GradSEA Meeting Minutes
Friday, September 8, 2006
Members Present:Adryan Glasgow, Alexis Ramsey, Tom Hertwick, Tony Russell, Karen Schiler, Umme Al-Wadzi, Richard Severe (president), Dharmini Patel, Kristen Seas (vice-president), Monica Osborne, Jodi Wagner, Karyn Mallett, John Spartz, Tom Sura, Jeffrey Jones, Frank Tobienne, Turgay Baydinar, Martin Fashbaugh, Kristine Johnson (secretary)
Announcements and Reminders
- Prelim Workshop: September 27. Tony Russell reported on plans for the prelim workshop, which will be especially beneficial for students under the new literary studies system.Jodi Wagner noted that some faculty have been contacted to speak and that Jill Quirk will also attend to explain the paperwork involved in the prelim.John Spartz and Karyn Mallett will attend to speak about the ESL/ELL paper option.Kristen Seas mentioned that issues of consistency from year to year have become an issue in the Rhet/Comp prelim, and clarifying expectations with faculty would be useful.
- Department Picnic: October 1, Rush Pavilion, Columbian Park. Richard Severe reported that the picnic will be a potluck (no grilling this year) and will cost $2 per person or $5 per family.Students should contact Richard with ideas for free activities for the picnic.One of our goals for this picnic is to promote some extra-curricular interaction between faculty and students.Flyers and sign-up sheets will be appearing soon.
- Search Committee Results: Monica Osborne (MFS/British and Post-Colonial search) and Martin Fashbaugh (18th-Century search)
Faculty Meeting Report
- Kristen Seas reported on yesterday’s faculty meeting.The NRC survey will be distributed to English department PhD students this fall.The survey is important because it will ask, for the first time, qualitative questions about the culture of the department.
- CLA is sponsoring spots on WBAA (14 spots per week), and the English department has begun to run advertisements on reading in the department.If graduate students have events to publicize, contact Irwin Weiser or Barbara Dixon (Assistant Dean of CLA).
Committee Reports
- ESL: Karyn Mallett reported that the ESL bulletin board has been updated.The Purdue Linguistics Association will have happy hour on Thursday, September 14, from 5–7.
- Excellence in Teaching: committee will not convene until the end of this month.The issue of ICaP evaluations and the requirements for having 20 questions for excellence in teaching needs to be addressed by the IWC.
- Graduate Studies: Jodi Wagner reported on the Graduate Studies Committee meeting on September 5.Major topics are the prelim forum, minority graduate student recruitment, a new course (Modern English) in the ESL and ELL programs, an updated website, and yearly evaluations of graduate students (this issue was tabled).
- Job Placement: there are eight meetings this year (September 11 and September 25 are the next ones), and Monica Osborne encouraged students to begin to attend the meetings earlier in their career, rather than later.Students should email Jenny Bay—jbay@purdue.edu—for the job placement information packet.Adryan Glasgow encouraged students to attend the public meetings for the job searches this fall.Monica Osborne also reported that ABD students are eligible for $250 for conferences.It is important to remember that there are other funding sources in the University that students need to explore.
- Woodman Lecture: Marjorie Garber will be speaking.More details are forthcoming.
- TCS: Committee meeting is September 18—the major topic will be course offerings.Dharmini Patel reported that there will be a symposium this year.
Other Business
- Richard Severe encouraged members to read the GradSEA Constitution online and contact him with any possible amendments.
- Richard Severe mentioned the gradtalk listserv, how you can sign up (via the GradSEA website), and referred to past controversy surrounding what is appropriate for gradtalk verses the engl-gr listserv.
- Martin Fashbaugh briefly mentioned the final 3 slots that still need to be filled for the prelim workshop: ELL, 19th-century American Literature, and Colonial American Literature.
Next Meeting: Thursday, October 19, 4:30 P.M.
Submitted by Kristine Johnson, GradSEA Secretary
September 12, 2006
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