Faculty Meeting Minutes
April 25, 2014
Gannett Auditorium
MINUTES
President Philip A. Glotzbach called the meeting to order at 3:34 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
President Glotzbach asked if there were any corrections to, or comments regarding, the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held April 4, 2014. Hearing none, he announced the minutes were approved.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President Glotzbach acknowledged the end of the semester and compared this time of the academic year to the last mile in a marathon–the finish line is in sight, and you just hope you have enough reserves and will power to make it there. This is also a great time to say ‘thank you’ to colleagues who have done a good job this year and to offer encouragement to one another as we complete the final stages of the academic year.
President Glotzbach thereafter provided a brief Admissions update. He noted that, at this time, there are no definitive results; however, we will know within the next week exactly where we are with deposits. So far, we are trending ahead of last year, which is good because we are looking for a few more students in the entering class to make up for the huge class that is graduating this year. He also noted that we are on track to fill our London program, which is trending ahead of last year as well.
President Glotzbach thanked everyone who participated in the three very large and successful Accepted Candidates’ Days. At the last faculty meeting, he encouraged members of the faculty to take some of the candidates to lunch, and he was happy to see that some faculty members took the opportunity to do so. He expressed his appreciation to everyone who went the extra mile in helping with the recruiting process. Thereupon, President Glotzbach thanked Dean Mendes, Associate Director and Coordinator for Multicultural Recruitment, for his leadership of the Discovery program. This year, there were more than 140 students in attendance; these students are very sharp, very articulate, and thoughtful, and they are choosing among a number of top schools. Historically, this program has yielded a very high percentage of those who visit, and President Glotzbach thanked everyone who participated in the program this year. We are already in midst of the admissions cycle to build the following year’s class, and he thanked the folks in Admissions and Financial Aid for all their great work.
President Glotzbach acknowledged a student theater event held on April 5-6, which was a dramatization of bias incident reports. This project was led by Rochelle Calhoun, Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs, Assistant Professor Eunice Ferreira, and Assistant Professor Beck Krefting, and it engaged a large number of students. Everyone involved invested a considerable amount of time. It was difficult to listen to the vignettes, but we need to hear these voices. The message is that there are too many times that students are subject to acts of insensitivity and violence on campus (and sometimes off campus). One of the most moving moments of the performance came at the end when the actors stepped out of character and talked about what they learned from this experience – how they too could be better in treating others well and helping to build community.
Lastly, President Glotzbach encouraged everyone to complete the Strategic Planning Survey (https://www.skidmore.edu/planning/) his office is administering; those participating in the short survey will be asked to rank the suggested topics in order of preference. So far, the faculty is the group with the fewest responses. He thanked Joshua Woodfork, Executive Director and Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives, and Associate Professor Natalie Taylor for their leadership of this important work.
Faculty Development Committee. On behalf of the Faculty Development Committee, Professor Jim Kennelly announced the first Kress Family Creative Pedagogy Grant has been awarded to Associate Professor Linda Hall for her project, Prose Boot Camp. A round of applause was given to Associate Professor Hall. Thereafter, Professor Jim Kennelly announced that the prestigious Ralph A. Ciancio Award for Excellence in Teaching for 2014-15 has been awarded to Professor John Brueggemann. After a long congratulatory applause, Professor Kennelly thanked all those faculty members who were nominated and agreed to stand for consideration.
After offering his congratulations to Professor Brueggemann, President Glotzbach opened the floor for any questions. A question was raised concerning the increase in incoming students, and President Glotzbach briefly discussed the reasons for the incoming class size – primarily, to make sure that the overall number of students does not decline too rapidly following the departure of this year’s large graduating class.
DEAN OF THE FACULTY AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS’ REPORT
After offering his congratulations to Associate Professor Hall and Professor Brueggemann on their awards, Beau Breslin, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, shared a list of the grants from outside sources that various faculty members received (see attached). He thanked all the faculty for their work in obtaining these grants as well as Barry Pritzker, Bill Tomlinson, and Anita Miczek. He called particular attention to the Project VIS grant received from the Mellon Foundation in the sum of $750,000 as part of the visual communication and documentary studies collaborative. This grant is about faculty doing creative and interesting things with visual literacy. DOF/VPAA Breslin shared comments made by Professor John Anzalone, the lead on this grant, who indicated that the money from this grant can be spent on new course development, support for visual literacies, and for various events, including guest speakers and summer workshops. More information about this grant will be coming in the near future.
Concluding his report, DOF/VPAA Breslin announced that Christy Faison, the Middle States liaison, was on campus this past week. She was incredibly helpful as the College begins its 2-year process of reaccreditation. He offered special thanks to Lisa Christenson, Assessment Facilitator, Professor Sarah Goodwin, and the Middle States Steering Committee for all their work in moving this process along.
Retirements
On behalf of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure (CAPT), Associate Professor Mark Youndt read the following resolution into the record (see attached):
BE IT RESOLVED, that the faculty of Skidmore College expresses its profound appreciation and admiration for the following members of the Skidmore Faculty who have this year expressed their determination to retire:
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- Victor Cahn, Professor, Department of English
- Alice Dean, Professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
- Gove Effinger, Professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
- Mary Ann Foley, Professor, Department of Psychology
- Susan Lehr, Professor, Department of Education Studies
- W. Michael Mudrovic, Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
- Anne Turner, Senior Artist-in-Residence, Department of Music
The faculty further resolves that the biographical highlights of these members contained in the Retirement Citation booklet distributed at this meeting be included in the Faculty Meeting Minutes of April 25, 2014 in recognition and celebration of their distinguished service and achievement (see attached).
The assembly signaled their acclimation by applause.
Thereafter, Associate Professor Mason Stokes delivered a tribute to Professor Cahn; Professor David Vella delivered tributes to Professor Dean and Professor Effinger; Professor Holley Hodgins delivered a tribute to Professor Foley; Professor Joanna Zangrando delivered a tribute to Professor Lehr; Professor Mary-Beth O’Brien delivered a tribute to Professor Mudrovic; and Professor Gordon Thompson sang a tribute to Senior Artist-in-Residence Turner. President Glotzbach presented each of the retirees with a gift, and a warm round of applause was given to each retiree.
OLD BUSINESS
Committee on Educational Policies and Planning
On behalf of the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning (CEPP), Professor Peter von Allmen provided an update on CEPP’s review of the general education curriculum. He reported that CEPP completed the last set of roundtables and that CEPP met with SGA. CEPP’s year-end retreat is scheduled for May 14, at which time they will continue their work on this issue. Professor von Allmen encouraged anybody with any additional input to forward it to CEPP before their scheduled retreat. CEPP’s review of the general education curriculum will continue into the next academic year.
Faculty Workload Working Group
On behalf of the Faculty Workload Working Group, Professor Mary Odekon read the following Motion that was introduced at the last faculty meeting held April 4, 2014 (see attached):
MOTION: The Faculty Workload Working Group proposes that the attached “VII. EVALUATION OF FACULTY FOR CONTINUED SERVICE AND ADVANCEMENT IN RANK” be inserted in the Faculty Handbook; that Articles “VI: EVALUATIVE CRITERIA FOR CONTINUED SERVICE AND ADVANCEMENT IN RANK,” “VIII. REAPPOINTMENT,” “IX. TENURE,” and “XI. PROMOTION” be deleted from the Faculty Handbook; and that Part One of the Faculty Handbook be reorganized according to the attached “Table of Contents.”
If approved, the Faculty Handbook as so amended shall apply to all faculty immediately with the exception of pre-tenure tenure-track faculty who have been reappointed to a second three-year contract.
Also, if approved, the amended Faculty Handbook language shall be re-evaluated in five years.
After hearing from one faculty member who indicated her support of the Motion, the Motion was voted on electronically and passed by majority vote.
Other
As Chair of CAPT, Associate Professor Mark Youndt provided a brief update on the administrative review of Rochelle Calhoun, Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs. He indicated that, in accordance with the Faculty Handbook, CAPT has the responsibility for monitoring the review process for senior administrative officers. In that regard, CAPT reports that the procedures outlined in the Faculty Handbook were followed appropriately. He thanked President Glotzbach, Associate Professor T. H. Reynolds, Dean Calhoun, and the members of the review committee – Jen Barthelmas, David Howson, Kathy Kinnin, Wendy LeBlanc, and Joshua Woodfork—as well as the members of the Skidmore community who provided input.
NEW BUSINESS
On behalf of IP Policy Working Group, DOF/VPAA Breslin introduced the following Motion (see attached):
MOTION: The IP Policy Working Group moves that the Faculty endorse the Intellectual Property Policy (attached).
DOF/VPAA Breslin provided a brief overview of the work that has been done on this policy since it was first introduced several years ago. Brief discussion was held concerning the policy, including what would happen if the faculty did not endorse the policy, clarifications to some of the language in the policy, and the placement of the policy in the Faculty Handbook. The Motion will lie over until the next meeting.
REPORTS
On behalf of the Faculty Executive Committee (FEC), Professor Joerg Bibow provided an update on FEC’s reform of faculty governance. After receiving feedback from faculty members on its proposed faculty governance reform, it believes that it needs to do further work on the committee restructuring. FEC will continue its work on the proposed committee restructuring next year. In the meantime, based upon faculty feedback, FEC has revised its original plan to provide more flexibility for faculty to choose which three consecutive years they wish to serve, options for allowing junior faculty to serve on committees before they are up for tenure, and to make it clear that non-tenure-track faculty are an integral part of the faculty and have the right and are welcome to participate in the governance system. FEC will send an email shortly with further details.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Professor Catherine Golden announced that the 16th annual Academic Festival will be held on April 30, 2014 and provided highlights of this year’s program.
- Professor Janet Casey, Director of the First Year Experience, announced that the book chosen for this summer’s reading for the Class of 2018 is Michael Sandel’s What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets (2012). She thanked the members of the committee who chose this book, Associate Professor Lei Bryant, Assistant Professor Robin Nelson, and Assistant Professor Feryaz Ocakli. Professor Casey noted that, as in the past, 500-word faculty responses to the book will be posted on the FYE website; the honorarium will be $200. Please send expressions of interest to Professor Casey by May 15; final essays will be due June 20. Professor Casey will send a follow-up email with further details.
- Barbara Beck, Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration and Director of Human Resources, introduced Laura Goodwin as the new Assistant Director of Benefits Administration and Labor Relations.
- DOF/VPAA Breslin invited everyone to the special retirement reception in the Tang immediately following the meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:19 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,