Faculty Meeting Minutes
Murray Aikins Dining Hall, 2nd Floor/Zoom
November 1, 2024
Dorothy E. Mosby, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs called the meeting to order at 3:38 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Dean Mosby asked if there were any corrections to, or comments regarding, the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held September 27, 2024. Hearing none, she moved to approve the minutes; the motion was seconded and they were approved.
PRESIDENT鈥橲 REPORT
President Marc C. Conner began his report by expressing his gratitude for the positive climate of the campus this autumn. He commented on the success of the formal opening of the Billie Tisch Center for Integrated Sciences. President Conner also noted that October 7th was commemorated by two moving and widely attended commemorative moments held in Wilson Chapel and the Wyckoff Center. The Student Coalition for Palestine set up a commemorative display in Case Center that President Conner walked through with Parker Diggory, Director of Religious and Spiritual Life, and some of the students who had created it. He applauded the work of Professors Mahesh Shankar, Pushkala Prasad, and Murat Yildiz on the Global Election Fever Panel, as well as the myriad other election talks, discussions, and other events that have been animating the campus in the lead up to November 5th. He then called attention to an upcoming panel immediately following the election, titled 鈥淲hat Now? Post-Election Debrief鈥� that he anticipates being a lively and interesting opportunity to stay engaged as a campus. Dean of Student Affairs Adrian Bautista will also be providing supports for students as they process these events. President Conner reiterated that his watch-words for this fraught political moment remain: education, resilience, and hope. There will be no statement from his office with regard to the election; all necessary statements have been made through the programming provided throughout the last year.
The McCaffery-Wagman Tennis and Wellness Center has been almost completed, and people will start moving in over the winter break, and it will be open by about January 20th. President Conner said that the facility is a professional-grade medical and athletic center, and should be a major draw for prospective students.
President Conner then updated the faculty on the Strategic Planning process. Each of the five themes is moving along at an exciting pace; he also drew the faculty鈥檚 attention to upcoming outreach from CIGU, the Office of Sustainability, and Academic Affairs seeking feedback and ideas on their respective areas. At the December 6th Faculty and Staff Meetings, President Conner will be sharing a comprehensive view of the draft plan from the perspective of each of the campus experts leading the respective themes. The Board will then see the plan at their February meeting, after the campus community has had an opportunity to review it and offer further feedback. There will be further opportunities for sharing and feedback throughout the Spring Semester.
President Conner reported that the Fall Board Meeting was extremely successful, noting that all of the Board committees have written new charters; they are committed to matching the excellence and rigor of the campus, and are highly engaged, supportive, and responsive Board of Trustees. They met with the Campaign consultant to discuss the future of advancement work including the eventual next campaign, and were able to engage with the Student Government Association President, the Senior Class President, and some of the leadership of the Student Coalition for Palestine. The Coalition had requested time on the Board agenda a few days before the meetings, and a great deal of effort was expended to make that happen in October. He described this as a great 黑料吃瓜网 moment: the students were extremely well-prepared, well-researched, and respectful. He noted that the issue of divestment from Israel is a very contested one, and that the college is not going to privilege one perspective over another, but that the student presentation was both useful and thoughtfully done and well received by the Board.
One of the Board鈥檚 primary fiduciary responsibilities is to oversee and approve the College budget. There was a community forum on the budget in September, and there will be an additional forum on December 4th. The College is considering hiring a consultancy for additional insight and guidance on the budget and overall operations, and there will be an update on that at the December 4th meeting as well. Increased interaction with the Board has been a goal of the President鈥檚 Office, and the dinner with about 40 Chairs and Program Directors at the Tang was a great success. The Board also has approved the Strategic Action Agenda鈥檚 four goals for this year: the racial justice initiative, speech and expression, strategic planning, and strategic resources. President Conner then solicited questions from the faculty. There being none, he concluded his report with a reminder that he will be available after the meeting at the reception for any further questions or concerns, that he continues to hold office hours for any meetings, and he is always eager to respond by email to any faculty questions or suggestions.
OTHER
Dean Mosby invited Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid and Vice President for Enrollment Jess Ricker to the podium to introduce the class of 2028. She said that we have welcomed: 670 first year students and 29 transfer students hailing from 34 states (and the District of Columbia), and 22 countries outside of the United States. 30% of incoming students self-identified as domestic people of color on their applications and an additional five percent are international students of color. 21% of the class is multi-lingual. At the time of application, 58% of students identified as women, 36% as men, and 6% as nonbinary people. 15% of this class are first-generation college students, which is up by a few percentage points from previous years. This year, we admitted 49 students to the Opportunity Program, the first time in several years that we exceeded our target of 40 students. 40 of those students are New York Higher Education Opportunity Program students, which will balance out previous years where we had a lower enrollment from HEOP. The biggest challenge we faced this year was fewer applications from full-pay students. We went to the waiting list to mitigate that, and are shoring up recruitment efforts to bring future class composition more in line with revenue goals. The Office of Admissions will be reaching out to the faculty in the coming weeks for their assistance in the work of the office.
NEW BUSINESS
There was no new business.
OLD BUSINESS
On behalf of the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning, Associate Professor Nick Junkerman read the following Motion (see attached) that was introduced at the last Faculty Meeting.
Professor Junkerman stated that this policy will go into effect in the spring if approved by the faculty. This will give CEPP and the faculty time to circulate the information to students and prepare any statements for their syllabi. He noted that the College General Counsel, Sarah Vero, is confident that the recording accommodations contract will adequately protect faculty鈥檚 intellectual property and the privacy of the classroom. Professor Junkerman solicited questions from the faculty. A faculty member asked for confirmation that the student will sign the contract when the accommodations process is completed through Student Academic Services. Professor Junkerman affirmed this. A faculty member asked what will happen if the student refuses to sign the contract. Professor Junkerman stated that it will preclude the student from receiving that form of accommodation, as the accommodations process is individualized and there must be agreement from the College as to which accommodations are reasonable with regard to the individual student鈥檚 academic needs. He said that, in the case of an oppositional approach to this aspect of the process, another solution would need to be worked out. There being no further questions, Professor Junkerman moved to bring the motion to a vote. The motion was seconded, and the faculty voted to adopt the policy.
NEW BUSINESS
There was no new business.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
Dean Mosby called for a Committee of the Whole in order to discuss academic excellence in relation to strategic planning. The themes and questions discussed were:
- What are some strengths in creativity and academic excellence that we should build upon?
- What are some areas related to creativity and academic excellence that we should pursue that would enhance these areas at 黑料吃瓜网 and add to its distinctiveness? Why should the College pursue them?
- What should we stop doing in order to pursue these new directions or initiatives? What should we sunset that no longer aligns with out mission?
- What are the critical issues that the College in general and Academic Affairs in particular needs to face over the next three to five years?
- What do you see as the key priorities the College should establish in its strategic plan for Academic Affairs?
The Committee of the Whole then broke into small groups for discussion and to prepare feedback and notes, to be collected at the close of its session. When the period of discussion ended, faculty members were asked to share out. A faculty member said that team-teaching in the First Year Experience Seminars would be a positive addition to that program. There being no further volunteers, Dean Mosby requested that all notes and additional thoughts be sent to her office.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
College Librarian Marta Brunner said that she has been working with the Student Government Association and the 黑料吃瓜网 Shop to find ways to ameliorate course materials costs for all 黑料吃瓜网 students. One of the most effective means is through timely submission of course materials to the 黑料吃瓜网 Shop by the faculty. Students must purchase any materials intended for this semester before November 18th, and faculty should let Becky Mattison in SkidShop know by that date if they will be using any of the same materials next semester. Course materials for next semester are due to Becky Mattison by December 18th. On behalf of SGA and Skidshop, she thanked the faculty in advance for meeting those deadlines.
DEAN OF THE FACULTY AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS' REPORT
Dean Mosby opened her report with thanks to the faculty for their contributions to the strategic planning process, noting that their input is key to the success of the academic excellence piece of the plan. She asked that ideas be submitted to her office before Thanksgiving Break. She then shared some of what was discussed in recent round table conversations with Chairs and Program Directors. Associate Dean of the Faculty for Student Academic Affairs Corey Freeman-Gallant and Professor Kelly Sheppard had presented data on grade distribution, high impact experiences, and academic achievement. Dean Mosby had shared her office鈥檚 plan for seeking proposals for tenure track faculty positions. We will be engaging in a new process that was tested out this past spring. Intent to request a tenure line will be due to the office of the Dean of Faculty by December 6th, and the full proposals will be due in early February. Four Chairs or Program Directors who have not submitted proposals will be invited to review the proposals, discuss them with the office of the DOF, and make recommendations. Decisions will be made in March, and shared with the Chairs and Program Directors who submitted proposals in early April. Because there is no funding for new tenure lines, this process will be focused on allocating vacant lines that we already have. Dean Mosby said that she had also shared with the CPDs that the reductions made in departmental budgets will be maintained going forward. Additional reductions are not being requested, and additional monies will not be made available for department budgets. She requested that departments with restricted or endowed funds to make use of them to the greatest possible extent. Dean Mosby suggested that departments look through their expenditures and prioritize them in terms of needs and wants, as that will be helpful in the event that further reductions are necessary.
With regard to the possibility of hiring a consultancy, mentioned by President Conner in his report, Dean Mosby stated that the 黑料吃瓜网 campus community knows 黑料吃瓜网 best, but we do not necessarily have the same breadth of knowledge about higher education as a whole that consultants can provide. We remain in a good position in comparison to many of our peers; we have good bones and many strengths, and our mission now is to preserve that so the institution can continue to thrive for another hundred years. She took a moment to acknowledge skepticism around the involvement of consultants, saying that the hope is to engage thoroughly with the consultants so that they can understand our institution and we can get the best possible product from them to help guide our future decision-making.
Dean Mosby mentioned developments with regard to summer student employment. She said that our current practices are out of alignment and not all students are receiving the same types of compensation. A working group with representation from Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Financial Services, and Human Resources has been convened to bring those practices into alignment, and they have developed a proposal for future summer employment which has been shared with President Conner and the President鈥檚 Cabinet. Two recommendations have come out of this: all students will be paid by the hour to create greater equity and flexibility. This allows the language around summer research to reflect the fact that not all research students are working a full 35 or 40 hours a week, and will allow them to attain other on campus positions if they are working less than full-time. The second change is that May graduates will not be able to live on campus while doing summer research, which will bring us back to pre-COVID policies. They will be hired as regular employees, not student employees, and will be entitled to minimum wage as such.
Dean Mosby then shared updates on the non-tenure track faculty union negotiations. We are currently 18 months into negotiations, which have been an overall respectful and educational process. Agreement has been reached on 18 out of 26 proposals. The remaining 8 articles are particularly challenging and interrelated. These items are appointments and assignments, academic rank, inclusion in and service to the academic community, observations, evaluations, and promotions, benefits and compensation. We are close to agreement on many of these articles, though there is still disagreement with regard to compensation and the College鈥檚 financial ability to meet certain expectations presented by the Union. We hope to reach an agreement by the end of the semester. There will be roundtable meetings with the Chairs and Program Directors to discuss these eight articles in the coming weeks.
Dean Mosby echoed President Conner鈥檚 themes of education, resilience, and hope as they relate to the upcoming election. She said that she will be sending an email this evening with resources for faculty to support their students in the days following the election. She asked the faculty to keep their eyes out for the message, and to take care of themselves and one another in this fraught time. Dean Mosby closed her report with an expression of gratitude to the faculty for their understanding, support, and messages of condolence as she grieves her father.
There being no further business, Dean Mosby adjourned the meeting at 5:02 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Nora E. Graubard