright
Guests:	Michael Darnell, John Isbell, Chava Nachmias, Julio Rodriguez-Luis

1. Call to Order - The chair, Douglas Cherkauer, called the meeting to order at 2:35 p.m. in Holton 241.

2. Automatic Consent
   
   1. Minutes #5, 1998-1999, (April 28, 1999) were approved as submitted.
      

3. Procedural Matters
   
   1. It was announced that Sylvia Schafer had resigned from the Committee. Robert Jeske will replace her, serving a three-year term.
      
   2. It was moved, seconded, and approved to accept the tentative meeting schedule. Remaining meeting dates for the Fall Semester are Friday, October15; Friday, November 12; Friday, December 10. All meetings will be held at 2:30 p.m. in Holton 214. Departments must submit items of business to the Dean's Office at least two weeks in advance of a meeting.
      

4. Old Business
   
   1. The meeting with Dean Rayburn was not scheduled for the first meeting of the new committee year due to the length of the agenda. Connie was asked to invite Dean Rayburn to attend any of the remaining three meetings in the fall semester.
      

5. New Business
   
   1. It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Dean approval of the proposed changes in the requirements for the MA in Sociology. Chava Nachmias answered Committee members' questions. The motion was approved with one abstention.
   2. It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Dean approval of the proposed changes in the core course requirements for the MHRLR. Connie Jo explained that the Graduate School's Associate Dean already had given the request administrative approval, contingent upon its approval by the College. The motion was approved unanimously.
   3. It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Dean approval of the proposed changes in the requirements for the MS in Geosciences. John Isbell and Doug Cherkauer answered Committee members' questions. The motion was approved unanimously.
   4. It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Dean approval of the proposal to eliminate the Ph.D. program in Geosciences. John Isbell and Doug Cherkauer answered questions about the proposal. Committee members asked whether the department faculty fully supported this request. It was noted that the motion passed by one vote at the department meeting. Committee members asked if alternatives to outright elimination had been considered. It was noted that a draft proposal for cooperation with Geography in offering new emphases in the two Ph.D. programs, a concept endorsed by this committee last year, was rejected. One member of the Committee suggested that the College explore the possibility of folding the Geosciences Ph.D. program into the Geography program. Concern was expressed that the implications of elimination of this program remain undefined. Geosciences faculty members have been told by the Provost and Graduate Dean that this move would not eliminate their ability to continue involvement in PhD education, but the actual mechanisms to achieve this remain. Given these issues, it was moved and seconded to table the proposal. The motion to table was approved unanimously.
   5. It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Dean approval of the proposed change in the written examination for all English M.A. Plan D students. Michael Darnell answered Committee members' questions. The motion was approved unanimously.

      It was moved, seconded, and approved to suspend the agenda to consider the second proposal from the Department of English to which Professor Darnell was prepared to speak.

   6. [Agenda Item G.] It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Dean approval of the English Department proposal for a new graduate certificate program in Adult/University Level TESOL. Professor Darnell answered Committee members' questions. One Committee member suggested a less cumbersome title. It was noted that the language used was commonly accepted in the field and that it was important to use that language to distinguish this certificate program from the School of Education's work in bilingual education. The motion was approved unanimously.

      The Committee returned to the order of the agenda.

   7. [Agenda Item F.] It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Dean approval of the implementation plan for a Master of Arts in Spanish. Julio Rodriguez-Luis answered Committee members' questions. Professor Rodriguez-Luis noted that the Department was not prepared at the present time to implement the proposal due to attrition in its faculty. Nevertheless, because the approval process is so lengthy, the Department wished the Committee to vote on the proposal with the understanding that the proposal would not move to the next approval level until the Department faculty was rebuilt. This was confirmed by Associate Dean Charles Schuster. The motion was approved with one abstention.

6. Other Business
   

   Professor Bell referred to the minutes of the April 28, 1999 meeting and asked what has been done concerning the Committee's decision to ask for a statement characterizing each master's program or track. Connie indicated that the letter had not yet been drafted due to other priorities that had arisen during the summer. She hoped to have it ready for the Committee's review at its next meeting.

7. Adjournment --The meeting was adjourned at 4:03 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Connie Jo
Special Assistant to the Dean and
Distinguished Advisor
Secretary to the L&S Faculty


Distribution:
Committee Members/Guests
Dean Marshall Goodman
Associate Deans R. Meadows, T. O'Bryan, C. Schuster, D. Van Wynsberghe
Assistant Deans W. Horstman, P. Kissinger, E. Olfe
L&S Standing Committee Chairs (via web - http://www.uwm.edu/letsci/committees/index.html)
L&S Department Chairs (via web - http://www.uwm.edu/letsci/committees/index.html)