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College Council Minutes April 10, 2019

Wednesday, 4/10/19, 3:30 p.m.
Faculty Reception Room
(Approved 5/3/19)

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

T. Moretti called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m.

Announcements

  • Jewish-Catholic Studies welcomes Scott Shay to Burke lounge this evening at 5pm. Mr. Shay will present on “The Case for Faith in the Digital Age.” All are welcome.

President’s Report

J. Nyre reported the following:

  • The Men's Basketball team competed in the NCAA Tournament in late March, putting a scare in the #1 seeded North Carolina by taking a lead at the half.  While Iona didn’t make it past the first round, we did make the Final Four in the upward mobility bracket, where it really matters. In addition the hits to the Iona.edu website were up three times over what they were when Iona played Duke last year. 
  • On Monday Chairman Hynes and Anne Marie Hynes joined with the faculty and students of the Hynes Institute for a Steel Signing Ceremony in Spellman Hall.  Renovations to the space will be complete in August 2019.
  • Last week, we celebrated Heritage Week, with many events throughout the week beginning on Sunday evening as the community came together with the Christian Brother’s renewing their vows during the Sunday evening student Mass at Holy Family Church. Seven brothers living in the Iona Community participated in the ceremony. 
  • The following day, Trustee JoAnn Murphy and Trustee Emeritus Joe Murphy generously donated a portrait of Fr. Vincent Capodanno to the College.  The portrait will enjoy a permanent home in Ryan Library.  Also on Tuesday, Iona hosted “Hands Around Iona”, an annual fundraiser held to aid communities around the globe. This year's efforts raised funds for the Battle Buddy Foundation, which helps service-disabled combat veterans re-integrate into society.
  • Yesterday, Iona hosted the 10th Annual Scholars Day event to celebrate the scholarship and creative activities of Iona students. The day showcased faculty-mentored student work and allowed students in various disciplines to recognize and appreciate each other's work through presentations, panel sessions, and performances.  We are proud of the talented students and grateful to all of the faculty involved in this incredible day where the work of 90 student researchers was highlighted for the Iona Community to appreciate and celebrate.
  • This Friday, Iona hosts its annual scholarship gala. This year we are honoring Ronald DeCicco, retired CEO of Pershing, LLC, a global financial solutions firm, for his career achievements and Dr. Thomas Davenport, MD, with our Humanitarian Award.  Proceeds from the gala support student scholarships.
  • This weekend, we are proud to host prospective students and their families for our annual Accepted Students Day. It is a critical day for the College as these students make an important decision on their college choice for the upcoming Fall 2019 semester.  Thank you to all of the departments involved in making Accepted Students Day a success including the many faculty members and faculty chairs who will be on hand to meet with students and their families and the admissions, student financial services, IT, security, student life, MarCom and athletic departments who all coordinate to ensure a fantastic day.

Provost’s Report

D. Wheeler reported on the following:

  • Coming through the shared governance process: proposals on Faculty and Staff Compensation Planning, Scheduling & Activity Hours, Undergraduate Academic Master Planning, and Strategic Planning
  • Grants Administrator update:  Partnering with McAllister and Quinn to submit a Department of Justice grant; congratulations to R. Novak and S. Lee, recipients of a $75,000 Alden Trust Award for the renovation of the Chemistry Instrumentation Lab; M&Q working with us on a robust set of programs for the remainder of the 2019/20 period; stay tuned for more information.
  • Special Sessions and Fall Registration: We are trending ahead of last year on our Fall 2019 registrations.  Please continue to support and remind students to register now for the fall and as appropriate for Special Sessions this summer.  
  • Undergraduate Academic Plan update: Thanks to M. Beckwith, M. Jordan and members of the committee for all of their hard work (see “New Business” for report on the plan). The board charge to review and recommend program expansions, suspensions, and new directions was taken seriously by the Senate nominated faculty committee.  This group of your colleagues has worked very hard to incorporate internal and external data to support Iona University’s academic mission and secure its future fiscal strength in what we all know is a very volatile and competitive environment for all college/universities and especially smaller private liberal arts colleges.  Iona can be proud of the many successes we have and equally for the diligence given this important task. 
  • Student Success Working Group: The 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.
  • 4/4 Town Hall on Scheduling and Activity Hours:  Thanks to F. Bailie for leading the group to review and recommend a class schedule and revisions to the activity hours.   Faculty attendance at this event was limited, but students were there showing strong support for this important work.
  • Associate Degree completers transfer to Iona University:  Out meeting with colleagues from Westchester Community College to review program plans and move to complete articulation agreement went well.  More information is forthcoming on an articulation agreement, which will be one of many I hope as we seek to solidify pathways for students completing their Associate degrees.
  • Thanks to the Enrollment Management and Advising team members for advancing Iona’s ability to rapidly (within 24 hours) process Transfer Applicant degree audits.
  • Thanks to Executive in Residence M. Daly for advancing the successful 4/2 CBS panel.  Thanks also to A. Kelso and many others for driving student awareness and attendance.
  • Work continues on the Faculty Handbook, which I know T. Moretti has spent numerous hours working on!
  • Congratulations to S. Lee on leading an outstanding 10th Iona Scholars Day!!!  Please attend Month of Scholarship events across the Iona community.  This is an excellent opportunity for us to celebrate the phenomenal research, performing and professional contributions of our faculty, staff and students.

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

  • CCC met 3/7 and 3/28
  • The committee hosted the annual Core Town Hall for faculty on 3/7, at which OIEP’s Brian George presented aggregate results of the first faculty survey and the third freshman survey
  • The committee continued work on the Master SLO Map for core assessment
  • The committee continued work on Freshmen Columba Cornerstone Learning Communities: still need a 35th pair; all 34 pairs of faculty were contacted as individual pairs with their assignments
  • COL 150 Theme Cohorts have been established and contacted as groups; they are in the process of choosing cohort team leaders and the common read for each theme;
  • The committee is preparing for the annual Learning Community Core “Boot Camp”
  • The committee is preparing COL 150 resources for faculty Blackboard site

C. Winkler reported the following on the Hynes Institute:

  • The Hynes Institute is working with Enrollment Management and MarCom to actively promote our summer Pre-college Program as well as our new Advanced Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
  • Iona’s University Innovation Fellows participated in the Silicon Valley Meetup during spring break and engaged with fellows from other colleges and universities in activities at Stanford University, Google, and Microsoft. In addition, our fellows presented their work at Iona’s Scholars Day as part of the poster sessions.
  • Nine student teams have been selected to pitch at the final event of the Iona Innovation Challenge on 5/1 at 6 PM at GaelVentures. Students will compete for prizes in the following categories: Technology Innovation, Social Entrepreneurship, Business Ventures.
  • The Hynes Institute held its first Hynes Faculty Fellows Symposium on 4/5. Faculty fellows from the 2018/19 cohort presented the results/status of their learning innovation projects to each other as well as other faculty. We were also honored to have had Mrs. Anne Marie Hynes as our guest.

Reports from Constituent Assemblies

Faculty Senate

  • The Senate met on 4/4 and discussed the following matters
  • Improving faculty-student connections (T. Moretti will be reaching out to SGA to discuss areas of concern and suggestions)
  • The internal audit report of committee minutes
  • The role of the Hynes director in governance
  • Updates on the presidential search, overload pay policies, and the status of adjunct faculty information on the College website
  • Voting Item: The Chair of IRB recommended lowering the number of committee members from 10 to 8.  The Senate voted against the recommendation, noting the need for broad disciplinary representation and workload sharing on this heavily-taxed committee
  • The Senate tabled a discussion of the potential impact of Allied Health and Nursing on existing programs until College plans are more solidified

Staff and Administrative Council

  • SAC met on 3/21
  • Br. Jason Ford appeared as a guest to present reports on the work of the Strategic Plan Committee and the Compensation Work Group.
  • The Election Committee was in the process of reaching out to those who were nominated to confirm they are willing to stand for election. NOTE: The Election Ballot has been sent out with a 4/10 deadline.
  • The Br. Bray Awards Committee sent out a survey soliciting nominations, but there were some questions if all of the staff received the survey.
  • The Ad Hoc Committee on Membership presented their survey report – which drew responses from 135 staff employees (roughly 27%).
  • SAC discussed the implications of the Human resources department sending out the Evaluation Tool at the beginning of April so that the staff will have time to review and fill out the form. SAC expressed concern for the need to communicate to the community why the form is going out so early and for an explanation of the time frame moving forward. HR is planning to have training for managers and staff and having the form ahead of time will help facilitate the training.
  • While reflecting on items for the “Pulse of the College,” SAC discussed the timeframes for the hiring of a new President and Dean of Arts & Sciences. There was a question as to what would happen if a new President is not hired and on campus by the start of the 2019/2020 Academic Year.

Student Government Association

  • SGA meets weekly
  • The E-Board elections are complete, and new member orientation is underway
  • Elections for the Senate are currently underway
  • Respect Week activities were an overwhelming success

Reports from the Standing Committees

Committee on Academic Affairs

  • CAA met on 3/26 and 4/9
  • At its 3/26 meeting the five-year review for the Rudin Center was presented. The committee also voted on two proposals from the La Penta school. The first proposal was that the due date for grades in the trimester calendar be pushed forward to allow an additional 24 hours before grades are due. The second proposed that the MS in Project Management be suspended. Both proposals were approved. Points of Information were provided by both schools.
  • At its 4/9 meeting the committee discussed the Report from the Undergraduate Academic Plan Committee. A proposal for the committee to endorse the report did not pass. The committee voted to approve a proposed departmental name change, from the Department of Mass Communications to the Department of Media and Strategic Communication.  The five-year review of the Biology Department was presented. The committee also received Points of Information from both schools. The chair informed the committee that the report from the Scheduling subcommittee will be considered at the next meeting, as would information forthcoming regarding criteria for awarding excellence medals.

Committee on Budget

  • Budget endorsed a balanced budget within the Parameters set by the Board of Trustees. Highlights of the budget assumptions include:
    • Revenue: Freshmen class of 800; Continuing student enrollment of 1,965; Enrolling 95 new Transfer students in the Fall; Graduate credits in A&S total 6,653 (including OT); Graduate credits in Business total 7,300; Maintaining the financial aid discount rate for the incoming class
    • Room and Board: Assumes an occupancy rate of 88% for the year
    • Expenses: Based on the prior year and adjusted for contractual obligations; Included is $1 million for salary increases; No medical premium increase and a contribution holiday for the month of June 2020; Increases for building operations; Margin of $1.5 million (as required by Board Parameters); Expense reductions for rental of apartments and meal plans
  • After taking all the revenues and expenses into consider, the budget gap was $926,000. The Committee recommended establishing department reserves of 1.48% which can be released if revenues exceed budget.
  • The last item of Committee business involved voting on a contingency budget should revenues be 5% less than expected. This was completed at the last meeting.

Committee on Human Resources and Compensation

  • HR&C has met 2 times since the last College Council meeting. At each meeting there were updates on Staff Compensation Working Group, Faculty Compensation Working Group, and Staff Performance Evaluation Tool
  • The Committee was informed that the previously announced 1.5% increase in the health insurance premium was reduced to no increase, and the June 2020 premium holiday would remain

Committee on Rank, Tenure, and Awards

  • No report

Committee on Libraries and Information Technology

  • The committee met on 3/12, and discussed the following
  • 2019-202 software request: reviewed email content, timing for email communication to faculty and chairs, revisions to form, and notification when new image is available for testing
  • Communication plan for 4/22-24 outage: Residential Life notified, Library closed 4/23; all services accessed through single sign on unavailable on and off campus; notifications will be made on Blackboard/email/website
  • Potential conflicts with monthly maintenance times on 10/24 (registration), 12/19 (grades due the 20th), 1/23 (during add/drop)
  • Some programs running slowly through Software 2
  • Institute for Thomas Paine Studies: Patriots Day on 4/15

Committee on Institutional Advancement

  • Advancement met on 3/26
  • The Advancement & External Affairs team updated the committee about Giving Gaels Day, which will take place 4/11-4/12

Committee on Student Affairs

  • No report

Committee on Athletics

  • Athletics met on 3/26
  • The men’s basketball team’s fourth consecutive MAAC championship is the longest conference championship streak in the country. Iona’s appearance in the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, OH, resulted in 33,800 unique visits to the college website, up from 21,000 after last year’s appearance. Ten swimmers qualified for the National Invitational Championship
  • Several teams volunteered with the Meals to Go program, and with Chartwell’s sponsorship of the Ellen Degeneres and Cheerios initiative
  • Fundraising by cross country and water polo at their annual alumni gatherings was a success
  • Upcoming events include the Gaels-spees awards on April 23, the Senior Awards Dinner on May 2, and the Women’s Legacy Society, which will be recognizing the 50th anniversary of women at Iona
  • J. Breslin reported to the committee on the proposal and town hall from the Scheduling and Activity Hour Committee
  • Next meeting the committee will elect a new chair as the current chair’s term will expire

Committee on Diversity

  • COD met on 4/2
  • COD welcomed invited guests from MarCom to continue in partnership to improve diversity-related communication
  • COD continued planning the diversity lecture series, which will take place on 4/16 at 3:30pm in Murphy Auditorium
  • COD’s last meeting of the semester will be on 5/7 – during which time the committee will finalize soft recommendations for continuing to diversify faculty and staff

Committee on Enrollment Management

  • No report

Committee for Environmental Sustainability

  • Recent committee meetings have included students from IC Green as well as the students who are Berry Forum Fellows.  Plans are underway for upcoming April Earth month environmental events that include these two groups along with Environmental Studies students. Plans for planting projects with the campus pollinator garden behind East Hall along with planting in the recently installed Montgomery gardens are underway
  • The committee is working with Dr. Ben Chen in developing a grant proposal to the Environment Research & Education Foundation
  • The committee is committed to assisting the Environmental Studies major and minor especially in its efforts to grow its student participation and promote its successful graduates
  • The committee reports that Berry Forum director,  Br. Kevin Cawley, recently delivered the keynote address for the Catholic Climate New York conference as well as a presenting this week to the principals of Boards of Trustees of Christian Brother Schools gathering here and at Iona Prep

Old Business

  • The Council reviewed the progress report on the presidential search sent via e-mail by Board J. Hynes and T. Moretti on 4/9
  • The report on the Internal Minutes Audit will be distributed prior to the next Council meeting
  • A discussion of the Scheduling and Activity Hours proposal was tabled

New Business

  • M. Beckwith and M. Jordan reviewed the Undergraduate Academic Master Plan recommendations. Council members raised concerns about suspending programs in Environmental Studies and Physics; and whether the goal was to eliminate and replace programs as an expression of shifting priorities, or to support struggling programs that are essential to the liberal arts.

T. Moretti adjourned the meeting at 4:24 p.m.