My Iona
News
All News
Events
All Events

College Council Minutes, April 6, 2022

Minutes
College Council
Wednesday, 4/6/22, 3:30 p.m.
Via Zoom

Present:  T. Moretti, D. DeFino, M. Bard, A. Howerton-Fox, M. Hughes, E. Mariola, A. Rosenfeld, M. Veyvoda, Derenzis, A. Saccoman, A. Connolly, M. Wydan, S. Carey, D. Wheeler, L. Richardson, J. Stabile, C. Andruk, J. Gerometta, T. Delgado, J. Haber, M. Newell, I. Stabell, R. Weaver, E. Procario-Foley, C. Winkler, M. Callaghan, N. Cosby, J. Quintong, A. Schettini-Lynch
Excused: L. A. Aggarwal, O. Huk, T. Lyle, M. Malenbaum, A. Stackhouse

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

Approval of Minutes

Minutes from the 3/9/22 College Council meeting were approved via e-mail on 3/28/22

Announcements:

  • Tomorrow is Iona Scholar’s Day

Information Item: President’s Report

  • S. Carey held a Town Hall last week to discuss the work ahead
  • The Trustee’s Gala raised more than $1m
  • The Loftus Dinner is tonight

Information Item: Provost’s Report

  • Congratulations to Loftus Awardees
  • Moving forward, the Provost’s office will be focused on Faculty Development; community engagement; student internships, externships, and mentored learning; elevating rigor, prominence and recognition of faculty and staff scholarly and creative contributions; and creating an incentive-based approach to supporting scholarly and performing arts contributions of faculty and staff
  • Middle States Re-accreditation is complete

Information Item: Core Curriculum Committee Report

  • CCC met twice times since the last Council meeting
  • Fall Core assessment is complete; Spring uploads began last week
  • 25 Learning Communities have been scheduled for FA22; 1 freestanding COL 150 has been designated for transfer students
  • CCC is currently in the process of choosing a common read, using survey information gathered from faculty
  • Cornerstone Learning Community training will occur on 4/17
  • Core review is ongoing
  • Syllabi continue to be reviewed

Information Item: Reports from Constituent Assemblies

Faculty Senate

  • The Senate met on 3/31
  • The Senate certified Election Results, and made committee appointments based on self-nominations
  • A&S seats on committees will be available to either A&S or SHS faculty
  • The Senate discussed the Spring Faculty Survey, offered changes and additions to this year’s iteration.

Staff and Administrative Council

  • SAC began the nomination process for upcoming elections

Student Government Association

  • SGA meets weekly for the remainder of the semester in person
  • SGA met with representatives from Career Development and the Gaels Mentorship Program
  • The Executive Board has been elected for next year
  • Class senator elections are expected to be completed by the end of April
  • SGA continues to work in collaboration with the Center for Student Engagement to spread the word about senior/graduation events coming up this semester

Discussion Item: General Assembly Q& A

  • B. Gaines asked whether the Faculty workload Policy will be taken up for revision, and if so, whether faculty will be directly involved in that process
  • D. Wheeler responded that, while the process has not yet begun, faculty will certainly be part of the process

Information item: Reports from the Standing Committees

Committee on Rank, Tenure and Awards

  • Since the last Council meeting, RTA has met three times and reviewed 12 tenure cases

Committee on Academic Affairs

  • No report

Committee on Budget

  • No report

Committee on Human Resources and Compensation

  • HR&C met on 2/11 and 3/11
  • The committee heard a report from the HERO Act Safety Oversight Committee
  • The following policies were endorsed: Admission to College Events, Blood Donation, Personal Time, Vacation, 529 College Savings, Family Allowance, FMLA, Work Schedule
  • The following policies were returned from amendment: Smoking. Introductory Period, Job Opportunities, Tuition Remission
  • The college is looking for additional health insurance quotes to compare with the incoming Christian Brothers numbers

Committee on Libraries and Information Technology

  • LIT met on 3/28
  • Repairs to the 3rd floor west wing of Ryan are ongoing
  • LIT voted to approve an earlier Blackboard course creation and batch enroll date for Summer sessions, the Winter trimester, and the Spring trimester
  • LIT approved the proposed system maintenance schedule for 22-23 academic year

Committee on Institutional Advancement

  • No report

Committee on Student Life

  • No report

Committee on Athletics

  • Men’s and women’s basketball finished their seasons with disappointing losses
  • The Athletics Dept will begin end of year reviews shortly, including interviews with all student athletes to address and improve upon any concerns
  • Work will begin shortly after the semester on replacing the softball field with new turf 

Committee on Diversity

  • CoD met on 4/6
  • The Diversity Spotlight Series will be relaunched in Fall 2022, pending funding

Committee on Enrollment Management

  • No report

Committee for Environmental Sustainability

  • CoES met on 3/31
  • Laudato Si Working Group met on 3/24 to discuss current status of Laudato efforts
  • J. Robinson hosted speakers on Ecojustice and food Justice for Earth Week
  • The committee continues to wait for a response from S. Carey on the Land Acknowledgement Statement
  • Facilities will continue to work on Level 2 charging stations
  • Catherine of Siena Day will be held at Mariandale on 4/24

There being no other business, T. Moretti adjourned the College Council meeting at 3:37pm. The next meeting of the Council will be held on 5/4/22.