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Faculty Senate Minutes August 30, 2018

Thursday, August 30, 2018, 3:30 pm
Faculty Reception Room

Present: J. Alstete, A. Bishop, D. Brophy, G. DeFeis, D. DeFino (Secretary), M. Draeger, A. Howerton-Fox, M. Hughes, L. Ivanov, J. Kaalund, E. Mariola, C. Martins, J. Micik, T. Moretti (Chair), M. Nadel, H. Park, O. Shachar, C. Tsai, M. Veyvoda
Excused: K. Molloy

T. Moretti called the meeting to order at 3:35

Announcements

J. Micik informed the Senate that his contract with Iona would expire by week’s end, and that he would be resigning his position on the Senate effective immediately.

Chair’s Updates

  • Faculty Development: T. Moretti met with the Provost to discuss Senate concerns about the future of Faculty Development, and its willingness to recommend faculty to serve on an ad hoc committee to consider the potential function and structure of Faculty Development.  D. Wheeler plans to undertake a thorough review, which he assures the Senate will include significant input from all constituencies.
    • The Senate will continue to pursue the creation of an ad hoc committee.
  • Committee on Scheduling and Calendar: T. Moretti informed the Senate that the Committee on Academic Affairs has set a deadline of early December for the work of this ad hoc  committee, and that it will send a request shortly to the Senate to forward names of faculty to serve on the committee
  • Fall Grade Deadline: T. Moretti reached out to the Registrar to discuss faculty concerns about the early deadline for final course grades in Fall 2018: 12/19, which is one day after the last final exam day.  T. Murasso  explained that holiday break begins on 12/21 for staff, and scheduling the due date for grades any later would make it significantly more difficult to process grades in time. 
    • The Senate discussed this response, and will recommend that the Registrar give extra time to faculty with exams on 12/18. 

Expedited Ballots

The Senate approved a policy whereby expedited ballots would be used to fill elected committee vacancies, should the need arise outside of the usual election cycle. 

Committee Appointments

The Senate approved the following appointments: B. Sanner (Honors Council); T. Mussio (Core Curriculum Committee); A. Camara (Committee on Diversity); M. Kim (Institutional Review Board)
The Senate will take up remaining committee vacancies at its next meeting.

Committee Descriptions

The Senate discussed the need for clear descriptions of the charge, structure, and meeting frequency of each standing committee, both on the College website and on annual ballots.  It is hoped that this information will aid in the recruitment of a more diverse membership.  T. Moretti and D. Defino will create a basic template, and ask individual committees to generate their own content.

Faculty Survey

After reviewing both the numerical responses and written comments submitted by faculty in the last survey (distributed in Spring 2018), the Senate agreed to the following:

  • To distribute survey results to all faculty via e-mail
  • To offer an executive summary to the Board of Trustees, the President, the Provost, and the Deans of A&S and LaPenta, along with an invitation to discuss the results

Full Faculty Meeting

The Senate agreed to hold its Fall 2018 full faculty meeting at 3:30pm on 9/20.

Old Business

  • none

New Business

  • M. Hughes raised the issue of holding to the 25 student cap in Core courses.  As the summer term approached, several chairs were approached about extending that cap to 26 to accommodate unregistered students.  The Senate agreed that the solution to this problem moving forward must be to schedule adequate sections to accommodate students.
  • M. Nadel commented upon the diminished presence of CELTIC.  A discussion ensued wherein faculty related similar concerns, especially about the loss of the computer lab / media space in the offices previously home to CELTIC, but now occupied by the Advising Center.  Inquiries will be made about future plans.
  • D. Brophy expressed concerns about the lack of dedicated computers for adjunct faculty and several other senators concurred.  With the CELTIC lab gone, and other on-campus lab spaces limited, it has become increasingly difficult for adjuncts to produce course documents, enter grades, etc. in a timely manner. 
  • D. Brophy suggests that recognition of adjunct faculty service (10 years, 20 years, 30 years) be included as part of Fall Convocation.  The Senate endorsed, and will forward this recommendation to the Provost.

T. Moretti adjourned the meeting at 5:31. The next meeting of the Senate will be held on 10/4.