FACULTY COUNCIL REPORT
August 23, 2016
Faculty Council met last night for its first meeting of the 2016-17 academic year, which was also the first meeting under the leadership of Tom Swensen.
The major item for discussion was how Faculty Council could be proactive, rather than reactive. This was a response to the sense that in too many cases, faculty (often via Faculty Council) were consulted very late in the process, frequently once a proposal had been developed; and from a practical standpoint, even when the proposal was not a done deal, all too often comments and objections led to little more than tweaks at best. As one Council member put it, we are hoping for conversation, not (just) consultation.
Among the ideas discussed were assigning FC members to attend meetings of various committees (when permissible), but this was recognized as being quite time consuming and a less-than-efficient use of faculty time. A better-received suggestion was to identify liaisons to the committees, the idea being that the liaison would touch bases with the committee chair on a regular basis (say, once a month), keep FC apprised of anything that might merit its attention, and urge the committee to report to FC early in the process when the committee was developing a proposal that would have major impact on faculty members. It was also suggested that liaisons might find minutes from committee meetings to be informative. Ultimately, FC passed a motion requesting the Executive Committee to consult with vice presidents and committee chairs about their reaction to liaisons and sharing minutes. Council listed a number of committees and topics that it would be most interested in, among them enrollment, institutional advancement, international programs, HR (benefits), registrar, DIIS, etc.
Other items were more straightforward.
Council discussed the many Sakai sites it had created (in addition to the “official” site: www.ithaca.edu/fc). There was general consensus that the committee directory (a list of all known all-college committees with links to their charge and membership) should be retained as well as the links to site with links to diversity resources.
Duncan Duke was elected FC representative to APC (policy subcommittee).
Council appointed Michael Trotti, Ted Galanthay, and Diane Birr to review the process for recommending Dana professors. Two have been appointed for five-year terms, and the announcement is expected shortly.
Council appointed Matt Sullivan and Jeane Copenhaver-Johnson to report to Council about current practice with regard to electronic student statements. Provost Linda Petrosino confirmed that deans were asked to provide this information to the provost’s office last spring, and she will share what has been collected with Matt and Jeane.
There was some discussion of what (if any) role FC should have in new faculty orientation. Council charged its executive committee to do some fact finding on this topic.
Finally, Tom Swensen suggested a wine & cheese get-together for faculty, in lieu of a town hall meeting. This suggestion was well received. Stay tuned.
Stan Seltzer, Secretary