FACULTY MEETING
March 1, 2002
GANNETT AUDITORIUM
MINUTES
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made to approve the February 1, 2002 Faculty Meeting minutes. The motion was seconded and passed.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President Studley opened the meeting by updating the faculty on the Board of Trustee meetings held last week. As part of their activities, the Board engaged approximately 30 faculty who attended dinner and discussed Skidmore, their work, their scholarship and classes. Board members felt the passion of the faculty as a result of their individual conversations. Dean Charles Joseph hosted a faculty panel, addressing the goals of the Strategic Plan. The panel included Grace Burton, Ray Giguere, Roy Rotheim, and Sarah Goodwin. President Studley thanked the faculty who attended the dinner and the panel discussions. Board members also met with student leaders, led by SGA President Keith Kirshner, to discuss the student/trustee relationships and how the students might learn from them. She commented that, coupled with the Trustee’s enthusiasm for ccomplishments and progress they see on campus, they expect College leadership to be good stewards when handling resources and efficient and prudent in making choices.
DEAN OF THE FACULTY’S REPORT AND DISCUSSION
Chuck changed the order of the meeting by asking John Anzalone, Chair of CAPT, to present the Promotion Legislation from CAPT.
John Anzalone, Chair of CAPT, presented CAPT legislation on promotion, to lay over until April. (Attachment A) He explained that the result of this legislative proposal is to provide uniformity in several areas of the promotion process. John asked the faculty to review this document before the next faculty meeting and to be prepared to ask questions. John then summarized the five aspects of the proposed legislation mandates:
1. How faculty are nominated and considered for promotion
2. Departmental Consultation
3. Credentials
4. External Reviewers
5. Right to Appeal
Tad Kuroda suggested thinking about #5, of the proposed changes to more clearly define the authority CAFR holds in a promotion appeal process. John Anzalone noted that the intent was to deal exclusively with avenues of recourse in the event of a violation of procedure or academic freedom.
After a question from Terry Diggory, John suggested that the list of materials required for a tenure case might need to be included in the Faculty Handbook as well. Again responding to a question, he noted that in the event of a discrepancy between CAPT's legislation and department procedures, the new legislation would establish the procedures that departments would be required to observe.
Dan Hurwitz has AAUP data on promotions that he will be glad to send to faculty.
Dean Joseph thanked John and the members of CAPT. Mark Huibregtse, Chair of CFG made
a brief progress report on the agenda announced at the February Faculty Meeting.
(NB: the items below came from the February agenda.)
1. Item: To establish a "governance staff" comprising the chairs of major committees and the VPAA/DOF. In consultation with Chuck Joseph, CFG has developed a rationale and function/membership description for a Governance Advisory Council, composed of the VPAA/DOF (who will chair and convene the group) and the chairs (or designated members) of CAFR, CAPT, CEPP, CFG, Curriculum Committee, and FPPC. The Governance Advisory Council provides a way for committees to share information and connect on a regular basis with the Administration.
2. Item: To increase faculty participation in the governance system. CFG is drafting
a white paper on this issue that they hope will be the basis of discussion at the
April Faculty
Meeting. The white paper 1) identifies what is at stake in shared governance, 2) presents
an analysis of recent data on faculty service on committees, willingness to serve
on committees, and exercise of the privilege of voting for faculty representatives,
and 3) makes a variety of suggestions for improvement of the status quo (about which
we seek your feedback), including, for example, the reinstatement of merit pay, the
reconsideration of the role of citizenship in promotion consideration, and the regularization
and
enhancement of course releases or other perquisites granted in support of community
service.
3. Item: To improve the availability and flow of information among the various constituencies of the governance system.
We see the Governance Advisory Council as an important step in this direction. On a smaller scale, we recently revised our web site to include links to the home pages of as many committees as we could locate. There is a wealth of governance information available at our site, which one can reach from the Committee Governance link on the Faculty & Staff page of Skidmore's web site. We welcome your suggestions for additions to our site.
Dean Joseph thanked Mark and the members of CFG. Chuck announced that the Board approved
tenure and promotion for James Kennelly, Assistant Professor of
Management and Business; Kathleen Leavitt, Assistant Professor of Art; Eric Lewis,
Assistant Professor of Management and Business; Viviana Rangil, Assistant Professor
of Spanish; and Susan Walzer, Assistant Professor of Sociology.
The Board approved tenure for Linda Simon, Associate Professor of English.
The Board approved the following sabbatical leaves for tenured faculty for the 2002-03 academic year:
For Entire 2002-03 Academic Year
Raymond J. Giguere, Professor of Chemistry
Francisco J. Gonzalez, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Doretta M. Miller, Professor of Art
Linda S. Simon, Associate Professor of English
Joanna S. Zangrando, Douglas Family Professor of American Culture, History, Literary
and Interdisciplinary Studies
For Fall 2002
Victor L. Cahn, Professor of English
*Joanne Devine, Associate Professor of English
Barry Goldensohn, Professor of English
For Spring 2003
Giuseppe Faustini, Professor of Italian
Anthony G. Holland, Associate Professor of Music
Richard Linke, Associate Professor of Art
David J. Miller, Ella Van Dyke Tuthill '32 Professor of Studio Art
Lary Opitz, Associate Professor of Theater
David Peterson, Associate Professor of Art
* Full Year Pending External Funding
The Board approved the following sabbatical leaves for untenured faculty for the 2002-03 academic year:
For Entire 2002-03 Academic Year
Corey R. Freeman-Gallant, Assistant Professor of Biology
Elzbieta Lepkowska-White, Assistant Professor of Management & Business
Lynda D. Vargha, Assistant Professor of Economics
Mark A. Youndt, Assistant Professor of Management & Business
For Fall 2002
Susan H. Zappen, Associate Librarian
For Spring 2003
Timothy W. Burns, Assistant Professor of Government
Katherine E. Graney, Assistant Professor of Government
Barbara Norelli, Assistant Librarian The Strategic Plan
Dean Joseph opened the floor for discussion on the Strategic Plan. Chuck explained that the most recent draft created by the IPC writing group is in the process of being vetted by CEPP, IPC, DOF Staff, President's Staff and Academic Staff Steering Committee. It will be vetted by other constituencies before coming to the faculty floor in April.
Chuck said that the consensus is emerging on the layout of the new, briefer document,
which will include an introduction, statement of goals, rationale and summary.
President Studley outlined the three central priorities emerging:
- Promote academic excellence, most importantly through the addition of 10-15 new faculty lines and related development
- Promote student excellence, diversity and enrich student life with a focus on creating a more diverse student body, and expand the opportunities for faculty to participate in a fuller co-curricular experience. Financial aid is a primary tool to make this happen.
- Add space for learning and teaching needs to accommodate extra faculty lines with more classroom and office space. A new music building and a renovation of the existing Filene can make this happen. In short, the goals that warrant the most substantial investment to advance our mission can be summarized as faculty, financial aid, and Filene.
President Studley emphasized the importance of focusing new resources on these priorities.
Other goals that are important or under discussion will need to take secondary status include rewards to faculty & staff technology, information resources, athletics, added administrative and support staff, and other facilities increasing curricular and student life.
Michael Casey reported that an outside consultant has reviewed our donor base and
agreed that our goal of $125 to $150 million is in line with our donor base. He reminded
faculty that campaign dollars will come in over a number of years and when those dollars
are received they will be credited toward the campaign. One objective of this campaign
will be to increase the gift support Skidmore receives to a new and sustainable level
for the future. Mike consistently reviews income streams over a 5, 10 and 15 year
period.
There was a brief discussion of campaign finances and Chuck suggested scheduling a
separate faculty meeting to address this issue in more detail, as well as the important
issue of compensation.
When asked how faculty sees the Plan being written, it was suggested that the committees not write the document, but rather one person takes control to write the final draft. Jamie said that she is that person who is responsible for delivering the Plan.
Chuck continued to talk about the goal of between 10-15 new faculty lines over the next decade explaining that this would enable faculty to invest more of their time for scholarship and provide time for a one-on-one experience with students. Joel Smith asked that the criteria for hiring new faculty be distributed to faculty. Chuck also suggested that more than tenure lines may be needed, and we may need to increase lab assistants, for instance.
The issue of faculty diversity was discussed briefly. President Studley announced that over the last 3 years, 19% of our faculty hires (tenure track and full-time faculty appointments) have been faculty of color. However, work still needs to be done in recruiting and the area of retention.
It was pointed out that the increase in faculty lines results in a burden on faculty compensation dollars and a resulting constraint on faculty salary adjustments. Mehmet Odekon reminded the faculty that in the December Faculty Meeting a resolution was passed that requested the strategic plan have
1. the central goal of excellence in liberal arts and sciences education
2. the necessity of a productive faculty of teacher-scholars
3. a streamlined and better-focused set of bullets that derives from the central goal
and that makes clear the college’s strategic priorities for the next decade
A question was raised about when Filene would be renovated. Dean Joseph explained that a new building is being discussed, to be built near the current Filene building. Once the new Filene is built, the faculty would move into it, and the old Filene would be renovated, thus, creating more offices and perhaps 6 or 7 class rooms. In summary, there would be two buildings at a total cost of $13-17 million.
When asked about the Faculty Observer's report on benefits and Trustees’ suggestion that the College review the rising cost of benefits, Jamie said that the College remains committed to excellent benefits for the Skidmore community within an overall compensation package that is competitive in our job markets. Our goal would be to preserve excellent benefits but to see if realignments might allow us to reduce costs and shift funds into salary. She and Jim Kennelly, chair of the Benefits Committee, have agreed that the starting point should be an analysis of our benefits and a look at other institutions to gain more information on options and efficiencies within our fundamental commitments.
The meeting ended with a request to circulate a document for faculty to review. That document will be available before the April meeting.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Adrienne Zuerner announced that the next Moseley Lecturer will be Associate Professor of English Rajagopal Parthasarathy.
- Linda Simon, Acting Director of the Honors Forum, announced that the Academic Festival will be held May 1, 2002. She reminded the faculty to watch for potential projects and to encourage students to participate.
- Gary McClure, Associate Professor of Management and Business and Director of International Affairs announced that beginning with the Class of '03, the International Affairs (IA) Minor has been revised and is now available to all Skidmore students regardless of their Major. This is a significant opportunity for Skidmore students and means that the IA Minor is now available to all interested Skidmore College students for the first time since the inception of the program. Professor McClure asked the faculty to communicate this information during Spring Term advising and, if there are any questions, he would be happy to answer them. The IA Webpage is being revised to reflect the revisions and the changes will be in the new Skidmore College Catalog.
- President Studley invited the faculty to the Tang Atrium for the Faculty/Staff reception.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia Ann Heritage
Executive Secretary
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the
Dean of the Faculty