An ME field meeting was held on 7 May 2015 at noon in 178 Rhodes. DGS Brian Kirby served as Speaker. Dr. Marcia Sawyer acted as Secretary. Professors Hernandez, Shepherd, Singh, Miller, Rand, Selva, Zhang, Phoenix, Desjardins, Donnelly, Silberstein, Campbell, Avedisian, Kress-Gazit, Erickson, Fisher, Kirby were in attendance.
- by unanimous consent, the field formally adopted parliamentary procedures:
- Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, 11th edition (RONR11) is the governing parliamentary authority.
- As RONR11 requires that a deliberative body provide “equivalent conditions of opportunity for simultaneous aural communication among all participants” (RONR11 Chapter 1 Section 1 page 1), and electronic vote clearly does not satisfy this condition, all electronic votes proceed only with unanimous consent from the field. Electronic votes will always have not less than a seven-day window before votes are counted.
- Faculty participating in meetings by teleconference and videoconference will be considered as attending, i.e., meetings with members participating by teleconference and/or videoconference will be deemed by the Field to constitute “equivalent conditions of opportunity for simultaneous aural communication among all participants”.
- Absentee voting (i.e. notifying the DGS of one’s vote when one cannot attend the meeting), though not allowed by RONR11, is deemed critical by the Field to allow maximal participation by those with busy schedules and multiple commitments. Absentee voting will be allowed when unanimous consent exists. Faculty objecting to the validity of absentee voting on a motion should notify the DGS to object within 7 days of the vote.
- The quorum for Field meetings is 12 field members.
- The DGS will be the Speaker for Field meetings. The DGS will appoint a Secretary for each Field meeting.
- an informal discussion regarding timing of A exams was held; the DGS notified the field that the Grad School plans to show less leniency with regards to scheduling A exams and that the DGS plans, similarly, to push students to complete A exams before end of 6th term. The Grad School claims that the field average A exam is 3.8 years after program start. Grad school requires before end of 3 years.
- motions to admit Silvia Ferrari, Tobias Hanrath, and John Albertson to the ME field passed.
- motions to admit Al George and Steve Pope as a Graduate School Professors of Mechanical Engineering, contingent upon each receiving the status of Professor Emeritus, passed.
- DGS Kirby presented a draft set of requirements for a self-funded, terminal MS program and the faculty discussed this topic with plans to vote on a motion at the Aug 20 Field Meeting.