Minutes, Faculty Senate Meeting

Nov. 4, 2011

Senators and Alternates Voting: Phil Jenkins, Ed O’Brien, Mary Ann Zimmer, Shamshad Ahmed, Lori Swanchak, Joanne Christaldi, Kielty Turner, Linda Partridge, Stephanie Wise, Rick Hoffenberg, Tammy Brown, Annette Fisher, Alex Vari, Monica Pierri-Galvao, Bill Conlogue, James Eckler, Gail Cabral

Others present: Packiaraj Arumugham, Gale Jaeger, Kathy Ruthkosky, Sarah Kenehan, Pat Sefffrin, Erin Sadlack, Charles Truitt

Agenda

The minutes of the Oct. 4th meeting were approved with one correction.

Annual Fund

Gale Jaeger explained the importance of faculty contributions to Marywood’s Annual Fund drive. She stressed that the size of the donation should be one that was comfortable to the donor and that the most important statistic, one which is used in grant applications and university ratings, is the percentage of faculty who donate. Senators are asked to remind their constituents of the importance of faculty contributions.

Proposal for Promotion to Associate Professor

Sr. Gail asked that the proposal, which has been on the agenda for four consecutive meetings, be put in motion. Mary Ann Zimmer moved and Tammy Brown seconded the proposal. The following points were raised in the discussion.

  1. Stephanie Wise from the Art Department raised the issue that the terminal degree for art therapists is a Master’s in Art Therapy. Other terminal degrees are specified (M.F.A., M.L.S., Master’s in Arch.). Faculty discussed whether there should be a specific list of acceptable terminal degrees or whether more general language would suffice. Suggestions were made regarding researching what is done in other universities, investigating the history of this language in Marywood documents, and the need to focus on the bolded changes so as not to hold up the present proposal for the sake of those current faculty who are looking for guidance as they prepare to submit documents.
  2. Clinical faculty do not need to do a pretenure review. The language requires pretenure review “or its administratively approved equivalent.” Clinical faculty submit FAR reports but not end of the academic year self-evaluations. There was agreement that the implications of having clinical faculty should be sent to the Concerns Committee, with later discussion of pertinent issues by the Senate.
  3. Bill Conlogue indicated that of 25 aspirant institutions, only two allow faculty to apply for promotion in the 4th year. The fact that the change had been voted on and approved by the Senate was reiterated. The idea that the Rank and Tenure Committee should have looked at comparable institutions was repeated.
  4. The fact that the criteria require community service of all was raised. Sr. Gail reminded faculty of her summary last meeting that most colleges and universities connected to a religious tradition have a criterion of service. Faculty discussed, and disagreed over, the degree to which practical, operational advice should be in the Faculty Manual.
  5. Bill Conlogue suggested voting be done by secret ballot. Faculty agreed with this suggestion. The motion was defeated; the vote was 6 in favor, 11 opposed.

Academic Workload Policy

Sr. Gail pointed out the language changes in this document and the deletion of the paragraph describing moving a faculty member back to a 4 - 4 course load in the absence of productive scholarship. There was discussion of ways of handling a situation in which a tenured professor was not engaging in scholarship, and whether it was appropriate to make teaching seem punitive. There was a motion to suspend the usual procedure of waiting for a second meeting before voting on a proposal. Some faculty indicated they would like to consult their constituents before voting. The motion to vote on this issue was withdrawn. This item will reappear on the December agenda.

Concerns Committee

Sr. Gail explained that the issue of some standard grading guidelines continues to surface as a student concern, and that this issue has been sent to the Concerns Committee.

Proposed Research Committee

The idea of a committee of volunteers who would summarize data from comparable colleges was raised. Erin Sadlack indicated that ad hoc committees might be named for specific issues as they arise, so that this committee would not be overwhelmed with requests. The other option would be a committee of Faculty Senate that would have subcommittees researching various topics. This item will be on the next agenda.

The meeting adjourned at 4:30 pm.

Minutes submitted, Gail Cabral