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ANNUAL REPORTS OF SENATE COMMITTEES AND BOARDS
FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2014-15
1. Senate Admissions Committee
2. Board of Graduate Studies
3. University Disciplinary Committee
4. Library Committee
5. University Publications Committee
6. University Committee on Student Affairs
7. Academic Development Committee
8. Senate Steering Committee
9. Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs
University Research Board
Report to follow
chair: Farid Chaaban
chair: Ibrahim Osman
chair: Patrick McGreevy
chair: Ghassan Matar
chair: Bashshar Haydar
chair: Hassan Artail
chair: Wafic Sabra
chair: Dima Jamali
chair: Elie Shammas
chair: Muhamad Harajli
American University of Beirut Senate Admissions Committee
Annual Report for the Academic Year 2014-15 Committee Members
Chairperson: Professor Farid Chaaban
Elected members: o Assoc. Prof. Antoine Ghauch (FAS) o Asst. Prof. Walid Faraj (FM) o Asst. Prof. Mohammad Abiad (FAFS) o Assoc. Prof. Rima Habib (FHS) o Asst. Prof. Bettina Bastian (OSB) o Student Representatives: Ms. Fawzia Osman, and Mr. Charbel
Abboud.
Ex-Officio members: o Associate Provost Nesreen Ghaddar o Director of Admissions Prof. Salim Kanaan o Director of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment
(OIRA) Prof. Karma El-Hassan o Chairs of Faculty Admissions Committees
The Senate Admissions Committee discussed and approved 2 proposals that were received from the Sophomore Admissions and Freshman Admissions committees. In what follows is a brief listing of these proposals:
Approving the request from FEA Dean , Prof. Suidan, referred to us through Dr. Hala Muhtasib. The request is to consider raising the SAT requirements for early admissions to FEA from 1250 to 1300.
Approving the request from the Biology department to raise the SAT requirement from 1250 to 1300, for the same reason like the FEA request approved before 2 weeks.
Farid Chaaban Chair, Senate Admissions cte.
Bliss Street; P0.Box: 110236; Riad El-Solh, Beirut 1107-2020; Beirut, Lebanon. Secretary: +961 1 352700;
Office:+961 1 35000 Ext 3953; Fax: +961 1 750 214; Email: [email protected], Page- 1
To: Professor Fadlo Khuri (President of the Senate)
From GBS Members: Professors Ahmad Dallal <[email protected]>; Moueen Salameh
<[email protected]>; Rabih Talhouk [email protected]; Amy Alice Zenger
<[email protected]>; Karim Makdisi <[email protected]>; Mounib Eid <[email protected]>;
Antoine Abu-Musa <[email protected]>; Nuhad Yazbik-Dumit <[email protected]>; George
Saad <[email protected]>; Bacel Maddah <[email protected]>; Mohamad Ghassan Abiad
<[email protected]>; May Massoud [email protected]; Ibrahim H. Osman
<[email protected]> (BGS Chair)
Date: September 3rd
2015
Ref: Board of Graduate Studies (BGS) Annual Report to the Senate: AY 2014-2015
Dear President Khuri:
On behalf of the Board of Graduate Studies (BGS), I am writing this summary to inform you on the
main accomplishments of BGS for the academic year 2014-2015. The GBS members met nine
times in a period of 6 months, starting on October 24th
2015 and ending on May 25th
, 2015. Each
meeting took at least two hours of deliberation. The status of the various proposals is summarized as
follows:
i) Approval of proposals for New or Modified Programs:
1- The “MS program in Food Security” from FAFS. Professors Abu Musa and
Massoud reviewed the proposal, and the BGS accepted it after 2 revisions.
2- The “Modified Master program in Nursing - Part A without Part B on the research
program” from FHS. Professors Maddah and Zenger reviewed the proposal, and the
BGS accepted it after two revisions.
3- The “MS program in Energy Studies with non-thesis option” from DUIP. The BGS
accepted it without a major review. The changes were minor to an existing program.
ii) Proposals are in Progress either Under Review or Revision
1- The “MA is Art History and Curating proposal” from FAS. It was reviewed by
Professors Dumit and Saad. The review was sent back to FAS.
2- The “PhD program in Chemistry” from FAS. A subcommittee consisting of
Professors Abiad and Saad was appointed to review the proposal.
3- The “PhD program in Epidemiology” from FHS. An sub-committee consisting of
Professors Eid and Talhouk was appointed to review the proposal.
iii) Pending Proposals still to Review (Submitted outside regular semesters):
1. The “MS program in Plastic and Reconstructive surgery” from FM. It was
submitted by Professor Jaffa on 16 July 2015 and will be processed during the
academic year 2015-2016.
Bliss Street; P0.Box: 110236; Riad El-Solh, Beirut 1107-2020;Beirut, Lebanon. Secretary: +961 1 352700;
Office:+961 1 35000 Ext 3953; Fax: +961 1 750 214; Email: [email protected] Page-2
2. The “Dual Master's Degree in Engineering Management and Energy Studies” from
FEA and Energy Studies at DUIP. It was submitted by Professor Mukalled on 26 /5/
2016 and will be processed during the academic year 2015-2016.
3. The “Master Degree Program in Integrative Health,” prepared by Professors. Saliba
(FAS) and Hamadeh (FM). It was submitted by Professor Ghaddar on 11/5/2015 and
will be processed during the academic year 2015-2016.
iv) Policy and Regulation Issues
1. The “Guidelines for Preparing and Evaluating Proposals for New Graduate
Academic Programs” were developed by Professors Osman, Talhouk and Dallal. The
BGS approved it and it is posted on the Graduate Council (GC) webpage.
2. The BGS discussed the various options proposed by GC to set the number of votes for
a thesis to pass or fail. The following motion “Successful completion of the thesis
defense requires at least four affirmative votes and no more than one negative vote”
was approved by BGS.
3. The BGS approved the OSB request to integrate “AUB zero-comprehensive exam”
into capstone Courses: (BUS349– Strategic Management, MBA; MHRM306 – HR
Strategy course, MSHR; MFIN 304 - Financial Strategy, MSFIN)
4. The BGS rejected the FAS request to waive the GRE for applicants to the PhD in
Arabic.
The BGS took actions on other recommendations coming to the board from the
Graduate Council.
v) Recommendations for Improving the Work of BGS.
The first meeting of BGS normally takes place at the end of October each year after the
election of representatives from the six faculties to BGS and the appointment of a Chair
by the President. This process allows effectively six months of work due holiday breaks
during the academic year. As a result, BGS inherits pending proposals from the previous
academic year. This year, BGS members had two long meetings per month on the
average. The meetings also used to took place between 4-6:30 pm to find a suitable time
slot for all, during the meetings, there was no staff support. Further, some BGS members
do not want to have meetings during the summer. These lead to the above pending list
of items. Therefore, the followings are some suggestions for your consideration to
improve the work of BGS:
- To ask Faculty to elect their representatives to the Board at the end of the academic
year in June, so that the board can have its first during the week of September.
- To provide support staff to help in organizing and processing the BGS meetings from
booking places, taking minutes, keeping records of received proposals, approved
proposals, referee reports, and vote of motions for future references. Currently, I have
no access to past BGS records and where to deposit this year BGS materials.
- To provide incentives for the committee members to work during the extended
holiday breaks (at least in between semester breaks January and the Summer)
Bliss Street; P0.Box: 110236; Riad El-Solh, Beirut 1107-2020;Beirut, Lebanon. Secretary: +961 1 352700;
Office:+961 1 35000 Ext 3953; Fax: +961 1 750 214; Email: [email protected] Page-3
- To clarify the relationship and role of the GC in the BGS bylaws. AUB may extend
the role of GC to provide the requested support to BGS.
Yours Sincerely
Ibrahim H. Osman, BGS Chair
15 September 2015
UNIVERSITY DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE
AY 2014-15
Members
Chairperson: Dean Patrick McGreevy
Ex-Officio Members:
FAS Dean Patrick McGreevy
FM VP/Dean Mohamed Sayegh (Represented by Prof. Ghazi Zaatari)
FAFS Dean Nahla Hwalla
FEA Dean Makram Suidan (Represented by Prof. Fadl Mukalled
OSB Acting Dean Salim Chahine
FHS Dean Iman Nuwayhid
Dean of Student Affairs Talal Nizameddin
Elected Members:
FAS Asst. Prof. Lisa Arnold (replaced by Asst. Prof. Florian Bertrand in spring semester)
FM Prof. Joseph Ghafari
FEA Assoc. Prof. Wassim Masri (replaced by Assoc. Prof. Hazen Hajj spring semester)
FAFS Prof. Mustapha Haidar
FHS Asst. Prof. Miran Jaffa
OSB Sr. Lecturer Hanin Abdullah
Student Representative:
Mr. Anthony Abou Nader (OSB)
Activities in AY 2014-15:
The University Disciplinary Committee dealt with two significant cases in 2014-15. The first was a case of
falsifying research results by a graduate student in FAFS who was working on her master’s thesis. The committee
found the evidence compelling and voted to expel the student from AUB. The committee’s decision was later
reconsidered because it was determined that the case should have been considered as research misconduct. The
second case investigated an incident of a violent attach by two individuals upon a third person in Jafet Library. The
committee found the evidence against the assailants compelling and voted to suspend both of them for the coming
summer and fall semesters.
Submitted by Patrick McGreevy, Chair
Annual Report Library Committee (2014-2015)
In 2014-2015, the University Library Committee supported a number of library
proposals and initiatives, most importantly:
(1) Allowing the University Library to establish an Endowment funds, provided by
donors, as soon as applicable. This proposal was supported by the Provost.
(2) Upgrading of the library integrated system from Millennium to Sierra in order
to improve library operations and provide better services for students, faculty, and
researchers. Sierra system was purchased in June 2015 and will replace
Millennium before June 2016.
In 2014-2015, the University Library Committee also raised concern about the lack
of increase in library material budget since 2011 at a time the University is rapidly
increasing its graduate programs, while books, journals, and database prices and
subscription rates are increasing worldwide, on an average of 5% annually. The
University Libraries cancelled hundreds of subscriptions and reduced its book
budget by half as a result of lack of necessary funds.
Lokman Meho, Ph.D.
University Librarian
&
Ghassan M. Matar, Ph.D.
Chair, University Library Committee
University Publications Committee
Annual Report to the
University Senate of the
American University of Beirut
Chairperson: Bashshar Haydar
Elected Members: George Arbid (FEA) Bettina Bastian (OSB) Lilian Ghandour (FHS) Joseph Nassif (FM) Paul Newson (FAS) Wissam Raji (FAS) Imad Toufeili (FAFS)
Ex-officio members: Provost Ahmad Dallal (voting ex-officio member)
Morgan Roth, Associate Vice-president for Marketing and Communications (represented by Sally Kaya Najjar) (no longer participating as of May 2015)
Yasmine El Hajjar, Managing Editor, AUB Press Clare Leader, Corresponding Editor, AUB Press
Invited members: Assaad Khairallah, al-Abhath Editor Helga Seeden, Berytus Archaeological Studies Editor
During the 2014–2015 academic year, the University Publications Committee met four
times: on Tuesday, 28 October 2014; Tuesday, 9 December 2014; Tuesday, 28 April 2015;
and Monday, 11 May 2015.
I. Actions taken by the Committee
Agreement to publish, pending positive peer review reports, 9 manuscripts
submitted for publication:
a) the proceedings of a conference on “Space and Place” hosted by the Arts and
Humanities Initiative,
b) Anesthesiology at AUB by Dr. Musa K. Muallem of AUB’s Department of
Anesthesiology,
c) an anthology of reproduced selections from the literary journal Lotus
accompanied by analytical essays by current writers commenting on the
Lotus material and its relevance to the present and the future, edited by Tariq
Mehmood Ali,
d) a collaborative “hybrid” publication entitled “This is the Time and This is the
Record of the Time,” consisting of a collection of 5 commissioned academic
texts and a catalogue of an art exhibition by the same name,
e) ‘Afiya Ras Beirut: The Ras Beirut Well-Being Survey by Afamia Kaddour,
Sawsan Abdulrahim, Cynthia Myntti, Nisreen Salti, Livia Wick and Huda
Zurayk,
f) AUB: A Century and a Half / Celebrating 150 Years of Education, Service, and
Scholarship (proceedings of the spring 2013 conference), edited by Nadia El
Cheikh, Bilal Orfali, and Lina Choueiri
g) From the Suez Canal to the Arab Spring: Latin American Revolutionaries and
the Arab World by Federico Velez of Zayed University, UAE,
h) “We are in this Together”: An Oral History of Ras Beirut by Maria Abunnasr,
i) The Arab Nude edited by Octavian Esanu and Kirsten Scheid.
Agreement to reject the publication of 5 proposed manuscripts:
a) The Special Theory of Relativity: Mathematical Refutations by Radwan M. Kassir,
b) a cookbook being prepared by a group of AUB alumni in the US who intend the
book as a fundraiser for AUB as well as a publication in celebration of AUB’s
150th anniversary in 2016,
c) Jawdat Haydar: The Voice From Baalbek by John Munro,
d) Anesthesiology at AUB by Musa K. Muallem,
e) Mechanisms Regulating the M-phase of Cell Cycle in Eukaryotes by Mohammed El
Dika.
In addition, the authors/editors of 2 other books previously submitted for peer
review, were notified by the corresponding editor of the AUB Press that their books
were rejected (without a committee vote because the peer reviewers’ reports were
negative). They are:
a) Tadrij al-adani ila Qira’at sharḥ al-sa’ad ‘ala taṣrif al- zanjani ( تدريج األداني إلى
-by Sheikh Abdülḥaq ṣibṭ al-’allama al (قراءة شرح السعد على تصريف الزنجاني
nawawi al-thani, edited by Sheikh Osama al-Sā’idi
b) The Development of a Scientific Culture in the Arab/Islamic World by Khalil M.
Bitar.
American University of Beirut University Committee on Student Affairs (UCSA)
2014-15 Annual Report Elected Members Prof. Hassan Artail (FEA) – Chairperson Assoc. Prof. Leila Dagher (FAS) Asst. Prof. Joseph Nassif (FM) Asst. Prof. Ali Chalak (FAFS) Asst. Prof. Lillian Ghandour (FHS) Asst. Prof. Fouad Zablith (OSB) Student Representative Maribelle Komives (FAS) Ex-Officio Members Provost, Prof. Ahmad Dallal Dean of Student Affairs, Mr. Talal Nizameddine (Represented by Mr. Charbel Tarraf) Mandate Given the updated bylaws of the Committee, devise a corresponding plan for the Committee’s work and develop a list of corresponding tasks to process. Executive Summary In the AY 2013-2014, the Senate’s University Committee on Student Affairs (UCSA) proposed changes to the bylaws of the Committee so as to include in them specific objectives, and thus help the Committee better develop yearly tasks that lead to meeting these objectives. The proposed bylaws were later approved by the Senate, which in addition, advised to merge them with the old ones. As a result, the Committee’s bylaws became as follows: • To recommend to the senate board policies regarding student life and activities on campus. • To deal with any aspect of student life referred to it by the senate or the president. • Promote communication between students, departments, faculties, and alumni relations office. • Provide a platform for inter-faculty discussions and recommendations on student affairs. • Make recommendations for an on-going assessment program to measure student perceptions
and needs. • Make recommendations to the Office of Student Affairs on matters relating to the Counseling
Center, Career Services, Enrollment Management, Housing and Residential Education, Disability Resources and Wellness Education.
In the AY 2014-2015, the UCSA discussed several proposals for initial tasks that are consistent with the above bylaws, and agreed on a proposal that calls for working with the University Student Faculty Committee (USFC) and the Student Representative Committee (SRC) to develop an online mediated platform, which could be used by students to voice concerns and suggest ideas for enhancing student life.
The involvement of the USFC and SRC will continue after the development and deployment of this platform, mainly to examining the submitted student comments and suggestions for the purpose of identifying common subjects that fall within the jurisdiction of the UCSA and are aligned with its bylaws. The functional design of the online platform is not yet finalized, but once it is, we plan on seeking the assistance of the AUB IT to develop and deploy this platform. We are targeting to complete the design before the end of the 2015-2016 fall term, so that we can hopefully have an operational website in the year 2016. Sincerely,
Hassan Artail, UCSA Chair
Academic Development Committee2014-15 Annual Report
MEMBERSHIP: Provost Ahmad Dallal (or designee), Wafic Sabra (Chair-person), Zaher Dawy, Ali El-Hajj, Rola Khishfe, Nada Melhem, Lama Moussawi,Mona Nasrallah, Adib Saad, Nadine Darwiche, Mohamad Chahrour (StudentRepresentative).
ACTIVITIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The Academic Devel-opment Committee (ADC) met on April 21, 2015, March 17, 2015 and Novem-ber 19, 2014.
• The ADC recommended to abide by the guidelines as listed in the Under-graduate Catalogue (p. 56, Catalogue 2014-15) in relation to GE require-ments for double major and dual degree students.
• The ADC recommended the establishment of the Department of IndustrialEngineering and Management in FEA.
• The ADC recommended the establishment of the Department of Chemicaland Petroleum Engineering in FEA.
• The ADC recommended the establishment of the Petroleum Studies Pro-gram at AUB.
1
Senate Steering Committee (SSC)
Annual Report
2014 – 2015
Composition: Dima Jamali (OSB-Chair), Arne Dietrich (FAS), Ayman
Kayssi (FEA), Salah Zeineddine (FM), Mazen Ghoul (FAS), Lara
Nasreddine (FAFS), Jocelyn DeJong (FHS and Senate Secretary)
Functions: The functions of the Senate Steering Committee (SSC) are
clearly defined in the Senate Bylaws, Appendix I (Standing Committees and
Boards of the Senate).
Meetings and Actions: The SSC met monthly during the academic year
2014 – 2015, typically two weeks prior to each Senate meeting, essentially
to set the agenda for each Senate meeting. The deliberations and decisions
taken by the SSC amounted to the agenda for each Senate meeting.
The SSC was active in terms of identifying and soliciting and integrating
into the Senate agenda a number of issues which are critical to AUB as an
institution and its various constituencies (including the Faculties, the Faculty
Body and Students). Critical items that were raised and discussed in the
SSC (and the Senate subsequently) during the AY 2014-2015 include tenure
and the tenure proposal; faculty contract and various proposed revisions and
iterations to protect faculty benefits; IT, data privacy and investigations into
data leaks; AUB budgeting process, faculty compensation and the taskforce
recommendations; instructors and lecturers and their further integration into
academic life; new faculty workload policy and its implications; proposed
changes to composition of certain committees (e.g. PPRC – Policies and
Procedures Review Committee); and assessment and processing the
approval of various academic initiatives (e.g. BE In Petroleum Engineering;
MS Food Security; new Department in Industrial Engineering; new
Department of Petroleum & Chemical Engineering). The SSC also
requested a meeting for the Senate or Senate Representatives with the BOT,
and processed a faculty open letter addressed to the AUB Administration
and the BOT (dated December 11 2014), highlighting the main salient
pending issues from the perspective of the faculty at AUB.
Provost Ahmad Dallal attended the SSC meetings in his capacity as a non-
voting ex-officio member.
September 17, 2015
D. Jamali
Chair , SSC, 2014-2015
N.B. The minutes of the majority of the SSC meetings were recorded by Ms.
Jennifer Muller (Special Assistant to President Dorman at the time).
SENATE COMMITTEE ON FACULTY AFFAIRS
ANNUAL REPORT, 2014 - 2015
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Victor Araman (OSB); Nadim Farajalla (FAFS); Diana Jaalouk (FAS); Ali Chalak (Fall) Jad
Chaaban (Spring) (FAFS); Souha Kanj Sharara (FM); Shadi Saleh (FHS); Elie Shammas (FEA
Chair).
REPORT
The SCFA met several times throughout the year. The members of the committee complemented
the meetings with electronic correspondence. SCFA members met with several administrators on
different occasions including members of the Board of Trustees, the President and Provost, Ms.
Samar Diab, and Mr. Maroun Ghazal. The main task throughout the year was to finalize the
faculty stand on the Faculty Appointment Letter.
In summary, the committee followed up on faculty matters as listed below.
1- Faculty Contract
a. For the sake of continuity of the contract negotiation, early in the Fall semester,
SCFA reappointed the prior year SCFA chairs to continue the faculty contract
negotiation with the administration.
b. SCFA members met with the negotiators, members of the administrations, Faculty
United lawyers, and held joint meetings with the SCC to ensure an extensive and
comprehensive stand on the contract issues.
c. SCFA organized a town hall meeting for all faculty members to discuss contract
issues.
d. The culmination of the extensive work, after taking into consideration the
administration stand on key topics, was a proposed contract draft, which was
presented to the Senate.
e. The Senate had voted in favor of adopting the SCFA-proposed contract.
f. The administration did put in effect a contract that was different from the Senate-
approved contract. The main differences were two key items that relate to faculty
benefits, namely, health insurance and retirement.
g. SCFA continued its effort to reconcile the differences with the administration and
proposed minor changes that address the shortcomings of the imposed contract.
However, the changes were rejected by the administration.
h. Effectively, the faculty members are currently being asked to sign a version
of a contract that was not the one supported by faculty representatives nor
the one that was endorsed in the Senate.
2- Benefits and Salaries
a. SCFA members felt that faculty benefits in general should remain a top priority
for SCFA discussions
b. SCFA initiated discussions with HR and the chair of the Director of Benefits to
understand the statistics of key benefits as well as their costs.
c. SCFA is aware that the Task force on faculty compensation has completed its
work, however, the finding of the task has not been shared with the faculty at
large.
d. Disability insurance should be included in the general insurance package. The
administration should have added this item in the latest insurance RFQ.
e. Maternity Leave for RAs is a must and all maternity leaves should adhere to the
Lebanese law.
3- Budget process
a. SCFA discussed the budget process in couple of meetings. It views the current
process adopted by the administration as a work in progress that needs to be
addressed and completed in a satisfactory way during the coming year.
b. The budget should be presented to the Senate in a timely manner with clear
assumptions.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Over the past year SCFA has exhausted all its options to reconcile this contract issue. As it
stands, the current contract falls short of addressing the concerns that pertain to protecting basic
faculty benefits. Accordingly, we strongly urge the new administration to re-initiate negotiations
on the contract to address legitimate faculty concerns.
SCFA urges the new administration to protect faculty and academic staff benefits as well as
allow for effective faculty representation on all committees that pertain to faculty benefits.
SCFA urges the new administration to form a budget process and allow faculty representation to
be part of this process in the spirit of shared governance. The budget process is an enabler of
sound governance.
September 18, 2015
On behalf of SCFA
Elie Shammas (chair)