FACULTY MEETING

December 1, 2006
Gannett Auditorium

MINUTES

President Philip A. Glotzbach called the meeting to order at 3:45 pm. President Glotzbach asked if there were any amendments to the November 3, 2006 Faculty Meeting minutes. Hearing none, he announced that the minutes were approved.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

The President’s report included the following:

• The work on the dining hall is almost completed, and the President encouraged everyone to stop by on Monday to see the new Atrium, convenience store, and coffee shop. The conference room on the second floor will be completed soon. There is a group working on considering how best to use Case Center – even with the refurbished dining hall, it should be a lively space for the campus. We need to look at the new usage patterns that will develop when the dining hall is fully operational. This is an opportunity to think creatively about the Case space for both the short and long term. Ideas may be submitted to Dean Pat Oles or VP Mike West who will relay them to the working group that will report back to IPPC.
• VP Michael Casey gave a brief campaign update. He spoke about the campaign kick-off celebration on November 15 in New York City that was attended by 350 people - many of these were major donors to the campaign. We are at $121M – 60% of our goal. The Zankel gift was recognized that night as well. He indicated that everything that happens in the classroom here affects contributions to Skidmore in the future. He thanked his staff and everyone that contributed to this event and the campaign.
• Professor Mehmet Odekon, Co-chair of the VPAA Search Committee, stated that the VPAA search is progressing, and the committee will meet again early next week. Faculty members asked about possible additional candidates and about the opportunity for a community meeting. Professor Odekon encouraged everyone to go to the search website and review the credentials of the candidates and send their feedback to the committee (these forms are available on the website); the search committee will report back to the community later in the week.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS REPORT

Interim VPAA Susan Kress reported that at the last meeting she indicated we were in the process of identifying an Interim Dean of Special Programs. Subsequently, she announced that Jeff Segrave was willing to serve. VP Kress gave brief remarks about Jeff’s outstanding credentials. He has been a member of the College since 1978. Not only is he an outstanding teacher and an internationally known scholar of the Olympic Games, but he has also been a beloved tennis coach (whose teams have won countless championships), Director of Physical Education, Athletic Director, Acting Chair of Physical Education and Dance, and then Chair of the subsequently named Department of Exercise Science, Dance, and Athletics. He delivered the 1998 Moseley Lecture, and, in 2005 was appointed to the David H. Porter Chair. It’s this excellence in versatility, this impressive mix of skills, qualifications, achievements, and experiences that make him an exceptional choice for this position. He’s is presently in Singapore to offer the opening and closing remarks at an international symposium on the Olympic Games but VP Kress asked everyone to please congratulate him in absentia.

Interim VP Kress announced that in consultation with appropriate groups and individuals, she has decided to form a study group to look at the whole area of Special Programs and the articulation among its multiple parts. Given the transition in leadership, this seems an opportune moment to look carefully at Special Programs and consider the many implications of the shift in reporting structure—and to clarify some insistent questions before we set forth to hire a Dean next fall. Special Programs has a special place at Skidmore; more than a few would say Special Programs is what makes Skidmore special. In looking closely at Special Programs, its heritage and history, its strengths and possible challenges, and its intriguing new relation to Academic Affairs, this study group will be undertaking an exciting, and deeply important, institutional charge. She anticipates the group will be comprised of folks from Special programs, other administrators, and faculty members. She spoke to FEC yesterday about recruiting faculty members for this task and everyone will be hearing more shortly.

Interim VP Kress stated that we are in the first throes of the budget process and there will be updates soon. For the next Academic Staff meeting, she hopes to follow up on our first session on leadership with a session on planning.

She made the following announcements from Academic Affairs:

Cori Filson, Director of International Programs, received the Professional Development Award at the 56th Institute for the International Education of Students. The award is presented annually to the most dynamic professional in the study-abroad field who has shown great enthusiasm, commitment, and potential for future contribution and achievement.

Mark Woodworth has published Bee Thousand with Continuum Press, the story of the celebrated 1994 album by the alternative-rock group Guided By Voices.

Ngina Chiteji is co-editor of Wealth Accumulation and Communities of Color in the United States published in the Current Issues series by The University of Michigan Press.

The nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards were just announced from Hollywood. “The Illusionist” based on a story by Steven Millhauser, has been nominated for Best Screenplay.

DEAN OF THE FACULTY REPORT

Dean Muriel Poston gave the following announcements:

• She thanked Mark Hofmann and the Search Committee for the Sponsored Research Officer position for their hard work. Unfortunately, the search was not successful, and they were unable to recruit the kind of candidate that they would like for this position, so the search will be re-opened. She thanked Bob DiSieno for his work; he will retire this December.
• The search for the Director of Intercultural Studies is being conducted now. The closing date for applications was November 17, although applications will continue to be accepted until a qualified candidate is found.
• She thanked Steve Frey, Karen Kellogg, Mary Odekon and Mark Hofmann for their participation in the Project Kaleidoscope meeting recently. This group will be instrumental in helping to define our science agenda at Skidmore.
• She thanked chairs and directors for submitting their operating and capital budgets on time. She will consult with the DOF staff and forward their recommendations to Susan Kress shortly. She may be seeking additional advice on how to rank our academic priorities and how to best set the direction for the Academic Affairs budget for departments and programs.
• She acknowledged Ulla Mans, the STINT fellow. The STINT program is our opportunity to invite colleagues from the Swedish Universities to visit us for a semester. Ulla taught in our History department this past semester and is giving the Women’s Studies lecture on Monday at the Surrey.

REPORTS

Professor Adrienne Zuerner, Interim NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative, (Kate Berheide is on sabbatical this year) gave the following report on behalf of the Athletic Council:

The Faculty Athletic Representative is one of the four faculty members on Athletic Council, who, as stipulated by NCAA guidelines, hold the majority of voting seats. The principal role of the Faculty Athletic Representative is to ensure academic integrity of the intercollegiate athletics program and to assume an advisory and reporting role with respect to the academic preparation and performance of student-athletes. The President appoints the Faculty Athletic Representative upon the recommendation of Athletic Council and the approval of FEC.

Adrienne spoke about the successes of our fall teams:

• Volleyball qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament and finished with a 23-13 record.
• The men’s and women’s soccer and women’s field hockey teams qualified for Liberty League Tournaments. Men’s soccer set a program record for wins with a 15-5-1 overall record.
• The women’s tennis team and the golf team each finished second in their respective Liberty League Tournaments. The golfers will start the spring season ranked 11th nationally.
• Thirty-five fall athletes earned Liberty League All-Academic honors; students are eligible for All-Academic honors after three semesters of work at Skidmore and when their cumulative GPA is 3.3 or higher. Twenty-two students made Liberty League All-Star teams.
• Three athletes were selected All-Americans this fall:
  • Katie Weber, Field Hockey, a senior Art History and International Affairs major
  • Darryl Manzer, Volleyball, a senior Biology major
  • Lauren Dinsdale, Volleyball, first-year student, undeclared
  • Darryl Manzer was also selected for the ESPN Magazine College Division Academic All-America Third Team
• Our winter teams have started their season very well. Men’s hockey is off to a 4-0 start, its best since the 1994-95 season.
• Women’s basketball is 3-1, and the equestrian team has won its first three shows.
• Both hockey and women’s basketball won their home tournaments.
• This weekend, the men’s basketball team will host the Skidmore Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday; the hockey team will host Bowdoin on Friday and Colby on Saturday. The riding team will host a home show on Saturday. Men’s and women’s swimming and diving will travel to Rochester to compete in the Liberty League Championships.

She asked everyone to please join her in congratulating our fall student-athletes and their coaches and in wishing continued success to our winter teams.

OLD BUSINESS

CEPP – Beau Breslin – (See attachment)

Beau presented the CEPP amended motion on Tenure Track Lines in ID Programs as this was held over from the last Faculty meeting. The first sentence of the motion has been amended; otherwise there are no significant changes to the motion. Some faculty members raised concerns and questions:

• This proposal seems designed to address staffing issues that might be better addressed by shared appointments rather than 100% vested lines in ID programs.
• Interdisciplinary work should be rooted in disciplinary work; we would be better served by hiring in departments.
• This proposal may weaken departmental access to resources.
• This proposal suggests a paradigm shift about how we will do interdisciplinary work in the future.
• The reappointment, tenure and promotion process for faculty members in ID programs will be too complex; moreover, faculty members in ID programs may find themselves isolated and without mentors.

Other faculty members, supporting the motion, made the following points:

• ID programs cannot presently count on faculty commitment to teaching in the programs; students who choose to major in interdisciplinary programs do not receive the same level and quality of commitment from the institution as students in disciplinary majors.
• The job candidates we seek for ID programs often come with interdisciplinary training and are seeking ID positions not positions shared by one or more departments. Our peer institutions already have ID lines in place and they serve the programs and the institutions well. We need to develop these lines in order to stay competitive
• We need institutional flexibility in defining tenure lines in order to support our interdisciplinary programs. In Environmental Studies in particular, the program is supported in part by visiting faculty or adjunct help.

After a lengthy discussion the motion carried unanimously.

CAPT – John Berman

John presented the CAPT motions to amend Faculty Handbook language:

• Procedures for Tenure Track Lines in ID Programs and procedures for granting tenure. There was one change in the last paragraph of the major section on page two regarding promotion consideration; otherwise the motion is unchanged from the last meeting. This change sets up an ID Program Personnel Committee (PPC) within an interdisciplinary program to handle personnel matters when a program is given a 100% tenure track line. A discussion ensued and then a vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously. (See attachment)

Procedures for granting tenure (Part One, Article IX, section E, #6) and promotion (Part One, Article XI, section A, #1h) decisions was presented and passed unanimously. Language approved at the October faculty meeting was questioned by the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board; the committee was particularly concerned about the sentence that reads: “Finally, the President and the CAPT report their recommendations to the Board of Trustees.” This language implies that the Board would be receiving two parallel recommendations; the language is now clarified to make clear that the Board will receive only the President’s recommendation but will be informed as well of the CAPT’s recommendation. (See attachment)

NEW BUSINESS

FEC – Dan Curley – (See attachments)

Dan presented a motion on the Faculty Handbook Parts one through five (this will be voted on at the February meeting). Part Six is not ready but should be ready for the February faculty meeting to vote on in March. He will send an email to everyone with the web link for parts one through five for review in preparation for the February Faculty meeting vote. There was one housekeeping change to Part 1, Article X of the handbook also. He thanked Mary Ellen Kokoletsos for all the tracking changes and the work she has completed throughout the year.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• John Brueggemann introduced the “Skidmore Cares” program, created to express the partnership that Skidmore shares with Saratoga Springs in reaching out to our neighbors in need. In consultation withthe Saratoga Economic Opportunity Council, we decided to conduct a campus-wide food drive. Thegoal is to collect enough food to outfit EOC’s soup kitchen and pantry. There will be drop-off locations throughout the campus. The taskforce is comprised of faculty, staff and students.
• Kristie Ford and Joshua Woodfork, on behalf of the Black Faculty and Staff Group invited everyone to the film “What’s Race Got To Do With It” on Wednesday at 7:00pm in Gannett auditorium. They will facilitate a discussion afterwards about the race issues raised in the film and about how to address these issues at Skidmore.
• Michael Casey, VP of the Advancement Office, invited everyone to the community reception in the Surrey Inn.

The meeting adjourned at 5:00pm.

Respectfully submitted by 

Mary Ellen Kokoletsos
Executive Administrative Assistant
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs