FACULTY MEETING

December 3, 2010
Gannett Auditorium

Minutes

Acting President Susan Kress called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Acting President Kress asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held November 5, 2010.  Hearing none, she announced the minutes were approved.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Acting President Kress welcomed everyone and reminded them about the upcoming Holiday Open House to be held at the Surrey Williamson Inn on December 12, 2010 from 1:30-5:30 p.m.  She said that she and her husband, Jack, would carry on the tradition of the Skidmore Cares program as established by Phil and Marie Glotzbach.  Special thanks was extended to Gordon Thompson and members of his First-Year Seminar for organizing the 10^th Annual Beatlemore Skidmania.  The proceeds of the event were donated to Skidmore Cares.

ROCHELLE CALHOUN, Dean of Student Affairs, gave an update of recent athletics highlights. The women’s field hockey team finished with a 20-2 overall record, they won the Liberty League Championship, the staff was named the Liberty League Staff-of-the-Year, and Christine Kemp was named Player-of-the-Year for the third consecutive year.  The team also made it to the Final Four, but fell to Bowdoin who went on to win the title.  Christine Kemp, Claire Superak, and Liz Cantenella were named All-Americans.  For the fall, Skidmore’s women’s tennis team ranked 19^th in the country and earned four New York State titles.  They will resume play in the spring.  The men’s tennis team hosted the ITA Regional Championships.  Spencer Chang and Jimmi Sherpa won the regional championship and finished fifth in the USTA National Championship earning them both All-American status.  The team will resume play in the spring.  Skidmore’s men’s swimming team beat Vassar for the first time in Skidmore history.  Men’s basketball team brought national attention to Skidmore when they beat Southern Vermont in seven overtimes.  The game set a record for the longest game in Division III, and tied a record for the longest game in NCAA history.

MIKE WEST, Vice President of Finance and Administration, introduced Riley Neugebauer, Skidmore’s new Sustainability Coordinator.  He also thanked members of the sustainability coordinator search committee for their service.

PETE STAKE, Chair of the Faculty Development Committee, announced Terry Diggory as the recipient of the 2011 Distinguished Faculty Service Award.

Acting President Kress announced that since Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs Muriel Poston could not be at today’s meeting, Acting Dean of the Faculty Paty Rubio will give the Vice President for Academic Affairs report.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS’REPORT

Acting Dean of the Faculty Paty Rubio recognized faculty members who will retire at the end of December:  David Atkatz, Associate Professor, Department of Physics; Betty Balevic, Associate Professor, Department of Management and Business; Karen Brackett, Lecturer and Director of the Early Childhood Center, Department of Education Studies; Regis Brodie, Professor, Department of Art; Tom Denny, Professor and Department Chair, Department of Music; Terry Diggory, Professor, Department of English; Charles Joseph, Professor, Department of Music; and Joyce Rubin, Lecturer, Department of Education Studies.  Collectively, these faculty members have served 233 years, covered 1,643 sections, and taught 15,803 students.  Individual retirement tributes for the above faculty members will be held in May.  Kathy Carter, Assistant Director for Benefits and Labor Relations, who will also retire at the end of December, was also recognized.

BEAU BRESLIN, Director, First-Year Experience and Assistant Dean of the Faculty, announced Erica Bastress-Dukehart as the new Network Facilitator.  He also expressed his vision for future faculty development, the purpose of which is to enrich the lives of faculty by providing time and space for faculty to do the necessary work they do and to provide resources to improve pedagogy, scholarship, and service.  He also encouraged faculty members to share with Erica ideas and suggestions for faculty development.

Acting President Susan Kress recognized Ann Henderson, Registrar and Director of Institutional Research, for her retirement at the end of December after twenty years of service at Skidmore. 

As a tribute to all of the winter retirees, Acting President Susan Kress introduced the Dynamics who performed several sets.  Winter faculty retirees will be formally recognized at the May faculty meeting.

ANN HENDERSON, Registrar and Director of Institutional Research, presented the first set of Skidmore College January graduates.

CONFERRAL OF DEGREES AND HONORS

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees. Ann Henderson, Registrar and Director of Institutional Research, read the following resolution into the record (see attached):

RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Bachelor of Arts degree to 16 students of the Class of 2011 upon satisfactory completion of the degree requirements by January 31, 2011.

There was no discussion, and the Resolution was voted on and passed with all in favor.

College Honors and Departmental and Program Honors.  Beau Breslin, Director of the First-Year Experience Program, read the following resolution into the record (see attached):

RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College approve College Honors for the following members of the Class of 2011, as presented at the Dec 3, 2010, Faculty Meeting: 6 students for cum laude distinction; 3 students for magna cum laude distinction; and 4 students for summa cum laude distinction.

There was no discussion, and the Resolution was voted on and passed with all in favor.

OLD BUSINESS

CURRICULUM COMMITTEE:

Associate Professor Lisa Aronson, on behalf of the Curriculum Committee, read the following Motion previously introduced at the November 5, 2010 faculty meeting (see attached):

MOTION:  The Curriculum Committee moves to eliminate the Sociology-Anthropology interdepartmental major.  Rationale: Students are better served by choosing either Sociology or Anthropology as a major and selecting the other field as a minor or majoring in both departments.

There was no discussion, and the motion was voted on and passed with all in favor. 

FACULTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

Professor Reg Lilly, on behalf of the Faculty Executive Committee , read the following Motion previously introduced at the November 5, 2010 faculty meeting (see attached):

MOTION:  The Faculty Executive Committee moves to insert language in the Faculty Handbook to help clarify the division of disciplines.

The Motion was discussed.  Professor Lilly explained that only departments and programs with faculty lines are included in the list of disciplines.  It is the Faculty Executive Committee’s goal to establish a starting point from which an official list of disciplines can be revised in the future.  As of now, there is no official list of disciplines; in fact, there are currently two lists of disciplines; the long-standing list established years ago and a newer list established by the Dean of Faculty’s Office for administrative use. The newer list does not contain faculty in Scribner Library. The existence of two lists creates confusion when determining which faculty can elected or appointed to governance positions.    A question was raised as to the comparison of discipline population numbers between the lists:

DISCIPLINE	OLDER LIST	NEWER LIST
Humanities	65	77
Pre-Professional	82	33
Natural Sciences	55	49
Social Sciences	48	64

It was noted that the newer list does not include all FEC-eligible faculty and is more imbalanced with regard to population of discipline groups than the older list. 

It was noted that the Arts Administration program needs to be added to the Pre-Professional discipline since it now has a faculty line.  A suggestion was made to move Health and Exercise Sciences into the Natural Sciences discipline at this time rather than wait to amend the list in the future.

MOTION:  Jordanna Dym made a motion to make a friendly amendment to the older list at this time to remove Health and Exercise Sciences from the Pre-Professional discipline and move it to the Natural Sciences discipline.  The motion was seconded.  Discussion ensued:

It was asked why the older list shouldn’t be reviewed and revised before adoption to the Faculty Handbook.  Professor Lilly stated that there may not be anything wrong with the older list as it stands; however, the establishment of an official list would be a starting point from which to move forward in the future.  It was noted that the list will need periodic revisions in the future, for example, if a program were to acquire a faculty line.  A question was raised as to how the current four categories were established.  The older list and its categories was established from discussions with faculty in the past.

A question was raised whether moving Health and Exercise Sciences would affect the populations of the Pre-Professional and the Natural Science disciplines:

DISCIPLINE	OLDER LIST	NEWER LIST
Humanities	65	77
Pre-Professional	77	33
Natural Sciences	57	49
Social Sciences	48	64

The question was called.  The result of a vote by voice was inconclusive; therefore, the vote was determined by showing of hands.  The above motion for a friendly amendment was voted on and passed by majority. 

A question was raised as to why the list could not be placed in the Faculty Executive Committee’s Operating Coderather than in the Faculty Handbook.  Professor Lilly stated that the list is not for the FEC’s determination, and, in addition, other institutions have their lists of disciplines in their faculty handbooks.

A question was raised as to why Anthropology and Sociology are not listed separately as are Philosophy and Religion.  Professor Lilly reminded everyone that the FEC did not establish the list; the older list is the original list.  The FEC could bring forward an entirely new list; however, there is no official list from which to start.

The question was called.  The motion was voted on and passed by majority.  The Faculty Executive Committee will place the older list/table with the Health and Exercise Science amendment in the next issue of the Faculty Handbook. 

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATIONAL POLICIES AND PLANNING:

Associate Professor Bob Turner, on behalf of the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning, read the attached Motion previously introduced at the November 5, 2010 faculty meeting (see attached):

MOTION:  Transfer credit policies for online coursework completed at other accredited institutions.

The Motion was discussed.  A concern was raised regarding the policy for counting required lab credit/contact hours.  It was explained that the Registrar’s Office evaluates and compares courses to those at Skidmore; the department chair is then required to evaluate the course before the credit/contact hours are approved within that discipline.  The Registrar’s Office does check with institutions with regard to actual onsite lab hours.  A concern was raised that accepting online courses is not in keeping with Skidmore’s mission as a small liberal arts institution that values face-to-face instruction and close interaction among faculty and students in classes.  But the point was made in return that  if Skidmore College does not accept online course credits, this may significantly reduce the diversity and size of the pool of students applying to Skidmore.  It was stated that transfer credits are rarely equivalent to Skidmore courses, but that students must demonstrate adequate qualifications to become transfer students by evaluation of previous courses taken; the acceptance of online course credits should be considered by the same policy.

It was noted that some institutions do not indicate in transcripts whether a course was conducted online or on site.  It was explained that if a course is taken in summer session and the transcript does not indicate whether the course was provided online or on site, the Registrar’s Office does indeed check.  If the course is provided online, in that instance the course is not counted.  A question was raised as to the maximum number of credit hours a student can transfer; up to 60 credit hours can be transferred.

The question was called.  The result of a vote by voice was inconclusive; therefore, the vote was determined by showing and counting of hands.  The above motion was voted on and passed by majority (55 Ayes; 18 Nays).

NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business.

REPORTS

There were no reports.

OTHER

Acting President Susan Kress recognized the December retirement of Debbie Meyers, Director of the University Without Walls, who served at Skidmore for more than 30 years.

President’s Cabinet Q&A:  There were no questions for members of President’s Cabinet.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Barbara Norelli, Dayton Social Sciences and Instructional Services Associate Librarian, announced the event, Five Minutes of Fame: A Showcase of Faculty Research, Pedagogy, and Adventures in Technology, a lightning round of presentations, to be held Wednesday, January 19, 2011 from 10:30-12:00 in Library Room 212 and Library Room 213 with lunch to follow.  The event is being hosted by the Dean of Faculty’s Office; Pushi Prasad, Zankel Chair and Skidmore Research Colloquium Coordinator; Academic Technologies; and the Lucy Scribner Library.
• Mary Lou Bates, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid recognized the December retirement of Bob Shorb, Special Assistant, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid and the Executive Director of the Student Exchange Program, after 20 years at Skidmore College.
• Mary Lou Bates, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid invited everyone to the Faculty Meeting Reception at Murray-Aikins Dining Hall, second floor.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,