Faculty Meeting Minutes

President Philip A. Glotzbach called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

President Glotzbach asked if there were any corrections to, or comments regarding, the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held April 24, 2015.  Hearing none, he announced the minutes were approved.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Glotzbach thanked everyone for all their work during the year – for our students, for colleagues, and for the College.  This has been a great year, although we did face some challenges.   One of the many good things that did happen this year was our collective performance in this year’s Admissions cycle.  Thereupon, President Glotzbach invited Mary Lou Bates, Dean of Admissions and Vice President for Admissions and Financial Aid, to provide an update on this year’s Admissions. 

Dean Bates reported that the class is now fully enrolled.  We had a smaller class target than last year, with a smaller financial aid budget.  Typically, our enrollment model projects 42 percent of an entering class on grant assistance.  Last year, our yield on students receiving grants jumped considerably, and the class came in with 47 percent of the students on grant assistance.  This was an additional $2 million in grant dollars that we have to see through the four years those students are here.  This year, we project 38 percent of the students with grant assistance, again with a smaller class target.  This year’s target was 655, including 38 students in London.  Right now, if summer melt is on target, we project about 25 over our target, coming in with 640 on campus and 37 in London.  This will be about 50 fewer students on campus than we had last year.

Dean Bates commented that a number of new initiatives were put in place this year.  One goal was to increase the yield on the students not receiving financial aid.  We met that goal; the yield on these candidates went up more than 2 percentage points. However, our yield on students receiving grant assistance, which jumped by about 6 percentage points last year, dropped this year.  But overall, we met our class target – and in fact, exceeded it – while coming in under budget on financial aid. Statistics for this year’s class include:

• The class is 38 percent male, 62 percent female.
• 22 percent of the entering students are domestic students of color, which is consistent with recent years. 
• Our yield on the Discovery program, which is aimed at underrepresented students, was 50 percent.  This is down a little from last year's yield of 55 percent.  
• A record 13 percent of the entering class comprises international students, coming from 32 different countries, with half coming from China. 
• 7 percent of the entering students are dual citizens. 
• We have 7 United World College students and will receive $10,000 in need-based grant assistance from the Davis Foundations for each of those 7 students.  
• It is projected that we will meet our goal of 40 Opportunity Program students. 
• We have 5 Filene scholars (our target was 4). 
• We have 4 Porter scholars (our target was 5).  
• Right now, we only have one s3M student enrolled.  The committee is planning to take a look at all the students who enrolled, identify some who might be s3M appropriate, and make some additional offers.  
• The median SAT is 1240, which is consistent with 3 of the last 4 years.  Last year, it was 1250.

Dean Bates closed by thanking everyone for all the assistance they provided in the admissions process.  Her office heard of the wonderful conversations that were had, and she expressed her appreciation to everyone for taking the time to attend their programs, noting that the faculty’s presence really does make a difference.  Summer melt will determine the exact number of our incoming class, but it seems clear it will be above our goal and promises to be another great class. 

President Glotzbach thanked Dean Bates and all the members of the Admissions and Financial Aid division who did such great work this year – under difficult conditions.  He also thanked everyone who participated in our Admissions effort this year in one way or another.

Since he issued a College update the week prior, President Glotzbach did not have much further to report. However, he did comment regarding student activism surrounding the civic unrest in Baltimore by a group called “Black Lives Matter.”  By speaking out on campus, those students prompted a series of exchanges – one assumes they were predominantly from other students – on YikYak that make it clear that our campus community is still struggling with the very same issues of racism and intolerance that are present in communities across the nation.  President Glotzbach believes we are better than those comments would suggest, but we still have a ways to go.  He further stated that those of us in this room, and especially members of the faculty, need to understand that such hostile posts, which are quite legitimately construed as personal attacks based on identity, make the students on the receiving end – in this case, predominantly African-American students – feel that the College is not the welcoming and inclusive place for them that we want it to be.  So they need our understanding and support.  He concluded by reporting that we will be working over the summer to design new programming aimed at bringing the experience of all our students – particularly students of color – closer to the ideals at the heart of Skidmore College.

Following his report, President Glotzbach opened the floor for questions.   A question was raised concerning the elimination of the Community Relations department.  President Glotzbach explained the rationale behind the elimination of the department.  An expression of appreciation to the staff of the Community Relations department was acknowledged and affirmed.

DEAN OF THE FACULTY AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS’ REPORT

Beau Breslin, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, expressed his gratitude to everyone for another great year.  Project VIS, MDOCS, and the Center for Leadership in Teaching and Learning are off to a fantastic start, we have made progress on the Middle States reaccreditation process, and we have completed all our tenure-track searches.   He further stated that it has been a great year in terms of workshops and the quality of instruction in the classroom, and his office is very happy with the progress made on a number of different fronts. 

Thereafter, DOF/VPAA Breslin shared a PowerPoint presentation on data recently reported by AAUP which compared salary data and overall compensation by faculty rank with our peer and aspirant institutions.  DOF/VPAA Breslin indicated that Skidmore has made progress in many areas, particularly with regard to assistant professors and reminded everyone that Skidmore has an equity model for salary, not a merit model, which means that salary cannot be adjusted based upon the quality of work.  When equity adjustments are made, those adjustments are made to groups based upon factors such as gender.  

CONFERRAL OF DEGREES AND HONORS

A.      Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees. Dave DeConno, Registrar, read the following resolutions 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 366 students of the Class of 2015 to be awarded on May 16, 2015.    

RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Bachelor of Science degree to 172 students of the Class of 2015 to be awarded on May 16, 2015.    

RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Bachelor of Arts degree to 42 students of the Class of 2015 upon satisfactory completion of the degree requirements by August 31, 2015.    

RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Bachelor of Science degree to 22 students of the Class of 2015 upon satisfactory completion of the degree requirements by August 31, 2015.

The total number of graduates of the Class of 2015 is 632 as follows: 30 for January completion, 538 for May completion and 64 for August completion.

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

 

B.         All-College and Departmental Honors. Corey Freeman-Gallant, Associate Dean of the Faculty for Academic Policy and Advising, read the following resolutions into the record (see attached):

RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College approve College Honors for members of the Class of 2015, as presented at the May 13, 2015, Faculty Meeting: 22 students for summa cum laude distinction; 76 students for magna cum laude distinction; and 77 students for cum laude distinction.  (Note: including January 2015 graduates, 182 of 632 students [28.8%] in the class of 2015 will receive College Honors). 

 RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College approve Departmental and Program Honors for 196 students from the Class of 2015, as presented at the May 15, 2015, Faculty Meeting.  (Note: including January 2015 graduates, 200 of 632 students [31.6%] in the class of 2015 will receive Departmental or Program Honors; 20 students will receive honors in two majors).

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

 

C.         Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Degrees. Ruth Copans, College Librarian, read the following resolution into the record (see attached):

            RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Master of Arts degree to seven students. 

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

 

OLD BUSINESS

On behalf of the Faculty Executive Committee (FEC), Professor Mehmet Odekon read the following Motion (see attached) that was introduced at the last Faculty Meeting held April 24, 2015:

MOTION: FEC proposes the sentence (in blue) be added to the function of the Faculty Executive Committee.

FACULTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (FEC) Elected

Function: To act as the primary conduit of information and ideas into and out of the Faculty concerning all-College issues and policies; to oversee faculty governance and faculty participation in all-College governance.

FEC fosters communication within the Faculty, via both reports to the Faculty Meeting and organization of other faculty discussion meetings and forums, about all-College issues and policies.  The chair of the FEC shall sit on the IPPC in order to strengthen communication between the two committees.  FEC, together with IPPC and SGA, is responsible for the proper constitution of all-College committees and subcommittees.

FEC is responsible for coordinating the faculty governance cycle.  FEC is responsible for ensuring the proper constitution of faculty committees:  it solicits nominations for, conducts elections for, and makes appointments to faculty and all-College committees; it provides advice and oversight of procedures regarding faculty appointments to search committees for senior administrative positions; and it maintains a list of all faculty members on all committees.  (FEC appoints an additional member to a committee if and when requested by the committee because of unusual workload.) In addition, FEC reviews operating codes of all faculty committees and maintains files of annual committee reports, and FEC is responsible for ensuring that the text of the Faculty Handbook appears and remains precisely as approved by the Faculty.

FEC convenes the Committee of Committees (comprising faculty members of FEC, IPPC, CAPT, CAFR, CEPP, Curriculum Committee, FDC, and any current ad hoc committees whose presence FEC believes would be helpful to the Committee) at least twice a year to assess the interactions among member committees and between them and the administration, and to discuss ongoing issues and any problems in committee operations. FEC is then required to inform the Faculty at large of the issues raised by the Committee of Committees.

Finally, FEC posts Board of Trustee Meeting minutes on its web page. (In addition, CAPT, CAFR, and the Chair of CEPP meet annually with the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees.)

Membership: Four members of the Faculty elected to serve three year terms.

There was no discussion, and the Motion was voted on and passed by majority vote.

 

On behalf of the FEC, Professor Mehmet Odekon read the following Motion (see attached) that was introduced at the last Faculty Meeting held April 24, 2015:

MOTION: FEC proposes the following changes to the membership of the Faculty Advisory Board (off in red, on in blue):

FACULTY ADVISORY BOARD (FAB) Appointed

Function:  To provide a pool of  faculty peers to staff an Advisory Panel (AP, see below), which is convened in the formal investigation of a discrimination or harassment charge made against a member of the faculty; or to staff a Grievance Panel (GP, see below), which is convened when a member of the Faculty appeals disciplinary sanctions, based upon charges of professional incompetence, neglect of duties, professional misconduct, or personal misconduct or when the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Personnel, Development, and Diversity believes dismissal of a member of the Faculty is warranted, based upon charges of professional incompetence, neglect of duties, professional misconduct, or personal misconduct;  to provide faculty to hearings related to sexual and gender-based misconduct; if and when needed, to provide three members to serve on the Administrative Hearing Board and one member to serve as Faculty representative in cases of academic integrity violations.

Membership: [Eight] Five members of the faculty, at least [six] three of whom must be tenured and two of whom may be untenured at the time of appointment, serving overlapping three-year terms.  These members will be appointed by the FEC in consultation with the Dean of Faculty/Vice President for Academic Affairs, and trained by Human Resources in matters of discrimination, harassment, and disciplinary proceedings. FAB members will have additional training on sexual and gender-based misconduct by the Dean of Student Affairs Office. Appointments will be based on an initial willingness-to-serve pool, the vote of the faculty, and, when necessary, the need for appointing a representative FAB.  Members of the FAB may not serve concurrently on the CAFR, the CAPT or the TRB.  The FAB will select its chair from its membership. 

There was no discussion, and the Motion was voted on and passed by majority vote.

 

On behalf of the FEC, Professor Mehmet Odekon read the following Motion (see attached) that was introduced at the last Faculty Meeting held April 24, 2015:

MOTION: FEC proposes to eliminate Part Three, Section II (Integrity Board) from the Faculty Handbook and sequence the remaining sections in Part Three accordingly. 

There was no discussion, and the Motion was voted on and passed by majority vote.

 

President Glotzbach thanked FEC for all their work this year.   Thereupon, President Glotzbach recognized Professor Kim Frederick who made a motion, which was seconded and passed by majority vote, to bring back the CAPT motion that was tabled at the last faculty meeting (see attached):

MOTION:  The Committee on Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure (CAPT) proposes the following changes (remove in red and insert in blue) to the “Procedures for Granting Tenure” (Part I, Article VIII, Section E, Number 5, i.) and "Procedures for Granting Promotion" (Part I, Article VIII, Section F, Number 2, a, xiii.)

Current language: “Procedures for Granting Tenure” (Part I, Article VIII, Section E, Number 5, i.)

i. Candidates for tenure (successful or unsuccessful) shall have access to all written materials in the tenure file immediately after the Dean of the Faculty/Vice President for Academic Affairs has made his/her recommendation known to the candidate. These materials may not be photocopied.

Proposed language:

i. Candidates not recommended for tenure shall have access to all written materials in the tenure file immediately after the Dean of the Faculty/Vice President for Academic Affairs has made the recommendation known to the candidate. These materials may only be reproduced by hand written notes. 

ii. Candidates recommended for tenure shall have access to written materials in the tenure file immediately after the Dean of the Faculty/Vice President for Academic Affairs has made the recommendation known to the candidate, with the exception of solicited letters of evaluation written by department colleagues, colleagues internal to the college, or colleagues external to the college, which shall remain confidential.  These materials may only be reproduced by hand written notes.

AND

Current language: "Procedures for Granting Promotion" (Part I, Article VIII, Section F, Number 2, a, xiii.)

xiii. Candidates for promotion (successful or unsuccessful) shall have access to all written materials in the promotion file immediately after the Dean of the Faculty/Vice President for Academic Affairs has made his/her recommendation known to the candidate, with the exception of external letters of evaluation, which shall remain confidential. These materials may not be photocopied.

Proposed language:

xiii. Candidates (recommended or not recommended) for promotion shall have access to written materials in the promotion file immediately after the Dean of the Faculty/Vice President for Academic Affairs has made the recommendation known to the candidate, with the exception of solicited letters of evaluation written by department colleagues, colleagues internal to the college, and colleagues external to the college, which shall remain confidential. These materials may only be reproduced by hand written notes.   Thereafter, on behalf of CAPT, Associate Professor Kyle Nichols provided the background for the Motion, and Professor Frederick explained her reason for wanting to bring the Motion back to the floor.  Discussion ensued regarding the wording CAPT chose to use in its motion regarding access to written materials, with many faculty members expressing the importance for quality letters written by colleagues, the need for confidentiality and transparency, concerns for retribution against junior faculty members, and why candidates for tenure and/or promotion should or should not have access to letters written about them.  During discussion, a Motion was made and seconded to divide the motion to vote separately on the questions of tenure and promotion.  The motion to separate the motion was voted on and defeated.  Following discussion, the Motion was voted on and passed by majority vote.

NEW BUSINESS

On behalf of the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee and the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning, Associate Professor William Lewis read the following Resolution regarding Skidmore Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program (see attached):

Resolution:  Whereas, since its inception in June 1991, the Skidmore Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program has provided access to graduate studies for many working adults, modeling an inclusive, diverse, creative, flexible, liberal arts-based education for non-traditional students, and has fostered unique interdisciplinary collaborations and innovative learning opportunities for Faculty and students, thus furthering the mission of the College by promoting the transformative power of liberal learning;

Whereas, those persons who have served as directors, administrators, program assistants, advisors, instructors, and students in the program have made distinct contributions to the vitality, diversity, and intellectual life of the College over the last twenty four years;

Be it resolved that the Skidmore Faculty wishes to record its appreciation for this noble educational endeavor and its thanks for your participation in this innovative academic program.

Directors:
Lawrence Ries, 1992-1999
David Glaser, 1999-2002
Daniel Coleman, 2002-2005
Erica Bastress-Dukehart, 2005-2006
John Anzalone, 2006-2009
Michael Mudrovic, 2009-2013
Jacqueline Scoones, 2013-present

Associate Director:
Sandra Welter, 1995- present

Assistant to the Director:
Laurie Stanley, 1992-2009

Program Assistants:
Sue King, 1995-1999
Michelle Paquette, 1999-2009
Ellen Eldredge, 2009 - present

There being no discussion held, the assembly signaled their acclimation by applause.

REPORTS

Faculty Executive Committee

On behalf of FEC, Professor Mehmet Odekon reported that the Committee of Committees met and reports that working relations between committees and among committees and the administration are good.

Committee on Educational Policies and Planning

On behalf of CEPP, Associate Professor William Lewis provided an update on the progress of the general education reform (see attached).  President Glotzbach thanked CEPP for all their good work this year.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Paul Calhoun, Dean of Special Programs, thanked everyone for their enthusiastic support of the MALS Resolution and provided an update on the closure of the MALS program.  Thereafter, he announced the lineup of events for this year’s summer session.  Details for the events can be found on the website. 
• On behalf of he and Marie, President Glotzbach invited everyone to attend the annual Commencement reception to be held at Scribner House on Friday, May 15, 2015.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:43 a.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,