Faculty Meeting Minutes

Michael Orr, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, called the meeting to order at 10:04 a.m. and welcomed everyone to the final Faculty Meeting of the academic year.  After noting the accomplishment of completing the semester successfully despite all the challenges faced this year, DOF/VPAA Orr addressed the recent mass shooting in Buffalo that took the lives of 10 black people.  He condemned this act of racist hatred, conveying his shock and outrage in the face of such violence, and acknowledged the pain, fear, and anger that it generates.  He stated that we must repudiate the ideology of white supremacy that feeds such hateful acts and join together in expressing our collective support and sympathy for all those impacted by this event.  A moment of silence was then observed.

DOF/VPAA Orr then asked for everyone’s patience and understanding as we continue the experiment of holding the Faculty Meeting in a hybrid format and reviewed procedural issues and the voting process to be followed during the hybrid meeting.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

DOF/VPAA Orr asked if there were any corrections to, or comments regarding, the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held April 29, 2022.  Hearing none, he announced the minutes were approved as distributed.

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 338 students of the Class of 2022 to be awarded on May 21, 2022.

            RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Bachelor of Science degree to 167 students of the Class of 2022 to be awarded on May 21, 2022.

            RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Bachelor of Arts degree to 35 students of the Class of 2022 upon satisfactory completion of the degree requirements by August 31, 2022.

            RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Bachelor of Science degree to 21 students of the Class of 2022 upon satisfactory completion of the degree requirements by August 31, 2022.

The total number of graduates of the Class of 2022 is 589 as follows: 28 for January completion, 505 for May completion, and 56 for August completion. 

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

B. All-College and Departmental Honors. Michael Arnush, Associate Dean of the Faculty, 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 2022, as presented at the May 18, 2022, Faculty Meeting: 60 students for summa cum laude distinction; 105 students for magna cum laude distinction; and 83 students for cum laude distinction.  (Note: including January 2022 graduates, 259 of 589 students [44.0%] in the class of 2022 will receive College Honors).  

            RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College approve Departmental and Program Honors for 233 students from the Class of 2022, as presented at the May 18, 2022 Faculty Meeting.  (Note: including January 2022 graduates, 243 of 589 students [41.3%] in the class of 2022 will receive Departmental or Program Honors; 27 students will receive honors in two majors).

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

OLD BUSINESS

On behalf of the Promotions Committee, Professor Mark Huibregtse read the following Motion that was introduced at the April 1, 2022 Faculty Meeting (see attached):

MOTION: The Promotions Committee moves that the list of required components of a promotion file in the Faculty Handbook (Part One, Article VIII, F, 2, a, vii, (2)) be amended as follows (deleted text is struckout; new text is in boldface):

Promotion files shall include the following:

• an updated CV…
• all scholarly, creative, or professional materials produced since the last promotionsubmission of the file supporting the last successful promotion candidacy; the candidates may add some earlier materials for purposes of context or to show continued growth. The candidates may wish to seek letters from Skidmore colleagues outside their department/program qualified to speak to their professional accomplishment. The candidate shall also include a Research/Artistic Statement, which articulates the significance, scope, and future directions of scholarly/creative work.
• the ten most recent semesters of teaching evaluations…

Professor Huibregtse explained the rationale for the changes, noting that they will alleviate ambiguity with regard to the items requested for the dossier for promotion to professor.  Although an opportunity for discussion was provided, there were no questions raised.  The Motion was then voted on and passed by majority vote.

NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Conner welcomed everyone to the last Faculty Meeting of the academic year and began by reflecting on this past year.  He noted that the monthly faculty meetings have provided him with an important opportunity to provide key updates, especially relative to faculty concerns, to share information on key goals that he is working on, to recognize and celebrate achievements, and to engage with, learn from, and learn about the faculty.  He indicated that his hope was that at least two conclusions have been drawn about him during this last year: that he is a hard worker and that he tells the truth.  He hopes these are being conveyed week in and week out.

President Conner then provided an update on COVID planning as we move into the summer and fall. While we hope the COVID positivity rates in our region and community will continue to go down, there is no evidence that COVID will be gone when we return in the fall.  President Conner indicated that he feels the college is well-prepared to handle whatever COVID may bring in the coming year while we continue to deliver the Skidmore education to our students. He stated that the administration will continue to communicate with transparency and collaboration every step of the way, as we have done for the past 26 months of this pandemic.  He then expressed his gratitude and thankfulness to everyone for all that has been done to keep teaching our students under extraordinarily challenging circumstances.

Thereupon, President Conner reminded everyone that a major presentation will be held on Tuesday, May 24 on the state of the college’s finances and the year-long compensation study.   He indicated that the Board of Trustees will be meeting this week to give final approval of the college’s budget, which is anticipated to include the largest GSA since 2009 and a one-time discretionary payment for all eligible employees.   He then stated that the results of the compensation study for both staff and faculty will be shared as well as the budgetary steps that will be taken to respond to the results of the study.  President Conner noted that there will be lots of opportunity for discussion at the meeting and commended the collaborative work of shared governance and IPPC’s contributions to budget planning this year.

Next, President Conner announced that this year’s admissions have exceeded our enrollment targets with an even higher yield than expected on the top academic band.  He expressed his gratitude to the faculty for all of the roles that they play in the admissions process.  At the same time, President Conner noted that exceeding our admissions target comes at a cost, especially to the residential experience for our students. The campus master planning process and the enrollment study that has been underway this past year will help us determine the necessary steps to improve the residential experience for our students and to identify the ideal class size so that we can reduce the periodic rise and fall in our admissions targets and to build in more consistent budgeting and planning.

President Conner then reported that the Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the campus master plan this week, after an 18-month long, highly-engaging process.   He reminded everyone that the campus master plan is intended to serve for 10 or more years as the strategic guide for prioritizing and implementing projects to improve the campus and the student experience.   Next, President Conner indicated that naming ceremonies would be held on Friday for the Billy Tisch Center for Integrated Sciences and for the Wyckoff Center. In particular, he commented on naming the CIS in recognition of one of the great pioneers and champions of our college, Billy Tisch, and noted the significance of re-engaging with the Tisch family as we embark on the next stage for the campus.  

Next, President Conner provided an update on the search for the next Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs.  He reported that the search committee had a very productive first meeting in which the goals and expectations for the search were discussed, committee members completed a unit on bias and diversity in the search process, the search timeline and position profile were reviewed, and the committee discussed ways that we can attract as a robust, rich and diverse a candidate pool as possible.  President Conner stated that the committee will meet once more before summer and that he will be meeting with department chairs and program directors to talk about the position and the search.  When we return in August, the search process will resume with forums, outreach and feedback.  President Conner stated that there will be an immensely competitive field for this search due to the increased turnover and number of positions posted in higher education leadership; starting our search now will put Skidmore in a better position to bring in an excellent leader that understands the mission of a residential liberal arts college and who will lead with confidence on issues of diversity and inclusiveness.  President Conner then shared that, since this position has special importance for faculty, he has committed to providing updates after each search committee meeting to the chairs of the FEC and ATC in order to provide additional communication, transparency and collaboration as we move forward on this important search.

Finally, President Conner addressed the recent union proposal and the concerns of non-tenure-track faculty.  He stated that he wished that he had been better prepared to discuss the union proposal at the last Faculty Meeting but that he had only learned about the proposal two days before the meeting.  President Conner indicated that he has a lot to learn about the proposal and noted that the process is new to him as he has never been at an institution where there was unionization among faculty.  Although his learning curve will be steep and there are lots of technical and legal details involved, he affirmed the College’s deep respect for and support of our non-tenure-track faculty colleagues.  He noted that there is broad-based support for unionism at the College as there are currently five unions on campus. The fundamental question is not about whether to be pro or con non-tenure-track faculty or pro or con unionism, but whether a union would be supportive for our non-tenure-track faculty.  President Conner stated that that decision is for our non-tenure-track faculty colleagues to make and confirmed that the College will respect whatever decision the non-tenure-track faculty make with respect to unionization.

Notwithstanding the College’s commitment to respect efforts to unionize, there are many questions to be answered and the College has a fundamental responsibility to make sure it respects both the legal rights of its employees to organize and the right of each affected employee to make this personal decision.  With that in mind, the college has raised three issues with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB): (1) whether full-time non-tenure-track faculty are properly characterized as employees or as managers; (2) given the wide array of non-tenure-track positions, should all non-tenure-track faculty be grouped together into a single unit;  and (3) whether the election can be delayed until fall 2022 to ensure that the greatest number of affected faculty can participate if they wish to do so.   He concluded by expressing his hope that we will collectively engage in a process of inquiry and learning, seeing all perspectives, asking good questions, and being supportive of this process for everyone in our community.

Thereupon, President Conner opened the floor for questions.  One faculty member shared a letter that had been signed by 16 department chairs and program directors reiterating their commitment to neutrality on the union question and calling for the administration to fulfill its commitment to neutrality in this process and to engage in good faith bargaining;  asserting that the college’s statements made to the NLRB in response to the proposal would needlessly delay the process and were inconsistent with the college’s stated position that it neither favors nor opposes the formation of a union for certain faculty members; questioning the College’s choice of outside counsel; and calling on the administration to allow the unionization vote to proceed immediately.  In response, President Conner expressed agreement with many of the sentiments in the letter but noted that some non-tenure-track faculty have expressed questions about the unionization process and that the College’s response to the NLRB reflected those questions. 

A lengthy discussion ensued regarding the statement of position that the College had filed with the NLRB. In particular, questions and concerns were raised about the College’s strategy, the potential categorization of full-time non-tenure-track faculty as managerial and the question whether they share a community of interest with part-time faculty.  DOF/VPAA Orr explained that, at some institutions, all faculty are considered managerial due to their participation in shared governance. At other institutions, that’s not the case. At Skidmore, our full-time non-tenure-track faculty have the right to vote and to participate in our governance systems and the College is seeking guidance from the NLRB in the context of our unique governance structure as to whether or not a section of the proposed bargaining unit would be deemed under the NLRB regulations as managerial. Regarding the question of community of interest, DOF/VPAA Orr stated that the college wished to determine whether there should be separate collective bargaining units for full-time and part-time faculty members, given existing differences in such things as compensation structure, benefits, and  voting eligibility. Multiple faculty members expressed disappointment in the approach the College had taken in its statement of position filed with the NLRB.

One faculty member indicated surprise and disappointment at hearing that there were colleagues that felt they weren’t contacted about efforts to unionize. She encouraged those colleagues seeking more information on unionization to join one of their open forums, either via zoom or in person, scheduled during the next few weeks and noted that further information can be found at https://skidmorefacultyfwd.com/.  Several  faculty members questioned the characterization of unions included in the FAQs posted on the DOF website, arguing that the definition of unions was biased and anti-union. One faculty member commented that one of the benefits we have already seen from the current unionization drive has been the extensive conversation about the importance of the work of non-tenure-track faculty at the College that has occurred on the floor of the faculty meeting and at the departmental level. Several faculty members commented on the impact of contract length on the eligibility of full-time non-tenure-track faculty members to serve on governance committees. Although non-tenure faculty members do serve on some committees (and some committees have positions designated for non-tenure-track faculty members), non-tenure-track faculty members are frequently not able to meet the three-year service requirement to be eligible to be elected to governance committees.

Finally, a faculty member raised a different question regarding the process for and importance of naming spaces/buildings on campus, specifically referencing the naming of the Wyckoff Center, suggesting perhaps the center could have been named in honor of Skidmore’s first graduating student of color.  Joshua Woodfork, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Diversity, responded by briefly reviewing the history of the allocation of space for the Wyckoff Center and the efforts to secure funding for the project. Although he expressed great satisfaction with the outcome in this particular case, he commented that as an institution we need to do better, noting that we only have one building currently named after a person of color and that there is more work to be done with land acknowledgements, indigeneity, and investigating the founders of all of our buildings.

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

DOF/VPAA Orr began his remarks by thanking everyone for the work they have done to bring the semester to a successful conclusion. He noted that, in many ways, this past semester felt harder than some of our previous COVID semesters and required tremendous flexibility, adaptability and extraordinary effort from everyone.  Many faculty and staff members have found themselves needing to provide much more emotional and mental health support to our students than has been typical in the past, which added to the demands that everyone has had to shoulder.  He expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to everyone.

DOF/VPAA Orr then acknowledged and thanked the department chairs and program directors who are completing their terms of service this year: Steve Frey, Chemistry; Mike Eckmann, Computer Science; Hope Casto, Education Studies; Barbara Black, English; Nurcan Atalan-Helicke, Environmental Studies and Sciences; Kate Graney, Gender Studies; Rachel Roe-Dale, Mathematics and Statistics; Sarah Friedland, MDOCS; Sara Lagalwar, Neuroscience; Javier Perez-Moreno, Physics; Bob Turner, Political Science; and Viviana Rangil, World Languages and Literatures.  He noted that their willingness to serve in this capacity is very important and very much appreciated.

DOF/VPAA Orr then announced that in addition to the commencement ceremony for the Class of 2022 to be held at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center at the weekend, arrangements have also been made to hold a commencement ceremony for the Class of 2020—the Class whose in-person commencement had to be cancelled due to COVID.  The Class of 2020 has been invited back to campus for the weekend of June 3-5, and all faculty and staff will be invited to attend a lunch with the members of the Class of 2020 on campus on Friday, June 3  with a commencement celebration to be held in the Zankel Music Center on Saturday, June 4.  More details will be shared shortly.

DOF/VPAA adjourned the meeting at 11:51 a.m. noting that he hopes to see as many faculty members as possible at Commencement on Saturday when we will recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2022.

Respectfully submitted,