Faculty Meeting Minutes
December 6, 2013
Gannett Auditorium
MINUTES
President Philip A. Glotzbach called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
President Glotzbach asked if there were any corrections to, or comments regarding,
the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held November 1, 2013. Hearing none, he announced
the minutes were approved.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President Glotzbach acknowledged the death of Nelson Mandela that occurred yesterday.
A moment of silence was observed in his honor.
While we still have significant work to do over the next few weeks, President Glotzbach
expressed his appreciation for everyone’s good work this past semester. He reminded
everyone that the deadline for group input (white papers) to the strategic planning
process is December 13.
Thereafter, President Glotzbach thanked Mike West, Mike Hall, and the others from
their team who were involved in the lengthy process that led to the approval by the
Greenfield Town Board of Skidmore’s proposed solar array project. As previously indicated,
this project is designed to supply approximately 12 percent of Skidmore’s total electric
power needs.
President Glotzbach also thanked Marie Glotzbach and the members of the Executive
Committee of the Skidmore Cares Initiative – Megan Buchanan from Athletics, who organizes
athlete volunteers; Michelle Hubbs with Benefaction; Kelly Dempsey, who leads the
Skidmore Cares Cheerleaders; and the many other people involved in this initiative.
He also thanked Professor Gordon Thompson and Beatlemore Skidmania for their generous
contribution of $8,000 to the Skidmore Cares initiative. President Glotzbach said
that, at a time when the Federal government has just removed millions of people nationwide
from the food stamp program, the Skidmore Cares program makes a very important difference
in our region. He expressed his sincere appreciation to Professor Thompson and all
the students and other musicians who participated in the Beatlemore Skidmania event.
President Glotzbach reported that he and several other Annapolis Group presidents
participated in a meeting at the White House a few weeks prior with Gene Sperling,
Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic
Policy. Mr. Sperling’s office is collaborating with the Department of Education on
the Obama Administration’s Higher Education initiative. Following this meeting, President
Glotzbach was invited to attend a day-long higher education summit at the White House,
which is now scheduled to take place in January. It is President Glotzbach’s hope
that he will be able to provide an update of this meeting at the Academic Summit on
January 17. He encouraged members of the faculty and administrators to attend this
year’s Academic Summit; this year, Dr. Stephen Ainlay, President of Union College,
has been invited to attend to share his perspective on the broader world of higher
education. Last year’s summit was a very successful event, and President Glotzbach
looks forward to this year’s meeting. Further details about the summit will be forthcoming
shortly.
Faculty Development Committee
Professor Alice Dean, Chair of the Faculty Development Committee, thanked those faculty
members who submitted nominations for the 2013-14 Distinguished Faculty Service Award
and those candidates who stood for nomination. With great pleasure, Professor Dean
announced that this year’s Distinguished Faculty Service Award has been awarded to
Professor Mark Huibregtse of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.
A congratulatory round of applause was given to Professor Huibregtse.
DEAN OF THE FACULTY AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS’ REPORT
Beau Breslin, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, began his
report by congratulating Professor Huibregtse on his award and then thanked the faculty
for a terrific semester. He reminded everyone of the deadline for the COACHE survey
and encouraged everyone who had not yet completed the survey to do so; in the past,
the responses to these surveys have resulted in finding ways to further support faculty
in their development and in their work.
Thereafter, DOF/VPAA Breslin provided a brief update on the Middle States reaccreditation
process. While the reaccreditation is still a few years away, the planning process
has begun. The steering committee has been established, and those faculty members
who will be involved in the process include Professor Mark Huibregtse, Assistant Professor
Javier Perez-Moreno, and Professor Sarah Goodwin, as co-chair. Over the next few
weeks, the steering committee will determine what kind of self-study will be done
and will prepare for the visit from our Middle States liaison on April 22. DOF/VPAA
Breslin will provide updates as the process moves forward.
In concluding his report, DOF/VPAA Breslin announced that appointments to the endowed
chairs whose terms will expire at the end of this academic year have been made. DOF/VPAA
Breslin described the process for the appointment of these endowed chairs. Offering
his congratulations to the new appointees and noting that an announcement will be
sent out to the community shortly, DOF/VPAA Breslin named the appointments as follows:
- The Robert Davidson Chair in Art: David Peterson
- The Douglas Family Chair in American Culture, History, and Literary and Interdisciplinary Studies: Jennifer Delton
- The Ella Van Dyke Tuthill ’32 Chair in Studio Art: Bob ParkeHarrison
- The Courtney and Steven Ross Chair in Interdisciplinary Studies: Jim Kennelly
- The Quadracci Chair in Social Responsibility: Crystal Moore
- The Class of 1948 Chair for Excellence in Teaching: Pat Fehling
- The Tisch Family Distinguished Professorship: Mehmet Odekon
A congratulatory round of applause was given to all the newly-appointed endowed chairholders.
Retirements
On behalf of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure, Professor Kate
Leavitt read the following resolution into the record (see attached):
BE IT RESOLVED, that the faculty of Skidmore College expresses its profound appreciation
and admiration for the following members of the Skidmore Faculty who have this year
expressed their determination to retire:
-
- Mary Lynn, Professor, Department of American Studies
- David Porter, Professor, Department of Classics
The faculty further resolves that the biographical highlights of these members contained
in the Retirement Citation booklet distributed at this meeting be included in the
Faculty Meeting Minutes of December 6, 2013, in recognition and celebration of their
distinguished service and achievement (see Attachment).
DOF/VPAA Breslin asked the assembly to signal their acclimation by applause.
Thereafter, Associate Professor Dan Nathan delivered a tribute to Professor Lynn and
Associate Professor Dan Curley delivered a tribute to Professor Porter. President
Glotzbach presented Professor Lynn and Professor Porter with gifts, and a warm round
of applause and standing ovation were given to Professor Lynn and Professor Porter.
President Glotzbach congratulated the retirees on their retirements and provided brief
comments on their careers at Skidmore. He noted that that these two individuals have
a combined service of 75 years to the institution and that the College has benefitted
greatly from their service. Thereafter, President Glotzbach announced that Professor
Lynn has been appointed to the newly-created post of College Historian.
CONFERRAL OF DEGREES AND HONORS
A. Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees. Dave DeConno, Registrar, read the following resolutions into the record (see attached):
RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting
of the Bachelor of Arts degree to 17 students of the Class of 2014 upon satisfactory
completion of the degree requirements by January 31, 2014.
RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting
of the Bachelor of Science degree to 6 students of the Class of 2014 upon satisfactory
completion of the degree requirements by January 31, 2014.
There was no discussion, and the motions were voted on and passed with all in favor.
B. All-College and Departmental Honors. Corey Freeman-Gallant, Associate Dean of the Faculty for Academic Policy and Advising,
read the following resolutions into the record (see attached):
RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College approve College Honors for the following
3 members of the Class of 2014, as presented at the December 6, 2013, Faculty Meeting:
2 students for cum laude distinction and 1 student for magna cum laude distinction.
RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College approve Departmental and Program Honors
for 6 students from the Class of 2014, as presented at the December 6, 2013 Faculty
Meeting.
There was no discussion, and the motions were voted on and passed with all in favor.
C. Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. On behalf of the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Committee, Associate Professor
David Howson read the following resolution into the record (see attached):
RESOLVED, that the Faculty of Skidmore College recommend to the Trustees the granting
of the Master of Arts degree to one student.
There was no discussion, and the motion was voted on and passed with all in favor.
OLD BUSINESS
Committee on Educational Policies and Planning
On behalf of the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning (CEPP), Professor
Peter von Allmen provided an update on CEPP’s review of the general education requirements.
CEPP has had very productive conversations with smaller groups, has met with all divisional
roundtables and former CEPP chairs involved in previous curricular reviews, and has
had good conversations about the current general education requirements. CEPP believes
it has identified some gaps in the current requirements and believes it has a model
to fill in those gaps. CEPP’s work on this matter will continue in the spring, and
Professor von Allmen will continue to provide updates on this process.
Thereafter, Professor von Allmen provided a review of a sample student evaluation
forms output report. The output reports will be sent to each faculty member electronically
as a PDF through email. The output reports will also be provided to the DOF/VPAA
office, Department Chairs, and CAPT. Brief discussion was held regarding the possibility
of errors made by students on the forms, the information department chairs will receive,
assessment of the new forms, and the possibility of opportunities to help faculty
interpret the new forms.
NEW BUSINESS
There was no new business.
REPORTS
Kim Verstandig, Campaign Director, shared a PowerPoint presentation on the new fundraising
campaign. She explained the importance of campaigns and reviewed Skidmore’s past
campaigns. The campaign is being led by Trustees Nancy Hamilton and Scott McGraw,
as co-chairs, and a committee of alums and parents, including President and Mrs. Glotzbach,
Michael Casey, Linda Toohey, and herself. The campaign, entitled “Creating our Future,”
will run through May, 2019, and the goal is in the range of $220-$240 million. Through
her PowerPoint presentation, Ms. Verstandig reviewed the four stages of the campaign,
the campaign funding priorities, and the impact of the funds raised for the annual
fund and financial aid. To date, the campaign has raised $55,899,032.
Following Ms. Verstandig’s presentation, brief discussion was held concerning the
process and consideration for setting the amount of the goal, the reason the campaign
is set-up as a comprehensive campaign, and the cost of the campaign. Ms. Verstandig
closed by thanking President and Mrs. Glotzbach for all the great work they are doing.
A round of applause was given to Ms. Verstandig for her presentation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Professor Janet Casey, Director of the First Year Experience, announced that the process for choosing the summer reading for the Class of 2018 has begun. The committee is in the process of being established, and Professor Casey encouraged anyone with suggestions for books to forward them to her. An invitation to become involved in the process will be sent out in January, and she encouraged FYE instructors to consider sitting on the committee.
- Professor Janet Casey provided an update on the Arthur Vining Davis grant for civic engagement, which is now in its third year. She announced that a special dinner centered on civic engagement will be held on February 11, 2014. This event will be to celebrate civic engagement at Skidmore, to create further networking and community-building opportunities around civic engagement pedagogies and interests, and to collect information about individual and institutional needs related to civic engagement activities, which will help advise the administration concerning the future of civic engagement at the College. Further details and an invitation to the dinner will be sent by email shortly.
- Paul Calhoun, Dean of Special Programs, announced this year’s McCormack Resident, Ann Bogart, will be on campus February 5-7, 2014 and will be giving her lecture on February 5, 2014 in Gannett. He encouraged anyone interested in having Ms. Bogart participate in their class to contact either him or Michelle Paquette in his office.
- Jacquie Scoones, Director of MALS, provided an update on the review of the MALS program. In the past three months, the MALS Committee has addressed many of the recommendations in the external review report and has had robust discussions about the possibilities afforded to faculty, students, and the College through graduate programs and about how to engage faculty in those conversations and in the current MALS. As CEPP prepares to consider how best to frame the discussion about the future of graduate studies at the College, the MALS program is evolving productively. Ms. Scoones encouraged new faculty members to become involved in the MALS program. If anyone has questions, ideas or comments, Ms. Scoones requested that they contact her or any of the other members of the MALS Committee: Corey Freeman-Gallant, Beth Ruane, David Howson, Eric Morser, Eunice Ferrara, Martha Wiseman, Paul Calhoun, and Sandy Welter.
- On behalf of the Curriculum Committee, Associate Professor Shirley Smith announced that a forum page has been set up for a proposed new minor in film and media studies. The committee welcomes any comments.
- After offering his congratulations to the newly appointed endowed chairholders, President Glotzbach invited everyone to the Skidmore Cares Open House at Scribner House immediately following the meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Debra L. Peterson
Executive Administrative Assistant