Faculty Meeting Minutes

 

NEW BUSINESS

On behalf of the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning (CEPP), Assistant Professor Stephen Ives introduced the following Motion (see attached):

MOTION:  The Committee on Educational Polies and Planning (CEPP) seeks to amend the Faculty Handbook (Section 2.c., pg 212 [pg 76 on the PDF] of 2018-2019 ed.) as follows, with the change highlighted in red:

Membership: Five faculty members, two of whom must be tenured, each from a different department and with at least one member from each of the four Divisions of Disciplines, elected to serve three year terms; the Dean of the Faculty/Vice President for Academic Affairs or his/her designated representative; the Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs or his/her designated representative; two students selected by SGA; and the faculty director of assessment who, as an ex officio member, serves as liaison between CEPP and the IPPC subcommittee on institutional effectiveness. CEPP may appoint such subcommittees from among its members or from the College community at large as it deems helpful to facilitate its work.

Assistant Professor Ives explained the rationale for bringing the Motion to the faculty.  There were no informational questions.  The Motion will lie over until the next Faculty Meeting.

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

A Committee of the Whole was held to discuss faculty service and the service cycle.  Associate Professor Katie Hauser was appointed as chair of the Committee of the Whole.  A 20-minute time limit was set and a 10-minute extension was granted.  At the conclusion of the Committee of the Whole, Associate Professor Hauser rose and reported that a discussion on faculty service and the service cycle was held.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

President Glotzbach introduced Professor Flip Phillips.  As chair of the Faculty Development Committee, Professor Phillips announced that the 2018 Phyllis Roth Faculty Distinguished Service Award was awarded to Professor Penny Jolly.  A standing ovation was given to Professor Jolly.

President Glotzbach thereafter congratulated Professor Jolly on her award.  He then provided an update on the events of the week of October 14:  the Board of Trustees were on campus for their regular fall Board meeting; the Alumni Board and the Tang National Advisory Council held their meetings on campus as well; it was Celebration weekend; the Parent’s Council held a meeting; the 10th Career Jam was held; the Valentine Boat House was dedicated; and the formal groundbreaking for the Center for Integrated Sciences (CIS) was held. In addition, the official campus kickoff of our Creating our Future Campaign was held.  President Glotzbach thanked Professor Jeff Segrave and Associate Professor Karen Kellogg as well as everyone who participated in the planning for the event and all those who attended.  While the Trustees were largely occupied with celebratory matters, the Board and President’s Cabinet also spent four hours in a workshop on understanding unconscious bias led by Kimberly Rattley of Cook Ross.  Ms. Rattley was here the prior week and led workshops for In It 3 as well as leading a workshop for department chairs and program directors immediately following her time with the Board and Cabinet.  The Board was actively engaged in this conversation and our Trustees were very eager to do the work; they found the workshops very valuable and are aware of their leadership role in helping to make Skidmore a healthy and welcoming campus for all our members.  

President Glotzbach concluded his report by encouraging everyone to check the Skidmore website for a series of events planned for the week of November 5 called Skidmore Speaks, focusing on issues surrounding the topic of free speech.

Thereafter, President Glotzbach opened the floor for questions.  The current chair of the Appointments and Tenure Committee (ATC), referencing the comments President Glotzbach made during the previous Faculty Meeting (10/5/18) regarding the 2018 CAPT annual report, asked President Glotzbach to speak to the precedent that his decision in that matter has established and, if he didn’t think a precedent had been set, to explain why.  The question was raised because of concern about the implications this situation might create for future ATC, as it seems possible that this situation may require a future ATC to violate the Faculty Handbook no matter what it does or does not do.  

President Glotzbach responded by indicating that he understands the implications of his decision going forward and stated that it did set a precedent but a very narrow one.  He does not expect the issues that occasioned this type of decision to recur in the future.  President Glotzbach also indicated that he did not believe his decision violated the Faculty Handbook.  However, he would say to any future ATC that it would have the responsibility to do their work of hearing the cases that come before it.  Further, it is not ATC’s responsibility to decide what cases come before it, nor is it ATC’s responsibility to answer eligibility questions.  Such questions fall within the purview of the Dean and – in exceptional cases – the President to address (acting within the parameters specified in the Handbook).

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

With the shift in responsibility for chairing the Faculty Meeting, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President Michael Orr asked for everyone’s forbearance as he familiarizes himself with Faculty Meeting practice and as he continues to get to know everyone.  He reminded everyone that his chairing the Faculty Meeting is a pilot and we can always revert back to the former model.  He further indicated that he does take very seriously the stipulation in the Faculty Meeting bylaws that the chair cannot speak to a motion while presiding over the meeting and noted that the expectation that the chair remain impartial  is a fundamental principal of Robert’s Rules.  

The goal of FEC in instituting these changes to the Faculty Meeting is to encourage more substantial discussion and focus more on the business of the faculty.  In that regard, under the new structure, we will try to post most announcements online rather than take time in the meetings to go through those announcements.  Nevertheless, the DOF/VPAA reported that he and FEC agree that announcements that celebrate faculty accomplishments, such as tenure and promotion decisions, faculty prizes, and retirement citations should continue to be presented at the Faculty Meeting. The Faculty Meeting is an important time and venue for the faculty to come together and recognize each other.  To that end, he called attention to the announcement from Associate Professor Michael Arnush and Professor Barbara Black regarding the second annual symposium on humanistic inquiry to be held in the spring.  This event will provide an opportunity for us to join together to showcase and celebrate the scholarly work of our faculty.  More information will be forthcoming shortly, along with calls for proposals.

Thereupon, DOF/VPAA Orr turned to the upcoming budget process.  In the Introduction to the Strategic Action Agenda that was recently shared with the community, President Glotzbach emphasized that we continue to operate from a position of financial strength.  Nevertheless, we are facing some significant challenges from the growing need for additional financial aid and sharp increases in the cost of health insurance that require us to find cost savings in the budget that will go beyond “business as usual.” To that end, our new Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer, Donna Ng, has begun doing preliminary work about how we will approach the budget process this year, with the goal being to continue to fully support our core mission, to support our faculty and staff and other critical needs and functions, while at the same trying to find and implement cost savings in discretionary budget lines.   Discussions have already been held in the Budget and Finance Subcommittee of the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC), as well as IPPC as a whole, regarding taking a different approach to the annual budget process as it applies to the discretionary operating budget (principally services and supplies). More information will be forthcoming shortly regarding the budget process.   

In concluding his report, DOF//VPAA Orr shared a video that was shown at the recent community meeting regarding the CIS.

Thereupon, DOF/VPAA Orr reminded everyone that the Idea Lab is sponsoring its first-ever pop up makerspace in conjunction with the Faculty Meeting reception sponsored by Finance and Administration to be held immediately following the Faculty Meeting in the library.  

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:35 p.m.

Debra L. Peterson
Academic Affairs Coordinator