Meeting Minutes 

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PRESENT: Alatis, Andrews, Arend, Bates, D. Betz, P. Betz, Dorothy Brown, Douglas Brown, Cole, Davis, DeGioia, Diamond, Ernst, Fink, Glazer, Haramati, Hauser, Hirsh, Iglarsh, Jacobs, Kromer, Lieber, Mann, Massaro, Mayer-Sommer, McFadden, S.J., Morris, J. Murphy, Noyes, Pfeiffer,  Puto, Rameh, Santoro, Sanz, Serene, Soudee, Temple, T.Walsh, Walters,  Tornatore, Verbalis,  Viksnins, Witek, S.J

ABSENT: Areen, Attinger, Baigis, Bloch, Byrne, Cha, Cohn, Collea, Cuddington, Curran, Danielson, Dover, Evans, Gallucci, Glavin, Goldfrank, Haft,  Ingebretsen,S.J., Lauerman, Lepgold, Martire, McAuliffe, McCabe, McGrail, Moran Cruz, Mujal-Leon, A. Myers, Oakley, O’Connor, O’Donnell, Richardson, Ronkainen, Rom, Sitterson, Spiegel, Suyderhoud, Tracy, Weidenbruch, Wiesel, Zuccarelli

GUESTS: Bonnie Oh, Joe O’Connor, James Slevin, Sam Marullo, S. Ray Mitchell, Nina Scribanu, Dan Porterfield

Meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m.

Minutes of Senate meeting 3/19/01 were approved by unanimous consent.

1. Presentation by Profs. O'Connor and Oh (Ombuds Office, Main Campus) about the first two years of their operation. The first annual report is available on the website.  For the coming year, expansion of the mandate to include staff and possibly graduate students on the Main Campus is under consideration.  Projects for the coming academic year include possible workshops on conflict resolution.  Suggestions should be forwarded to the either ombuds person.

2. Prof. Bates raised concerns about potential conflicts arising from the interfacing between the Grievance Code procedures and the Ombuds office.  He also highlighted the fact that there has not been a grievance filed on the Main Campus since the establishment of the Ombuds office.

3. Presentation by Profs. Slevin and Marullo of the Center for Social Justice, Research, Teaching and Service on the "Justice Report" to be released by the President's office shortly.  The report grew out of a discussion between Jesuit universities about the impact on higher education of the justice mission adopted by the order. The report seeks to initiate and strengthen discussions about issues of justice in teaching and research.

4. Announcements:

A. The nominations committee has begun its work.  Suggestions should be forwarded  members of the committee:  Professors Jack Murphy, Aviad Haramati, Bill McFadden & Marsha Morris

B. Main Campus Senate elections will conclude next week.   Ballots are due on Wed., April 25th and results will be available by the last senate meeting on May 15th.

C. Medical Center senate elections have been completed.

D. Committee appointments will be handled at the May meeting of the Senate. Volunteers and nominations are sought.

E. Changes in fringe benefits have been adopted that affect primarily staff (tuition benefits) and senior academic hires (tuition benefits for children).  Modifications to the Faculty Handbook will reflect those changes.

5. Prof. Diamond reported on progress made addressing governance issues at the Medical Center. These issues need to be addressed expeditiously since the Medical Center will undergo re- accreditation and due to the need to search for a new EVP for the Medical Center.

He reported that the negotiation method has been agreed upon ("One Text Negotiation") that will be handled with the help of an outside neutral party. The process will be broadly consultative and results will be brought before the Senate Steering Committee and the full Senate.

6. President-elect Dr. John DeGioia addressed the Senate. He highlighted 5 areas of special attention for the coming years.

A. Finalizing the restaging and stabilization of the Medical Center and its research and teaching enterprise.

B. Assuring that major capital investment in four academic buildings (South West Quad; Business School; Main Campus Science Building; Performing Arts Center) will go smoothly.

C. Conclude the capital campaign successfully.

D. Bring greater stability to the university to allow people to enjoy more the great academic community of Georgetown University.

E. Work on maintaining and strengthening the Jesuit and Catholic character of the university as part of the distinctive character of the university.

 Dr. DeGioia expressed great appreciation for the work the faculty leadership has done over the past three years.

 The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter C. Pfeiffer

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