My Iona
News
All News
Events
All Events

College Council Minutes February 10, 2021

Wednesday, 2/10/21, 3:30 p.m.
Via Zoom

Present:  T. Moretti, D. DeFino, D. Brophy, A. Howerton-Fox, M. Hughes, A. Kelso, E. Mariola, A. Rosenfeld, C. Normil, M. Wydan, J. Ford, C. Procario-Foley, S. Carey, D. Wheeler, R. Highfield, J. Stabile, T. Delgado, J. Haber, N. Naqvi, C. Procario-Foley, E. Procario-Foley, A. Stackhouse, C. Winkler, M. Callaghan, M. Reilley, R. Rubbo, A. Schettini-Lynch, P. Sutera

Excused: H. Park, N. Cosby, C. Dougherty, M. Malenbaum, J. Meyer, J. Rosenberg, I. Stabell

T. Moretti called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Quorum was met.

Announcements:

  • Jewish-Catholic Studies, the Office of Mission and Ministry, and the New Rochelle chapter of the NAACP are co-sponsoring “Shared Legacies: The Historical Partnership of African American and Jewish Communities in Racial Justice” on 2/23 at 7:30pm via Zoom

Information Item: President’s Report

  • The College remains deeply committed to maintaining rigorous COVID-19 protocols on campus
  • The College is fortunate to be in the position to purchase Concordia College; transition plans continue apace; Iona is committed to helping current Concordia students complete their courses of study, whether as Concordia students, or as transfers to Iona; so far, 80 Concordia students have applied for transfer
  • The College has secured a $1.1m federal TRIO grant to support low-income and/or first-generation students, as well as students with disabilities
  • The College has seen a 5% uptick in second year retention
  • Dr. Sumita Furlong is now serving as Iona’s first Chief Diversity Officer/Vice President of Diversity
  • Kelly McKenna Beyrer ‘16MA has is now serving as Iona’s first Director of Performing Arts
  • The College continues to make technology investments to improve student and employee interface with various campus offices, including Human Resources and the Registrar
  • As always, members of the Council and larger College community are encouraged to reach out to Dr. Carey with any questions or concerns

Information Item: Provost’s Report

  • Congratulations on a strong start to the semester, despite weather conditions
  • The College ran 57 course sections this Winter Intersession (as compared to 27 last year), and enrolled 337 students (as compared to 198 last year)
  • Student COVID testing is taking place in Arrigoni once again, with the expectation that all students will be tested every two weeks
  • Responses to the mixed mode student survey were submitted by 55% of undergraduate, and 48% of graduate students.  Preference for virtual learning was as follows: 55% A&S undergrad; 77% LSB undergrad; 75% grad.  So far, 25% of undergrad students have attended classes in person
  • Several considerations have been raised regarding the possibility of extending the P/U grade option into the Spring 2021 term, including rolling GPA implications for financial aid, professional studies, and graduate programs
  • The College is currently working to help current Concordia students to complete their degree programs, including reviewing comparable Iona programs and courses, and helping students who so wish to navigate the transfer process

Information Item: Core Curriculum Committee Report

  • CCC met on 12/10, 1/14, 1/21, and 2/4
  • CCC worked with five departments and two interdisciplinary programs on eleven syllabi
  • CCC submitted a grant proposal to the Teagle Foundation
  • CCC redesigned an instrument for faculty feedback to be used with the faculty who taught in the learning community program in Fall 2020
  • A schedule of 29 Learning Communities has been submitted for Fall 2021
  • CCC has a master SLO map completed and is analyzing it for the best distribution of courses for valid assessment; plans to move the map forward for discussion with relevant constituencies are being developed
  • CCC provided Admissions with language about the core curriculum to be used in the tour guide script

Information Item: Hynes Institute Report

  • Hynes Curriculum Committee has not met since the last CC meeting
  • Hynes Institute has announced the Request for Proposals for the 21-22 Hynes Faculty Fellowship program (4th cohort), and will be hosting a Hynes Faculty Fellowship Symposium on 4/23 as part of Scholar’s Month
  • Eleven Iona representatives, comprised of Hynes faculty/staff and Hynes Faculty Fellows, attended the virtual 2021 USASBE conference
  • The first spring Lunch & Learn Seminar was held on 2/10
  • The Iona Innovation Challenge kick off event will take place at noon on 2/12

Information Item: Report on MSCHE

  • Steering Committee co-chairs have worked with SGA and SAC to update and to confirm student and SAC membership in several working groups
  • On 2/18, T. Moretti will give a brief presentation to SGA to review our MSCHE Self-Study process; updates to the Faculty Senate are on-going
  • Working Groups continue work on chapter drafts and evidence gathering; they submitted interim reports to the Steering Committee in early January
  • Dr. Eugene Cornacchia, the President of Saint Peter’s University, has accepted the MSCHE’s invitation to chair the Iona University self-study evaluation team
  • Fall 2021 MSCHE on-site evaluation team chair preliminary visits and full evaluation team will be conducted virtually

Information Item: Reports from Constituent Assemblies

Faculty Senate

  • The Senate met on 1/28
  • The Senate discussed ideas for a Faculty Retreat to be organized by the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Faculty Steering Committee
  • The self-nomination process for elected and appointed committees will begin in March via Qualtrics
  • The updated Faculty Survey was reviewed, and will be distributed in March via Qualtrics
  • T. Moretti presented the MSCHE Self-Study Update
  • The Senate discussed in-person mixed-mode teaching, particularly amid new developments in the COVID-19 crisis.

Staff and Administrative Council

  • SAC met on 2/4
  • The committee discussed how best to distribute staff awards held over from last year (due to COVID)
  • The committee reviewed the new Paycom system

Student Government Association

  • SGA meets regularly
  • SGA looks forward to welcoming Iona’s CDO to the first meeting of the term
  • In the Fall term, SGA focused on the goal of increasing student voter registration; this Spring, the focus will shift to local engagement (including participation in SGA)
  • SGA is also focused on COVID safety: it worked to distribute “Welcome Wagon” kits to returning students, which include information about COVID protocols; it has been encouraging all groups to include Zoom meeting options; and it will sponsor several drug and alcohol awareness presentations that take on particular COVID-related concerns
  • SGA Constitution and By-Laws revisions are expected to be completed shortly

Information item: Reports from the Standing Committees

Committee on Academic Affairs

  • CAA met on
  • The Committee discussed concerns about extending the P/U option into the Spring 2021 term
  • The committee heard the five-year review for MTH
  • The deans presented information on potential options for dual majors across schools

Committee on Budget

  • No report

Committee on Human Resources and Compensation

  • HR&C met on 12/11 and 1/22
  • The Iona match to 403(b) will be reduced by 50% from 1/1/21 to 6/30/21
  • The revised Harassment Policy was announced, along with mandatory training; HR&C noted that they did not have the opportunity to review final changes before posting
  • HR reviewed the Paycom system, including the following features: employee self-service, personal goals, performance goals, and development goals

Committee on Rank, Tenure, and Awards

  • No report

Committee on Libraries and Information Technology

  • No report

Committee on Institutional Advancement

  • No report

Committee on Student Life       

  • No report

Committee on Athletics

  • Athletics met on 2/9
  • This past fall was one of the best semesters ever for Iona student-athletes; all teams had overall GPAs over 3.0, with 14 averaging over 3.5
  •  Men's and Women's basketball expect to restart their seasons this week, after extended delays due to quarantine; all other sports are planning for abbreviated spring seasons beginning in early March
  •  Athletics is conducting over 600 COVID tests per week, in accordance with NCAA guidelines
  •  The renovated student cardio and weight rooms are now open with limited capacity

Committee on Diversity

  • COD met on 1/13
  • The committee reviewed the Indigenous Land Statement presented by the Committee on Environmental Sustainability, for possible co-sponsorship; COD formulated questions and comments for COES
  • The committee discussed potential strategic partnerships with the new Chief Diversity Officer, as well as SLDC, ARTLC, SLAM, and others

Committee on Enrollment Management

  • No report

Committee for Environmental Sustainability

  • CES met on 11/19 and 1/28
  • The Environmental Studies Program has been approved by the Undergraduate Council; it will now go to CAA, College Council, and finally NYSED
  • CES is seeking co-sponsorship for its Indigenous Land Statement from COD, and is currently reviewing questions and concerns submitted by COD
  • Discussions concerning the installation of solar panels and electric car chargers on campus have been tabled, due to budget restraints
  • CES discussed strategies for engaging more students in conversations around sustainability; the committee currently has no student members, and does not receive reports from IC Green; possibilities include recruiting interested students through the Earth ICT, and setting up a student network devoted to environmental issues
  • Service Learning opportunities are now available through the New Rochelle Green Initiative

There being no other business, T. Moretti adjourned the College Council meeting at 4:31 p.m.  The next College Council meeting will be held on 3/3 at 3:30 via Zoom.