Faculty Meeting Minutes

April 6, 2018
Gannett Auditorium

MINUTES

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

President Glotzbach asked if there were any corrections to, or comments regarding, the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held February 2, 2018.  Hearing none, he announced the minutes were approved.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

President Glotzbach welcomed everyone and indicated that he would not be giving a report.  He then called upon Associate Professor Erica Bastress-Dukehart, who, on behalf of the Faculty Development Committee, announced that Professor Kate Berheide was awarded the Edwin M. Moseley Faculty Lectureship for 2018-19.  A congratulatory round of applause was given to Professor Berheide.

Thereafter, President Glotzbach reminded everyone that we are in the midst of Accepted Candidates Days.  Today was the first and there are two more sessions scheduled for this month.  He also noted that the Discovery Program concluded today and this was the largest Discovery Program we have ever held.  He thanked Dean Mendez and his colleagues in Admissions as well as Mary Lou Bates for their great work. 

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

Crystal Moore, Interim Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, announced that, at their February, 2018 meeting, the Board of Trustees granted tenure, effective immediately to Associate Professor Xiaoshuo Hou, Department of Sociology and Asian Studies Program, and Associate Professor Sarah Sweeney, Department of Art.  Further, the Board of Trustees granted tenure, effective immediately, and promotion to Associate Professor, effective June 1, 2018, to Nurcan Atalan-Helicke, Environmental Sciences and Studies Program; Sylvia Carli, Department of Philosophy; Sarita Lagalwar, Neuroscience Program; Feryaz Ocakli, Department of Political Science; Javier Perez-Moreno, Department of Physics; Casey Schofield, Department of Psychology; and Saleema Waraich, Department of Art History.  DOF/VPAA Moore thanked the members of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure for their diligent work on behalf of the Faculty as well as Professor Pushi Prasad for all the work she did above and beyond.   A congratulatory round of applause was given to these newly-tenured faculty members. 

OLD BUSINESS

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

Professor Pushi Prasad, as Chair of CAPT, read CAPT’s proposed friendly amendment of the Motion initially introduced by CAPT in November (see attached):

MOTION: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) and rename CAPT as COT (the Committee on Appointments and Tenure), (2) to create a separate Committee on Promotions to Associate and Full Professor (COP),  (3) to alter the (proposed) COT calendar, (4) to create a COP calendar, and (5) to amend the Faculty Handbook to reflect the approved changes.

Professor Prasad reminded everyone that this reason for bringing the Motion was not to reduce the CAPT workload but to make the workload more manageable.  

Associate Professor Greg Gerbi made a friendly amendment regarding names of committees (see attached in purple).  CAPT accepted the friendly amendment as presented.

Associate Professor Greg Gerbi made a friendly amendment regarding recusal of members from individual cases (see attached in purple).  CAPT accepted the friendly amendment as presented.

Associate Professor Greg Gerbi made a friendly amendment regarding the date that tenure candidates are notified of the recommendation that will be made to the Board of Trustees (see attached in purple).  CAPT accepted the friendly amendment as presented.

Associate Professor Greg Gerbi made a friendly amendment relating to a tie vote by the Tenure Appeals Committee as a positive recommendation (see attached in purple).  CAPT did not accept the friendly amendment as presented.  The amendment was then seconded.  Discussion of the amendment occurred, with clarification being made that the current practice is that a tie vote is a negative decision.  CAPT members argued that the language is unnecessary while other faculty members indicated their support of the amendment.  There being no further discussion of the amendment, the amendment was voted on and passed by majority vote.

Associate Professor Greg Gerbi made a friendly amendment relating to the calendar of appeals of tenure decisions (see attached in purple).  CAPT did not accept the friendly amendment as presented.  The amendment was then seconded.  Discussion of the amendment occurred, with several faculty members expressing concern that an appeal in the fall might have slightly different members on the committees and others inquiring about the motivation behind the amendment.   Members of CAPT indicated they felt it was important to have the same CAPT membership throughout the appeals process.  Discussion also ensued concerning a tenure candidate’s ability to change their tenure file, with the chair of the current Tenure Review Board (“TRB”) reviewing the current practice.  Other faculty members expressed concern about the candidate’s status at Skidmore during an appeal and the potential negative environment that could create for both the candidate and the department.  Following discussion of the amendment, the amendment was voted on and defeated by majority vote.

Thereupon the floor was opened for discussion of CAPT’s amended motion, as amended.  Discussion ensued with a faculty member reminding everyone that the faculty governance system was streamlined over the past few years so that the workload could be shared evenly among the faculty, which also resulted in a reduction of membership on committees.  If the CAPT motion were to pass, this would add six new positions to a system where resources are already strained.  It was then argued that the faculty governance workload was not distributed evenly and the workload of CAPT is not equal to the workload of other committees.   One faculty member reminded everyone that the Faculty Handbook does allow the ability to add members to committees as needed and the DOF/VPAA has the ability to grant course releases as necessary.

Following discussion, the Motion, as modified and amended, was voted on and passed by majority vote.  President Glotzbach then thanked everyone for all their work on this very important matter.

Amy Frappier, Associate Professor

In the absence of Associate Professor Amy Frappier, Professor Peter von Allmen read the Resolution that was introduced at the December faculty meeting (see attached).  Professor von Allmen indicated that this type of policy is already in place at various other institutions.  Discussion of the Resolution occurred.  In response to a job advertisement for a Manager for spouse and partner support programs at Williams College, VP/Dean Cerri Banks reminded everyone that Williams College has a $1 billion endowment.  DOF/VPAA Moore indicated that the Dean of the Faculty’s Office endeavors to accommodate spousal hires whenever possible and that former DOF/VPAA Beau Breslin hired 17 spouses and DOF/VPAA Moore was involved in 13 hires, and she clarified that some of those overlapped with the ones that former-DOF/VPAA Breslin made but not all of them.  DOF/VPAA Moore also indicated that one of her concerns about making partners able to apply for positions as internal candidates is that staff currently have very limited ability to move within the institution.   A question was raised regarding the term “employment services” in the Resolution – were those Human Resources services or the Career Development Center (CDC)?  Human Resources does not provide employment services per se and the CDC resources are already strapped; opening the CDC to non-students would be very expensive and would create an entirely difference system than we have the capacity for.  Joshua Woodfork, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Diversity, suggested that the venue for this type of resolution is the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC) where faculty, students and staff would be able to discuss the details and also whether this is a top priority that college leadership should focus on.  Further, a question was raised as to whether the ADOF/VPAA referenced in the Resolution was meant to be the ADOF and the VPAA or the DOF/VPAA?  

Based upon the questions raised concerning the Resolution, President Glotzbach inquired as to whether Associate Professor Frappier empowered Professor von Allmen to accept amendments to her Resolution.  Thereupon, a friendly amendment was made to change the ADOF/VPAA to DOF/VPAA in the first paragraph and to end the Resolution after College in the first paragraph (deleting the measures).  A point of order was called in which it was noted that this is a Resolution and not a Motion.  Thereafter, the amendment was seconded that the Resolution be contracted to include the language in the first paragraph, changing “faculty spouses” to “faculty and staff” spouses and the remainder of the Resolution be taken as rationale/commentary.   Thereupon, because of the underlying confusion as to whether this should be a Motion or a Resolution, a motion was made to table the Resolution.  As a motion to table is undebatable, the motion to table was voted on and passed by majority vote.  Thus, the matter will be tabled to the next Faculty Meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

Office of the Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Crystal Moore, Interim Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, introduced the following Motion (see attached):

MOTION:  The Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs moves to change the language in the Faculty Handbook regarding promotion.

DOF/VPAA Moore discussed the background for bring the motion, stating that this motion tries to clarifiy expectations related to promotion.  The Motion was then seconded.   

Brief informational questions were asked regarding the “distinguished contribution” language. DOF/VPAA Moore indicated that the intention for including this language was so that if a faculty member had distinction in one of the three areas of service, scholarship, and teaching that may have impacted their trajectory, they could still be considered for promotion.  DOF/VPAA Moore indicated that she is open to revisions to the proposed language.  In that regard, she announced that she and the Center for Leadership, Teaching, and Learning, will sponsor an intimate conversation on this matter on April 18, 2018 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Weller Room.   A reminder email will be sent with further details.   The Motion will lie over until the next Faculty Meeting.

Faculty Executive Committee

On behalf of the Faculty Executive Committee, Associate Professor Greg Gerbi introduced the following Motion (see attached):

MOTION: The Faculty Executive Committee moves to approve changes to the Faculty Handbook related to faculty governance as follows:

•    Remove Part Two, section II, F1 (page 209-210).
•    Remove the subsubsection heading: Part Two, section II, F2 "Faculty Governance Committees"
•    Relabel Part Two, section F as "Faculty Governance Committees"
•    Relabel section headings in Part Two, section F so that committees are labeled "1" to "15" rather than "a" to "o".
•    Add a new subsection D to Part One, section VII (Rights, obligations, and responsibilities of all faculty; page 112).  
•    The text of this subsection is below and is an edited version of what was previously in Part Two, section II, F1.

Associate Professor Gerbi explained the rationale for the motion.  There being no informational questions, the motion will lie over until the next Faculty Meeting.

Investment Working Group

On behalf of the Investment Working Group, Associate Professor Pat Oles introduced the following Motion (see attached):

MOTION:The faculty urges the Board of Trustees to adopt the recommendations of the Investment Policy Working Group.

Associate Professor Oles described the rationale for bringing the Motion and the recommendations made by the Investment Working group.   The Motion was seconded.  Brief discussion was held concerning whether the Motion that was introduced should instead be a resolution, as the faculty does not have the authority to make the Board take certain actions.  Associate Professor Oles indicated that he will consult with the Investment Working Group as to whether they should change their Motion to a Resolution.  At the President’s request, this matter will lie over until the May faculty meeting.


ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Joel Aure, Title IX Coordinator, shared a Powerpoint slide (see attached) to remind faculty of the steps to take should a student divulge an incident of sexual or gender-based misconduct as well as the resources available in such an event.  He also announced that he will be hosting a series of trainings on the subject of sexual harassment/misconduct. Further details on these trainings will be forthcoming.  
• On behalf of the Curriculum Committee, Associate Professor Xiaoshuo Hou announced that the Curriculum Committee has approved the creation of a minor in statistics, as proposed by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
• On behalf of she and Bill Duffy, Chief Technology Officer, Marta Brunner, College Librarian, invited everyone to a reception immediately following the meeting in the Lucy Scribner Library.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m.