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College Council Minutes March 7, 2019

Wednesday, 3/7/19, 3:30 p.m.
Faculty Reception Room
(Approved 3/14/19)

Present: T. Moretti, D. DeFino, D. Brophy, A. Howerton-Fox, E. Mariola, M. Nadel, L. Derenzis, A. Mastantuoni, S. Caruselle, J. Nyre, D. Wheeler, W. Lamb, J. Stabile, A. AlAbbad, J. Breslin, J. Haber, E. Hamerman, C. Procario-Foley, E. Procario-Foley, I. Stabell, C. Winkler, M. Varner, A. Schettini-Lynch
Excused: H. Park, H. McGowan, J. Carroll, A. Stackhouse

T. Moretti called the meeting to order at 3:36

Announcements

  • Wednesday, 3/13 in Burke Lounge, Jewish-Catholic Studies will host Drs. Sarah Tauber and John Thiel to discuss “Truth and Lies: Foundations of Knowledge in Our Traditions,” as part of the Shared Roots, Divergent Paths Interfaith Series
  • Student counselors are being sought for Camp Viva: a one-week residential camp for families affected by HIV/AIDS 8/19-8/24 2019.  This experience is part of SOW 204, which will run in FA19
  • CIT and the Office of Mission and Ministry will host a series of events on the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church during the week of 3/12
  • The Office of Mission and Ministry will host a series of events for Heritage Week (the week of 3/31). The focus this year will be on the impact of veterans on Iona University
  • The Woman of Achievement Dinner will be held on 3/29 at 5pm in Burke Lounge.  This year’s honoree is Dr. Penelope Moore

President’s Report

J. Nyre wished all present a blessed Ash Wednesday, and reported on the following:

  • Iona’s Board of Trustees met on 2/12 and received updates from across the College.  As recommended by the Board Investment Committee, Trustees endorsed a proposal brought forward from the LaPenta School of Business dean and faculty to establish a student managed investment fund (the Gael Fund) through the designation of funds from the College’s investment portfolio. The establishment of this fund will allow Iona University students the experience of managing funds on behalf of the Iona University endowment.  Membership in the Gael Fund student organization will be open to all Iona students and is expected to be competitive
  • The Spring State of the College meeting will be held on 3/7 at 10am in Romita Auditorium.  Topics to be discussed include the Presidential Search, Strategic Planning, College Finances, Facilities Updates and Academic Initiatives. We will hold at least a half hour for open Q&A as part of the meeting
  • A Core Curriculum Committee Town Hall will be held on 3/7 at noon in Romita
  • Iona offers its ongoing support for the College of New Rochelle students and families in the wake of CNR’s notice of their likely summer closure. Several other area institutions also stepped up to show their support, including Concordia, Manhattanville, Mercy, and Pace, among others.  Staff in our undergraduate and graduate admissions offices, student financial services and departmental faculty have been assisting the dozens of students who have reached out to Iona and visited campus since CNR’s announcement.  We will continue to do everything we can to support these families
  • All throughout the year at Iona, but especially during the month of March, we celebrate the impact of women in our society, on our history and in our future. We look forward to the many events planned for the Iona community in celebration of Women’s History Month, especially the Women of Achievement Dinner honoring Dr. Penelope Moore, Associate Professor of Social Work
  • Next week, the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Series Faculty Steering Committee has planned numerous teach-ins and prayer services in concert with the Office of Mission and Ministry, around the theme, “Sex Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church: Reckoning, Repentance, and Renewal". We are grateful to all those involved in the planning around this important topic, including Drs. Breslin, Smith, Carlson, Carroll, Delgado, Lavery and Procario-Foley as well as Br. Kevin Griffith, Iona University Trustee and Province Leader Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America
  • On 3/14, the College will host Dr. Rush Holt, Executive Director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, who will lecture on “Accessible Science: Using the Shrewdest Maneuver” at 12 noon, in the Murphy Auditorium
  • This weekend our Men’s and Women’s basketball teams will be competing in the MAAC tournament in Albany. The men’s team will be attempting their 4th consecutive conference win.
  • Please consider joining your colleagues and the Iona pipe band on 3/16 for the annual St. Patrick’s Day march up 5th Avenue.  A pre-march breakfast is planned at the Long Room NYC at 9:30am
  • Yesterday, the College announced the honorees for this year’s Trustee Scholarship Gala, on 4/12 at Cipriani’s:
    • Ronald DeCicco '70, retired CEO of Pershing, LLC, a global financial solutions firm, will be presented with Iona’s Legacy Award. The honor is traditionally bestowed upon exceptional individuals in recognition of their lifetime accomplishments. The award is presented as a symbol of what can be achieved in life
    • Thomas A. Davenport, MD, FACS, '88 will be recognized with the Blessed Edmund Rice Humanitarian Award. The award recognizes those who, by their activities and service to others, have reinforced Iona’s identity as a College founded in the tradition of the Congregation of Christian Brothers and American Catholic higher education. It is named after Blessed Edmund Rice, the founder of the Christian Brothers
  • On 4/25, at 1pm, Iona’s Rhodes Scholar Erin Whalen McGee (’99) will be returning to home to present a talk, “College to Career”. Joining her will be Joseph Wiener, class of 2010

Provost’s Report

D. Wheeler reported on the following:

  • The Working Group on Faculty Compensation continues to meet weekly
  • Thanks to the Senate for assistance seating a working group to develop the faculty performance instrument.  Faculty from Social Sciences, Professional Programs, Humanities, STEM and Performing Arts are represented. Thanks to all members of the working group
  • The Strategic Planning process continues moving forward, shifting from goals to strategic aims.
  • Iona welcomes Dr. H. Ben Chen as our new grants administrator. Dr. Chen has a BS in Engineering, an MBA, and a PhD in Structural Biology
  • We continue to pertner with McAllister and Quinn (academic consulting firm) to provide additional support for our revitalization of grants. Presently they are working on a submission for a Department of Justice grant with Iona University
  • Registration continues for Summer sessions.  Please advise students accordingly.
  • The Undergraduate Academic Plan Committee continues working on its draft plan and programmatic recommendations
  • The Student Success Working group continues to meet weekly and work with data and coordinated points of student contact to support student retention, persistence and success. We learn as we move through this and will continue to advance our thinking and actions to support student success
  • We continue to work with EAB (Educational Advisory Board) Consultancy on marketing and academic planning
  • On 3/7 we will be meeting with faculty and administrators from Westchester Community College to review program plans and move to complete an articulation agreement to assist associate degree completers with transfer to Iona University
  • Thanks to T. Moretti for his hard work collating various revision to the Faculty Handbook, so that potential changes can be reviewed through governance

E. Procario-Foley reported on the Core Curriculum Committee:

  • CCC met 2/7 and 2/21
  • CCC sponsored ICT “by invitation” training sessions on 2/7, 2/8, and 2/28
  • CCC continues to review syllabi for acceptance into the core curriculum in the various areas of the curriculum
  • CCC continuously works by email between in-person meetings on all ongoing aspects of the core curriculum
  • CCC continues work on the Master SLO Map for core assessment
  • Staffing of Freshmen Columba Cornerstone Learning Communities is almost complete; we need 1 more Cornerstone faculty (ideally 2, so that there is one free-standing COL 150 for upper-level transfers)
  • The Core Director is working with IT/Libraries to make the materials for faculty on the password-protected core website accessible
  • Please attend the 2nd Annual Core Curriculum Town Hall on 3/7 at 12pm in Romita

C. Winkler reported the following on the Hynes Institute:

  • The second annual Iona Innovation Challenge is well underway. Students submitted their first milestones and are getting ready for the mentorship component of the competition, which commences with a Meet-the-Mentor event on March 7, 2019 at 6:30 PM at GaelVentures
  • Iona’s University Innovation Fellows (UIF) launched their Changemaker Challenge that aims to encourage student clubs to develop joint programming. In addition, our fellows will participate in the Silicon Valley Meetup at Stanford University and Google during spring break
  • The remaining Lunch & Learn Seminars of the semester will be held on 3/26, 4/3, 4/11, 4/25. Topics will cover a variety of educational and pedagogical topics (effectuation, design thinking, storytelling)
  • The Hynes Institute will offer two immersive 1-week Summer Pre-College courses (Creativity, Innovation) from July 15-19 and 22-26. Our recruitment efforts are geared towards attracting local/regional high school students for these courses
  • The Hynes Institute will offer another summer study abroad program in conjunction with the European Innovation Academy in Turin (Italy) and Lisbon (Portugal)
  • Over the summer, the Hynes Institute will offer the full suite of courses (5) of its newly approved advanced certificate program. The program is for current and new Iona graduate students, as well as for students who seek to take these courses as a standalone certificate

Reports from Constituent Assemblies

Faculty Senate

  • The Senate met on 2/28, and it has worked before and after to respond to requests to recommend faculty to sit on the Dean’s Search Committee, the Performance-Based Pay Metrics Committee, and the Presidential Search Committee
  • In light of concerns among faculty about the procedures used to recommend faculty for these committees, the Senate has approved the following policy for seating faculty on search and other ad hoc committees:
    • All requests for faculty representatives on said committees should be made at least two weeks prior to the date those names are required. The Senate will then e-mail a call for self-nominations to all voting faculty. All self-nominations must be submitted within 72-hours of e-mail receipt
    • In the event that the requisite two weeks cannot be provided, the Senate will forego the self-nomination process, identify potential representatives, and reach out to them directly
  • T. Moretti collated all available proposed revisions to the Faculty Handbook and will be presenting it to the general faculty for comment through a web portal once the Senate receives feedback from the Provost’s office. The Senate will take up its discussion of the Handbook in earnest once the comments from the administration and faculty have been gathered and consulted
  • T. Moretti alerted the Senate to the need for faculty for at least 5 more sections of COL 150 and at least 8 LC sections
  • The Senate discussed and voiced objections to the removal of adjunct faculty bios from the Iona University website. T. Moretti will meet with the deans and MarCom to discuss in the coming days
  •  The Senate discussed the ways that faculty can help further strengthen their relationships with students and focused on doing so in the classroom, where faculty-student interactions matter the most. We discussed such matters as redesigning classroom space to allow for more various classroom dynamics beyond lecture
  • The Senate discussed the role and membership of its executive committee in involve them more regularly in the work of the chair
  • The Senate also discussed the recent news concerning CNR
  • The Senate will meet with Storbeck Pimentel, the search firm assisting the Presidential Search committee, on 3/12 at 3:30 in Faculty Reception. We will also organize a Town Hall for faculty to share their thoughts with faculty search committee members on what would make for an ideal candidate. The tentative date for that town hall is Tuesday, 3/26, from 1-2:30 PM

Staff and Administrative Council

  • SAC met on 2/21
  • Br. J. Ford appeared as a guest to present reports on the work of the Strategic Plan Committee and the Compensation Work Group
  • The Election Committee received the list of eligible candidates and they are in the process of cleaning up the list. Update: The SAC nomination e-mail went on 3/1 and remain open until 3/8.
  • The Br. Bray Awards Committee was formed but has not met
  • The Ad Hoc Committee on Membership reported that a survey was sent out via e-mail on 2/21 and will remain open until 3/15
  • SAC discussed the Revised Performance Review form. SAC spoke about the need for proper training for filling out the form, especially for those not familiar with Excel. The Committee inquired about the feasibility of purchasing a performance review system. Concerns were expressed over some areas and people who still have not had their final reviews. Members were asked to review the form and the Chair subsequently sent out a survey calling for a vote. The form was approved on 3/1
  • While discussing items for the “Pulse of the College”, a question was raised in reference to SAC’s representation on the Presidential Search Committee
  • The Chair and the Secretary of SAC met with the internal auditor in reference to the form and format of the Minutes

Student Government Association

  • SGA elections are underway.  Polls remain open until 3/8
  • SGA will host Respect Week from 3/11 to 3/16.  Events will include Tie-Dye for a Cause, Respect for Non-Profits, Respect for Animals, Respect for Accessibility, and the Water Bottle Exchange

Reports from the Standing Committees

Committee on Academic Affairs

  • CAA met on 2/19 and 3/5
  • W. Lamb presented the Advanced Certificate in Business.  The proposal passed 5-2, with 1 abstention
  • W. Lamb presented several POIs for LaPenta
  • J. Stabile presented the new grading policy, which includes the addition of minus grades and the elimination of the N grade.  The proposal passed 7-0 with one abstention
  • The policy for marking student athletes absent when attending events was discussed.  All absences must be reported on Peoplesoft, but it is up to individual instructors to make adjustments to class work to accommodate event schedules
  • The committee responded to a request to look at criteria for graduation medals.  R. Palladino will search old catalogs, and M. Jordan will contact P. Sutera to see if there is any previous history, and bring findings to CAA

Committee on Budget

  • Budget received updated revenue amounts and started the review of the detailed expense lines. This version of the draft has an operating deficit of $1 million. Discussions will continue with finalizing the expense lines and balancing the budget

Committee on Human Resources and Compensation

  • HR&C has met 2 times since the last College Council meeting. At each meeting there was an:
    • Update on Staff Compensation Working Group
    • Update on Faculty Compensation Working Group
    • Update on staff performance evaluation tool
  • At the last meeting the holiday calendar was presented. July 5th is not listed as a holiday, but it is still under consideration
  • The committee also considered an item that was picked up from the Faculty Senate minutes about the timing and payment of overloads. The committee requested information from administration about processing time, etc. before bringing this to a vote, but there was some general agreement:
    • Overload should be paid in one lump sum
    • It should be paid as soon as all classes for the academic year have begun with due consideration to reasonable processing time
    • The Senate minutes indicated “… Fall overtime pay” but overload should be based on an annual, not semester/trimester basis

Committee on Rank, Tenure, and Awards

  • No report

Committee on Libraries and Information Technology

  • The committee met on 2/19, and discussed the following
  • Interlibrary Loan requests and LibQual survey
  • Blackboard and 25 Live Software as a Service (SAS)
  • Full Network/Telephone Outage from Friday, 3/22 at 8 pm to Sunday, 3/24 at 11:59 for UPS replacement
    • the data center will be down, so all computer services will be inaccessible
  • Monthly maintenance times for June 2019 to April 2020 (typically third Thursday of the month from 10:30pm to 5:30am) were approved by email

Committee on Institutional Advancement

  • The Committee for Institutional Advancement met on 2/26
  • The committee unanimously approved the framework for a new employee giving plan from the Advancement & External Affairs group. The Advancement team has been looking to develop a new employee giving plan (to replace the “piggy bank” idea from former years), and asked the committee for feedback at prior meetings in the fall. After taking the feedback into consideration, the Advancement team (led by Dave Berkner) presented a framework that specified:
    • the employee giving campaign would be focused more on participation rate than total dollars raised
    • increased transparency, such as ensuring better explanation of why the employee giving rate is important (to help in solicitation of donors and application for grants)
    • assuring that any donations are voluntary and not associated with employment status or promotion

Specific materials for the campaign were not evaluated; these will be developed by Advancement & External Affairs, who will soon be presenting their idea to various employee groups: through the deans of each school and SAC

Committee on Student Affairs

  • No report

Committee on Athletics

  • Athletics met on 2/26
  • The average Fall 2018 student-athlete GPA was 3.27: .07 below Spring 2018. The department academic advisors continue to help student-athletes who have not graduated to complete remaining credits. The committee discussed concerns over explained absences for student athletes due to athletic scheduling
  • Service hours for all teams totaled nearly 4,000 hours for Fall 2018, and several activities continue, including a partnership with Gullotta House
  • New branding projects are underway, such as the stadium wrap, hallways and stairwells in Hynes East and West, which will recognize Iona’s championships and athletic achievements. Three new Hall of Fame inductees – Tim Bayley (track and field), Emmily Chelanga (cross country) and Norman Scott (men’s soccer) -- will be recognized at the 2019 Hall of Fame Dinner. Former rugby player Pat Quinn, who has battled ALS since 2012, will be presented with new courage award named in his honor. Ron Mohr will receive the Donald E. Walsh Award for exceptional volunteerism

Committee on Diversity

  • COD met on 3/5
  • COD was updated on efforts to secure the 1st choice speaker for the Diversity Lecture Series; an announced is expected within two weeks
  • COD was updated on communications with MarCom about the Diversity component to be built into the College website
  • COD discussed key areas for improving hiring policies to increase diversity, including conceptualization, training, execution, and accountability. The committee aims to create soft recommendations to be submitted to the College Council by the end of this academic year.

Committee on Enrollment Management

  • EM met on 2/19, and discussed the following
  • Application evaluation procedures
  • Yields and strategies for getting students to commit
  • Dormitory discounts for students who sign up early
  • Transfer recruitment, including working with SGA to create a student group to reach out to possible transfers
  • Expanding EM membership

Committee for Environmental Sustainability

  • CES met on 2/21
  • The Strategic Plan Town Hall helped to highlight Environmental Studies as a strong example of Interdisciplinary programs in around Service, Justice, Care of Earth. Environmental Studies is also a minor.  More effort needs to be made to promote the minor
  •  Follow up on Website development: outline and text and photos being assembled.  Working with IT and arranging ADA compliance
  • The CES has prepared a draft document proposal calling for the development of a sustainability office.  Funding possibilities are being pursued with the grants administrator
  • Br. Kevin Cawley gave the keynote address on 2/23 at the Metro Catholic Climate Covenant Workshop in NYC
  • IC Green has re-organized itself; it reported efforts to improve water bottle collection;  IC Green officers are very concerned about the amount of food wasted in the cafeteria

Old Business

  • Action Item: The Council voted unanimously to add the Senior Director of Advisement as an ex officio member of the Athletics Committee.  T. Moretti will send a formal notice of approval to J. Nyre. Once approved, the change will be made to the College Council Constitution
  • The Scheduling and Activity Hour Committee will meet on 3/7.  Following that meeting, an e-mail will be sent to the College community outlining next steps
  • The Working Group for Faculty Compensation continues work on Phase 2.  A second working group comprised of faculty from each disciplinary unit will be tasked with working out metrics and procedures
  • The Working Group for Staff Compensation expects to complete a draft report shortly, and will present it to the Board of Trustees at their next meeting
  • As part of the LaPenta construction process, and in compliance with the request of the City of New Rochelle, the College has undertaken and environmental impact study.  J. Nyre noted that the process is likely to draw the attention of the media and the local community

New Business

  • • The Presidential Search Committee has been seated, and held its first meeting on 3/4. On 3/12, consultants will be on campus to gather information from all constituencies about what qualities they would like to see in Iona’s next president.

T. Moretti adjourned the meeting at 4:24.