1. Call to Order - The chair, Kathleen Dolan, called the meeting was called to order at 1:04 p.m. in Holton Hall 241.
   
   
2. Automatic Consent
1. There were no objections to Minutes #2 (October 22, 2004); they stand approved. [There are no Minutes #3 or #4; meetings were cancelled due to lack of quorum.]
   
   

It was moved, seconded, and approved to suspend the agenda to accommodate the guests.

IV.B.

Acting Dean of the Graduate School, Dale Jaffe, discussed the process for selecting individuals to be distinguished professors. He distributed a list of all such designations (copy filed with original of these minutes) and noted that they are not made every year. Information on Distinguished Professors (actually Distinguished Research Professors) is posted on the Graduate School's web site. The title is not a rank, nor a promotion. It is an appointment of recognition that an individual is distinguished among his/her colleagues around the world. There is no monetary advantage automatically attached (although L&S does award a $5000 salary boost to any L&S faculty member so recognized). There are other appointments of distinction. For example, Wisconsin Distinguished Professors are appointed for five years. System provides money to support the positions; that money must be matched through fundraising. Dale noted that some of the rules relating to distinguished professorships have changed. There no longer is a limit of 5% of full professors on the campus, and deans no longer act on the recommendations. Mike Allen provided Committee members with copies of the Report of the Faculty Senate Working Group to Review Distinguished Professor Designations (copy filed with original of these minutes). Compared with peer campuses, UWM has a very low number of distinguished professors. For many campuses, distinguished professors play an important role in the campus fundraising efforts. David Heathcote asked if Mike favored increasing the number of distinguished professor designations. Mike said that it was important to keep a balance between recognizing excellence and trivializing the award. Our campus could do a lot more with our distinguished professors, and we could recognize excellence in teaching and service, as well as in research. Dale mentioned that departments value their internal harmony. The tensions involved in singling out individuals for recognition make it easier not to do this. Mark Amsler spoke in favor of expanding the categories at UWM and finding ways to convince departments to recognize excellence. Dale noted that whatever titles are chosen must be approved by campus, System, and the Regents. Mark said these titles would be an advantage in recruiting and retaining quality faculty members. Mike pointed out that such titles give deans flexibility to recognize and reward excellence. Dale indicated that the Graduate School has been working within the existing structure to make distinguished professors more well-known and to make more people aware of the existence of this recognition. Jack Johnson asked where the benefit to the College lies in pursuing new titles. Stacey Oliker said we are facing a hemorrhaging of our faculty to private colleges; we need everything we can pull together to provide incentives for faculty to stay. Mike suggested that the College work through the Senate in creating titles. Peter Geissinger said that external evaluations should be a critical component of nominations for titles. Stacey indicated that giving teaching and research titles would reveal weak research records. She feels that individuals receiving such recognitition also should have strong research records. This prompted a discussion of whether or not research professors should have to be strong in teaching and service. Jack noted that titles could be restricted to associate and full professors, all of whom have met at least the minimum requirements for research. The Committee thanked Dale and Mike for attending the meeting and agreed to discuss the matter further at the next meeting.

It was moved, seconded, and approved to return to the order of the agenda.

3. Procedural Matters
1. Semester II Meetings - Members agreed to meet again on March 18 and April 15 at 1:00 p.m. They will determine later if a meeting should be scheduled for May.
   
   
4. Old Business
1. Dean's Recruitment Plan - Kathleen Dolan asked how closely the dean's final rankings resembled the committee's recommendations. Stacey Oliker said that there was good correspondence between the recommendations and what actually occurred. David Heathcote indicated that there was less correspondence for the natural sciences, but that a lot of decision-making has been structured around the availability of space. The humanities members agreed that there was even less correspondence in that area. Some of this might be due to funding sources; only seven positions were recruited. For the next meeting, Kathy will try to get a list o what positions were recruited and the funding source for each.
2. Distinguished Professorships - see above
3. Proposal to Modify L&S Rules Governing the Faculty - Committee members reviewed the revised draft of the proposal to modify the L&S Rules Governing the Faculty. It was moved, seconded, and approved to recommend to the Faculty adoption of the proposed revisions.
   
   
5. New Business
1. L&S Faculty by Gender - Committee members agreed that attention also should be directed toward the issue of race in hiring. They agreed that additional information about the numbers of Ph.D.s awarded nationally were needed. Possible sources for this information include NSF and MLA reports and The Chronicle for Higher Education. Kathy Dolan will try to get this information for the next meeting. She asked that other members send her any web sources of which they are aware. Members also agreed that it was important to educate people about this issue; they had not been aware of the situation before viewing data as members of this committee.
   
   
6. Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned at 2:29 pm.
   
   
   

Respectfully submitted,

Connie Jo
Assistant Dean
Secretary to the L&S Faculty

Distribution: Dean G. Richard Meadows
Associate Deans Harris, Miller, O'Bryan
Assistant Deans Horstman, Kissinger
Secretary to the University

Minutes #5, 2004-05.apgc