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Staff & Administrative Council Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, October 15, 2020

11 a.m. via Zoom

Present: Alvia, Manuel; Barghout, Jennifer; Brechtel, Emily; Connelly, Jennifer; Cooke, Shannon; DelliCarpini, Casey; Ferrick, Courtney; Ford, Jason; Grant, Mary; Jaccino, Helena; Katz, Andrew; Pace, Marie; Procario-Foley, Carl; Rosenberg, Jessica; Sannella, Marissa; Stanko, Jonathan; Tascio, Peter; Wenchell, Laurie

Excused: Beyrer, Brian; Carruth, Martise; Derenzis, Lewis; Derosa, Sam; Girardi, Angela; Johnson, Gary

1. Call to Order

September 24, 2020 minutes unanimously approved (Grant/Procario-Foley).

2. College Council Standing Committee Updates

  1. College Council.  Met on September 30. Pres. Carey reported on COVID-19 testing in Arrigoni of 350 students/week, on search for chief diversity officer and over 100 apps received for position. Extended congratulations and welcome to Joel Quintong as dean of students. Provost congratulated the Iona community on COVID-19 response, being 38 days into the semester at that point. 4,278 tests done at that time and only four active cases; reminded community of flu shots on October 8, of keeping classroom attendance, noted academic convocation date was announced. Core Curriculum met twice, had implicit bias training, reviewed/edited cornerstone surveys and course evaluations. Invited to apply for grant w/Arthur Vining Davis Foundation. Hynes Institute reported on seminars, Hackathon, and alumni co-working initiative. SGA has four new senators, mentioned voter registration initiatives, students pleased about printing in library. Heard various committee reports; Middle States process on track. (Reported by Carl Procario-Foley)
  2. Committee on Academic Affairs.  Referenced change in GPA this year, includes minus scale, will not affect honors/cum laude designations; honors discussing new GPA threshold, ongoing review; course activation/inactivation for all departments; adolescence vs adolescent education – TP revised title to be more current. (Reported by Laurie Wenchell). Maeve brought up concern over pass/fail option, that many students last semester changed their minds frequently; want the policy to be clearer, no waffling. There is not a lot of information to go on to make the decision for that option.
  3. Committee on Athletics.  Met on October 6. Professors were asking why student-athletes were attending practice in person but not classes, asking students to participate in class. Matt Glovaski talked about upcoming events, Meet the Coach was virtual, upcoming Pitino event at Homecoming. There is a new temp scan tool in Hynes Center that takes temp from the wrist and is very fast. Brainstorming community service ideas since we’re not in person; mentioned voting initiative that SAC/Iona ran, all but 4-5 students registered, credit to Athletics Student Grad committee; questions from professors re internships, coaches should put academics before practice time, that was reiterated; feedback on virtual learning, from student perspective. By next Athletics committee meeting, will have new rep to fill in for Dr. Fazio.
  4. Committee on Budget.  They have been meeting biweekly. Discussed how Board has charged committee w/creating budget not exceeding 3.5% increase total, discussed options for looking at tuition increase, has been between 2.5-3.5% in last few years, larger increase 5+ years ago. After presentations from Fatima Ferreira and Anne Marie Schettini-Lynch, committee endorsed proposal for tuition increase by 3% (about $1,000 increase). Decided yesterday to look at options for housing, not knowing what will happen next year, don’t want to handicap Res Life, 3% for housing also; fees will not change. (Reported by Jason Ford)
  5. Committee on Diversity. We discussed a recommendation letter to officially recommend the adoption of an anti-bias/anti-racism policy. A draft was presented to the committee for review. We also voted on the various working groups that you can be involved in as part of the committee. (Reported by Manuel Alvia)
  6. Committee on Enrollment Management.  Met on October 8. Discussed open house and live & virtual content for virtual open house; private tours still being given; giveaways and meet your advisor content; 100 more students than last year currently; top areas are business, biology and accounting. (Reported by Jen Barghout)
  7. Committee on Environmental Sustainability.  Reviewed land acknowledgement statement, acknowledging that land our native people dwelled on is where the College now stands; Berry Forum reported on extensive number of presentations on the fifth anniversary of Laudato Si; environmental studies major revised and is being reapproved. (Reported by Carl Procario-Foley)
  8. Committee on Human Resources & Compensation.  Met on October 2. Introduced new members, Kathleen McElroy presented update on harassment policy; employees can now get a hearing for sexual assault but not for other types of harassment. Reporting on TIAA, Paycom and its October 26 implementation, (Paycom will have an app, be self-serve and questions can be answered through PayUniversity). The committee requested a list of policies and procedures still needing to be reviewed. (Reported by Peter Tascio)

    In answer to question: Paycom training will also be recorded for those who can’t attend; everyone including managers should sign up; live session is best.

  9. Committee on Institutional Advancement.  No report, they meet on November 10.
  10. Committee on Libraries.  Library is up for five-year review and consultants have been meeting virtually with provost, faculty and students for a report due late February. IT had been looking into two-factor authentication, and hope to roll out Nov/Dec. IT will have strategic innovation committee to gather ideas from faculty about how we can incentive use of tech in learning; formal announcement of committee is forthcoming.
  11. Committee on Student Life. No report.

3. Old Business

Brother Bray Awards. Br. Ford had a conversation with MaryEllen Callaghan, not certain if convocation or academic gathering will happen, suggested to just do something ourselves, preferably before end of semester, to keep consistent with yearly awardees; Br. Ford will let us know by email what will happen.

4. New Business

  1. Discussion of hiring of associate dean in School of Business..  It came up from Br. Ford’s meeting Thomas Moretti, Maeve Wydan, Dr. Wheeler, MaryEllen Callaghan and Pres. Carey that we are in process of hiring associated with the School of Business; there will be a need as Dean Highfield will complete his term; Rosemary Rubbo’s role is slightly different, and they will need a position more like that of Dr. Stabile or Dr. Stackhouse.

    ACTION – Since the hiring process seems unclear, request for Denise Smith from Human Resources to come and meet with SAC in next meeting to discuss the hiring processes, including freezes, promotions, etc.

  2. Community reaction to the current “outbreak.” .  Noted that the timing of the notification wasn’t ideal. It came at 9:30pm on a Sunday. How can employees be sure tracing was done? What if they met with a student on Friday and had come into office on Monday? There needs to be more transparency on how it works. Tracing doesn’t begin until there are test results, so a test from Friday might not necessarily initiate tracing until Saturday or Sunday. Teaching is complicated and adjustments have to be made but we know it’s an evolving situation; can try to ask for more lead time if possible. Discussion of implementing temp checks in high traffic offices, but then we need someone dedicated to taking temperatures, recording them, and multiple entry points into buildings pose a problem (for example, every door in McSpedon is open).
  3. SGA/Faculty concern.   The attendance at in-person classes is very low; for instance, in a class of 25, only two may show up. The policy is if that you don’t feel healthy/comfortable, then you can take class virtually but students feel they don’t get the same quality/engagement as in person; we are between a rock and a hard place, struggling to figure out how to teach to in-person and Zoom together; need some guidance, especially for new faculty. Provost has been convening faculty, discussing small group methods, multi-modal, etc. What is the magic number where they close the campus for the rest of the semester? Haven’t heard it addressed. State-mandated or do we decide?
  4. Expectations for offices during break. What is the interpretation of our time during the break (11/20/2020 – 2/3/2021). Clarity can be gotten from Denise Smith in next meeting.

A note to not forget Week of the Peacemaker, the Thanksgiving Basket drive, etc.

Meeting adjourned at 11:57 a.m. (Wenchell/Connolly)