Faculty Meeting Minutes

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

After moving approval of the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held September 7, 2018, President Glotzbach reported corrections that had been received since the minutes were distributed.  He asked if there were any other corrections to, or comments regarding, the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held September 7, 2018.  Hearing none, he announced the minutes, as amended, were approved.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Glotzbach called on Professor James Kennelly to make a brief introduction.  On behalf of the search committee for the Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer (VPFA), Professor James Kennelly introduced Donna Ng as Skidmore’s new Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer.  A welcoming round of applause was given to VPFA Ng.

President Glotzbach announced that the Dean of Students, in collaboration with other campus offices, is planning a series of events during the week of November 5-8, 2018 focusing on free speech. Events being planned include speakers, workshops, community conversations, and a campus video to provide smart and relevant options for the community to engage in a discussion on free speech.  Invited speakers include Dr. Sandy Ungar, Zachary R. Wood, Scott Jaschik, and Dr. Sigal Ben-Porath.  Further details will be forthcoming.  

President Glotzbach then called on Joshua Woodfork, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Diversity.  VP Woodfork announced upcoming In It 3 events scheduled for October 11-12, 2018.  In It 3 is a suite of diversity and inclusion programs open to faculty, staff, and students designed to raise our cultural fluency and strengthen our community.  Details of the programming can be found on the In It 3 website (https://www.skidmore.edu/diversity/init3/index.php). VP Woodfork thanked the inclusion liaisons and the Committee on Intercultural and Global Understanding for their assistance with the planning of these events.

President Glotzbach concluded his report by reading a statement concerning the CAPT Annual Report discussed at the September 8 Faculty Meeting:

“At the September 2018 Faculty Meeting, I agreed to comment further on the report from the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure (CAPT) that was issued in August 2018.  Because of the need to preserve confidentiality, I appreciate the Faculty Executive Committee’s (FEC) decision not to hold a faculty-only meeting to discuss this matter.  But I also recognize that some questions may still remain in the minds of people who necessarily do not have – nor should they have – access to all (or any!) of the details of the underlying events.

In making a decision regarding tenure and promotion – and in discussing any such decision – three values come into play:

• • Adherence to the processes, procedures, criteria, and standards stipulated in the Faculty Handbook;

  • Attention to “larger institutional and budgetary considerations”  pertaining to the College;

  • Fairness to the candidate, including preservation of confidentiality, which strongly restricts what any involved parties legitimately can say in public.

Given concerns expressed by some faculty members regarding both the process and the broader implications of my decision, it is important to note that the Committee on Academic Freedom and Rights (CAFR) also was involved in the case at issue.  At the same time, we need to understand clearly that CAFR was not called upon to evaluate or assess CAPT’s processes or recommendation.  Instead, as required by the Faculty Handbook, these two committees considered two different aspects of the process; their recommendations drew upon different sources of evidence; and they sought to answer different questions.

As required by our policies and procedures, after completing its process, CAFR made its recommendation to me.  It then became my responsibility to consider that recommendation – which, again, addressed material considerations outside the CAPT process – and determine a course of action, based on all the information then available to me.  Before reaching my decision, I consulted extensively and on multiple occasions with CAPT, CAFR, the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, the Chair of the Tenure Review Board (TRB), the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees, and the College’s legal counsel.  CAPT is correct that the case at issue was complicated, raising procedural questions about which reasonable persons could disagree.  Specifically, through the various consultations in which I engaged, it became clear that, in resolving this issue, several sections of the Handbook are salient, and alternative interpretations of the Handbook on this matter are possible.  In part, it became my responsibility to choose among those various interpretations.  

After much deliberation, I made the decision that I believed best took account of CAPT’s and CAFR’s distinct responsibilities, the Faculty Handbook’s stipulations, the larger interests of the College, and, above all, the principle of fairness in regard to the candidate.  In the end, and with the advice of the Board of Trustees, I based my decision on the recommendation I received from CAFR, along with various concurring recommendations that arose through the process of consultation.  I continue to believe that the option I chose best takes account of the facts of this case and best embodies the values identified above.  

The Chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, Katie Hauser, has reported that “FEC is currently working with other relevant committees to draft new Faculty Handbook language that will clarify current language, specifically to address concerns raised by the CAPT report.”  I look forward to seeing the results of this effort and to participating in the conversations that will follow.”

President Glotzbach then opened the floor for questions.  There were no comments raised or questions asked.

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

Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michael Orr welcomed everyone. He announced that there are a number of tenure-track and regular non-tenure-track searches underway this year: 9 tenure track searches in Art History, Black Studies, English (2 searches), Gender Studies, International Affairs, Music, Religious Studies, and Theater and 1 regular non-tenure-track search in InterGroup Relations.  He thanked everyone participating in these searches for their very important work and willingness to serve.  

DOF/VPAA Orr thereafter announced that he recently wrote to department chairs and program directors to share his thoughts regarding the phased employment policy and how he plans to evaluate requests. He stated that while the policy permits phased employment terms of up to 5 years, those requests are subject to approval by the dean.   While he is a strong proponent of the value of the phased employment policy for individual faculty members and for the college as a whole, DOF/VPAA Orr indicated that he is concerned about the impact of lengthy phased employment terms on departments and programs. A phased employment term that can last as long as 5 years has the potential of subjecting the department to a considerable burden.  Given the budgetary challenges the College faces, DOF/VPAA Orr indicated that he doesn’t anticipate being in a position to approve the immediate  replacement of faculty who enter phased employment.  Consequently, DOF/VPAA Orr reported that he would be unlikely to approve requests for terms longer than 2-3 years unless a strong argument could be made that a longer term would be of significant benefit to the college. He also noted that requests that include grouping all of the teaching responsibilities into a single semester each year would be carefully examined to determine whether the arrangement would benefit the college.  He acknowledged that this approach is different from recent practice but said that he believes it is in the best interest of the College.   DOF/VPAA Orr then responded to questions posed by several faculty members.  He clarified that his remarks on phased employment were not intended as a comment on previously-approved phased employment arrangements. He discussed the financial impact of immediately hiring a replacement when a faculty member enters phased employment. Finally, he explained that his approach to evaluating applications for phased employment did not represent a change in the underlying college policy.   He encouraged anyone with further thoughts, reflections, or questions to reach out to him.

DOF/VPAA Orr reminded everyone that the Campus Campaign kickoff event is scheduled for October 18 at the Tang.  He encouraged everyone to attend what promises to be a great event.  He then called attention to the many upcoming events that were included in the Weekly Bulletin, including the annual Steloff lecture scheduled for October 10.  He then announced that on October 12 the Art Department would be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Saisselin Art Building.  DOF/VPAA Orr introduced Associate Professor Janet Sorensen, who invited everyone to the attend the celebration in Saisselin.

DOF/VPAA Orr then announced that the Tang was recently advised that the first volume of our Accelerate journal won first prize in the annual American Alliance of Museum Publications contest.

In preparation for the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting, DOF/VPAA Orr reported that he had asked Mary Hoehn, Director of Sponsored Research, to provide a summary of grant funding for faculty research.  Since June of this year, we have received eight grants totaling $2.5 million to support faculty research; these grants comprise awards from the National Science Foundation, Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Foundation, and the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.  He offered his congratulations to principal investigators David Domozych, Biology; Kurt Smemo, Environmental Studies and Sciences; Denise Smith, Health and Human Physiological Sciences; Jason Breves, Biology; Chris Mann, Political Science; and Jessica Sullivan, Psychology. In the same time period, the Office of Sponsored Research has submitted 8 further proposals totaling another $1.8 million to organizations and foundations and has five additional proposals under development.  A remarkable amount of energy is going into preparing grant applications to support faculty research.

Debra L. Peterson
Academic Affairs Coordinator