Present:	Allen Bell, Douglas Cherkauer, Robert Jeske, Connie Jo (staff support), Sunwoong Kim, Charles Schuster (ex officio), Mark Schwartz, William Wainwright
Excused:	David Heathcote, Patrice Petro, Gabrielle Verdier
Guests:	Mark Harris, Paul Roebber, Mark Teply

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

2. Automatic Consent
   1. Minutes #1 of the September 17, 1999 meeting were approved with some minor editorial changes.
      

3. Procedural Matters
   
   1. Mark Schwartz was elected co-chair of the committee for 1999-2000.
      

4. Old Business
   
   1. The Committee members discussed a draft of a memo to department chairs asking for information on their departments' master's programs and options. After some discussion, the Chair was directed to develop a form outlining the requested information. He will have that prepared for the next meeting.

   A motion to suspend the agenda to consider items V. A and B was made, seconded, and approved.

5. New Business
   1. It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Dean approval of the proposal to revise the M.S. in Mathematics to incorporate atmospheric sciences. Discussion focused on the 7-year time frame to complete degree requirements. Professors Paul Roebber and Mark Teply answered questions about the proposal. It was moved and seconded to amend the motion by adding, "contingent upon changing the time to complete requirements to five years." The amendment was approved unanimously. The amended motion then was approved unanimously.
   2. It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Dean approval of the proposal to revise the Ph.D. in Mathematics to incorporate atmospheric sciences. There was no discussion, and the motion was approved unanimously.

   A motion to return to the order of the agenda was made, seconded, and approved.

   IV.   Old Business, continued
   It was moved, seconded, and approved to remove from the table the proposal to eliminate the Ph.D. program in Geosciences. The motion to recommend approval of the proposal to eliminate the Geoscience Ph.D. was opened for discussion. Mark Harris, Chair of the Department, answered questions concerning the proposal and the concerns of the department. Professor Harris indicated that the termination of the Ph.D. program was inevitable; given that, the department wished for the proposal to be approved as soon as possible so that the department faculty could move on to other issues and concerns. The question was called, and there were no objections. The motion to recommend the elimination of the Geosciences Ph.D. was approved with one abstention.

   V.   New Business, continued
   

   C.   A draft proposal concerning the expansion of Interdisciplinary Ph.D. education was submitted as a discussion item. Some suggestions for changes needed to improve the opportunities for interdisciplinary Ph.D. work included:
   • the Graduate School moving forward more quickly to permit listing of submajor titles on the student's graduate record;
   • exploring the issue of how faculty engaged in interdisciplinary graduate education should be compensated for their involvement;
   • dealing with the issue of how credits are counted in department enrollment statistics;
   • determining the best structural model for the delivery of such graduate programs.
   Professor Cherkauer will redraft his statement on this subject, taking into account all of the suggestions made.

6. Adjournment – As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:47 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 J. Johnson, R. Meadows, T. O'Bryan, D. Van Wynsberghe