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Faculty Meeting Minutes

April 5, 2019
Gannett Auditorium

MINUTES

DOF/VPAA Orr asked if there were any corrections to, or comments regarding, the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held March 1, 2019.  Hearing none, he announced the minutes were approved.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

Faculty Executive Committee

Associate Professor Kendrah Murphy led a discussion about the changes to the structure and format of the Faculty Meetings.  She reminded everyone that in October, a Committee of the Whole had been held to discuss the structure and format of Faculty Meetings.  Following that discussion and in collaboration with the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, the Faculty Executive Committee (FEC) had temporarily implemented some changes with the goal of shifting the focus toward faculty business and making more efficient use of time.  The changes that had been made included reordering the agenda, requesting that reports be provided to faculty prior to the faculty meeting whenever possible, discontinuing announcements with some exceptions, such as faculty awards and announcements about tenure and promotion, and having the Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs chair the meetings.  Professor Murphy stated that FEC is now seeking feedback on these changes and will shortly be conducting an online poll to determine whether faculty would like to see any of these changes become permanent.  She then opened the floor for comments.  One faculty member stated that she believed there had been some loss in not having announcements. Another faculty member inquired whether the changes had allowed those faculty who needed to leave by 5:00 pm to do so. DOF/VPAA Orr responded by stating that all of the meetings held since implementation of the changes had been adjourned by approximately 5:00 pm

Committee on Educational Policies and Planning

On behalf of the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning (CEPP), Assistant Professor Steve Ives provided an update on CEPP’s review of the quantitative student evaluation of teaching forms, also known as the Dean’s Cards.  He reminded everyone that prior to the adoption of the current evaluation forms in March 2013, the Dean’s Cards had consisted of three questions. In order to receive more nuanced and less biased feedback, the current form had been developed.  When the new evaluation forms were approved by the faculty, the faculty had charged CEPP to conduct an assessment of the new forms no later than 2016-17.  Due to CEPP’s workload, the assessment had been delayed to the current academic year. Professor Ives explained that CEPP is now in the process of assessing the new forms and is working with Institutional Research to analyze the data that has been collected over the last five years.  As part of the review process, CEPP also sent out a survey to all faculty regarding the evaluation forms and invited Dr. Ginger Clark, Assistant Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs and Director of the Center in Excellence in Teaching at University of Southern California, to provide additional input and perspective regarding the assessment of teaching and the use of student evaluations.  Professor Ives stated that CEPP expects to finalize its review shortly and will provide its report and any recommendations to the faculty.  

OTHER

On behalf of the Faculty Development Committee, Associate Professor Erica Bastress-Dukehart announced that Associate Professor Matthew Hockenos was awarded the Edwin M. Moseley Faculty Lectureship for 2019-20.  A congratulatory round of applause was given to Professor Hockenos.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

President Philip Glotzbach reminded everyone that the final stage of this year’s admissions process had been reached, with the first day of three Accepted Candidates’ Days falling on the day of the Faculty Meeting; the final two days are Friday, April 12 and Monday, April 15.  In addition to the Accepted Candidates’ Days, our annual Discovery Tour program will take place Wednesday, April 10 through Friday, April 12.  President Glotzbach thanked all those for participating in the many different aspects of these programs, stating that they are enormously important for bringing in our next class of students.  He then reminded everyone that there will be many visitors to campus on those days and that each person who has contact with any of the visitors – for whatever reason – represents Skidmore.  President Glotzbach stated that these days signify the culmination of the year-long efforts by our colleagues in Admissions and Financial Aid, and he acknowledged and thanked them for all their efforts. A round of applause was given to the members of Admissions and Financial Aid.

President Glotzbach thereafter provided an update on the CIS swing space.  He reported that, since the last faculty meeting, there have been many conversations regarding the swing space, with concerns being raised regarding both the design of the building itself and its proposed location.  Over the past few weeks, Donna Ng, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer, has continued to consult with the Campus Sustainability  Subcommittee of the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC).  Based upon those conversations and further work by Pat Fehling, Associate Dean of the Faculty, the size of the planned swing space had been reduced from 40,000 square feet to 32,000 square feet.  President Glotzbach also reported that Cerri Banks, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, and VPFA Ng had met with the SGA Senate and participated in a second meeting sponsored by the President of the Senior Class.  President Glotzbach also held an Open Office Hour as well as a Fireside Chat. 

President Glotzbach then stated that the Campus Sustainability Committee had prepared a memo to the Cabinet and to the IPPC outlining a series of recommendations for the building, with the principal recommendation being construction of a two-story building instead of a one-story building.  President Glotzbach stated that, according to preliminary estimates, the additional cost of adding a second floor is likely to be approximately $900,000 to $1 million.  This cost, however, would be partially offset by a savings of $400,000 from reducing the size of the building from 40,000 to 32,000 square feet.  The net additional cost for adding a second floor, therefore, is likely to be approximately $500,000.  In addition, the plan to add a second floor would reduce the useable space somewhat, due to the need for stairwells and an elevator.  President Glotzbach then reported that IPPC had considered the matter and voted to recommend the two-story option.  Cabinet will now consider this recommendation and arrive at a final decision.

President Glotzbach concluded his report by stating that FEC had informed him that several faculty members had asked that we return to the question raised by Associate Professor Linda Hall at the February faculty meeting regarding the smoking policy.  After indicating that he believed that the minutes of the February 1 faculty meeting had covered these questions in sufficient detail, President Glotzbach clarified that he may have stated at an earlier Faculty Meeting that the College would subject the smoking policy to further review.  He reminded everyone that at the same time there had been a transition in the office of the Dean of Students and, when VPSA Banks took office, the policy had been brought back to IPPC.  IPPC then decided that there was no need for further review of the policy, as the policy had been extensively discussed both in the IPPC and more broadly in the campus community on many occasions.  It was, therefore, decided to move forward immediately with implementation of the policy, which became effective on January 1, 2019.

Thereafter, President Glotzbach opened the floor for questions.  In response to several questions concerning the proposed swing space, President Glotzbach clarified that Skidmore’s standard sustainable building practices would be adopted but that the budget would not support the inclusion of additional large-scale sustainability initiatives such as geothermal heating and cooling. He also commented on the length of time the swing space would be available for use on campus, and the effect of the construction of the swing space on the natural environment.

DEAN OF THE FACULTY AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS’ REPORT

DOF/VPAA Orr provided a brief update to his announcement of the appointment of Professor Janet Casey as Associate Dean of the Faculty.  As a result of this appointment, he reported that the duties of the two associate deans would be reconfigured, with ADOF Pat Fehling assuming responsibility for the presentation of the tenure and promotion cases, and ADOF Janet Casey assuming responsibility for contingent hiring.  This appointment will now create an opening for the Director of the First Year Experience.  ADOF Ron Seyb will soon issue a call for nominations for the position with the hope that a replacement can be appointed expeditiously.  

DOF/VPAA Orr then opened the floor for any questions.  One faculty member thanked DOF/VPAA Orr for acting quickly on the suggestion made at the recent Moseley lecture to change the faculty parental leave policy to remove the restriction that prevents a non-birthing parent from requesting a course reduction if the birth parent is also a member of the faculty.  The faculty responded with a round of applause.  Another faculty member asked for more information and transparency regarding the procedures that were utilized in the recent appointment of the associate dean of the faculty. DOF/VPAA Orr briefly summarized the process that he followed in making the appointment.

Thereafter, Marta Brunner, College Librarian, invited everyone to the community reception being held on the second floor of Scribner Library.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:06 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,