Members of the Cornell Faculty Senate, at its first meeting of the spring semester, approved a resolution recommending approval of an experimental executive graduate degree program to be offered by the Johnson Graduate School of Management using distance technologies.
The senate, at its regular meeting Feb. 12, also approved a slate of candidates for dean of the faculty, including Terrance L. Fine, professor of electrical and computer engineering; Danuta R. Shanzer, professor of classics; and Charles Walcott, professor of neurobiology and behavior.
The term of J. Robert Cooke Jr., dean of the faculty, expires June 30. A Faculty Forum on the election was set for Feb. 19, and ballots are due at 4 p.m. March 7. Results will be announced at the March 12 senate meeting.
The new Executive Master's in Business Administration Program (EMBA) would include the same degree and instructional requirements as the school's current EMBA program based in Palisades, N. J., but would be sponsored and administered jointly with Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Graduating students would receive two separate degrees, one from each university, and would be required to complete two weeks of residency at each college campus.
The measure approved last week stipulates that the program is experimental, "reserving the right to establish standards and guidelines for degree granting graduate and undergraduate programs using distance learning technologies of various sorts. The Faculty Senate requests a progress report at the end of the first year of operation." In addition, the resolution establishes an ad hoc committee to establish standards and guidelines for degree granting graduate and undergraduate programs using distance-learning technologies.
The new program, scheduled to launch in summer 2004, requires approval by the Cornell Board of Trustees and by New York state.
L. Joseph Thomas, the N. H. Noyes Professor of Management in the Johnson School, explained that the new program would use synchronous technology, with six to eight students in six to eight separate locations constituting a class. The goals, he said, are to be able to reach out to business audiences in other locations; to build a reputation among more practitioners; to learn how to engage remote audiences and thereby enhance global reach; and to generate revenues to hire faculty and support research.
Several senators questioned whether Cornell's standards could be maintained when only 50 percent of faculty in the new program would be Cornell faculty members and a percentage of those would be adjunct faculty.
"We want to develop an innovative, high-quality program," Thomas said. He explained that Queen's University is an excellent institution and that Johnson School faculty have visited its classrooms and been assured of the quality of its instruction.
Moreover, he added, the resolution makes it clear that the program is experimental and will be reviewed at the end of the first year to ensure that Cornell's rigorous standards are being met.
Cooke, who decided against becoming a candidate for dean of the faculty for a second term, explained that during the past half century, no Cornell dean of the faculty has served longer than five years.
"Representing this distinguished faculty has been a genuine honor," Cooke said. "I honestly believe that faculty governance is
con
tributing significantly to the well-being of the university. So I'll be leaving this role in June with a sense of satisfaction, but also
with confidence that both personal and institutional purposes are served by my working hard for five years and then stepping aside. I hope
all my colleagues will remember to vote in the forthcoming election."
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