Highlights of the College Park Senate meeting on April 5, 2007

1. Report of the Chair (James Gates)
   • Attending short meeting with Pres. Mote, nothing major to report.

2. Report of the University Library Council
   • Updates to University Library Council Bylaws to increase council size.

3. Reports from Senate Committees
   • Elections, Representation, and Governance Committee
     • Amend specifications for Campus Affairs Committee to add representative from Campus Security, and to add responsibility for gathering input on campus security issues.
   • Programs, Curricula, and Courses Committee
     • Reorganize College of Health and Human Performance as a School of Public Health.
       • One faculty member (Vince Brannigan, Dept of Fire Protection Engineering) raised concerns about the cost of starting a School of Public Health, its prospects for success, structural flaws due to lack of Medical School on campus, and the appearance of competing with other proposed Schools of Public Health in Maryland (Morgan State, UMD Baltimore).
       • Provost and current Dean of HHP responded there were sufficient academic resources to start new School of Public Health, and that it was in the interests of UMD College Park to establish such a school to be able to contribute in a vital field.
       • Proposal passed near-unanimously.
     • Establish Ph.D.s in Health Services, Epidemiology, and Maternal and Child Health
     • Establish Masters degrees in Health Administration, Landscape Architecture
     • Establish Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences
     • Rename Dept of Family Studies as Dept of Family Science
     • Rename Master of Public Health in Community Health Education as Master of Public Health with 3 areas of concentration

4. New Business
   • Undergraduate senator urged Senate to look into providing sufficient housing for undergraduates.
   • Graduate senator invited faculty to serve as judges for GRID2007 (Graduate Research Interaction Day).
   • Undergraduate senator urged Senate to look into faculty requiring students to sign the Honor Pledge (pledge is strictly voluntary).

Chau-Wen Tseng