Present:	Eduardo Douglas, Glen Fredlund, David Heathcote, Joyce Kirk, Michael Liston, Kris Ruggiero, Gabrielle Verdier
Excused:	Karen Brucks, Peter Geissinger, Pat Kissinger
Guests:	Connie Jo, Kim Romenesko

1. Call to Order - The chair, Glen Fredlund, called the meeting to order at 1:13 p.m. in HLT 241.
2. Procedural Matters - none
3. Automatic Consent
   1. Approval of Minutes #6 (May 9, 2007) - Dave Heathcote clarified that the Bio Sci position listed as a top priority was the department's #1 position two years ago, but the recruitment was not opened last year. With this correction, the minutes were approved.
4. Old Business
   1. Position Requests for New Faculty in 2007-2008 - Copies of the subcommittee reports are attached to the originals of these minutes.

      Dave Heathcote reported for the natural sciences subcommittee. He indicated that the group's highest priority was to get positions currently open filled next year. There were no questions about the hiring recommendations.

      Dave also called attention to the subcommittee's discussion of spousal and target-of-opportunity hiring. There are two major concerns: first, that departments end up going in unplanned directions because of these hires and second, that these individuals are hired without searches. It is difficult to tell if these are good hires because there is no pool of candidates such as a search produces with which to compare these individuals. Dave urged the Committee to ask the College administration to prepare a report for the Committee on the impact of spousal and target-of-opportunity hiring. Committee members agreed to do so. Michael Liston asked if the subcommittee had discussed the issue of DIN cluster hiring, given that it appears these clusters will be primarily, if not exclusively, in the science and technology areas. He wondered if some of the spousal and target-of-opportunity hires will be compatible with the areas identified in the DIN. Dave responded that it is hard to tell. He expressed concern that the hiring may be done without clearly defining goals and noted that right now WIBIT is having difficulty hiring for this reason. He believes the Academic Planning and Governance Committee should be involved in decisions related to such initiatives. Such involvement might result in a clearer definition of goals. Joyce Kirk wondered if there are data on spousal/target hires available that would allow us to assess the impact of these hires. Dave said that he did not know, but the subcommittee wanted to ask the question rather than criticize the practice. Glen Fredlund suggested that tenure results would be one type of assessment measurement. Dave noted that in the sciences, one also can consider the level of extramural funding. He stated that there should be guidelines for spousal/target hiring that the College should follow. Eduardo Douglas pointed out that the department still is in control of spousal/target hiring in that the department can look at the fit of the individual with the department's plan. Dave remarked that there is a more pronounced concern when the spousal hire is in the same department as the original candidate because these individuals often have similar interests, and this can change the balance of votes in the department, potentially affecting the direction in which the department will move. Joyce suggested that the Committee consider surveying departments about this issue. Dave added that the Committee could look at how we compare with other institutions. He noted that Madison, for example, can put spouses on soft money in centers and institutes. UWM does not have this degree of flexibility. This issue will be carried over to the agenda for next year's Committee. Members wish to discuss the creation of a set of policies for spousal and target-of-opportunity hiring.

      Finally, Dave stated that the subcommittee suggests that there be more time between the meeting with the associate deans and the meeting at which the Committee makes its final decisions. This would give the subcommittees time to contact chairs to discuss their hiring priorities. Connie Jo indicated that she would plan the Committee's meetings next year with this in mind.

      Reporting for the humanities subcommittee, Michael Liston pointed out the major differences between the subcommittee's report and that which Associate Dean Charles Schuster had recommended. The Communication/Women's Studies position was removed from consideration because members were uncertain whether or not this was the position that Associate Dean Rodney Swain had described (the Women's Studies position with the tenure department open). Michael also noted that the written list that Associate Dean Schuster distributed after the last meeting differed slightly from the priorities he had identified during the meeting, as recorded in the minutes. The subcommittee was concerned that the written report indicated that the film studies hire was likely to be in English and suggested that Art History also be considered as a tenure home, noting that Pat Mellencamp taught film history courses in the Art History Department. Dave wondered if Associate Dean Schuster thought it might be easier to attract a strong film studies candidate in English because that department has a Ph.D. program. The subcommittee also changed the ranking of some positions. Michael noted that English had five hires this year. In addition, members felt that the rationales for new positions were vague and did not merit high priority. The subcommittee raised the FLL and FICL positions in its recommendations. Michael reported that UWM lost its Title VI funding this year because of the state of its language programs. Subcommittee members felt strongly that some departments were more urgently in need of repair then the Communication Department was in need of a new position. The members believe that the Communication Ph.D. can be launched without an immediate hire. Eduardo commented that he was less convinced than his colleagues that the film studies position was critical.

      Glen Fredlund presented the report for the social sciences. He stated that the subcommittee members were convinced by Associate Dean Rodney Swain's rationale for identifying two hires each in Geography and Sociology as the top four priorities. He noted that part of the rationale for the Sociology hires was that the department is developing a Ph.D. Subcommittee members felt that same rationale should apply to the Department of Africology, and that unit's position request was placed higher in the recommendations. Members also thought that the Economics Department had presented compelling arguments; they suggested that the associate dean reconsider that request. Glen acknowledged that the associate dean might have more information concerning department's needs than is available to the Committee. Joyce indicated that the subcommittee, when making its recommendations, kept in mind the associate dean's comment that no more than four individuals would be hired. She added that the subcommittee did not discuss the merits of the two positions that the associate dean indicated were "done deals."

      The Committee, following procedures of the past few years, declined the opportunity to integrate the three reports into a single priority list. Members feel they have insufficient information to do so. Dave noted that what the Committee members see on paper often is inadequate to be convincing, but the associate dean is lobbied by department chairs all year and, as a result, has much more information. Committee members requested that positions promised to departments by the associate deans be presented to the Committee in the same format as the other requests. In addition, members would like the associate deans to report back to the Committee, indicating to what extent they have followed the Committee's advice. Members would like to see the final priorities list as soon as it is prepared.
   2. Election of Additional GFC Representatives - Connie presented the following list of individuals who had expressed interest in being nominated for membership on the Graduate Faculty Committee: Joseph Aldstadt (Chemistry), Mike Allen (Communication), Lakshmi Bharadwaj (Sociology), Fred Helmstetter (Psychology), William Keith (Communication), Edith Moravcsik (FLL/Linguistics), K. Supriya (JMC), and Winston Van Horne (Africology). She stated that faculty policies require at least two nominees for each vacant position. Because the Committee members agreed that faculty should be allowed to make additional nominations, one might expect that a slate of just four nominees is likely to be supplemented by the names of the same individuals who already have expressed interest. The Committee decided to place all individuals before the faculty as nominees, with one exception. It was noted that two of the interested individuals are from Communication. Keeping both on the ballot may weaken the departments voting strength. Committee members asked Connie to contact the two individuals to see if they could agree that just one of them should run for election. If not, both will be retained as nominees.
   3. SSEA Evaluation of Administrators - Because so many of the Committee members had to leave the last meeting before discussion of this item, it remained on the agenda. Glen asked if there were questions or comments about the reports. In a brief general discussion that followed, members indicated that they felt that this matter has not been brought to closure. They wish to know what steps will be taken in response to these reports. Glen was directed to write to the chair of the review committee to suggest that the committee prepare a statement of the outcomes of these reviews, indicating what steps were taken following the release of the reports. Some Committee members said that their department chairs had not made it known that the reports were available in the department offices for individual faculty members to review, and they wondered if there should be a message sent to the faculty listserv. The Committee made no decision concerning further action.
5. Adjournment

Committee members wished to acknowledge the fine work of the chair, Glen Fredlund, and the valuable contributions of Dave Heathcote and Gabrielle Verdier, who will not be returning to the Committee next year. The Committee is grateful for their service.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:26 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Connie Jo, Assistant Dean
Secretary to the L&S Faculty

Distribution: Dean G. Richard Meadows
Associate Deans Gajdardziska-Josifovska, O'Bryan, Schuster, Swain
Assistant Deans Horstman, Jo
Secretary of the University

Minutes #7, 2006-07.apgc.