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FACULTY SENATE MINUTES, FRIDAY MARCH 14, 2014
3:05-4:28 p.m., 1066 McGOWAN HALL
Senators present: Philip Jenkins, Tom Kent, Bill Conlogue, Agnes Cardoni, Mary Ann Zimmer, Shelby Yeager, Rick Hoffenberg, Linda Partridge, Sue Jenkins, Hong Miao, Frank DeMatteo, Kerri Tobin, Jen Barna, James Eckler
Excused: Alex Vari, Lori Swanchak, Stephanie Wise, Eric Stein
Others present: Kielty Turner, Charles Truitt
Minutes submitted by: Linda Partridge, Agnes Cardoni, and Rick Hoffenberg
TOPIC / DISCUSSION / ACTIONREVIEW OF MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 21 MEETING / Sr. Mary Ann Zimmer was not marked as excused from the February 21 meeting. / Minutes were approved with the change noting Sr. Mary Ann Zimmer had been excused.
ANNOUNCEMENTS / Linda Partridge conveyed and reinforced a message from V.P.A.A. Alan Levine regarding final exam schedules. Faculty should schedule final exams or culminating experiences for all courses in the official, posted exam slots. / No action required.
OLD BUSINESS
Faculty Development Funding
Learning Commons Task Force
Online application problems
Changes in Rank and Tenure Criteria
Faculty Grievance Policy and Faculty Progressive Discipline Policy / Sr. Angela Kim, on behalf of the Faculty Development Committee, distributed financial information about Faculty Development funds dating to the 2011/2012 academic year. Funding has been cut overall from a working total of $95,300 in 2011/12 to $94,670 in 2012/13 and a working total of $70,000 for the current year. (Please see appendix below.) Monies are cut for attending conferences, and the funding priority is for presentations; on the other hand, more faculty are making presentations now. The previous amounts for presenting at conferences have not been reduced ($1700 for international and $1200 for domestic conferences), but an expected increase to $2200 for international conferences has not materialized. Alan Levine makes the final determination and has added funds yearly to the original, allocated budgets. Sr. Angela stressed that faculty should submit paperwork by June 30, the end of the fiscal year; and she requested that faculty also submit surveys about their conferences in a timely manner.
Frank DeMatteo reported that he has conferred with Joe Garvey, Renée Zehel, and Sr. Anne about the possibility of establishing an endowed Faculty Development Fund. It will take years to generate revenues and interest, but the idea has been well received. In order to help develop a proposal and solicit donor funds, Renée requests information from faculty providing evidence on how the fund specifically helps students. Frank asked faculty to forward information to him showing how our attendance at conferences enhances our students’ education.
The task force reported the newest iteration of a statement, which was discussed and accepted in principle by the Senate
Chris DiGregorio, from the Admissions Office, has been in touch with a concerned Senator and has explained the process and the rationale for using our current systems. There appear to be no complaints from current students about their experiences with the online application, and no changes are pending.
Faculty discussed the proposed revision of Tenure Criterion #7 : “The candidate for tenure must: have evidenced membership and involvement in the activities of professional societies in particular, or professional activities supporting the discipline in general; . . . “ (Proposed new language is in bold.)
Faculty felt, however, that some of the “procedural” changes also proposed by the Rank and Tenure Committee are more substantive than procedural and are therefore problematic. They expressed the need for the first proposed change (deans’ and chairs’ letters to the R & T Committee “will be confidential [not available to the applicant]”) to be formalized for appropriate Faculty Senate input and vote. The Senate also requested that the R & T Committee provide the history of its recusal policy, along with a more comprehensive explanation and rationale. (Proposed change to recusal policy: “Beginning with Fall term 2014, all committee members will consider, discuss and vote on all applications.”)
Erin Sadlack made a follow-up presentation of these two policies (having already presented at the February 21 Senate meeting). She explained minor changes that have been added in the interim to streamline the processes: individuals from a single pool may hear either grievance or discipline cases, rather than rostering two separate committees. Erin explained that the rewritten policies will be more beneficial to faculty than the systems currently in place. / No action taken.
The statement was sent back to committee for editorial and grammatical corrections.
No action taken.
The faculty voted to support the new language, with 12 in favor and one abstention.
Senators requested the opportunity for input on procedural changes. They also requested that the Chairperson of the Rank and Tenure Committee, or a designated spokesperson, attend a Senate meeting to offer information on these proposals.
Faculty voted unanimously to accept both policies. The Senate also requested that the Senate formally express gratitude to Erin for her lengthy and painstaking work in developing appropriate revisions to these policies.
NEW BUSINESS AND BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR / There was none. / No action.
ADJOURNMENT / The meeting adjourned at 4:28.
APPENDIX: FACULTY DEVELOPMENT FUNDING SYNOPSIS
PRESENTED BY SR. ANGELA KIM ON BEHALF OF THE FACULTY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Faculty Development Budget 2013/2014 as of 2/18/14
Original budget $80,170.00
Mandatory reduction ($10,170.00)
Working Total $70,000.00
Actual Spent 13/14 $42,415.85
Faculty Development Budget 2012/2013
Original budget $85,170.00
Mandatory reduction ($5,000.00)
Working Total $80,170.00
Transfer from Dr. Levine $14,500.00
Final ending budget $94,670.00
Actual Spent 12/13 $86,532.94
There were $4,205 in encumbrances that were taken care of in 13/14
Faculty Development Budget 2011/2012
Original budget $70,600
Transfer from Dr. Levine $24,700.00
Working Total $95,300.00
Actual Spent 11/12 $93,853.00