Faculty Meeting Minutes

 

President Philip A. Glotzbach called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

President Glotzbach asked if there were any corrections to, or comments regarding, the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held October 6, 2017.  Hearing none, he announced the minutes were approved.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

President Glotzbach acknowledged the tragic loss the Skidmore family suffered this week, when Nicholas Cleves ‘16 was killed in the truck attack in New York City.  President Glotzbach shared the comments made by Mike Eckmann, in Computer Science:

I was Nicholas Cleves' summer advisor before his first semester at Skidmore and his instructor for a computer science course.  Nick majored in computer science and I remember him as among the most cheerful and friendly students we have had in the department.  He was a diligent student in the course that I taught him.  He was interested in software development, had an internship during his last semester at Skidmore, and continued to work for the same firm after graduating.  We are deeply saddened at such a tragic loss.

Other members of the faculty and staff will have their own memories of Nicholas--of a promising student, whose life was cut short by a senseless act of violence.

President Glotzbach said that he and Marie were traveling for the College in Boston earlier in the week and ran into one of Nicholas’s classmates – a purely chance encounter.  This person had lived upstairs from Nicholas in Sussman Village and considered him a close friend.  She remembered him as always coming upstairs to borrow paprika – to the point where she started calling him ‘Paprika boy’.  As she said this, she was fighting back tears, and they all exchanged hugs and tried desperately to find consoling words.  She was deciding whether to go to New York to be with friends and classmates gathering there.

President Glotzbach stated that this is just to say the obvious: that any such tragedy tears at some web of human relationships and causes ripples of pain and distress to radiate out across time and space.  We acknowledge and, to the degree we can, share in the grief of Nicholas’ mother and his friends and classmates.  A moment of silence in Nicholas’ memory was held.

Since the last Faculty Meeting, the Board of Trustees held its October meeting.  President Glotzbach shared some highlights of the meeting:

• Prior to the Trustee’s meeting, Board Chair Scott McGraw met with science department chairs and program directors.
• Board members had dinner with department chairs and program directors on Wednesday, and with members of the Tang National Advisory Board, faculty members, and students on Thursday evening.
• On Thursday, the Board also heard from three current students who shared their summer research and internship experiences.
• The Board acted to approve our going into the Bond market this coming March to borrow $35 million (net) to support the Center for Integrated Sciences.

President Glotzbach then reported on the status of the three cabinet searches his office has been conducting:

• Collyer Vice President for Advancement:  Sean Campbell has accepted the position as the new Collyer Vice President for Advancement.  Professor Jeff Segrave, as Vice Chair of the search committee, introduced Sean to the faculty, noting that Sean brings 18 years of experience in higher education fundraising. Since 2012, he was the managing director of individual giving at University of Chicago Medicine.  Before his time at Chicago, Sean was at Bates College in Maine for 10 years, serving as director of the parents and family association, leadership giving officer, and director of leadership giving and donor programs.  Sean then thanked the faculty for their warm welcome and indicating that he was very happy to be at Skidmore and engaging with everyone to move Skidmore forward.
• Vice President for Communications and Marketing: Martin Mbuga has accepted the position of Vice President for Communications and Marketing.  Professor Eliza Kent, Vice Chair of the search committee, introduced Martin to the faculty, noting Martin is an outstanding professional in higher education communications and comes to us from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he served as assistant vice president for content and communications.  Prior to that, Martin was director of media relations and university spokesperson at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey.  Martin thanked the faculty for their warm welcome and indicating his happiness to be at Skidmore and to be able to work with the President, the faculty and colleagues in communications and marketing.
• Dean of the Faculty & Vice President for Academic Affairs:  Dr. Michael T. Orr, currently the Krebs Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Lake Forest College, has enthusiastically accepted our offer to become our next Chief Academic Officer and will join us in mid-summer. Professor Denise Smith, Vice Chair of the search committee, underscored the search committee’s enthusiasm for Dr. Orr, stating that he has extensive experience as an administrator and academic leader.   Professor Smith thanked the members of the search committee and community for their feedback and praised the great leadership provided by President Glotzbach.

President Glotzbach thanked the members of the three search committees as well as everyone who participated in these three searches.  He also thanked Professor Crystal Moore for taking over as Interim Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs in the spring semester and for helping to facilitate Dr. Orr’s transition to Skidmore.

In concluding his report, President Glotzbach shared a new birthday video that will be sent to alumni on their birthdays.  President Glotzbach thanked Vickie Riley and her staff in Communications & Marketing for making the video as well as the members of the faculty and staff who participating in making this video.  This is a great example of partnership between Communications & Marketing and Alumni Affairs in Advancement.

Thereafter, President Glotzbach opened the floor for questions.  One question was raised as to whether there has been any effort for colleges to respond to the provision in the proposed tax reform involving tax on endowment income.  President Glotzbach stated that there is a lot of complexity with these proposals but that NICU is very active and our state organization that lobbies is also very active.  We will continue to monitor this legislation carefully, along with legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, which also might contain some troubling provisions.

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

Beau Breslin, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, announced a policy that his office has been working on for about a year to reduce the teaching load for non-tenure-track faculty from 20 to 18 credit hours starting in the fall 2018.  This policy was prompted by the desire to improve the working lives of our full-time non-tenure-track faculty and to acknowledge their importance in our institutional mission.   As this initiative was approved with the promise that it would be budget neutral, we will work toward that goal by decreasing the number of part-time contingent faculty by hiring those individuals only when they are needed to fulfill the requirements for a major.  

In addition, DOF/VPAA Breslin announced that Professor Sarah Goodwin will be stepping down in her role as Faculty Assessment Coordinator at the end of the academic year.  He will send out a call for nominations for the position shortly.  DOF/VPAA Breslin thanked Professor Goodwin for all the work she has done on assessment over the past decade.  A round of applause was given to Professor Goodwin.

Concluding his report, DOF/VPAA Breslin introduced Sarah Green, Title IX Deputy Coordinator for Student Affairs.

Beau Breslin, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, read the following Motion that was introduced at the last Faculty Meeting (see attached):

MOTION: The Dean of the Faculty’s Office moves to alter the Faculty Handbook to eliminate Part I, VIII. F.2.a.iii to avoid any confusion about when an individual can stand for promotion.

 

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

 

 

Faculty Executive Committee

As Chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, Associate Professor Greg Gerbi shared a Powerpoint presentation highlighting the requirements for required faculty governance service and some changes to the election process.  He reminded everyone that once you have signed up to serve you may get elected to a standing committee, be appointed to a standing committee, or be placed in the ad hoc pool for possible appointment as a replacement or to an ad hoc committee; however, your service obligation is met even if you are not elected to serve on a committee.  

Associate Professor Gerbi announced that elections will start the first week in the spring semester and preferences will be collected first two weeks of December.    Any requests for exemptions should be made to the Dean of the Faculty by November 16.  All the cohorts are listed on the FEC website in case anyone is not sure what cohort they are in.

In concluding, Associate Professor Gerbi announced that the time between elections will be lengthened and that there will be a new election order: CAPT, (if approved) Promotions Committee, FEC, IPPC, CEPP and the remainder of the committees in the order as listed in the Faculty Handbook.

Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and tenure, and Faculty Executive Committee

On behalf of the Dean of the Faculty and Vice president for Academic Affairs, the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and tenure, and the Faculty Executive Committee, DOF/VPAA Breslin introduced the following Motion (see attached):

MOTION: The Faculty Executive Committee, the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure, and the Dean of the Faculty’s Office moves to (1) adopt the proposal to reconfigure the structure of the Committee on Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure (CAPT), (2) to create a separate Promotion Committee, (3) to alter the CAPT and Promotion Committee calendar, and (4) to approve the Faculty Handbook language changes consistent with this restructuring.

Professor Pushi Prasad discussed the rationale for the Motion, noting since the two open fora were held, CAPT has worked closely with the DOF/VPAA and FEC to come up with a slightly revised model.  DOF/VPAA Breslin stated that since the last meeting, the number of CAPT members has changed to eight (two representatives from each of the four disciplines) with each case to be reviewed by five members. In the event of any negative decisions, the tenure case would then be heard by all eight members.  There are still a few remaining issues that the community should decide concerning the process for selecting the members to review the tenure files.  At the next faculty meeting, the faculty will have an opportunity to vote on their preference.

Associate Professor Gerbi reminded everyone that the changes being proposed to the CAPT structure is a community decision and not the decision of FEC, CAPT, or the DOF/VPAA.  Any suggestions for amendments is welcomed.  

Thereafter, several questions and comments regarding the proposal were made:

• Whether there would there be any changes to the TRB process and concern that faculty might feel the TRB is diluted given so many members on the proposed CAPT.
• The elimination of the requirement that members of the Promotion Committee be full professors.
• Concern about all members of CAPT receiving a course release when the duties of CAPT is being divided and the calendar extended.  
• Clarification of the en banc scenario
• What steps would be taken to address the increase in CAPT workload in the event that the proposal does not pass.
• Concern about extending the tenure decision deadline to February.

The motion will lie over until the next Faculty Meeting.

Amy Frappier, Associate Professor

Amy Frappier, Associate Professor, introduced the following Resolution (see attached):

Be it Resolved that the Faculty asks the ADOF/VPAA to work with other Divisions at the College to encourage the hiring of faculty spouses and partners into appropriate open and needed positions across the College.

Measures to be adopted should include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Develop and implement an institutional policy on dual-career hiring
• Make interested partners eligible to apply for open positions as internal candidates
• Allow partners to access Skidmore’s existing employment services
• Develop and implement a mechanism to provide institutional perspective and oversight in hiring practices including search committees to ensure that partner job candidates are treated equitably, to advocate for the institutional benefits of qualified partner hires, and to guard against perceived biases against partners, while not forcing partners onto departments/offices
• Designate a staff member within HR to provide employment coordination services for employees’ partners, in close coordination with DOF, the Career Center, and Alumni Relations

We encourage the Administration to include both faculty and staff and their significant others in any such measures, and to rapidly implement cost-neutral measures.   We recognize that the College does not have the capacity to employ all spouses and partners of faculty hired.

The Resolution was seconded.

Brief informational questions and comments included:

• Who is the “we” in the resolution? While Associate Professor Frappier couldn’t identify all those involved, she reported that this comes from a mix of non-tenure-track, untenured, and tenured faculty.
• There seems to be some inconsistency in the fourth bullet regarding the equitable treatment of partner job candidates and then the advocacy for them.
• A clarification of the existing employment services available at Skidmore was requested.  Assistant Professor Frappier indicated these services include the Career Center, the Alumni Center, and Skidmore community’s broader network.  
• Whether Human Resources has been consulted since Human Resources is implicated in the Resolution.
• A concern about the language in the Resolution and what that this policy would actually look like in practice.

There being no further information questions or comments, the Resolution will lie over until the next Faculty Meeting.

• Assistant Professor Eric Morser announced that Skidmore Cares will team up to collect supplies to be donated to various community organizations.  This year’s Skidmore Cares event will be held on December 1 from 3-7 at Scribner house.
• Associate Professor Amy Frappier announced the possibility of a pop-up course to be offered in response to a new anti-evolution creationist film, Genesis Part 1: Paradise Lost.  Associate Professor Frappier will send an email with further details.
• President Glotzbach reminded everyone that Beetlemore Skidmania will be held the weekend of November 17.
• Paul Calhoun, Dean of Special Programs, invited everyone to a reception at the Pine Cottage immediately following the faculty meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:08 p.m.

 

Debra L. Peterson
Executive Administrative Assistant