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University Council Minutes, May 3, 2023

Present:  D. DeFino, D. Brophy, M. Bard, B. Gaines, A. Howerton-Fox, A. Kelso, E. Mariola, M. Veyvoda, C. Dellicarpini, , A. Connolly, K. Geslak, S. Carey, T. Mulligan, L. Richardson, J. Stabile, M. Gioiosa, J. Haber, M. Newell, L. Poupis, B. Sanner, M. Callaghan, E. Procario-Foley
Excused: A. Aggarwal, C. Andruk,  J. Carroll, K. Dhanwada, N. Kane, E. Muller, N. Naqvi, A. Saccoman, M. Volza, C. Winkler

D. DeFino called the meeting to order at 3:35. Quorum was met.

Approval of Minutes

Minutes from the 4/12/23 University Council meeting were approved via e-mail on 5/3/23

Announcements

  • DEIB Survey due by 5/7/23

Information Item: President’s Report

  • Thank you to Aidan, Dean and Casey for your efforts this past year leading your respective constituencies in shared governance. A lot of student, staff and faculty time is focused on governance meetings within the committees and as part of the University Council, and you’ve been able to advance some important work – we are grateful.
  • May 1 was just a few days ago and for the fourth consecutive year we have increased the freshmen enrollment. We had over 800 new freshman deposit for fall 2023, the most freshman deposits in the most recent 5-year period and we held the discount rate. However, the pressures are high. We are in an interesting space competing with schools that have been aspirant for us in the past, with strong academic reputations and better facilities. But as we distance from what has traditionally been our peer group, we see that those schools are dramatically discounting their tuition levels to try to compete. In the long term it’s not sustainable for them, but in the short term creates interesting pressure for Iona.
  • I mentioned at the Town Hall last week, we need to continue renovating campus spaces and facilities so we can compete at a higher level with institutions that are in some cases years ahead of us in making those investments. We know that campus spaces do influence prospective students and families in their decisions.
  • We also need to continue our focus on the student experience. The statistics are overwhelming; students who are engaged retain. A few items of note from this past year:
  • Club sport participation increased 61% from 185 participants in 2021-22 to 297 participants in 2022-23.
  • Participation in intramurals also increased with 265 students participating this academic year, a 67% increase from last year.
  • In January 2021, there were five performing arts programs. In the past two years, it has expanded to include 14 offerings. For the incoming class, we were successfully able to enroll 140 students to performing arts cohorts, representing a 23% increase from 2022.
  • 225 students will participate in the Office of Mission and Ministry Gael Service Program.
  • Graduate numbers are trending in the right direction with more started and completed applications in the funnels for all three schools, but the numbers are nowhere close to where we need to be. We have a long way to go, and we’ve lost the market to our competitors. We need to get it back and we’ll be looking to faculty partners in making this work.
  • I look forward to seeing all of you on May 19th for commencement when we will award over 860 baccalaureate and graduate degrees.

Information Item: Provost’s Report

  • Reminder to notify if attending the Honors Convocation and Commencement
  • Awards for Faculty and Student achievement
  • Curriculum report is underway

Information Item: Core Curriculum Report

Since the last CCC report to the UC on March 8, 2023, the CCC

  • Met on March 23, April 13, April 27, and will meet on May 4.
  • All faculty and students in 146 courses totaling 312 sections were emailed on March 21-22  about the opening of Spring 2023 Core Signature Assignment uploads for spring assessment. They received reminder emails on April 28.
  • Collaborated with the provost’s office to offer the fourth faculty development session for the Columba Cornerstone. Our fifth session will be held on May 31st.
  • Began a review and update of the Blackboard course resources for Cornerstone faculty.
  • Reviewed a variety of syllabi submissions.
  • A brief summary of the key work of the CCC during AY22-23 includes:
    • Course Reviews
      • 19 total courses reviewed for placement in 7 core categories with 4 of the courses crossing 2 or more of the categories
      • 6 courses were accepted for Core Humanities
      • 3 courses for Core STEM
      • 5 courses for DCCG-Human Diversity
      • 3 courses for DCCG-Language
      • 2 courses for DCCG-Global Perspective
      • 3 courses for OI
      • 2 courses for WI
      • 1 course request was rejected
    • Core Revision
      • Conducted a survey of full-time faculty concerning the nature and content of the common read for the learning communities
      • Ran two town halls concerning the approach to the Columba Cornerstone
      • Created and introduced a new block schedule approach to the Learning Communities
      • Met with the Center for Advising to discuss changes to the LC
      • Recruited 28 faculty to teach 32 LC sections of COL 150 and 1 additional faculty to teach a free-standing transfer section and 26 faculty teach 32 sections of a variety of connecting core courses to connect to the Cornerstone; 3 faculty will be new to teaching Cornerstone and 2 to teaching the connecting LC courses
    • Annual Core Feedback
      • November meeting with all COL 150 and LC faculty
      • Embedded questions in COL 150 CTEs
      • March Town Hall open to the Iona Community
    • Assessment
      • Assessment of Fall 22 core courses involved uploads of 5,000 plus core signature assignments (CSAs), a 12-14% random sampling, and 32 faculty volunteers from the three schools;
      • Assessment of Spring 23 core courses is ongoing and on pace for a full complement of CSA uploads and faculty volunteers have increased to 46 and includes the participation of deans from two schools as well as the provost; increased faculty participation will make the scoring period easier for everyone, but more importantly will yield stronger, more meaningful assessment results.

I would like to conclude by thanking Christine Hardigree, Nereida Segura-Rico, Kathleen Kristian, and Mike Malenbaum for their wisdom, sage counsel, and countless hours of work on the CCC over the past year. And I thank the entire staff of the provost’s office for their ongoing support.

Information Item: Reports from Constituent Assemblies

Faculty Senate

  • The Senate met on 4/27
  • S. Carey and T. Mulligan were guests and the discussion centered on improving collaboration
  • Elections were held for Chair, Secretary, and Executive Committee
  • The Senate seated faculty members on appointed committees
  • The Senate voted to endorse the SAC proposal to expand staff membership on HR&C from 6 to 7
  • The Senate began review of the Faculty Senate Survey

Staff and Administrative Council

  • SAC nominations begin next week
  • Tour of Bronxville Campus will be held on 5/30 at 1 p.m.; transportation will be provided

Student Government Association

  • The Gael Awards were held on 4/24
  • SGA welcomed its new President, Shakinah Silverberg
  • Tomorrow is the Changing of the Guard ceremony
  • Senate elections end tomorrow
  • SGA continues to work on budgeting and updates to its Constitution
  • Several senior events will take place over the coming weeks

Information item: Reports from the Standing Committee

Committee on Rank, Tenure and Awards:  

  • No report

Committee on Academic Affairs

  • The Committee is bringing forth three proposals to the Council for a vote today: BS in Health and Wellness, Graduate Incomplete Policy, and Graduate Satisfactory Progress Policy

Committee on Budget

  • Budget met on 3/22 to review and discuss the following items:
    • Draft Budget Assumptions
    • Draft Budget Revenue Changes
    • Draft Budget Expense Change
  • Budget met on 4/19
    • K. O’Sullivan reported on the enrollment landscape and update shared by Kevin O'Sullivan
    • The committee voted on the proposed FY2024 budget.
  • The final Budget Committee meeting of the semester was on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.  We welcomed new members and reviewed and discussed the contingency deficit budget.

Committee on Human Resources and Compensation

  • The Committee discussed policy review and Health Plan renewal

Committee  on Libraries and Information Technology

  • LIT met on 3/27 and 4/24
  • The committee discussed the University’s transition to Blackboard Ultra
  • The Turnitin building block is being replaced by Turnitin Feedback Studio
  • The committee was told that the institution is switching to using Google Analytics
  • The committee endorsed the replacement of the 52 machines in Ryan 201 and Murphy 201 computer labs
  • A new group study room has been opened in Arrigoni library based on student requests, and extended library hours are posted for the time leading up to finals week

Committee on Institutional Advancement

  • Highlights on Gael Giving Day 3/17: raised over $80,000, engaged 574 donors this year (up from last year’s 260 donors
  • The Advancement Team is finally fully staffed and a major gift announcement should be coming soon

Committee on Student Life

  • Student Life met on 3/31and 4/28
  • Over 500 families attended Accepted Students’ Day on 3/26
  • Spring Preview for rising high school juniors held on 4/16
  • Spring Career and Internship Fair took place on 3/7
  • Congratulations to the Iona University Esports team for the 2023 MAAC Championship in League of Legends
  • Elections for SGA/CGG/SLAM/GAB were finished before Spring Break
  • College Decision Day is 5/1
  • The Multicultural Student Recognition Ceremony and Achievement in Excellence and Leadership Awards Ceremony celebrated and acknowledge the many student leaders at Iona
  • The Iona G.I.V.E. (Gaels Interpersonal Violence Education) Grant program for Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April) shows support for a survivor of sexual harassment, assault, or abuse
  • The 2023 College Irish Dance National Championship took place on 4/15 on Iona’s New Rochelle Campus
  • SGA has a number of projects in full swing for the transition into new leadership

Committee on Athletics

  • The committee met on 4/18
  • Men’s and Women’s Basketball have new head coaches: Tobin Anderson and Angelika Szumilo
  • The majority of men’s basketball players have entered the athlete transfer portal with the intent of leaving Iona. The portal closes May 17th.
  • Iona spring sports rank number 1 in the Commissioner Cup standings and overall ranking of all sports in the MAAC.
  • A working group has been formed to address concerns have been raised about scheduling conflicts that occur between classes, games, and practices, with some student athletes approaching or exceeding the FA line based only on game schedules.

Committee on Diversity

  • The committee met on 4/14, and spend the bulk of meeting time helping A. Munch plan the Multicultural Recognition Ceremony (MRC) event

Committee on Enrollment Management

  • The Committee will elect a chair at its next meeting

Committee on Environmental Sustainability: No report

Action Item: Bachelor of Science in Health & Wellness

  • Passed unanimously
  • Item closed

Action Item: Graduate Incomplete Policy

  • Passed unanimously
  • Item closed

Action Item: Graduate Satisfactory Progress Policy

  • Passed unanimously
  • Item closed

Action Item: Changes to Faculty Representation on University Committees

  • Passed unanimously
  • Item closed

Action Item: Changes to Faculty and Staff Representation on HR&C

  • Passed unanimously
  • Item closed

Old Business: None

New Business:  None

There being no other business, D. DeFino adjourned the University Council meeting at 4:30 p.m.