MINUTES

Meeting of the Economics Department

October6th, 2014, called to order 3:45PM

Present: Ahmad (Chair), Das,Ersal-Kiziler, Glosser, Guo, Heinrich,Kashian, Lovett, Marks, Schweigert,Teferra, Tao, Welsch, Winden, Xue.

  1. Approval of September 8th, 2014 Minutes.Welsch Moves, Lovett Seconds, Unanimous Approval.
  1. Announcements
  • ITBE 353 writing requirement for major with 3 credits. Replaced by 2 credit course. We will have 1 credit free if this changes. Ahmad and Glosser will discuss and inform the department of the implications.
  • Econ Lit use with full text. Check your usage to see if this trial period leads to useful downloads.
  • Econ docs folder on T-Drive should be used for departmental documents. Can be used to access documents relevant to all department members.
  • Ahmad is on the Search and Screen Committee for the new Dean of CoBE. Any suggestions for what the Department feels are important qualities in the new Dean should be directed to him. Some discussion followed, which included the following thoughts:

Department SWOT analysismay have some suggestions for new Dean search (Marks).

It is important to make sure new Dean doesn’t come for only a year or two (Welsch).

New Dean should have experience with graduate programs (Glosser).

Pay-scale could be important, as well as that longevity could be important to new faculty, given Dean could stay for long time and have large impact on careers (Kashian).

  • Heinrich announced the date for his infamous Wine and Cheese party: November 8th, 2014. Formal invitation pending.
  1. Recruitment for MS
  2. Welsch scheduled for Parkside, Oshkosh
  3. Winden has gone to La Crosse, Superior and is scheduled for Eau Claire, Green Bay and Steven’s Point
  4. Overseas (international) recruiting also optional. Welsch mentions recruitment through GRE lists.
  5. Ersal mentions recruitment through Political Science or Math.
  6. Winden online recruitment video could be another good option.
  1. Assessment in MS Applied Economics
  2. College assessment committee interested in assessing learning outcomes for the MS.
  3. MS instructors should be aware that assessment will be desired in January from the committee.
  1. Econ 489 – Prerequisites on Capstone
  2. The following are the current prerequisites for the Capstone course (planned for Spring).

Economics Major

Senior Status

301, 302, 345 pre-requisites or co-requisites.

24 credits of economics completed (can count Econ 201, 202, 245 for 9 credits).

  • Motion by Heinrich, seconded by Kashian to keep all above requirements for the capstone, but to remove the requirement of 24 credits and change to 15 credits, as well as offer the course twice a year. Ahmad states that he will support twice a year, if possible, is there is sufficient department support to teach the course and to help cover global perspectives. Motion approved unanimously.
  • Course will be offered the first time in Spring 2016.
  1. Learning Goals in Economics Major

The Department continued its discussion of Learning Goals for the Economics major.

  • The discussion focused on what kinds of Analytical Thinking undergraduate economics majors should be able to do by completion of their degree, and the extent to which the Department could assess this.
  • It was decided that students should be able to understand and explain comparative statics from changes in equilibrium (i.e. impact of policy change, etc.).
  • Students should also understand opportunity cost.
  • The Department noted the need to come up with a couple of additional things regarding analytical thinking that our students should be able to do. Heinrich will present some suggestions at the next Department meeting.
  1. Sabbatical Proposals

Department discussed the sabbatical proposals for the following members of the Department:

  • Glosser
  • Schweigert
  • Tao

Based on the discussion, the Department approved all three sabbatical requests. The sabbaticals are to be forwarded on to the Dean for the College’s approval.

  1. Personnel Reviews
  • At 5:15pm, on a motion by Kashian, seconded by Schweigert, the meeting was moved to CLOSED sessionto discuss personnel reviews, as permitted by Wisconsin Statutes 19.81-19.98. The motion was approved unanimously by the tenured faculty in the Department of Economics.

Respectfully Submitted,

Matthew W. Winden

Secretary Pro Tem