MINUTES
Meeting of the Economics Department
December, 2013, called to order 3:41PM
Present: Ahmad (Chair), Das, Ersal-Kiziler, Guo, Heinrich, Kashian, Marks, Schweigert, Teferra and
Winden
1.
Approval of November 4 th Minutes. Marks Moves, Ersal Seconds, Unanimous Approval.
2.
Announcements

New faculty search is now closed for applications. Winden will get a red packet from HR and the search committee will plan to meet and review packets over the next 2 weeks.

Marks will be away for a family matter and requests a fill-in for Thursdays Grad Council
Meeting. Winden will fill-in.

Ahmad would like course requests for Fall 2014 for both Graduate and Undergraduate courses from all faculty members.

Scholarships will be reviewed and should be completed in December.

Fed Reserve Team for our department came in Third in the Nation behind University of
Chicago and Northwestern.

Heinrich approved for Sabbatical in Fall 2014.
3.
BA 300/400 Level Breadth Requirement Clarification:
In general, advisors should consult the basic list of acceptable departments as listed in the Degree
Planning guide (note that students may take both courses from the same department.)
Select from Anthropology, Art, Art History, Communication (formerly Speech),
Economics, English, Foreign Language, Geography (non-science), History, Music,
Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Race and Ethnic Studies, Religious Studies,
Sociology, Theatre, Women’s and Gender Studies, or any 400 level travel study course.
Clarifications:
1) Departments whose courses reflect a more professionally oriented curriculum are not approved for the BA Breadth a.
In L&S, Criminal Justice and Social Work courses are not approved unless they are cross-listed with an approved department such as Anthropology or Race and Ethnic studies. b.
Other examples of non-approved courses include those from Journalism and
Counselor Ed.
2) 496 Special Studies courses will need to be approved for the BA.
3) Honors 498 may not be used.
4) Second degree seeking students may not use courses from the departments of the major/minor in their first degree, or the major of their second degree.
4.
Advisory Board Members

Ahmad proposed April 2014 Advisory Board Meeting in order to contact members.

Suggestions for potential advisory board members were solicited from Faculty. Kashian has noted that other comprehensive programs have placed 1 to 3 students in graduate programs

over the last 5 years, while we have placed 30. This indicates we orient ourselves somewhat differently from other comprehensives in the system. Possibilities: David Ward (PhD
Madison, former UW-Oshkosh Chancellor and consultant for Northstar Economics). Todd
Barry (WI Taxpayer Alliance), Dennis Winters (Chief Economist WI Worforce
Development), Buzby (National Black Bankers), John Koskinen (WI DNR), Rob Malwiecki
(Blackthorne Consultant, Private Sector Street Cred.), Head of WI Electric. Additional suggestions solicited from all faculty members.

Some suggestions on criteria we need for selection of our board members. o People that can place our students in internship positions. o People that can give workforce skills and direction that can help guide our department’s curriculum to make our students successful. o We need breadth of individual’s from private sector, government, academics and alumni. o Anticipate around 1/4 to 1/3 of members will show up to any given meeting long-run.
Heinrich suggests around 20 total individuals in the long-run, but maybe start with a smaller list.
5.
Department Goals
In anticipation of forming Department Goals for next year, the following were considered:

Development of more measures for the success of our undergraduate program. Perhaps a standardized test or some additional assessment measures may need to be developed and recorded.
 Selectivity in the Master’s Program of our applicant student body.

UW-Whitewater faculty being “raided” for better institutions.

Some way to attract best and brightest high school students to UW-Whitewater and convince them to come here, instead of Madison, Oshkosh, etc. 40 High Schools within driving distance – Kashian suggests us to each take 3 High Schools and go out and physically “grab” them early. We should increase our regional engagement and outreach at the high school.

Selected Econ 201, 202, and 245 classes for Econ Majors only. Perhaps set up as an
Economics Learning Community. Difficulty is arranging the schedule for an entire cohort to sign-up at the same time. Contact Ahmad about Learning Community if interested.

Faculty are asked to keep thinking about this to develop goals that we want to pursue. We will revisit this in Spring.
6.
Students in Department Meetings

Student engagement in Department meetings is brought for discussion. Heinrich mentions not having them at Department meetings because they probably have limited positive and informed feedback. The students could be a waste of time because of this uninformed feedback. Ahmad suggests students input could be valuable. Faculty could have priors about what we believe is true which might differ from student beliefs. Marks suggests have invited students on a meeting by meeting basis.
7.
Course Release – Marks

Marks requested a 50% appointment for the 2014/2015 year.

A motion by Kashian/Schweigert, to grant Marks a 50% appointment with a 2/2 teaching load and reduced expectations for research and service. Vote was taken by closed ballot. Motion passes.
8.
New Business

Visiting scholar is not attending.

9.
Old Business
10.
Academic Staff Reviews

On a motion by Kashian/Schweigert, the meeting was closed at 5:00
Respectfully Submitted,
Matthew W. Winden