SAC Meeting Minutes, October 7, 2021

Staff & Administrative Council Committee
Meeting Minutes
Thursday, October 7, 2021, 12 p.m.

Present: Albrecht, Andrew; Barone, Regina; Brechtel, Emily; Derenzis, Lewis; Dominguez, Leandra; Ford, Jason; Pace, Marie; Palladino, Rick; Rosenberg, Jessica; Saccoman, Ana; Scaccia, Antonio; Tascio, Peter; Wenchell, Laurie

Excused: Alvia, Manuel; Beyrer, Brian; Byrne, Kyle; Carruth, Martise; Consadori, Peter; Davis, Bryan; Jaccino, Helena; LoPresti, Anthony; Qaush, Zeqaj; Sannella, Marissa, Stewart, Mark

Call to Order

October 7, 2021  (Scaccia/Pace)

College Council Standing Committee Updates

College Council

Reports from President Carey thanked everyone for their part to keep the college and students safe and up and running from hurricane IDA.  Spoke of the tragedy of Fran and Ken Bailey and their service to the Iona community. Update on the purchase of Concordia- estimate a close date of late October. Continued efforts to find a Dean of Health Services and Head of Nursing.  Also looking for a replacement for Paul Sutera is underway. The College is seeing a 15% increase in Enrollment. A 2% across the board raise was approved, as well as the reinstatement of the 2 free drinks per day from Chartwells; from Provost Wheeler a new Degree Audit implementation, as well as the roll out of Multi factor Authentication. 
The vaccine rate of the college is about 70% for full time staff and admin and 80% among Faculty. The Arrigoni Center is once again open for Covid Testing with hours for Iona Employees on Tuesday and Thursdays 9am-10am.

Academic Affairs

Committee is working on a variety of topics, but nothing urgent.  The group was scheduled to meet the following week. (reported by L. Wenchell)

Athletics

The Committee meet on September 21st.  It was announced that all COVID-19 vaccines were required for all Iona student athletes and that nearly all were already fully vaccinated, with a few finishing up the process shortly. 
Teams seem to be operating as close to “normal” as possible given the circumstances.  The Athletics Department released new guidelines for attending indoor sporting events: all fans must be vaccinated and masked while in attendance.
Finally, Glovaski announced three new hiring’s in the department:  Abigail Witczak (Associate AD for Compliance), Conor Burke (Head Baseball Coach), and Alyssa Tiumalu (Head Softball Coach).  In the open agenda, the committee discussed the issue of team practices during activity hour, with student athletes potentially missing extra credit opportunities due to practices.  This is a recurring discussion that will be continued in a future meeting when a student representative is in attendance. (Reported by L. Wenchell and Report submitted by B. Beyrer)

Budget

Committee meet October 10/6, a report by Kevin O’Sullivan stated there are 690 new students which is up 15%, 160 Concordia Students.  Applications were down 37% and the yield rate is up 37%.  Number of students in dorms is up. It is reported that there is a tougher time getting public school kids to attend than Catholic School kids.  Going forward the expectation is that the number of budgeted students will decrease. The committee is meeting again on Monday 10/11 to go over the budget. Focus to be placed on Retention and Engagement. (Reported by A. Scaccia)

Diversity

The Committee met on 9/15 and elected Dr. Timothy Lyle and Dr. Anubhav Aggarwal as leadership.
COD is currently brainstorming ideas for the Spring Diversity spotlight speaker event and would welcome any suggestions (can be emailed to @Lyle, Timothy (They/Them)). (Reported by E. Brechtel)

Enrollment Management

Committee discussed Faculty training and information to help make Student Acceptance Day a success and better communication.  (Reported by R. Palladino)

Environmental Sustainability

No report.

Human Resources and Compensation

A 2% across the board raise was approved for staff and faculty.  The raises will be retro to 7/1/21 for Staff and admin and retro to Sept 1st2021for faculty. Question was asked regarding TIAA amounts and it clarified that the contributions by the college were reinstated 7/1. (Reported by M. Pace)

Institutional Advancement

No report.

Libraries

Repairs are underway in Ryan Library to repair water damage to walls and carpeting in and around the Helpdesk and Romita Auditorium from hurricane Ida.  Romita Auditorium is currently offline during these repairs.

There is an art exhibit currently on display in the Lynch Pavilion atrium in Ryan Library including a rare painting by Cesare Dandini.  This 400-year-old Italian religious painting was thought to be lost, and was found in Holy Family Church in New Rochelle. It will be on display through November 2021.

The college will be switching to One Login for all online resources. Communications have been sent to the campus community notifying every one of the need to register for this new system.  The change will go into effect on September 30th at 5:00 am.  Anyone experiencing problems should contact the helpdesk. (reported by J. Rosenberg)

Student Life

No report.

Old Business

None

New Business

Status of Concordia College Purchase

Some concerns regarding what effects the Bronxville campus will have on us here.  Br. Ford will invite new COO Kevin Curnin to our next meeting to understand what his role is and to get an update on the campus purchase.

Pulse of the College

Announcements

Meeting adjourned 1:15 (Wenchell/Pace)

Please forward any updates and or corrections to Regina Barone.