FACULTY MEETING

April 26, 2002
GANNETT AUDITORIUM

MINUTES

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

A motion was made to approve the April 5, 2002 Faculty Meeting minutes. The motion was seconded and passed.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Studley opened the meeting by expressing her enthusiasm for the Honors Convocation ceremony held the night before. She thanked the faculty for their hard work with the students honored, including Linda Simon’s contribution in guiding Academic Festival.

President Studley remarked that Skidmore’s endowment (briefly) passed the $160 million mark and observed that our trajectory is strong. The President added that a liberal arts education, as noted by such national organizations as AAC&U, whose board she has just joined, remains a model for the future. With our LS 1 program and other interdisciplinary endeavors, we remain a leader. In a recent New York Times article, for instance, Skidmore was mentioned among other highly competitive schools including Harvard and Stanford.

DEAN OF THE FACULTY’S REPORT

John Anzalone, Chair of CAPT, read the following resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED, the faculty of Skidmore College expresses its profound appreciation and admiration for the following members of the Skidmore faculty who have expressed their determination to retire, David H. Eyman, Lynne L. Gelber, James Keihl, John J. Thomas, Alan Wheelock, and Stuart K. Witt. The faculty further resolves that the following biographical highlights be included in the minutes of the faculty meeting of April 26, 2002, as a recognition and celebration of distinguished service and achievement. (Attachment A-available in the Dean of Faculty Office.)

Each retiree was presented with a gift and the resolution was passed by acclamation. For the Faculty Development Committee, Dean Charles M. Joseph announced that Professor Carolyn
Anderson is this year’s winner of the Ciancio Award for Excellence in Teaching. Carolyn will be the convocation speaker this fall.

Dean Joseph alerted the faculty to the list of the Faculty Development Initiative Grant Recipients and the Summer Technology Innovation Grant Recipients, for Summer 2002 on the back of the agenda. (Attachment B) A nice applause was given from the faculty in congratulating all the grant recipients. Dean Joseph concluded his remarks by praising the outstanding Honors Convocation event held the night before. He thanked the entire faculty for helping to develop the talents of these fine students.

Dean Joseph reminded the faculty that the Academic Festival will be May 1. He asked the faculty to encourage their students to attend the events.

NEW BUSINESS

Mark Huibregtse, Chair of CFG, made the motion for a resolution in support of the strategic plan. Resolution of Support for the Strategic Plan - 26 April 2002

Whereas, The current academic year has been the occasion for extensive discussion of the strategic plan; and
Whereas, The collective response of the faculty to the draft presented in the fall significantly informs the present document; and
Whereas, the time has come to bring closure to a long and difficult process and to move forward;
Therefore, be it
Resolved, That we the faculty of Skidmore College do hereby:
* Endorse the strategic plan titled The Plan for Skidmore: Excellence and Community (22 April 2002);
* Commit ourselves to its successful implementation; and
* Thank the Institutional Planning Committee and all others involved in the development of the strategic plan for their hard work and concern for the College.

The motion was seconded, and placed on the floor for discussion.

Sandy Baum, Chair of CEPP, noted that CEPP discussed the Plan at some length throughout the year; some suggestions were incorporated into the plan, while others were not. She announced that CEPP strongly endorses the three major goals of the Plan, and that the committee looks forward to being involved in their implementation. She said CEPP urges the faculty to support CFG’s Motion.

Mehmet Odekon objected to the 4th objective since it was repositioned as the 1st objective.

Dean Joseph responded to Professor Odekon’s remarks, suggesting that the reordering was appropriate. Chuck encouraged the faculty to endorse the Plan.

There was further discussion on the issues of the order of the goals; the entire strategic plan process; why some faculty do not feel enthusiastic about the plan; and why some faculty don’t see the significance in reordering the goals.

Professor Holland offered the following amendment to the first of three bullets, *Endorse the strategic plan titled The Plan for Skidmore: Excellence and Community (22 April 2002);

Where there is a semi-colon, place a comma, and add “provided it address faculty compensation issues as a priority”

Mark Huibregtse, Chair of CFG, said that CFG does not consider it a friendly amendment.

There was no discussion on the amendment.

The amendment failed on a voice vote.

Professor Reginald Lilly suggested to table the motion proposed by CFG.

There was no second from the faculty.

The motion remains on the floor.

CFG proposed that voting be by paper ballot. The faculty agreed. While tallying the vote, Dean Joseph announced that there is some happy, unfinished business to attend to. Lynne Gelber, who was not in attendance when her name was called for retiree recognition, came forward and was presented with a gift.

Anthony Holland made a motion on CAFR:

"In light of the letter the college has received from the AAUP in which they express their concern for the need for Skidmore to bring the operating code and procedures of our Committee on Academic Freedom and Rights (CAFR) into line with AAUP Redbook standards, I move we form a summer study group to look into the matter."

Professor Holland explained how this motion would benefit the faculty.

There was no second from the faculty.

President Studley announced the paper ballet results on the Strategic Plan: 80 in favor, 31 against, and 3 abstained. The CFG Motion was approved by the faculty.

OLD BUSINESS

John Anzalone, Chair of CAPT, made a motion at the April 5th meeting on promotion legislation. He reminded the faculty that CAPT has been working on this a long time. He gave clarification for what CAPT would like to see in a promotion file.

Dean Joseph announced that he supports this motion enthusiastically.

Professor Holland signaled his support of the CAPT motion. He noted a few concerns including the need for a mechanism to allow for a review process with regard to candidates for the rank of full professor. He also recommended that outside reviewers be required. Finally, Professor Holland questioned the usefulness of CAFR as a review committee, including CAFR’s inclusion of non-tenured faculty among its membership, which might place non-tenured faculty in jeopardy. He then proposed the following motion:

“that we form a summer study group to review the operating code and procedures of CAFR to ensure they meet AAUP Redbook standards.”

There was no second from the faculty.

Professor Giuseppi Faustini announced that he fully supports CAPT’s proposal.

Parliamentarian John Thomas called the question to act on this legislation.

The motion was seconded and passed.

President Studley thanked the members of CAPT for their efforts.

Mark Huibregtse, Chair of CFG, made two motions at the April 5th meeting. The first concerns the procedures for selecting replacements for members of CAPT when tenure or promotion cases involve faculty in the CAPT members' own departments. (Attachment C)

There was a brief discussion and the motion was seconded and passed.

The second motion concerns the promotion of Artists- and Writers-in-Residence, and would change the current two-tier system (with one promotion to the Senior rank) to a three-tier system (with two promotions to Senior and Distinguished ranks). (Attachment D) There was a brief discussion from the faculty, including John Anzalone, Chair of CAPT, who reported that
CAPT fully supports this motion.

The motion was seconded and passed.

President Studley recognized Professor Holland to bring forward his motion on departmental governance from the April 5th meeting. Professor Holland respectfully withdrew his motion.

Tim Burns, for ACC, presented the Student Bill of Rights (Attachment E) at the April 5th meeting. He informed the faculty that a vote will not take place today because the student body voted down their bill of rights. Professor Burns offered a brief explanation about the students’ decision. He expects SGA to bring it forward in fall 2002.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• President Studley announced that the President’s Day Award Presentation will take place on Case Green immediately following the Faculty Meeting. She also announced that one of the recipients is Phyllis Roth. There was a warm applause from the faculty.
• President Studley then invited everyone to the reception following at the Faculty/Staff Club in honor of our Retirees hosted by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty.

Respectfully submitted,

Patricia Ann Heritage
Executive Secretary
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the
Dean of the Faculty