Faculty Meeting Minutes
May 18, 2016
Gannett Auditorium
MINUTES
President Philip A. Glotzbach called the meeting to order at 10:01 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 29, 2016. Hearing none, he announced the minutes were approved.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President Glotzbach announced that the search for a new Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs has been completed. Dr. Cerri A. Banks will be joining Skidmore on August 1 as our new Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs. She currently serves as Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College at Mount Holyoke College. Dr. Banks brings an extraordinary level of experience in the increasingly complex world of student affairs and is uniquely qualified to lead a division that oversees every facet of our students’ lives outside of the classroom. Her background and insights will be invaluable in the President’s Cabinet and across our campus. President Glotzbach thanked Gail Cummings-Danson for her extraordinary service stepping up to the interim role of Dean of Student Affairs, while also maintaining her duties as Director of Athletics. During this past year, Gail has helped us deal with a number of daunting challenges, and she has done so with intelligence, wisdom, and grace. President Glotzbach also expressed his deepest gratitude to the members of the search committee – Mary Lou Bates, Gail Cummings-Danson, Corey Freeman-Gallant, David Howson, Terri Mariani, Tashawn Reagon ’16, Natalie Taylor (vice chair), Charles Tetelman ’16, and Joshua Woodfork (chair) – and to the many students, faculty members, and staff members who interacted with the finalists and participated in the search process. Search partners, Storbeck/Pimental & Associates, ably assisted as well.
Thereafter, Mary Lou Bates, Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, provided an update on the Class of 2020. VP Bates indicated that our class target range is 655 to 700. If the summer melt is on-target, we expect to open with about 715 total students, both on campus and in London (680 on campus and 36 in London). These totals are 28 more than last year but 13 less than two years ago. A record 49 percent of the class applied and enrolled early decision, and our spring yield increased by 1.2 percent. Right now, we project being over on financial aid by about $300,000, or 2.7 percent, if summer melt is typical as well, but that overage is more than covered by the over-enrollment funds. Statistics of the class include:
- 42 percent of the class is male, compared to 37 percent last year.
- 23 percent of the class are domestic students of color, compared to 22 percent last year.
- 11 percent of the class are international students, compared to 13 percent last year; however, this year’s international students are spread over more counties (81 international students from 58 different countries compared to 99 students from 46 different countries last year).
- The international students include 15 United World College students. We receive support from the Davis Foundation, and we hope that this incoming class will put us in a good position in one more year to get back to the 40 Davis Scholars on campus that will give us $20,000 in need-based aid for the cohort that brings us to 40.
- 40 Opportunity students enrolled, which is right at our target and includes 25 HEOP students and 15 AOP students, including 4 Kettering Scholars from Ohio.
- 9 Porter scholars, for which our target was 5-7.
- 4 Filene scholars, for which our target was 4.
- 9 S3M scholars, for which our target was 6-8.
- The median SAT is the same as last year, 1240.
Following VP Bates’ report, Debra Townsend, Interim Vice President for Communications and Marketing, thanked the 84 faculty members who have signed up to be part of the Skidmore Faculty Experts Guide. We are trying to go online to make the expertise of our faculty available to the media. Right now, the 84 faculty are listed by name, but over the summer the list will be updated and categorized by expertise. VP Townsend encouraged anyone who has not signed up but wants to participate to sign up at https://www.skidmore.edu/news/faculty-experts/login.php. VP Townsend also announced there will be another opportunity in the fall for those who have not yet had a chance to have their professional photos taken. Lastly, VP Townsend announced that, beginning in early June, we will be embarking on a website refresh. We will be bringing in four national companies to talk to us about taking the website to the next level, making it even more creative and accessible than it is today. This is going to be a huge undertaking for us over the next 6-8 months, and we will be asking the faculty for lots of input and direction. We will be pushing over the next couple of years to create an extranet for public audiences and an intranet, or portal, where we can store some of the internal documentation that is not of interest to the public.
Following VP Townsend’s report, President Glotzbach introduced Scott McGraw as the incoming chair of the Board of Trustees. A welcoming round of applause was given to Mr. McGraw.
Thereupon, President Glotzbach opened the floor for questions. A question was raised concerning college climate issues, particularly those that surfaced earlier in the fall relating to diversity tensions in the college, and specifically what the administration is doing to address this issue, especially in light of the fact that several faculty of color are leaving the College this year. President Glotzbach stated this is an important issue that we need to come back to; he noted that in the fall he asked departments to engage in conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion. While we have lost some faculty of color, we have roughly the same number coming in next year. President Glotzbach believes that departments and programs should continue to hold conversations and that, at some point, we should come back to the faculty as a whole for further discussion. He indicated that he would welcome ideas from members of this group on how best we can do that. We need to continue to engage in these discussions, and he thanked the faculty member for raising this issue again.
VP Woodfork also commented that this is one of the topics that will be discussed in the upcoming President’s Cabinet retreat and reminded everyone that we need to be mindful to recruit people who look different than ourselves. We need to partner on this and think about how we can collectively continue to change the campus climate to be more welcoming. We now need to work on overcoming some structural barriers to help us on this, to create concrete opportunities for people to have more training, to be open to more workshops, and to continue to think about how we can partner on our hiring searches as well.
President Glotzbach stated that there are certainly questions that are institution-wide; we are trying to find ways to address those and are always open to suggestions, ideas, thoughts, criticism, etc. But, he reminded everyone that we live in our departments, we live in our micro-communities, and it is enormously important that in those smaller groups where we live and work – particularly as members of faculty but for departments and different offices across campus as well – that we do the work that is needed to ask how those groups are functioning. He encouraged people, again within their departmental contexts, to have those conversations. The administration is thinking of some ways to engage the broader community in conversations around values next fall and are very open to ideas.
In concluding his report, President Glotzbach read part of a letter that he received from a parent of a graduating senior. Though the letter was addressed to him, he knows that the remarks made in the letter are really about the faculty and staff who support our students in having such amazing experiences at Skidmore. He stated that versions of his letter could be multiplied many times over, and that we succeed as a College, not because of what he does but because of what the faculty do on a daily basis, because our professors express our basic commitment to the principles of liberal education and to the belief that we are here, first of all, to support the education of our students. President Glotzbach expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation for all that everyone does to make Skidmore a place of which each of us can be justifiably proud.
Beau Breslin, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, thanked
the faculty for doing, as always, extraordinary work in the classroom, in the labs,
and in the studios, and doing research with students and on their own. He also thanked
department chairs and program directors for all their hard work as well as all the
committee chairs. He also thanked the faculty that are here on terminal contracts
who do extraordinary work with our students and who are leaving this year. A standing
ovation was given to these faculty members. Lastly, he thanked all our first year
faculty, both tenure-line and non-tenure, for successfully navigating a tricky environment.
Responding to the issue raised during President Glotzbach’s report, DOF/VPAA Breslin
stated that the issue of diversifying the faculty and staff or bringing diverse perspectives
into the classroom and into our staff is arguably the thing that his office and the
VPAA senior staff spend the most amount of time thinking and talking about. On one
hand, we spend enormous amounts of time thinking and talking about and doing some
things; on the other hand, it is the most elusive problem we have. We can easily do
some things in the DOF office, but figuring out responses to everything from climate
issues, to diversifying faculty and staff, to teaching in multicultural classrooms,
is the most illusive. This is one of the topics that we will explore with the leadership
in academic affairs and that the COACHE collaborators will be working on. The VPAA
senior staff has not only done a good job of hiring folks who are advancing Goal 2
of the Strategic Plan but are also thinking about different ways of programming to
relate to this. What remains hidden are those members of the faculty and staff who
have thought about leaving but have decided to stay. We do retain people and the
loss of any individual at Skidmore, regardless of whether they advance Goal 2, is
painful and we take it seriously. What DOF/VPAA Breslin sees are people who come
to Skidmore with all sorts of hopeful optimism about the place and the welcoming environment,
and then there are moments, whether it’s the first year or second year, in which some
of that hopeful optimism is chipped away. Then what happens is sometimes in departments
or for other reasons, there is a straw that broke the camel's back and somebody leaves;
it is the chipping away that happens in the first, second, third, and fourth years
that we need to attend to. It is not about the last moment but about the moments
that come before that. We are attending to this, and it is the number one priority
for us.
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 353 students of the Class of 2016 to be awarded
on May 21, 2016.
RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting
of the Bachelor of Science degree to 184 students of the Class of 2016 to be awarded
on May 21, 2016.
RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting
of the Bachelor of Arts degree to 29 students of the Class of 2016 upon satisfactory
completion of the degree requirements by August 31, 2016.
RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting
of the Bachelor of Science degree to 11 students of the Class of 2016 upon satisfactory
completion of the degree requirements by August 31, 2016.
The total number of graduates of the Class of 2016 is 599 as follows: 22 for January
completion, 537 for May completion and 40 for August completion.
There was no discussion, and the motions were voted on and passed with all in favor.
RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College approve Departmental and Program Honors for 197 students from the Class of 2016, as presented at the May 18, 2016, Faculty Meeting. (Note: including January 2016 graduates, 205 of 599 students [34.2%] in the class of 2016 will receive Departmental or Program Honors; 10 students will receive honors in two majors).
There was no discussion, and the motions were voted on and passed with all in favor.
RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Master of Arts degree to four students.
There was no discussion, and the motion was voted on and passed with all in favor.
OLD BUSINESS
On behalf of the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning, Assistant Professor Kelly Sheppard read the following Motion that was introduced at the Faculty Meeting held April 29, 2016 (see attached):
MOTION: The Committee on Educational Policies and Planning moves to approve the proposal, originating from the faculty of the Department of Philosophy and Religion, to establish two distinct departments: The Department of Philosophy and The Department of Religious Studies.
Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs
On behalf of the of the Office of the Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Dean of the Faculty Crystal Moore read the following Motion that was introduced at the Faculty Meeting held April 29, 2016 (see attached):
MOTION: The Dean of the Faculty’s Office proposes the following change to the Faculty Handbook, Part One, Section VIII, Part D.1.b.i Evaluation of the Faculty, Reappointment, Reappointment of Full-Time Tenure-Track and Library Faculty in Professorial Ranks, Third Year; AND Part One, Section VIII, Part D.4.b.i Evaluation of the Faculty, Reappointment, Reappointment of Instructors, Third Year.
There was no discussion, and the motion was voted on and passed by majority vote.
There was no new business.
ANNOUNCEMENTS- Paul Calhoun, Dean of Special Programs, referenced his recent email sent inviting suggestions for future McCormack Endowed Visiting Artist-Scholar Residencies. In the fall, the Arts Planning Group will be looking to invite someone for the 2017-2018 academic year, as well as for years beyond that. The residency has been in existence for 14 years, and we have had a mix of musicians, writers, directors, composers, and choreographers; the complete list of McCormack residents can be found at http://cms.skidmore.edu/osp/mccormack/index.cfm. We are especially interested in artists or scholars who have interdisciplinary experience or creative new ideas that bridge multiple areas of academic interest. One of the overarching goals of the McCormack residency is to engage the guest artist-scholar with multiple and distinctly different departments. Some of the names of potential residents suggested thus far include Lin Manuel Miranda, Julie Taymor, and Werner Herzog. He encouraged everyone to submit their suggestions and to contact him with any questions or ideas.
- President Glotzbach invited everyone to attend the annual Commencement reception to be held at Scribner House on May 20, 2016.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:46 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,