FA Meeting

Sept. 9, 2009

  1. Minutes

Motion to accept minutes from the last meeting (seconded)

Voice vote.

Minutes accepted.

  1. Faculty Assembly President’s Report

Eddie Saiff

  1. There will be no more sign-in sheets at FA meetings because no one ever looked at the sheets or used them for any purpose.
  2. Clickers will be introducedfor voting in Faculty Assembly meetings (for items that do not require a ballot vote). A trial run will be held today for voting on adjourning the meeting.
  3. Request that faculty try to go to some campus activities (art openings, basketball games, etc…), with the hope that this will help to build community.
  4. Bischoff Award ceremony in the York Room in the Mansion directly after the Faculty Assembly meeting (1:30 pm).
  5. Governance Review Committee needs to be formed. The current constitution sunsets on Sept. 1, 2010 unless we renew it. One representative from each unit and the library will be elected. In addition, two representatives from the current Faculty Assembly Executive Council (FAEC) will also serve. The business of this committee needs to be finished before winter break because several months will be needed during Spring semester for elections and installation of the governance structure.
  • No objections were raised, so unit representatives to the FAEC will organize votes within units.
  1. President/Provost’s Report

Beth Barnett

Thanks to all who volunteered to assist in the Provost’s Office.

The new Acting Vice-Provost is Emma Rainforth.

  1. Reports from Faculty Representatives to Board of Trustees Committees

No reports.

  1. Middle States Report

Jennefer Mazza

A draft of the Middle States Document has been sent to the editor.

Chris Hahn (of New Jersey Monthly) will serve as the editor.

The document will be posted and printed by Sept. 18th.

There will be an Open Forum on Middle States, Sept 30th, 1 to 2:30 pm.

Chairperson of the Middle States team, Dr. Dahl, will be visiting shortly thereafter.

  1. Academic Review Committee Report

Larry D’Antonio

  1. New members of ARC announced: Emma Rainforth (vice-provost), Joyce VanDyke (advisement), and Tim Burns (ASB).
  2. New course proposals are due to ARC no later than Dec. 1st for Fall 2010/Spring 2011.
  3. Online Evaluations – Volunteer full professors are sought to pilot online student evaluations in order to check the response rate. Ifreturn rates are low, it is possible that punitive measures could be made an option or that the paper format will be kept.
  4. ARC is working on recommendations regarding online courses.
  5. Academic Integrity – If the policy needs major revision, the deadline to have the revisions added to next year’s catalog is Jan 15th, 2010.
  1. Instructional Design Center Report

No report.

  1. AFT Report

Irene Kuchta

General membership meeting will be held Sept. 30th in Alumni Lounge. Members are invited, non-members may come and sign up to join the union.

  1. Announcements

Bishoff Award Presentation will be held at 1:30 in the York Room in the Mansion.

AIS Colloquium and Writer’s Series. Noted poet Robert Pinsky will be speaking on Thurs., Oct. 29th at 7pm in the Pavillion.

Latin American Studies Program Events will be held Oct. 12th, 14th, and 15th.

“Latinoization of the Americas” Platinum Series will feature a variety of exciting speakers. Please bring classes, but check the day for your unit’s time slot.

October 20th is a National Day of Writing (National Council of Teachers of English)

Please encourage students to send in any type of writing to a national archive available to everyone in the nation.

This is linked with the American Democracy Project and encourages students to link the Four Freedoms to the writing. Norman Rockwell’s depictions of the Four Freedoms will be displayed in hallways around the campus.

Go to NCTE.org for more information.

The First Year Writing Program has adopted a new handbook; Hacker’s Rules for Writers.

Please stop by Risa Gorelick’s office (B141) to pick up instructor’s desk copies. You can also email Risa and she will send you a copy via campus mail.

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Faculty are invited to attend a discussion of creative ways to look at the furlough.

Wed., Sept. 9th in C112

The Ramapo India Study Abroad Program is looking for students who are interested in participating.

There will be an Open Forum on the General Education Curriculum on October 7th.

  1. Motion to Adjourn

Motion carried. (92% voted “yes”, according to the clickers!)