CFR FACULTY MEETING MINUTES
11 January, 2005
PRESENT
Bradley, Briggs, Brubaker, Doty, Edmonds, Ewing, Franklin, Gara, Greulich, Gustafson, Harrison, Hinckley, Johnson, Lee, Lippke, Manuwal, Peterson, Schiess, Schreuder, Sprugel, Turnblom, Vogt, D., Vogt, K., Wagar, West,
Zabowski
EXCUSED
Hodgson, Marzluff, Paun, Ryan, Vogt, D, Raedeke
ABSENT
Bare, Ford, Northey, Peterson, Wolf
MS & PhD Degree Policies & Procedures
The procedures were presented to the faculty, including the proposed required integrated graduate course.
This new course is being developed by Clare Ryan and Linda Brubaker.
1. Require integrated course
The purposes of a required graduate course are to create a cross-pollination of ideas and disciplines and to
foster a sense of community for students, (currently most students don’t meet each other outside of common
courses). It was suggested a one credit seminar type course might work as well for a required graduate course.
Others commented that a seminar would not be as effective at forcing students to work together.
Some faculty members were not sure the College should require one specific class and, if it did, would increase
petitions by students.
Motion to approve course was made by Dave Manuwal and seconded by Bob Lee.
APPROVE 23
AGAINST 3
ABSTAIN 0
2. Graduate Research – require a presentation of proposal.
It was argued that the student’s committee should decide if a presentation of the student’s proposal is necessary. It was felt by some that if all students made these public presentations, there would too many held and
the turnout for them would decrease. Others felt requiring a student to present often was good for the student, (Pre-defense presentations get the student organized and helps in the outcome of the final presentation)
and it requires mentoring from the student’s advisors. In the past, brownbag lunches were used to encourage
students to present their preliminary research publicly. For the purposes of this requirement, “public” was
defined to include presentations that were only open to the student’s committee.
The MOTION to require a presentation was made and seconded.
APPROVE 24
AGAINST 2
ABSTAIN 1
3. Qualifying Exam for PhDs
Some opposed the requirement of both a written and an oral qualifying exam as too complex. Others believed
an oral exam was more effective in finding the gaps in a student’s knowledge.
There were questions on what the advisor’s role should be during the exams. Some felt the advisor shouldn’t’
be barred as he/she is an advocate for the student while others believed the advisor should be present and
could ask questions but should not deliberate or vote in qualifying the student.
There were several questions and concerns regarding the qualifying exam. A vote on the qualifying exam was
postponed to the next faculty meeting.
Votes on appointments
Note: The actual votes for both appointments were taken via email. This is the text of the separate emails sent
by Lynn Catlett on 11/sent to all eligible faculty for voting.
• Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir (PhD Yale ) as a Visiting Scientist for an initial period of one year is proposed by Dan
and Kristiina Vogt, who will be responsible for her space and other support needs. She will perform research
related to the use of low-quality/low-value forest materials as starting fuel for hydrogen fuel cells and provide
expertise on and consult on educating the public about European hydrogen technologies. Her salary will be
paid by her home institution (Center for Adaptive Policy in Ecosystems, Reykjavik, Iceland) for the first year; it
is anticipated that salary for later periods (up to a total of 3 years) will be paid from funded research on these
topics.
Vote to appoint Sigurdardottir as a Visiting Scientist: APPROVE 38, AGAINST 1, ABSTAIN 1
• Anne Steinemann holds a joint appointment in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CoE)
and the Evans School and is the director of the Center for Water and Watershed Studies, hence the logic of a
CFR adjunct appointment, technically sponsored by Chair Rick. Vote to appoint Steinemann as an Adjunct Professor: APPROVE 38, AGAINST 0, ABSTAIN 1
Adjourned