Eleven voting members were present, constituting a quorum. Present:
Sarah Allen (History of Culture), Max Bane (Linguistics), Sara Bosworth (Philosophy), Kathryn Duda (Slavic), Ian Duncan (English), Rod Edwards (Graduate Council/Linguistics), Don Fette (Vice President), Roy Fischel (SALC), Luis Garcia (Music), Jenn Gregory (Graduate Council/NELC/Funding Initiative), April Grotberg (Linguistics), Alex Lee (Classics), Andrew Mall (Music), Diana Moser (Classics), Rachel Ponce (CHSS), Dana Rovang (CHSS), Fran Spaltro (President), Laurna Strikwerda (CMES), Joshua Weiss (English).
The HDGSC met to discuss the two proposals presented by Dean Roth at our October 2, 2007 meeting:
Rod Edwards (Linguistics) and Jenn Gregory (NELC, Funding Initiative) represented the Graduate Council and stressed that having graduate students involved in GC does positively impact the quality of graduate student life by providing an official channel whereby graduate student concerns can be presented and addressed. Representing the Humanities Division on GC involves meeting every two weeks for two hours.
The general response to culling reps from the HDGSC for the GC was this: this Council comprises social coordinators who are members of the Council specifically to fund and plan social events in their departments. This is their particular role in their departments, a role they see as distinctly non-representational and would like to see remain non-representational. Consequently, there were no volunteers from those present at this meeting to serve on GC. The HDGSC will not, for this quarter or the next, establish any formal procedures for electing or appointing any reps to the GC. The voting members present agreed on an informal arrangement: representatives would put forward the name of anyone in their respective units who expressed interest in serving on GC.
Tabled until Spring: It was suggested that an alternate HD council be formed, one that would comprise reps from all units in the Division and would function representationally to elect or appoint members to the GC and possibly the Dean’s Advisory Committee. It was suggested that an alternate and separate council could more accurately represent the concerns and voices of the twenty units in the Division than the HDGSC could, given that the HDGSC is essentially a council of social planners, while the alternate council would exist solely to ensure a unified HD presence in both student government in on the Dean’s Advisory Board . The Council voted to table this suggestion, as well as any further discussion of official HDGSC involvement in GC appointments or elections until the Spring meeting, but to give all options full consideration over the coming months.
The nature of this role is, in many ways, to be determined by the first Advisory Group and the Dean. The Dean would like to meet twice quarterly for feedback on issues of policy and procedure. Four representatives volunteered to serve on the Dean’s advisory board for the pilot year.
It was agreed that the President would solicit volunteers from the HDGSC representatives who would, in turn, solicit interest from students in their respective units. It was also agreed that members of the first Advisory Board would be appointed by Tuesday, October 30, at which time their names would be given to Dean Roth.
Tabled until Spring: It is understood that this Advisory Board is constituted by volunteers from the Humanities Division graduate students in attendance at the meeting on October 23, 2007, and that they agree to serve the rest of the academic year as members of this board without obligation to continue at the end of the year. This is not to say that they will not continue. Procedures and bylaws governing the future appointment or election of successive members of the Advisory Board will be addressed in the Spring, as well, after the Board has met with the Dean and all three – Dean, Advisory Board, and HDGSC - have fully considered the most effective and productive means of establishing procedures.
Frances L. Spaltro
Classics Department & the Laboratory Schools
The University of Chicago