FACULTY MEETING 

September 10, 2004
Gannett Auditorium

MINUTES

President Philip A. Glotzbach called the meeting to order at 3:40 p.m.

President Glotzbach began with a warm welcome back to everyone. Lary Opitz will continue as parliamentarian for
the faculty meetings of the 2004-05 academic year.

The President asked if there were any objections to the approval the April 30, 2004 Faculty Meeting; hearing no
objections, the minutes were approved.

REPORTS

MARY LOU BATES – Admissions

Mary Lou Bates, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, reported that the freshman class is at full capacity: actually with thirty more first-year students than anticipated. A total of 641 first-year students arrived on campus the past Sunday, and an additional thirty-eight first-year students will spend their first semester in London for a total of 679 enrolled first-year students at Skidmore this year. More significant was the increase in the upper class numbers due primarily to fewer students going abroad and taking leaves. The median combined SAT score for the enrolled group is
1250 compared with the median score of 1310 for the accepted group. Dean Bates continued by providing details of the characteristics of the first-year students.

DON McCORMACK- Dean of Special Programs

The past summer was an exceptional academic semester. Skidmore hosted over 3,000 people in the residence halls, and hosted fifty-two organizations and programs. There were between 9,000 to 10,000 people attending concerts and performances which did not include the Tang events. Instruction over the summer takes place in many forms from conventional summer school, Summer Six, pre-college programs, and APART to instruct in the institutes (dance, theater, jazz, writers, and flute), sports camps instruction, and the Science Institute for Girls. Students also go off
campus to Florence, Greece, and Colorado. Instruction also takes place through seminars, courses, and workshops which are hosted by the Masters Program, the University Without Walls, and the CTY (Center for Talented Youth). There are small programs such as We the People (a one-week program for high school teachers studying the Constitution), and a writing workshop for the Boys Choir. Larger programs such as the Writers Institute were also great successes. Dean McCormack thanked his staff and everyone else who helped support summer programs at
Skidmore.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Glotzbach began by saying it was wonderful to be back, and he hoped everyone else felt the same. He also thanked everyone for their work over the summer.

President Glotzbach referenced several projects: Fred DiMauro, Assistant Director and Manager of Planning and Construction, sent out his annual report by email. The Sports and Recreation Center has undergone needed renovations, space for some of the sciences has been improved, space has been renovated in Howe Rounds to accommodate the additional students on campus, a solution has been found to keep Filene dry, and Scribner House was painted.

The Search Committee for the new Vice President for Finance and Administration worked through the summer. Candidates are still being interviewed and a candidate will be on campus Sunday, September 12 and Monday, September 13, 2004. An open forum for the campus to meet the candidate is scheduled for Monday at 10:00 in Gannett Auditorium. The search for a new CITS (Center for Information Technology Services) director is also underway. Charles M. Joseph, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty and Barbara Beck, Associate Vice
President for Business Affairs and Direction of Human Resources will be co-chairing the search committee.

The IPC (Institutional Planning Committee) met several times with President Glotzbach over the summer. Progress has been made on revising the Strategic Plan. The plan will be shared with the larger community in the near future. 

President Glotzbach thanked Professor Gove Effinger for his past work and thanked Professor Susan Kress, who now is co-chairing the committee with President Glotzbach, for her willingness to serve in that role. Further development of the Comprehensive Campaign occurred over the summer; the leadership gift phase is moving ahead with some major announcements scheduled for October. As the Strategic Plan develops, campaign priorities are being set; the most important priorities being endowment, scholarships, and support for academic programs.

President Glotzbach reported that Marie Glotzbach’s role at Skidmore has been more fully developed and defined. She will act as advisor to the president, manage Scribner House and events there, teach one course per year (this spring it will be an acting course in the Theater Department), work with alumni, fund raise, and represent the College to external constituencies. Her official title will reflect her diverse role: Lecturer and Community Relations Officer. She will also continue to work on her own professional projects.

In the recent USNews and World Report Skidmore dropped from tied for 42nd place last year to tied for 45th place. Although the report itself is controversial, Skidmore will be evaluating the statistics to ensure the College is being reported in the most accurate and favorable way. Along the same line, President Glotzbach referred to the current Atlantic Monthly which also has its college-rating issue out. In a section entitled “Who Needs Harvard” Skidmore College was listed as one of the institutions as only slightly less “good” than the elite institutions, whose advantages
may be overstated.

The Saratoga Reads program is moving forward. The list of books has narrowed to five titles. Voting will continue through October 10 with the final selection to be announced during Family Weekend.

The President and Marie have decided to bring in a housemate, a three-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever named Summit. Summit will be the third dog to hold the title “First Dog” at Scribner House.

Skidmore is fortunate to have such an outstanding class of first-year students on campus. The class is larger than expected; however, President Glotzbach believes Skidmore is up to the challenge. Part of the reason for the increased enrollment is the rising popularity of the College. New Student Orientation was a great success this year. A number of faculty members were involved in the planning, development, and implementation of the new program which included, academic workshops, first-year advising, a Campus Life orientation program, Summer Reading Seminar, Liberal Studies I presentations, etc. The purpose of the new program is to deliver a new message that focuses on and emphasizes academics. The program will continue to be reviewed to see if there are things that can be improved next year.

The Strategic Planning process over the summer resulted moved us closer to having a draft that will be shared with the community for comment. The plan reaffirms Skidmore’s commitment to excellence and to helping students realize their maximum potential. President Glotzbach read the Zen story “Every-Minute Zen,” which relates to the work faculty does with students in the classroom: paying close attention to students and reacting in a well-timed and advantageous manner in order to meet standards of excellence. A less acknowledged every-moment Zen aspect is the constant attention to the values that faculty bring to the classroom, laboratory, or studio from their disciplinary work, the values faculty apply to the work students are producing, their level of expectations of students and of themselves. If attention is lost, the temptation to succumb to the desire to just get by will occur making the difference between being good and being great more apparent. Fatigue is a major factor in losing attention. Three things that can be done to reduce the energy burden on faculty are: 1) complete next phase of the planned revision of the governance system; 2) continue to pay attention to issues of resources (the revised Strategic Plan will have faculty positions in it in connection with supporting the passage of the new first-year experience curriculum); 3) the administration must maintain the faculty’s confidence in order to focus their attention and energy on their key work of teaching and learning.

President Glotzbach is looking forward to a terrific year and hopes that others share his enthusiasm. The President and Marie welcomed everyone to the Community Reception at Scribner House.

DEAN OF THE FACULTY'S REPORT

Dean Joseph welcomed all of his colleagues back and hoped they had a productive and restful summer. He apologized for not being able to see all of those people over the summer he normally sees due to having to take time off for unexpected health issues. He thanked all of the members of his staff for filling in and supporting him during that time.

Dean Joseph said that New-Student Orientation was spectacular. While visiting with parents of new students, many of them with children enrolled at other institutions commented that Skidmore knows how to do things right. Dean Joseph commented that he is delighted to be back in the classroom teaching a class during the fall semester. He gave a special welcome to new colleagues. Dean Joseph announced the faculty members returning from sabbatical. (See Attachment A.) Dean Joseph announced the new department chairs and program directors. (See Attachment B.)

Dean Joseph continued with announcing some contributions and accomplishments of faculty members: a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), co-authored by Professor David Domozych in Biology, Professor Dick Lindemann in Geosciences, and Professor Steve Frey in Chemistry. The grant is a Major Research Instrumentation Grant, the title of which is “MRI Acquisition of a Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis System.” Some books that have been published include Professor Dan Nathan’s Saying It’s So which was
recognized by both the North American Society for Sports History and The North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. He also mentioned Professor Linda Simon’s Dark Light: Electricity and Anxiety from the Telegraph to the XRay; and Professor Murray Levith’s Shakespeare in China. Professors Virginia Murphy Berman and John Berman were editors of Cross-Cultural Differences in Perspectives on the Self (Nebraska Symposium on Motivation Series, Vol. 49).

Memos will be going out by email on Monday morning regarding endowed chairs. The Ella VanDyke Tuthill Class of 1932 chair in studio art, currently held by Professor David Miller, will turn over; a call for nominations with deadlines will be included in the email. There is a new term chair, the Class of 1964 Chair will specifically honor leadership in the sciences among recently tenured faculty in the natural sciences. Details and a call for nominations will also be included in the previously-mentioned email.

Dean Joseph’s agenda this year will closely reflect CEPP’s (Committee on Educational Policies and Planning) agenda. Two of the most pressing issues will be moving forward with the continuing discussion of the First-Year Seminar (FYS). If all goes as hoped, there will be a vote on the proposal in October. In conjunction with moving forward with a First Year Seminar proposal as well as for an overarching purpose of meeting the need for more help, the administration is moving forward immediately with the addition of five tenure-track lines. Searches will begin soon.
Two lines previously established, but never realized because of budget constraints, will go to Studio Art and to English. The three remaining lines will be distributed after careful consideration. Further information will be forthcoming in an email. These five new lines will not only help tremendously with a first-year program, but will also help to alleviate the pressure on the entire faculty. Funding for the lines will be achieved in two ways: 1) consolidation of funds through hiring more full-time faculty members and fewer part-time adjunct positions will potentially fund two lines;
and President Glotzbach has pledged together with the assistant of Mike Hall, Director of Financial Planning and Budgeting, to find the funding for the remaining three lines. There is also a preliminary plan to possibly convert some full-time, renewable positions to tenure-track positions.

Associate Dean Sarah Goodwin introduced new full-time appointments. (See Attachment C.) In addition, Dean Goodwin introduced Anders Bengtsson, visiting full-time faculty member in the Math and Computer Science Department. Professor Bengtsson is from Sweden through the STINT program. Dean Goodwin also introduced John Weber, new Dayton Director of the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery who will start on October 25. Dean Goodwin gave an update on the Middle States review; a handout of the Final Focus Statement was provided at the beginning of the meeting. (See Attachment D.)

INTRODUCTION OF NEW STAFF

Pat Oles, Dean of Student Affairs, introduced new staff member Julia Routbort as Director of the Counseling Center.

Beth DuPont, Director of Academic Technologies, introduced two new staff members in CITS: David Hamilton as Senior Instructional Technologist and Greg Howe as Web Systems Administrator.

Mary Lou Bates, Dean of Admissions and Student Aid, announced two new staff members in Admissions: Catherine DeLorenzo as Associate Director of Admissions; and Megan Rhodes, a 2003 Skidmore graduate, as Assistant Director of Admissions.

OLD BUSINESS

MOTION: Associate Professor Michael Ennis-McMillan, on behalf of the Curriculum Committee, made a motion to take from the table a motion that was originally brought to the faculty at the May 19, 2004 Faculty Meeting; the motion to take from the table passed. Professor Ennis-McMillan then opened the floor for discussion of the main motion, having heard none Curriculum Committee’s motion to delete the biology-chemistry interdepartmental major was voted on and passed with all in favor. (See Attachment E for the full text and rationale of the motion.)

MOTION: Associate Professor Michael Arnush, on behalf of the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning, requested that the proposed, upcoming motion be amended to correct a typographical error in the title of CEPP on the upcoming motion from: the Committee on Educational Policy and Planning to the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning. All agreed. Professor Arnush read the motion into the record as amended. (See Attachment F.) Associate Dean John Brueggemann informed the assembly that over the summer a study group reviewed the function and administrative structure of the Dean of Studies office. The group is committed to recognizing the significance of the Dean of Studies office in terms of adjusting the administration to serve the First Year Seminar (FYS) effort. They will be working with CEPP to develop an implementation of an effective plan should the proposal pass. Professor Arnush then provided the CEPP schedule of upcoming informational forums.
(See Attachment G.) Coming from the Committee, the motion required no second and will lie over
until the next meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

Professor Arnush, on behalf of CEPP and Part I, Section XVI (A) of the Faculty Handbook, notified the faculty of proposals brought to CEPP to create or eliminate a department or program.

PROPOSAL: CEPP received a proposal from the department of Exercise Science, Dance and Athletics to separate out the Dance Program to facilitate the creation of a Department of Dance. This proposal will be brought as a motion at the next faculty meeting, discussed by open fora in October, and voted on at the November 5 faculty meeting.

PROPOSAL: CEPP also received a proposal from the Dean of Faculty to: 1) eliminate the Department of Geosciences, 2) to merge the Geosciences’ faculty with other faculty to create a new program which will replace the Environmental Studies Program, and 3) call the new program Earth and Environmental Studies. This proposal will be brought as a motion at the December 3 meeting, discussed by open fora in January, and voted on at the February 4, 2005 faculty meeting. 

PROPOSAL: Professor John Anzalone, Chair of the Committee on Faculty Governance (CFG), will bring a proposal for revising the governance system to the faculty floor during the fall semester. That material will be ready by the October 1 faculty meeting to be voted no later than November. Dates and times for discussion of this proposal will be announced.

MOTION: Professor John Anzalone, Chair of the Committee on Faculty Governance (CFG), made a motion on behalf of CFG to move for the adoption of the 2004-05 Faculty Handbook, Parts I through V, but not Part VI. CFG is requesting that Part VI remain in the form it was in in the 2003-04 Handbook due to changes in the Diversity and Affirmative action section. CFG does not feel comfortable presenting those revisions at this time. Copies of the Faculty Handbook have been distributed with the new Part VI; however, CFG requests that the new Part VI be removed and the old 2003-04 Part VI be retained.

These documents can be found at the Dean of Faculty’s web site. The list of changes is on the site as well. The motion, as amended, came from the committee, required no second, and will lie over until October 1 meeting. (See Attachment H.)

OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Lecturer Leslie Mechem gave an informational announcement regarding the SEFCU (Skidmore Employees Federal Credit Union). Any employee of Skidmore and their family members can join the credit union. She encouraged all employees to join. SEFCU is located at the back of Dana Science Center near Purchasing and is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. including the lunch hour. More information can be found at SEFCU’s web site: https://www.skidmore.edu/administration/sefcu/.
• Ian Berry, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, gave a quick update of the upcoming events at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery. (See Attachment I.)

President Glotzbach encouraged everyone to attend the Community Reception at Scribner House.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Colleen M. Kelly
Executive Secretary
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty