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SAC Meeting Minutes October 18, 2018

LaPenta Student Union Building – End Zone – 2 p.m.

Connolly, Donna Crisp, Casey DelliCarpini, Danielle Demorin, Lewis Derenzis, Sam DeRosa, Courtney Ferrick, Jorge Franco, Mary Grant, Carol Ann Kenny, Anthony Mastantuoni, Carl Procario-Foley, Antonio Scaccia, Lisa Tufariello, Charlotte Wray

Excused: Patricia Idelowitz, Bing Morris, Michele Sampson-Nelson
Guests: Dr. Darrell Wheeler, Provost

I. SAC meeting called to order. Attendance taken by Anthony Scaccia

II. Please send any correction on the September minutes to Carol Ann Kenny

III. Dr. Wheeler addressed SAC

  • Parents worked at the University of Chicago and Dr. Wheeler started his higher ed experience on the staff there
  • Academic Excellence – can’t have an excellent college without the staff – the college experience is not just the Faculty
  • The College is trying to be equitable, fair and transparent
  • Need to interface on issues – meet face to face – not just documents and e-mail
  • There is a compensation workgroup for the Faculty and need to work on something equivalent for the staff – work in progress – trying to understand the stumbling blocks
  • Wants to have meetings with SAC, SAG and the Faculty every month – Provost is for all constituencies – wants people to come to him with concerns, etc. – needs to know the issues.
  • Moving forward with the Strategic Plan – really looking at the recruitment and retention of faculty and staff
  • Academic Programs and Excellence – next month hoping to introduce a new program – using Data driven decision making

IV. College Council Standing Committee updates or reports:

(Please see complete minutes for each of the standing committees on line)

  • College Council – Meeting on Oct. 10– highlights
    • The Strategic Planning Group has been seated.
    • Journal News listed Iona University as the college/university with the highest return on investment in Westchester.
    • Iona will be looking at space utilization on campus focusing on how to best use the upcoming new spaces at the College as well as how to best utilize existing spaces.
  • Committee on Academic Affairs
  • Committee on Athletics
  • Committee on the Budget – met three times
    • A&S Tuition increase set at 3.5%
    • LaPenta School of Business Tuition increase set at 5%
    • MA Programs – tuition increase – 4%
    • Education MA – flat tuition
    • CSD – 2% Tuition increase
    • • Looking at differential housing charges
  • Committee on Diversity
    • Working on giving suggestions to Human Resources on the Diversity statement for the college. COD reviewed the current DIE (Diversity, Inclusion, Equity) diversity statement for the College and compared that to the NYU job Ad. COD agreed that the College’s DIE statement is very general and need to be renewed.
    • The committee plans to work on developing a new DIE diversity statement via OneDrive. T. Lyle planned to take an initiative on this and share that to all members on the committee.
    • Caroline Coppola and Lisa Tufariello are attending a Defamation Experience Event at Stony Brook on Oct. 23.
  • Committee on Human Resources & Compensation – meeting on Sept. 21
    • Evaluation Review
    • Believed that Advancement had tested the Evaluation tool, but Tracey said that they did not test it.
    • The staff evaluation process does not have to be the same as the Faculty’s process – the Faculty postponed the implementation of the new evaluation tool until next year.
    • SAC does not have to endorse the evaluation tool according to the Constitution. We are permitted to respectfully voice our concerns.
    • HR&C asked that SAC discuss the new performance tool.
      • 1. Inconsistency in the training that staff received
      • 2. Not all positions fit the matrices
    • Able to edit goals half-way through the year if realize that they are not attainable
    • Unanimous vote to bring the revised performance evaluation tool forward to College Council
  • Committee on Institutional Advancement – Met September 25
    • Eric Hamerman was re-elected as committee chair for the 2018-19 academic year
    • Paul Sutera led a discussion to give an overview of the Advancement and External Affairs department at Iona University
    • The construction for the Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (to be located in the portico in Spellman Hall) is scheduled to begin in the next 60 days, with the goal of having it completed in August 2019.
    • Iona Forever campaign is at $103 million, with a goal of $150 million
  • Committee on Libraries
  • Committee on Student Life - no meeting
  • Committee on Enrollment Management
  • Committee on Environmental Sustainability

V. Strategic Planning

VI. Old Business – Problem with recruiting staff to participate on SAC – Anthony Mastantuoni, Chair

  • Met Oct. 11 – Casey – Recording Secretary
  • Major issues: Recruiting staff members to run for SAC – don’t want to be penalized for being “good citizens”
  • Possible Issues:
    • People are not familiar on campus
    • Need a meet and greet prior to the election
    • Some employees have an issue with coverage
    • Feeling that SAC and Governance in general are a waste of time – advisory in nature – PR Problem
    • Non-exempt people fearful of losing their job and difficult to make up the time – shouldn’t have to make up the time, but . . .
  • Should have an official SAC presence at the New Employees Luncheon
  • Looking for suggestions for questions to include in a survey to determine what we can do to encourage participation
  • The Survey sent to the campus looking for nominees to SAC – felt participation was poor, but Danielle – OIEP – said it was representative. May need to re-think how to get the survey out to the staff.

VII. Strategic Plan – Academic Excellence & Distinctiveness – Carl Procario-Foley

  • Success of Our Students – Charlotte Wray and Mary Grant Volunteered to work on the document
  • Talent – Acquisition and Retention – Carol Ann Kenny and Courtney Ferrick volunteered to work on the Document

VIII. New Business

  • Please attend the Health and Wellness Fair on Wednesday, Nov. 7
  • Please attend the Town Hall Meeting – October 30th
  • SAC Thanksgiving Basket – coordinated by Carol Ann – thank you very much!

Meeting adjourned at 3 p.m.
Next meetings:
Thursday, January 17, 2019 – 2 p.m. – LaPenta End Zone
Thursday, February 21, 2019 – 2 p.m. – LaPenta End Zone
Thursday, March 21, 2019 – 2 p.m. – LaPenta End Zone
Thursday – To Be Determined - LaPenta End Zone
Thursday, May 7, 2019 – LaPenta End Zone