FACULTY MEETING

April 27, 2007
Gannett Auditorium

MINUTES

President Philip A. Glotzbach called the meeting to order at 3:35 pm. President Glotzbach asked if there were any amendments to the March 30, 2007 Faculty Meeting minutes. Hearing none, he announced that the minutes were approved.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

The President’s report included the following:

• He spoke briefly about the Virginia Tech situation and how this has affected everyone in the higher education community. He asked for a moment of silence in remembrance of those that died during this tragic event.
• He also mentioned the national news reports regarding NYS Attorney General Cuomo’s investigation into practices in admissions and financial aid offices dealing with student loans. He expressed his confidence in the ethical standards of our financial aid office and his confidence that Skidmore has no conflict of interest issues. We do have an opportunity fund that was provided to us by Citicorp, one of our preferred lenders; the fund is used for our international students. He made clear that Citicorp did not receive any special consideration from the College in exchange for this fund – i.e. Citigroup did not establish the fund in exchange for being listed as one of the College’s preferred lenders.
• He asked Penny Jolly to give a brief update on the Campus Campaign. Contributions may be made on line or by completing forms made available today. She encouraged everyone to participate in the campaign.
• He thanked the FDC for working with students to select this year’s faculty speaker at commencement: Professor Linda Hall from the English department.
• He announced the recipients of the four endowed chairs and gave a brief description of each chair.
  • The Kenan Professor of Liberal Arts Chair: Professor Carolyn Anderson
  • The Joseph C. Palamountain Chair in Government: Roy Ginsberg
  • The Class of 1962 Term Professorship: Professor Ray Giguere
  • The Class of 1967 Term Professorship: Professor Paty Rubio

The faculty congratulated those appointed to the endowed chairs.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS REPORT

Vice President Susan Kress thanked the two previous holders of the endowed chairs for their distinguished service– the Kenan Professor of Liberal Arts Chair is Penny Jolly and the Joseph C. Palamountain Chair is Steve Hoffmann. She called on Muriel Poston to give a report

DEAN OF THE FACULTY REPORT

Dean Muriel Poston gave the following report:

• She thanked everyone for their hard work on the academic programs. The academic excellence that faculty model is central to all that we do and value at the College.
• The adoption of the interdisciplinary tenure-track line appointment was the work of CEPP, CAPT and the faculty—and that has allowed us to move forward with the necessary support for our interdisciplinary programs.
• There were eleven tenure-track searches this academic year and nine have been concluded successfully. These nine appointments are in Anthropology, Biology, Education, Environmental Studies, English, Foreign Language and Literatures, Management and Business, Math and Computer Science and Psychology. Seven of our new colleagues next year are women, and one is a member of an under- represented group. Five of the departments were able to recruit their top candidate, which indicates that we are holding our own in a very competitive market. She thanked the departments that went through a search this year, especially in light of the time and effort involved in these searches.
• She introduced Loretta Greenholz, the new Academic Safety Officer. Loretta is housed in the Chemistry department but she also interacts with any department that is handling hazardous materials. She will help us meet the regulatory and compliance standards for materials management.
• There were two additional searches supported by the DOF office:
  • Sponsored Research Officer – we anticipate having Bill Tomlinson join the College on August 1st. She thanked Mark Hofmann, who led the search committee and the faculty and staff colleagues serving on that committee.
  • Director of Intercultural Studies – an offer has been made, but we are still negotiating with the candidate. She thanked Paty Rubio who co-chaired this committee and the participating faculty and staff members.
• Four external reviews were completed this year: History, Social Work, Geosciences. and Foreign Languages and Literatures. In the last two years we have reviewed 30% of the 22 departments and nearly 50% of the ID programs. These external reviews are enormously helpful, particularly in the context of the Strategic Plan.
• She acknowledged and thanked those department chairs and program directors completing their terms this year:
  • The Program Directors are Joel Smith, Asian Studies; Mary-Elizabeth O’Brien, International Affairs; Bernie Possidente, Neuroscience; Adrienne Zuerner, Women’s Studies; Phil Boshoff, Honors Forum; and Michael Arnush, First-Year Experience.
  • Department Chairs are Leslie Mechem, Classics; Denise Smith, Exercise Science; and Beau Breslin, Government.
• The work of the Faculty Development Committee (FDC) has changed the way in which student faculty research is supported and acknowledged. We will have 40 students participating in undergraduate research; it is no longer called collaborative research. She thanked the FDC for their effort in changing the guidelines – these are broader and provide greater flexibility in accommodating the wide array of disciplines involved in undergraduate research.
• She thanked the Science Planning group and their sub-committees—both the Science Admissions Task Force and those working to articulate a vision of the sciences as we move forward. Respectively, they have helped to increase the number of science majors and to determine a way in which we can plan strategically for sciences in the future.
• We have an opportunity to pilot a Domestic Student Exchange program that will enable students to attend campuses within the U.S. Deb Hall will be bringing that recommendation from CEPP later in this meeting.
• She expressed appreciation for the work of the Dean of Studies office in developing ways to support our students through academic awards and scholarships. She also thanked Matt Hockenos for working with the two Fulbright scholars that were recognized this year.

VP Kress thanked Dean Poston and Associate Dean Hofmann for their hard work in moving all of these initiatives forward this year.

VP Kress asked Kate Leavitt, on behalf of FDC to announce the 2007-08 Ralph Ciancio Award for Excellence in Teaching: this year’s prize was awarded to Giuseppe Faustini.

VP Kress, on behalf of Jeff Segrave of Special Programs who could not be present, thanked Ken Klotz (soon retiring) for his long and dedicated service to UWW. The faculty congratulated interim director Jim Kennelly—and Christopher Whann, who will step in as director for the period between Ken’s retirement and Jim’s taking up of the office.

Retirements:

CAPT – The retirement resolution concerning nine faculty members was read by John Berman, Chair of CAPT (See Attachment).

• Isabel Harper Brown, Department of Dance
• Paul Corr, Department of Management & Business
• Joan Douglas, Department of Psychology
• Gerry Erchak, Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work
• Ruth Andrea Levinson, Department of Education
• Murray Levith, Department of English
• Jill Sweet, Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work
• Margaret (Peg) Tacardon, Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work
• Joanna Zangrando, Department of American Studies

VP Kress asked the assembly to signal their acclimation by applause.

Recognition of Retirees: Citations for each of the retirees were printed in booklets distributed at the faculty meeting. VP Kress commented that the retirement of these colleagues represents a huge loss to the College and to our institutional memory. Collectively, they represent almost three centuries of service to the College. Each of them has made outstanding contributions. Toasts will follow at the reception. Each department chair or another colleague spoke on behalf of each retiree as follows:

Retiree:	Tribute:
Isabel (Baya) Harper Brown	Mary DiSanto-Rose
Paul Corr	Betty Balevic
Joan Douglas	Mary Ann Foley
Gerry Erchak	David Karp
Ruth Andrea Levinson	Susan Lehr
Murray Levith	Linda Simon
Jill Sweet	David Karp
Margaret (Peg) Tacardon	David Karp
Joanna Zangrando	Mary Lynn

President Glotzbach congratulated the retirees on their service to the institution. He commented that junior colleagues in particular should pay attention to what was said about these colleagues today. They have left a rich legacy as teachers, as scholars, as researchers, and as citizens.

OLD BUSINESS

CEPP Motion – Dan Nathan introduced the motion on Proportional Tenure Track Lines (See attachment). One or two faculty raised concerns about recruitment and about the possible loss of lines to departments. CEPP accepted as a friendly amendment a change in the wording of the title in section C from “shared” to “apportioned.” A vote was taken and all but two faculty members voted in favor.

CAPT Motions – John Berman, CAPT Chair:

• Proportional Tenure Track Lines: This motion was presented on the evaluation procedures that had been introduced at the March 30 meeting. He noted the change from “shared” to “apportioned.” The motion now contains language concerning the second year letter required for reappointment (Section VIII, Reappointment on page 2, #1). The President opened the floor for discussion about this and after a few comments, all voted in favor. (See attachment)
• Fractional Lines – this motion was presented as introduced at the March 30 meeting and all voted in favor. (See attachment)

NEW BUSINESS

• SGA – Jonathan Brestoff – read the motion, approved by the students, on Double-sided Printing resolution. (See attachment)
• CEC – Sue Van Hook –introduced the “Double-sided Printing” resolution. She indicated that the CEC is requesting that the College community adopt this resolution. The President asked that this lay over for a vote at the next Faculty meeting. (See attachment)

REPORT

CEPP - Deb Hall spoke briefly about the National Student Exchange pilot program. Handouts were distributed. (See attachment)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Philip Boshoff announced the upcoming Academic Festival on May 2 and encouraged everyone to attend and support the students.
• Christopher Whann announced that the UWW Summer Workshop will be held on June 4-8.
• Sue Van Hook encouraged faculty to join the “Friends of the North Woods.”
• President Glotzbach announced the Retirement Celebration following the faculty meeting—to be held in Murray-Aikins Dining Hall, Upstairs Banquet Room, sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30pm. 

Respectfully submitted,

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