The faculty voted unanimously in favor of creating four new public health departments at its monthly meeting last night. The departments will be devoted to the study of health services, policy and practice; behavioral and social sciences; epidemiology and biostatistics.
Though it was not on the agenda, faculty members also discussed a recently formed committee on campus athletics funding, availability and academic standards.
The faculty approved a motion to rename the Department of American Civilization the Department of American Studies. The motion, which was approved unanimously and without debate, will now go before the Corporation for approval.
There was no discussion regarding the public health departments. According to a memo from Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98, when the proposal to establish the departments was posted online, a faculty member submitted one message in favor and no one expressed opposition.
All of the departments fall under the general jurisdiction of the public health program. The idea of creating separate departments came about because potential faculty members and graduate students expressed a desire to see an entire department, rather than a subsection of a department, devoted to their specialty, the proposal said.
Later in the meeting, Kertzer congratulated the public health program on the proposal's approval, citing the Department of Community Health's growth since its creation in 1971.
Having received faculty approval, the proposal will go before the Corporation at its May meeting for the final go-ahead.
Faculty members discussed the athletics committee in response to a question posed by Luiz Valente PhD'83, associate professor of Portuguese and Brazilian studies and comparative literature, who questioned the "secrecy" behind the discussion of campus athletics.
President Ruth Simmons said though the athletics discussion has been ongoing for some time, a presentation on athletic funding and the academic index for athletes at the February Corporation meeting sparked faculty interest in the subject. Simmons said Corporation members had "a lot of emotion" regarding athletics, because several members are former athletes.
The Corporation subsequently decided to establish a set of principles regarding athletics, which led Simmons to create a committee of coaches, student athletes, administrators and faculty members. The committee is charged with creating a plan that addresses questions of spending on athletics, whether the University offers too many or too few athletic programs and the academic standards for athletes. It also intends to investigate the question of possible Title IX inequalities in the University's athletic offerings.
Dick Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior advisor to the president, sits on the committee and said its plan should be made public in the coming weeks, so the University has time to discuss it before the end of the academic year. Simmons said much of the data discussed with the Corporation cannot be disclosed, but since the topic seemed to have aroused faculty interest, it may be the subject of formal discussion at a future meeting.
Faculty members also observed memorial minutes for Hendrik Gerritsen, professor emeritus of physics, and John Ladd '75 P'06, professor emeritus of philosophy.
