Faculty Council News
13November 2012
Council Chair Peter Rothbart opened the November meeting by announcing that there will be another closed faculty only town hall meeting on 11/27 at 12:05. Peter also stated that the entire Middles States report will soon be available at the Provost’s website.
Warren Schlesinger then put a motion on the floor that was passed 26 in favor, 1 opposed, and 1 abstention. The motion reads:
To improve communication between faculty and the administration, Council urges each school to invite the President to a school meeting at least once a year.
The Provost reported next, and stated that she divided the position for the Director of Grants and Sponsored Projects, which the College has unsuccessfully searched the last two years. Wade Pickern, Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence, will handle those aspects of the job associated with identifying funding sources and agencies and assisting faculty in assembling and submitting proposals, while MaryAnn Taylor, current assistant to the Provost and AA for the Grants and Sponsored Project Office, will handle procedural compliance issues.
Marisa then announced that there is a strong pool of candidates for the director of the central advising office, and that the ICNYC program looks good for the spring, meeting it’s objective of about 50 students for the semester, although student housing remains problematic.
The Provost then recognized the daunting pace of change associated with IC20/20 and ICC, informing Council that the primary challenge is to meet the Mid-State mandate that we have an assessed college-wide Gen. Ed. Program prior to our next accreditation. She also iterated that anything we docurricularly is subject to change, but we first need to launch. Afterwards, we can assess and change accordingly. She envisions a “culture of constant improvement.” She stated further, in response to a question from John Rosenthal, that not everything has to be finished by next fall, but we need to be well on our way.
Marisa then responded to some questions from Don Lifton, who was critical of some aspects of a memo from Carl Sgrecci, Vice President for Finance and Administration to Vice Presidents, Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, and Adminstrative StaffThe memo outlined that the College desires to continually invest in College employees with annual salary increments in the 2 to 3% range. Lifton felt that Council’s recommendation last meeting where we advocated for a 3% general merit increment for 2013, with a separate allocation for particularly meritorious merit, and a good faith effort to boost part-time salaries was not well supported by the Provost at budget meetings. Marisa stated that whereas she recognizes that faculty need to be properly compensated, there is greater institutional priority currently; namely, to keep IC affordable.
Lifton then commented on Sgrecci’s announcement that there will be no new funding for positions and initiatives aside from those associated with IC20/20. Sgrecci did offer that positions could be funded through reallocation of current resources. Professor Lifton felt that resource reallocation would be affected through the revitalized program review process, and therefore, would mean that new initiatives would come at the expense of faculty and programs already in place. Lifton urged the administration to provide some funds for new initiatives and to delink new programs from resource reallocation and program review. The Provost commented that we need to restrain costs to sustain our financial health and that resource reallocation doesn’t mean we reduce the size of the professorate, but we can’t currently do business as usual on campus given the current fiscal climate.
DanetteJohnson, Director of the Integrative Core Curriculum, spoke next. She expressed gratitude for the hard work by faculty to get ICC to where it is currently. She announced that the College has contracted to use TaskStream as its e-portfolio package. She commented that TaskStream can be used to assess a multitude of variables and that the goal is to use it without increasing faculty workload. Apilot program will be launched this spring and she is currently forming a committee of faculty to explore the myriad ways we can use the program. Any faculty interested in working with this group or on themes and perspectives can email Danette at:
Council then entertained a presentation by the Huron Group, which has been contracted to conduct an Effectiveness and Affordability Review on campus. The group is studying administrative aspects of the College and not academic issues. The full scope of their efforts can be seen here (Insert Link?). The bottom line is that Huron is trying to make us more efficient—to help us do more with less. When finished, Huron will report to a steering committee composed of DeanGayeski, Associate VP Coldren, and VPs Sgrecci, Kelly, and Maguire.
The last order of business for the night was passing the following amendment on office hours for the Faculty Handbook. The old policy read:
Faculty are responsible for being available to students for consultation. When classes are in session and during examination periods, each faculty member will post regularly scheduled office hours, during which time the faculty member must be in the office or other appropriate campus location and available for student consultations. In addition, the faculty member must make appointments at other times for students who cannot be seen during the regularly scheduled office hours, and shall schedule additional office hours during registration advising periods so that the faculty member's advisees can see the faculty member in a timely manner.
The new policy, which was passed 25 in favor and 2 abstentions, reads:
When classes are in session and during examination periods, each faculty member will post regularly scheduled office hours, during which time the faculty member must be in the office or other appropriate campus location and available for student consultations. The number of office hours should be equal to at least one (1) hour for each three (3) credits taught; with a maximum requirement of three (3) hours a week. Faculty will submit office hours each semester to the planning unit chair. In addition, the faculty member must make themselves available for consultation at other times for students who cannot be seen during the regularly scheduled office hours and/or students who are completing online or other credit bearing experiences off campus. Faculty may need to schedule additional office hours during registration advising periods so that the faculty member's advisees can see the faculty member in a timely manner.
Respectfully,
Tom Swensen
Secretary Faculty Council
Professor and Chair Exercise and Sport Sciences