Members of the faculty and administration of the University chose to delay the vote on the creation of a proposed center for philosophy, politics and economics at the faculty meeting on March 1. Voting will instead take place at the May 3 faculty meeting.
The vote on establishing the proposed center has already been delayed, having previously been scheduled for the February faculty meeting, The Herald previously reported.
Govind Menon PhD’01, Professor of Applied Mathematics, opened the meeting on behalf of the Faculty Executive Committee and presented the committee’s proposed timeline for future consideration of establishing the PPE Center on campus.
Faculty members expressed concern over the vote on establishing the center before the University Resource Management Advisory Committee voted on a proposal to change the University’s donations policy, The Herald previously reported. The proposal was submitted by academics from Brown for Climate Action and seeks that the University “avoid business with groups…that support climate misinformation and support obstruction,” said J. Timmons Roberts, professor of environment, society and sociology, at the faculty of February. Meet.
The president’s office has received the ACURM report, which will be posted with a comment form on the ACURM website today, Menon said. This post will be open for public comment until March 15. Paxson will also post a communication on the ACURM recommendation via Today@Brown, Menon added.
The FEC will host a joint faculty session to facilitate discussion of the ACURM recommendations on March 18 at noon. There will be space for further discussion of the recommendations and PPE proposal at the April 5 faculty meeting, Menon said.
Roberts encouraged all faculty members to “watch carefully” the ACURM report at yesterday’s meeting.
“Brown could become a leader in this area by leading an effort to create a clearing house or a protocol … to screen donors and business partners,” Roberts added. “Large nonprofits and universities will be very interested in this. We could make a huge difference on a number of issues that are really fundamental to our values.
Menon advised the faculty to “preserve the spirit of robust debate and due process that is the foundation of our system of governance” as the deliberations continue.
The meeting also featured the President’s Report, in which Paxson announced that Mukesh Jain’s tenure as Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences began on March 1. Tejal Desai PhD’94 will begin his tenure as Dean of Engineering from September 1. Paxson added that the University’s internal search for a new Dean of the Faculty is coming to an end.
The President’s report also summarized the Society’s February meeting, where the Society approved a 2.85% increase in undergraduate tuition, a faculty and staff payroll of 4, 25% and an employee appreciation bonus, The Herald previously reported.
The Society has also accepted donations of approximately $140 million, including a $10 million donation to directly support the Brown-Tougaloo partnership. Five million dollars of the donation will be held in the Tougaloo College endowment to support scholarships for current Tougaloo students, while the other half will support Tougaloo students when they come to Brown as special students, graduate students and medical students, according to Paxson.
Paxson also discussed the University’s new financial projects, including expanding the University’s research activity, academic innovations that build on the open curriculum, building the residential experience, reinventing the CareerLAB and consolidating financial gains.
Speaking on the recent decision to extend the BrownTogether campaign goal of $1 billion, Paxson highlighted changes to the campaign’s goals, including a new focus on providing additional financial assistance. veterans and international students.
Paxson also commented on the recent rejection by the Federal Trade Commission and the Rhode Island Attorney General of the proposed merger between Lifespan and Care New England, and the decision by the two health systems to withdraw their merger request.
“We want this to be an area where everyone can access really good medical care…Between medical school and public health school, we have the opportunity to really make it happen,” Paxson said. “We will continue this work.
Menon then spoke about forming a joint child care task force organized by the FEC and the provost’s office. The task force is tasked with evaluating pre-K child care for faculty, staff and graduate students, according to Menon.
The working group will be co-chaired by Dave Sobel, Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Lisa Di Carlo MA’97 PhD’01, Lecturer in Sociology, and Elizabeth Doherty, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs. The group is expected to submit an initial report to the FEC and the Provost by late spring 2022.
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The meeting also featured moments of silence for the passing of John Coleman, professor emeritus of biology, and Andrew Holowinsky, associate professor emeritus of molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry.