May 9, 2008
Plenary Meeting of the Faculty
McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall
May 9, 2008
10:00 a.m.
AGENDA
I. Presentation and Approval of Undergraduate Degree Candidates
II. Presentation and Approval of Undergraduate Honors
III. Presentation and Approval of Candidates for Advanced Degrees
IV. Year-End Summary of Faculty Senate Activities
V. Faculty Awards
VI. Recognition of Retiring Faculty Members
VII. Announcements
VIII. Adjournment
I. APPROVAL OF THE CANDIDATES FOR UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES
Deborah Harter, Speaker of the Faculty Senate, welcomed the Rice faculty to the final plenary meeting of the 2007-08 academic year. She then asked Carl Caldwell, Chair of the Examinations and Standings Committee, and David Tenney, Registrar, to present the list of candidates for undergraduate degrees. They indicated that the totals for this year were the following:
Recommended Undergraduate Degrees May 2008
Bachelor of Arts 447
Bachelor of Science 60
BS in Bioengineering 25
BS in Chemical Engineering 16
BS in Civil Engineering 14
BS in Computer Science 9
BS in Electrical Engineering 28
BS in Mechanical Engineering 38
Bachelor of Music 29
Total Undergraduate Degrees 666
Bachelor of Architecture (UP) 22
Grand Total Undergraduate Degrees 688
There was a motion to approve the list of undergraduate degree candidates, and it was seconded. The resulting vote by the faculty was to approve the list.
II. APPROVAL OF UNDERGRADUATE HONORS
Caldwell and Tenney then presented the list of candidates for undergraduate honors, see below:
University Honors (January and May 2008) GPA No.
Summa cum laude (top 5%) (4.042 - 4.229) 37
Magna cum laude (next 10%) (3.909 – 4.041) 73
Cum laude (next 15%) (3.837 – 3.908) 110
Total Number of Undergraduates Receiving Honors 220
There was a motion to approve the list, it was seconded, and the resulting vote was for approval of the list.
III. APPROVAL OF CANDIDATES FOR ADVANCED DEGREES
Professor Keith Hamm, representing the Graduate Council, and Tenney presented the list of candidates for advanced degrees. The totals are shown below:
Recommended Advanced Degrees May 2008
Doctor of Philosophy 107
Doctor of Musical Arts 5
Master of Arts 35
Master of Science 27
Master of Architecture 19
Master of Arts in Teaching 1
Master of Science in Environmental Analysis
and Decision Making 3
Master of Science in Nanoscale Physics 1
Master of Science in Subsurface Geoscience 2
Master of Science Teaching 1
Master of Music 45
Master of Bioengineering 3
Master of Computer Science 1
Master of Computational and Applied Mathematics 1
Master of Electrical Engineering 6
Master of Environmental Science 1
Master of Mechanical Engineering 2
Master of Statistics 1
Master of Business Administration 237
Master of Liberal Studies 3
Grand Total Advanced Degrees 501
There was a motion to approve the list of candidates for advanced degrees, it was seconded, and the resulting vote was for approval of the list.
IV. FACULTY SENATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Deborah Harter, Speaker of the Faculty Senate, briefly reviewed the Senate’s accomplishments for the 2007-08 academic year. These accomplishments included:
- Approval of a Ph.D. in Management and a Ph.D. in Art History, on the recommendation of Graduate Council
- Approval of a new minor in Global Health Technologies, and a newly formed Bachelor of Arts in Sport Management
- Approval of Rice’s first “Policy Protocol on Access to Faculty Electronic Data,” the result of two years of work by the Senate’s Email Privacy Committee headed by Joe Warren and with the collaboration of President Leebron and General Council
- Development and adoption of a new policy for the review of Deans when they come up for renewal, entitled “Dean Review Policy,” in response to an initiative from the Rice Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and with the collaboration of Provost Gene Levy
- Development and approval of a new academic calendar in the form of a matrix that will serve as a template for all future calendars. The new matrix will allow for a four-week Winter Break and retains the two-day Midterm Recess valued by the students, while also allowing some courses to announce in advance that they will meet during breaks when necessary. The new system will ensure that future conversations will not be required regarding the academic calendar, and it will be put in place beginning with the 2009-2010 year. Harter thanked the Senate Committee on the Calendar for their extraordinary work, especially the chair of this committee, Professor Evan Siemann.
- Formation of a new Senate working group on Admissions, under the leadership of Meredith Skura and Ben Kamins, whose task will be to promote increased faculty input on the admissions process at Rice
Harter thanked the many individuals who made informative presentations to the Faculty Senate this year. She invited current Senators to stand, and they were enthusiastically applauded by the faculty. Finally, she encouraged all faculty to attend the Faculty Senate meetings whenever they can, reminding them that their attendance and participation is always welcome.
V. FACULTY AWARDS
A. TEACHING AWARDS
President Leebron announced that the following awards are for teaching, but he also recognized the valuable contribution to the Rice community by the many faculty members who volunteer to be on committees, including the Faculty Senate. He stated that the work of the university could not be accomplished without these volunteer efforts. He commended Deborah Harter and Mike Stern on their leadership of the Senate. Leebron further stated that he wants to bring these individual contributions to the attention of the general faculty and will look for ways to achieve that next year. President Leebron and Eugene Levy, Provost, then handed out the following teaching awards:
George R. Brown Certificate of Highest Merit
Steven L. Klineberg, Professor of Sociology
George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching
Bridget Gorman, Associate Professor of Sociology
George R. Brown Awards for Superior Teaching
Edward Cox, Associate Professor of History
Terrence Doody, Professor of English
Michael Gustin, Professor of Biochemistry & Cell Biology
Stephen Klineberg, Professor Sociology
Michael Emerson, Allyn R. and Gladys M. Cline Professor of Sociology
Marcia O’Malley, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Nicolas Salgo Outstanding Teacher Award
Michelle Hebl, Associate Professor of Psychology and Management
Charles Duncan Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement
Michelle Hebl, Associate Professor of Psychology and Management
Rebekah Drezek, Associate Professor in Bioengineering and Computer Engineering
Presidential Award for Mentoring
Rebekah Drezek, Associate Professor in Bioengineering and Computer Engineering
Dennis Cox, Professor of Statistics
Sarofim Teaching Award
Suzana Bloem, Lecturer on Portuguese in the Center for the Study of Languages
Christa Gaug, Sr. Lecturer on German in the Center for the Study of Languages
Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management Award for Excellence
in Teaching
Sally Widener, Assistant Professor of Management
Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize
Karim Al-Zand, Assistant Professor of Composition and Theory in Shepherd School of Music
Faculty Teaching/Mentoring Award
Janice Hewitt, Instructor for the Cain Project
Stephan Link, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Women’s Resource Center Impact Award
Deborah Harter, Associate Professor of French Studies
Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Cain Foundation Award
Mike Gustin, Professor, Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Dan Wagner, Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Ann Saterbak, Lecturer, Bioengineering
Maria Oden, Lecturer, Bioengineering
B. OUTSTANDING COLLEGE ASSOCIATES
Baker College: Robin Sickles, Professor of Economics and Statistics
Brown College: Bill Parsons, Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Hanszen College: Edison Liang, Andrew Hays Buchanan Professor of Astrophysics
in the Department of Physics and Astronomy
Jones College: Christopher Hight, Assistant Professor of Architecture
Lovett College: Rolf Ryham, VIGRE-Lovett Instructor of Mathematics
Martel College: Brandon Dugan, Assistant Professor of Earth Science
Sid Richardson College: Steve Cox, Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics
Wiess College: Stan Dodds, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Will Rice College Alma Novotny, Lecturer of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
VI. RECOGNITION OF RETIRING MEMBERS OF THE FACULTY
President Leebron recognized the following retiring members of the faculty and asked each
to stand when mentioned. Each retiree was enthusiastically applauded.
James Kinsey, D.R. Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science in the Department of Chemistry
(20 years of service)
Ahmad Durrani, Professor of Civil Engineering (26 years of service)
Clarence A. Miller, Louis Calder Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
(27 years of service)
Don Herrick Johnson, J.S. Abercrombie Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Professor of Statistics (31 years of service)
Basilios Poulos, Professor of Visual Arts (33 years of service)
Arthur A. Few, Professor of Space Physics and Astronomy (38 years of service)
Paul A. Cloutier, Professor of Physics and Astronomy (41 years of service)
Anestis Veletsos, Brown and Root Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering
(45 years of service)
Ian M. Duck, Professor of Physics and Astronomy (45 years of service)
VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS
A. Deaths during this academic year:
Alan Chapman, Harry S. Cameron Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering (12/5/07)
Alan Grob, Professor Emeritus of English (9/21/07)
B. Brief Commencement Instructions
VIII. ADJOURNMENT (10:45 a.m.)