Faculty Meeting Minutes
September 18, 2026
Gannett Auditorium/Zoom
Natalie Taylor, Interim Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs called the meeting to order at 3:35pm.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Dean Taylor informed the faculty of a correction to the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held May 13, 2026. The minutes originally referred to the Skidmore non tenure track faculty union as “Skidmore Forward.” They have been corrected to reflect that the union’s name is “Skidmore Faculty Forward.” The Dean asked if there were any further changes or corrections to the minutes as distributed. Hearing none, the minutes were approved.
WELCOME
Dean Taylor welcomed the faculty to the 2026-2027 academic year, acknowledging that the first faculty meeting has occurred later in September than is usual, and that the semester is in full swing. She thanked the Office of the First-Year Experience, Academic Advising, and the Registrar’s office for their work onboarding our newest students. Dean Taylor invited Dean of Admissions/Vice President for Enrollment Jess Ricker to the podium to introduce the class of 2030.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASS OF 2030
Vice President for Enrollment/Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Jessica Ricker shared with the faculty that Skidmore has welcomed 711 first-year students and 24 transfers through another selective admission cycle. The class represents 38 states, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico, includes students from around the world, and reflects key institutional priorities: 72% are receiving some form of Skidmore financial support, 17% are Pell-eligible, 14% are first-generation college students, 12 are Davis UWC Scholars, 42 are in the Opportunity Program, and a record 32% are domestic students of color. Dean Ricker emphasized that building each class is a multi-year, community-wide effort, with more than 10,700 campus visitors last year and more than 8,500 daily campus visits, underscoring the campus visit as one of Skidmore’s most powerful enrollment moments. She noted that while enrollment at Skidmore is stable and operating from a position of relative strength, rising financial need and reduced revenue per student mean that headcount and net revenue do not necessarily move in lockstep. One priority for the coming year is to move affordability conversations earlier in the enrollment funnel, using affordability information more strategically with families who may be able to contribute meaningfully but need some support to see Skidmore as affordable.
Dean Ricker thanked members of the new two-year Enrollment Opportunity Working Group, which will examine the forces shaping affordability, financial aid, enrollment, and fiscal sustainability through a shared-governance lens, and expressed gratitude to Admission and Financial Aid staff, student ambassadors, and more than 220 faculty and staff partners whose work helped enroll the Class of 2030.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
President Conner opened his report by welcoming the faculty back to campus and encouraging them to join him at Scribner House following the meeting for the President’s Opening Reception. It is an opportunity to celebrate the start of the new academic year, with classes and the athletic seasons already underway. President Conner will be holding open office hours in the coming weeks for all faculty, staff, and students and faculty are encouraged to attend.
Skidmore has exceeded its enrollment goal for the first-year class by 31 students. This is a tremendous accomplishment, but it does come with a financial cost. We have a financial aid budget overage of about $2 million. Maintaining the balance between bringing excellent classes to Skidmore and our fiduciary responsibilities continues to be challenging. However, we were able to balance the budget last year, and we project a balanced budget for this year (Skidmore has delivered a balanced budget every year of President Conner’s presidency and will continue to do so). Vice President for Finance & Operations, Dan Konstalid, will host a budget update on September 30. This update is open to all employees and will have a remote option, and all are warmly encouraged to attend.
In terms of projects for this year, reviewing and revising our mission statement remains on the agenda. Last year we distributed surveys, held forums, and discussed the topic in IPPC. The mission statement was last revised in 1993. Mission statements, President Conner stressed, should get at the “why” of the institution and should be concise. There will be significant outreach over the fall to capture the opinions and perspectives of the campus community, including discussions with CEPP and a “faculty voices” forum.
The Task Force on Accessibility was formed last spring to help focus our work towards a more accessible campus. This Task Force has already held two forums in September and will continue their outreach and information-gathering over the course of the year. Principles of free expression and academic freedom will also continue to be a focus for the year. Skidmore has emerged as a national leader on the topic; we will continue to make it clear that we defend the rights of all to free expression. If we are not protecting the speech and expression of all of us, none of us are protected.
Regarding the DOF/VPAA search, constituencies are being contacted to provide feedback and insight into the needs for the role. The search firm was on campus on Monday and met with department chairs and program directors, as well as an open forum for the whole community, and also held office hours for anyone to drop by and ask questions or make suggestions. A survey has gone out, and outreach to the campus community will continue. Ideally, semifinalists will interview in October, with finalists visiting campus in November and early December.
Dean Taylor and President Conner are collaborating on the “Faculty Voices” Project; an effort to facilitate faculty engagement with the DOF/VPAA and President on the big questions facing higher education. The model will begin with a brown bag lunch, cookies and lemonade provided, at the Wyckoff Center. A discussion topic will be advertised the week before, and it will be open to all faculty. President Conner expressed that he hopes to develop this into a larger conversation about the future of the professoriate, a collaborative discussion about what the teacher-scholar-citizen model will and can look like at Skidmore in the future.
President Conner requested that the faculty bring any questions or comments to Scribner House following the meeting or to reach out at their convenience.
OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business.
NEW BUSINESS
On behalf of the Faculty Executive Committee, Associate Professor Pat Hilleren introduced the following motion:
MOTION: Adoption of the 2026-2027 Faculty Handbook
There being no discussion, the motion will lie over until the October faculty meeting.
OTHER
Professor Hilleren remained at the podium to provide the faculty with an overview of the Committee of Committees’ report, before updating the faculty on changes to the governance service elections. The new process has been disseminated to the faculty via email. She said that the elections will occur slightly later than usual in order to give IT time to complete updates to the preference sheet. Professor Hilleren notified the faculty of an upcoming survey regarding preferred modes of faculty communication. FEC will follow up on the survey through a forum to discuss the results.
Vice President for Strategic Planning & Institutional Diversity Joshua Woodfork and Associate Professor Aiwu Zhao, co-chairs of the Committee for Inter-Group Understanding (CIGU) provided an overview of the college’s non-discrimination policies and institutional support for faculty and staff with marginalized identities (see attached).VP Woodfork noted that, due to discrepancies between governmental policy and the college’s diversity and inclusion statement, that CIGU will be revisiting the statement this year. Professor Zhao read the Skidmore Diversity and Inclusion Statement, which was enthusiastically affirmed by the faculty. VP Woodfork shared Skidmore’s new land acknowledgement. The land acknowledgment was first recited at this year’s commencement and can be found here.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Mellon Faculty Travel Seminar continues this year and will be visiting Chicago in January. Mini-Mellon seminars will take place towards the end of the spring semester. Please contact Associate Professor Ben Bogin or Ms. Rachel Seligman at the Tang for more information.
Professors Barbara Black and Joseph Cermatori announced this year’s Humanistic Inquiry Symposium. It will be on March 26th and 27th at the Tang. An email will be circulated soon to solicit themes for the 2027 Symposium.
SkidShop is revising the system through which faculty enter course material adoptions; please expect further communications on this process in October.
Senior Teaching Professor Jennifer Cholnoky announced this year’s Science in Society series. The theme for spring 2027 will be “Patterns.” Professor Cholnoky will be hosting info sessions in the Weller Room next week.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:37pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Nora E. Graubard
Senior Administrative Coordinator