Minutes from the meeting of the Macaulay College Council
February 27, 2019
Lecture Hall, 6-8pm
Members Present: Regina Bernard, Ira Bloom, Christine Chow, Nicholas Cocozzelli, Aaron Fernando, Steven Monte, Roni Natov, Mary Pearl, Jonathan Peñuela, Elizabeth Reis, Joseph Ugoretz, Ted Widmer
Members Absent: Jennifer Ball, Mike Benediktsson, Douglas Cohen, Grazyna Drabik, Owen Gutfreund, Richard Ocejo, Jonathan Peters, Gillian Stewart, Darren Staloff,
Others/Guests Present: Nicolette Tepenu, Jody Clark Vaisman
Introductions and Attendance:
Welcome from Dean Pearl. Since the last meeting, the Council discovered that two of the Dean’s appointees were not eligible to serve. Those two appointees have been replaced by Steven Monte (CSI, English) and Ted Widmer (Macaulay, History).
Approval of Minutes:
Minutes from the last meeting (3/28/2018) were unanimously approved.
Dean’s Report:
Dean Pearl provided updates and a presentation about the state of the college and current priorities. The entire presentation is included/attached here: MHC_Council 2.27.19. Dean Pearl also shared a student-created video. “We Are Macaulay”
Presentation on Middle States Reaccreditation Process:
David Olan and Yun Xiang, co-chairs of the Middle States Steering Committee at the CUNY Graduate Center, presented information about the Middle States Accreditation Process. Because Macaulay derives its accreditation from the CUNY Graduate Center, we have been actively participating in the drafting of the self-study document (to be shared in May) and will be part of the site visit in the spring of 2020.
More information on the Middle States Reaccreditation process is available on the Graduate Center’s website at http://gc.cuny.edu/middlestates.
Committee Reports:
a. Curriculum Committee: The committee has been meeting regularly and approving new Macaulay courses (or sending proposals back for revisions when needed). New proposals are welcome and are currently being considered for spring 2020 (at the earliest).
b. Admissions Committee: Admissions committee did not meet since Macaulay admissions were carried out on the campuses.
c. Appointments Committee: Since the last Council meeting, the Appointments committee has recommended to the Dean the appointment of one Distinguished Lecturer, Carmen Boullosa, and one Visiting Professor, Harold Varmus.
d. Ad Hoc Committee on Macaulay Governance: The committee has met once to consider an early draft and initial considerations for a revised Macaulay governance document. The draft is very preliminary and meetings will continue before a complete draft will be ready to be presented to the Council.
e. Ad Hoc Committee on the Macaulay GPA Requirement: The committee was charged with examining Macaulay’s GPA requirement of 3.3 in the first three semesters and 3.5 thereafter. The committee met repeatedly and considered reports and statistics from Macaulay’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness, from a student survey conducted on all eight Macaulay campuses by the Macaulay Scholars’ Council, from national news reports and published academic studies, and from a national survey (conducted by the National Collegiate Honors Council) of over 175 honors colleges and programs.
The committee’s recommendation and rationale, which has been presented to the Macaulay Directors and to the Macaulay Scholars’ Council, is attached here (GPA-Proposal). The committee recommended that the GPA requirement not be changed. Instead, the committee recommended that the college modify the enforcement and administration of the requirement. This recommendation (fully explained in the attached document) has two major elements:
- The calculation of the GPA for the purposes of the requirement will be based on a semester-by-semester GPA, rather than a cumulative GPA.
- The language for students who do not meet the requirement will be changed from “probation” to “academic support.”
Since this recommendation is an administrative modification, not a change to academic policy, no formal vote was required, but the Council had an active discussion of the goals and potential effects. While some Council members felt that there should be no GPA requirement at all, others argued that maintaining the GPA requirement was important to the reputation and rigor of the College.
There was consensus among all the Council members that the committee’s recommendation would be an improvement over the current procedures, and the Council endorsed this recommendation. The Macaulay administration will implement the new procedures for all students beginning in fall 2019, and the committee will continue to monitor and assess the effects over time and propose adjustments as needed.
Approval of June Graduates:
The students eligible for June graduation were unanimously approved to receive their degrees, contingent on their completing all Macaulay and home campus requirements. Only the Dean and the faculty members of the Council voted on this measure, as required by governance.
Proposed Honorary Degree Recipient (Aasif Mandvi):
The Council considered a proposal to grant a Macaulay Honorary Degree (Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa) to Aasif Hakim Mandviwala (known professionally as Aasif Mandvi). A profile of Mr. Mandvi is attached (mandvi-college-council). The Council voted unanimously to recommend to the Dean and the Board of Trustees that this degree be granted.
New Business:
There being no new business, the College Council meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted:
Joseph Ugoretz, for the Secretary (Darren Staloff, unable to attend)
