黑料吃瓜网

Murray Aikins Dining Hall, 2nd Floor/Zoom

 

Dorothy E. Mosby, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs called the meeting to order at 3:33 p.m.  

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Dean Mosby asked if there were any corrections to, or comments regarding, the minutes of the Faculty Meeting held November 1, 2024.  Hearing none, she moved to approve the minutes; the motion was seconded and they were approved.

CONFERRAL OF DEGREES AND HONORS

A. Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees. Dave DeConno, Registrar, read the following resolutions into the record (see attached):

RESOLVED, that the Faculty of 黑料吃瓜网 recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Bachelor of Arts degree to 20 students of the Class of 2025 upon satisfactory completion of the degree requirements by January 31, 2025.

RESOLVED, that the Faculty of 黑料吃瓜网 recommend to the Trustees the granting of the Bachelor of Science degree to 12 students of the Class of 2025 upon satisfactory completion of the degree requirements by January 31, 2025.

There was no discussion, and the motions were voted on and passed with all in favor. 

B. All-College and Departmental Honors. Corey Freeman-Gallant, Associate Dean of the Faculty, read the following resolutions into the record (see attached):

RESOLVED, that the Faculty of 黑料吃瓜网 approve College Honors for the following 8 members of the Class of 2025: 4 students for cum laude distinction, 2 students for magna cum laude distinction, and 2 students for summa cum laude distinction.

RESOLVED, that the Faculty of 黑料吃瓜网 approve Departmental and Program Honors for 11 students from the Class of 2025.

There was no discussion, and the motions were voted on and passed with all in favor. 

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business.

OTHER

Associate Professor Eunice Ferreira announced the final run of BLACK SUPER HERO MAGIC MAMA.

Associate Professor Erica Wojcik was invited to the podium, representing the Promotions Committee.  She provided an update to the faculty on a discussion held during the previous meeting鈥檚 Committee of the Whole, stating that Promotions Committee will begin revising the language around promotion to full professor with guidance from the Dean鈥檚 Office in the new year. 

Associate Professor Tim Wientzen, on behalf of the Faculty Development Committee, announced this year鈥檚 winner of the Phyllis A. Roth Distinguished Service Award; Professor Peter Von Allmen.  Please find the full citation here. The announcement was greeted with applause by the faculty.

DEAN OF THE FACULTY AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS鈥� REPORT

Dean Mosby opened her report with thanks to the faculty for on a successful fall semester. She then shared an update on the upcoming collaboration with the Huron Consulting Group, noting that it was first announced during that week鈥檚 Budget Update presentation by Vice President for Finance and Operations Dan Konstalid.  She explained that the goal for this work is to develop a strategic approach to better align 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 anticipated expenditures with our revenue by helping the college thoroughly review its programs and operations.  She emphasized the role of the faculty and shared governance in the endeavor.  Huron will be a partner in this work, with the steering group helping to communicate to the consultants what is important to 黑料吃瓜网; our community, our commitment to the liberal arts, our commitment to academic excellence and creativity, and our commitment to shared governance.  She noted the headwinds impacting higher education, with Barnard College鈥檚 recently announced multi-million dollar deficit and resulting cuts as a primary example.  She also noted that fewer affluent white students are attending college, while enrollment has increased slightly in other demographics, and that will require a change in our strategy.

She returned to the importance of the faculty and shared government in the endeavor to create a more sustainable future for 黑料吃瓜网.  Huron Consulting Group will not come in with a preconceived plan for the college.  Rather, it will review and analyze how we deploy our resources and share their observations of our programs and operations, offering up areas that we could be thinking about doing more effectively, efficiently, and in better alignment with both our mission and our revenue over time.  Dean Mosby then thanked Gail Cummings-Danson, Julie Delay, Professor Corey Freeman-Gallant, Professor Tim Harper, Associate Professor Nick Junkerman, Kelley Patton-Ostrander, Beth Post, Joe Stankovich and Dwane Sterling for their work on this collaboration. Noting that Patton-Ostrander and Professor Freeman-Gallant have had to redistribute some of their work in order to deepen their engagement with Academic Affairs鈥� data and financials, Dean Mosby recognized Caitlin Jorgensen, Director of the Philip Boshoff Writing Center, for stepping in as the student conduct officer for student academic integrity matters.  She asked that the faculty contact Jorgensen for any academic honor code violations during this time.  

Dean Mosby proceeded to offer an update on the collective bargaining process with the Non-Tenure Track Professors Union.  She stated that tremendous progress has been made, and that they are close to agreement on most items in the benefits, and are working to close the distance on compensation.  The bargaining unit and the college are committed to completing negotiations by the early weeks of January, and both parties have a strong desire to bridge the remaining gaps.  Dean Mosby said that it has come to her attention that there is an impression for some faculty members that the institution is attempting to create a divide between NTT and tenure track faculty based on the financial compensation negotiations.  VP Konstalid apologized for this during Wednesday鈥檚 Budget Update, and Dean Mosby reiterated that the college鈥檚 intent is not to create any divide between any college constituencies.  The information presented about the current cost over budget of the Union鈥檚 compensation proposal is factual, and has been communicated to the Union as well.  Though progress has been made to bridge the gap between compensation aspirations and the college鈥檚 fiscal reality, there is more work to do given our current financial projections.  

She stated that the college sees the Union as essential partners in this work, and recognize that the budget update was not received as consistent with that message.  She expressed her regret as to the disconnect in communication, and stated that it is important for the community to hear the potential financial impact of negotiations, as they are the largest unknown that will impact our budget for this year and the years to come.  Dean Mosby said that it is not helpful for the college to create the perception for any members of the community that our non-tenure track faculty鈥檚 collective bargaining efforts are opposed to the larger interests of the institution, so the college will work directly with the NTT Faculty Union鈥檚 representation to ensure that this valued portion of our faculty and our wider community understand that the administration hears their concerns about the budget presentation, and that they are committed to continuing to bargain in good faith and to bring the process to a successful conclusion.  

She closed with a reminder to department chairs and program directors to please submit their letters of intent to request tenure track lines to the office of the Dean of Faculty.  She then opened the floor to questions from the faculty.

A faculty member identified themselves as a member of the collective bargaining unit, and stated that the Dean鈥檚 apology was appreciated.  She expressed her regret that the college might characterize their salary demands as contributing to the financial constraints the college is facing.  She noted that some NTT colleagues are living under great financial strain, and that she appreciates the apology for that reason, and again expressed her regret that the implication was made during the Budget Update.  She noted that the collective bargaining unit does not wish to contribute to the college鈥檚 financial strain, nor do they wish to take more than their fair share.

Dean Mosby thanked the faculty member for her words. She shared a poem with the faculty before inviting President Conner to give his report.

PRESIDENT鈥橲 REPORT

President Marc C. Conner opened his remarks with a reminder to the faculty that he, Dean Mosby, and Vice President Joshua Woodfork would remain after the faculty meeting and be available for questions and concerns.  He then shared with the faculty his day, the breadth of which spoke to the breadth and depth of the work of the faculty; starting with the MB107 presentation at the Hampton Inn and ending with a performance at by Senior Artist-in-Residence Young Kim of Mozart鈥檚 Concerto No. 20 in D Minor at Zankel Music Center.  

President Conner said that it has been a complex semester with the Presidential election, and the challenges to higher education posed by continued strife in the Middle East. He said that the future of higher education will continue to come with its own challenges, and that clear fact and perspective is important.  He has heard some use the term 鈥渃risis鈥� for our financial constraints, but said they are not a crisis yet, and we will make the choices necessary to be sure they do not reach crisis level He stated that this is exactly the right time for aspirational strategic planning, as we need to be focusing on strategic priorities that we work collectively to determine are the most vital and most defining of 黑料吃瓜网.  He said that 黑料吃瓜网 has achieved its highest ever ranking in the U.S. News and World Report, and that the college is at the top in most categories.  He noted that our Princeton Review ranking in financial aid satisfaction by our students is remarkably high, and pointed out that the college has managed that without the endowments enjoyed by older institutions.  黑料吃瓜网 has also climbed over 100 places in the rankings of freedom of speech.

President Conner highlighted some concepts that he feels exemplify 黑料吃瓜网; creative thought, a community of trust, the Billie Tisch Center for integrated sciences, being a liberal arts college with a professional emphasis in our departments of Management and Business, Social Work, Education, and Arts Administration.  This emphasis on preparing our students for professional life is unusual amongst our peer and aspirant institutions. He noted that we have programs in place that other institutions will be scrambling to add in the coming years.  President Conner emphasized to the faculty his commitment to telling the story of 黑料吃瓜网, and telling the special 黑料吃瓜网 stories that will continue to emerge from our strategic planning work.  

President Conner took a moment to wish peace, joy, and goodwill to the assembled faculty in this difficult time, expressing his wishes for a wonderful holiday break for all.  He then invited VP Woodfork and Associate Professor Smriti Tiwari to begin the presentation on Strategic Planning. 

STRATEGIC PLANNING 

VP Woodfork and Professor Tiwari introduced themselves as the Chair and Vice Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee.  VP Woodfork thanked the faculty for their input, acknowledging the busyness of the fall semester and the work put in to provide white papers to the committee, participate in tabling, fill out surveys, and various other efforts. VP Woodfork also thanked Professor Von Allmen for acting as a replacement on IPPC, and congratulated him on receiving the Roth Award.  VP Woodfork explained that the presentations today will be given by the various groups responsible for the respective strategic planning themes.  He noted that time will be reserved at the close of presentations for questions from the faculty, with President Conner addressing the timeline at that point as well.  Each group has prepared a summary memo on all of the steps they鈥檝e taken to get input, and explain their analysis of the input, and will be presenting recommendations based on what they鈥檝e learned.  VP Woodfork and Professor Tiwari will receive this, ask questions of the theme groups, and all of this information from the entire planning process will help President Conner to draft the plan. VP Woodfork also thanked Professor Tiwari for helping to support him and President Conner with regard to the structure of the process, and at various moments throughout, as well as the amount of work she has put in.  

DEI Theme: Committee on Intercultural and Global Understanding

Please find slides at the link.

Environmental Sustainability: Campus Sustainability Subcommittee

Please find slides at the link. 

Financial Sustainability: Subcommittee on Budget and Finance

This theme was presented by VP Dan Konstalid.  He began with notes about the process of collecting input, stating that it began with consultations and information sharing through the IPPC Subcommittee on Budget and Finance, which has had an expanded membership through this semester.  That, coupled with campus-wide updates on our budget status in March, October, and earlier this week, has become the genesis both for feedback and generating broader observations and suggestions from across campus.  In turn, this has facilitated conversations both with members of IPPC, more broadly with the college鈥檚 Board of Trustees, and through the white papers submitted by community members.  The themes that have emerged include: opportunities for alternative revenues, monetizing intellectual property, and continuing to take steps to grow the college鈥檚 endowment.  The endowment is the college鈥檚 key limiting factor.  Observations were also made around both energy consumption and energy production 鈥� both as a potential new revenue and a decrease in expenditures, whether that be further energy conservation steps or further investments in generating our own through either solar or expansion of our current geothermal infrastructure.

Moving to the expenditure side of the budget, recommendations were received around general spending, reductions, and potential opportunities to revisit the organization of various departments and divisions for improved efficiency or effectiveness.  All observations and recommendations were very appreciated.  Continued investment in our data infrastructure as a way to pursue efficiencies in our operations was mentioned as well.  Lastly, a theme around pursuing opportunities for either savings in the delivery of our instructional program, or making modifications to the way that the faculty delivers the curriculum were both raised.  He noted that these points mirrored some of the conversations that have been taking place in the department chair and program director meetings.  To close, VP Konstalid said that majority of the input that has been received, both generally and specifically, with respect to the ask that people identify items to deemphasize or sunset have fallen largely at ends of a continuum.  At one end, suggestions that are fairly specific and more operational in nature than strategic.  At the other end of the spectrum, they received very broad, almost sweeping general recommendations that are helpful directionally but will need further development to become actionable.  Taken together, he said, the input suggests a general awareness that the college will need to make significant changes in order to preserve its financial sustainability, and a willingness to do that work.  VP Konstalid noted that he finds both of these quite encouraging.

The Residential Student Experience: Subcommittee on Student Affairs

Please find slides at the link. 

Increasing the Endowment for Financial Aid: VP for Enrollment Jess Ricker and VP for Advancement Carey Ann Zucca

VP Ricker opened by sharing the distilled feedback for strengthening 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 financial aid endowment that has been gathered through white papers, forums, and staff and faculty meetings over the past year.  The feedback can be categorized in a few main areas from a financial aid perspective.  Framing the endowment for financial aid as part of a broader goal like affordability will not only increase a greater sense of purpose and impact for the strategic plan, but it will help families see past the high price tag, signaling that 黑料吃瓜网 will support their student throughout the undergraduate experience. Communicating the affordability and return on investment of a 黑料吃瓜网 degree will be paramount.   Additionally, fundraising for aid will allow 黑料吃瓜网 to admit more students based on talent rather than financial need, reducing the institution's reliance on full-pay students, a theme that has come up at a lot of our meetings of late, and something I know we all care deeply about.   A stronger aid program could also help with recruitment and retention, ensuring that students who receive aid are able to participate in all of the high impact ways that 黑料吃瓜网 currently supports them and prepares them for lives of purpose when they graduate.   

From the second theme from the advancement angle, the feedback emphasized targeting different donor types and their motivations; such as former aid recipients, mid-career alumni, parents, athletes.   Ideas ranged from 鈥済iving back鈥� campaigns to appealing to different affinities, and quite a few references to growing, investing in and involving our alumni networks.   Another prominent theme was to continue and to enhance existing practices of connecting current students with graduates who can provide mentorship and career guidance, with folks noting that relationships like these are win-win. They not only translate into sustained giving, but they also support future generations of our graduates.   Another theme that came up in conversations about fundraising is making sure that we continue to educate our alums, who sometimes feel like their gift isn't big enough to have an impact.   That is a perception that we heard out there, and it came up in some forums. We'll need to continue to reinforce what we're already sharing; that any gift of time, money, or a kind word is giving back to 黑料吃瓜网.   

VP Ricker said that the final and third theme is that this work requires robust institutional collaboration to strengthen our brand and to tell the 黑料吃瓜网 story. She noted that President Connor was talking about telling our story earlier, and this is to influence not only prospective students, but also our alums, potential donors, and the broader perception of 黑料吃瓜网 across the globe.   As a part of that, many folks emphasize linking financial aid with 黑料吃瓜网's identity, our values and its impact on our students鈥� lives, from a student's first day on campus, continuing through their alumni experience.   This is seen as essential to fostering long-term and heartfelt giving to the college.   The offices of advancement, admissions, and financial aid, communications and marketing will need to partner broadly with our community, and especially our faculty to develop these compelling narratives about how financial aid enables transformative 黑料吃瓜网 experiences.   She expressed her hope that it's clear that the 黑料吃瓜网 brand and the outcomes of our tremendous graduates need to be amplified so that we can recruit and enroll the best students and inspire our community to invest in 黑料吃瓜网.   VP Ricker said that what VP Zucca and she see in all of this is that this isn't just fundraising and raising money: it's about strengthening 黑料吃瓜网's fundamental promise of providing an exceptional liberal arts education to talented students, regardless of their financial circumstances.   And as we face increasing challenges in education and higher education in particular, making this promise sustainable is more critical than ever.   

Creativity and Academic Excellence: the Office of the Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dean Mosby thanked the faculty for their contributions to the information gathered by Academic Affairs on creative and academic excellence over the course of the semester.  Feedback has also been collected by Academic Affairs staff and the Student Government Association, departments and programs, meetings with department chairs and program directors, academic committees such as the Committee for Educational Policies and Planning, Curriculum Committee, and the Faculty Executive Committee, Middle States Working Groups, community forums and faculty meetings.  The process was framed by guiding questions that were designed to gather vital input to support the institutional planning process for the next five years and more.   Initial themes were identified, along with a follow-up set of questions.   Based on these preliminary themes, which were shared at the most recent faculty meeting, and also at a second academic affairs community forum. Dean Mosby thanked the assembly for the white papers from many members of the campus community, which provided additional material for strategic planning. We had everything from proposals to create new programs, to new centers and institutes, to think about the humanities, and how to dig deeper into our interdisciplinary work 鈥� as well as how to make a more student-focused experience in our curriculum.   

Dean Mosby then shared a few guiding principles that have informed her reading of all of the qualitative data that鈥檚 been gathered.  Alignment with 黑料吃瓜网's mission values and identity, so that our identity as a residential liberal arts college serving undergraduates and committed to creativity, innovation, and also inclusion.   High impact opportunities to improve student outcomes and also faculty success.   Feasibility and accountability, as well as our ability to support our programming with existing resources or with the reallocation of current resources or fundraising prospects.  Dean Mosby also mentioned some other informing factors; external factors impacting higher education in our sector in the United States, a particular awareness of the wants and needs of our stakeholders (i.e. our students, our faculty, our staff, trustees, donors, alumni, our local community and employers), and being mindful of the rhetoric of public officials as to what they are saying about higher education, particularly with regard to the value proposition and the return on investment.

Based on the collection of qualitative data from meetings, forums, and white papers, the following emerged as main academic themes at the college. The first is academic; interdisciplinary learning and collaboration. Creative thought as a core part of our identity along with: sustainability; high impact student-centered experiential learning; technology and innovation; diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice; faculty support and development; career preparation and career-ready skill-building; campus infrastructure and maintenance, including modernizing our classroom spaces; and community engagement and regional integration.  Dean Mosby then mentioned some internal considerations. A number of the papers and input that we've received from the community relate to policies and practices and procedures.   While not quite strategic, they're certainly important for us to consider as we move forward.   She characterized strategic planning as an interrogation of the message that we're sending, not just internally but to outside parties as well, about the things that we鈥檙e doing and want to do.  Behind the scenes there are some policies, practices, and procedures that we have to put into place to make what we want to do successful.   Those internal considerations include financial sustainability and strategic resource allocation, and alignment between what we have available in terms of revenue and our expenditures. Many of those considerations are interwoven throughout the input that we received.   Support for our non-tenure track faculty was also brought up frequently.   Also mentioned consistently in the receved input was simplification and efficiency in academic offerings.   We have many programs and initiatives.   Some of the papers considered what we can consolidate to reduce redundancies across the academic curriculum.   Dean Mosby closed her presentation with thanks for the feedback that was offered, acknowledging that the process was time consuming.  She reiterated that participation in this process is very important, and that those offering input were heard.

Comments and Next Steps

President Conner thanked the faculty for their participation in the strategic planning process, and emphasized his investment in this work.  He then gave a timeline of the process overall.  Strategic planning began around January of last year, bolstered by the Visions and Values project and the Campus Master Plan.  The work done in preceding years has laid the groundwork for the Strategic Plan and has provided a great deal of material to draw on, as have the submitted white papers and community input over the course of the fall semester.  Next week, the theme groups will meet with President Conner, VP Woodfork, and Professor Tiwari to share their recommendations for the strategic plan, and at that point the input piece of the process will have come to an end.  President Conner will then use this to draft a concise 5-year plan, that is intended to be nimble in order to respond to various potential challenges on the horizon for higher education.  When the college begins the spring semester, the draft will be ready to share with the various constituencies.  By the week preceding the next faculty and staff meetings a full draft will be available to share with the whole community.  In February, the Board will discuss the plan and provide feedback.  The Board is the approving body for the strategic plan, making their input and perspective vital.  President Conner will then do another revision and share it out to the community again, beginning another period of feedback, revision, and input, ultimately culminating in delivering a finished plan to the Board for them to approve at their May meetings.  

President Conner reiterated his gratitude to the community for their work and involvement, and invited questions and comments from the faculty for him, VP Woodfork, and Professor Tiwari.

A faculty member asked for more specificity on the differences between the format of this strategic plan and plans previous.  President Conner said that he envisions one page per theme, which will include recommendations and initiatives for that theme.  He expressed his intent for this to be a short and concise document.

A faculty member noted that President Conner said that the input process is coming to an end.  She asked if white papers or input that are not included in the final strategic plan are being wholly disregarded and will not be picked up by the institution.  President Conner said that much of the input that was more operational than campus-wide and strategic will likely not be in the plan, but are still eligible to be picked up by the relevant Vice President as new initiatives or positive revisions/additions to current operations.  

A faculty member noted that this faculty meeting is the first after the recent presidential election.  She reminded her colleagues that there are a number of community members who may be acting as usual, while dealing with a great deal of pain and turmoil, and are actively dealing with repercussions from the outcome of the election.  President Conner thanked her for her compassionate reminder. 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:04pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Nora E. Graubard

Senior Administrative Coordinator