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University Council Minutes, September 20, 2023

General Assembly September 20, 2023 3:30 p.m., via Zoom

Present: A. Rosenfeld, B. Gaines, C. Carlson, D. Gunn, A. Howerton-Fox, Y. Kang, A. Kelso, A. Qayyim, C. DelliCarpini, S. Silverberg, , M Callaghan, T. Mulligan, N. Kane, S. Curko, J. Stabile, J. DeMelis, K. Dhanwada, C. Winkler, C. Smith, J. Carroll, , N. Naqvi

Excused: E. Procario-Foley, B. Sanner, M. Volza, C. Andruk, S. Carey, O. Soluade, O. Huk, T. Pope, T. Pichardo, A. Saccoman

A. Rosenfeld called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m. Quorum was met.

Approval of Minutes

Minutes from the 05/03/23 University Council meeting were approved via e-mail on 5/12/23

Announcements

  • Faculty Gathering tomorrow (9/21) at noon

Information Item President’s Report (M. Callaghan)

  • Great start to year with announcement of Iona Ireland in Westport, Mayo on 9/19/23
  • The Board of Trustees met in June, President’s Cabinet met in August to discuss last year’s outcomes and prioritize initiatives for this year. President Carey will visit with departments to discuss the strategic direction for the year directly, and to take questions.
  • There continues to be a competitive higher education environment, with college closures around the country and in our backyard. Creating dynamic academic offerings and physical campus environments will be what set us apart.
  • Over 800 new freshmen, and over 90 transfers in the Fall. We had the highest fall to fall retention rate in 9 years. We launched new academic programs and appointed 3 new graduate admissions directors, one for each school.
  • Need to engage prospective students and families so they choose Iona and want to stay.
  • Continue cohort strategies for performing arts, club sports, and D1 athletics, and ensure course content is compelling and relevant.
  • Last week announced the Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s ranking of the 2024 Best Colleges in America. Iona ranked #66 Best College in America, #8 Best Catholic College in the nation, #1 Best in the Nation for Student Experience Among Catholic Colleges, #1 Best in New York for Student Experience, #6 Best in New York for Salary impact, and #11 Best in New York for Social Mobility.
  • Thanks to all for service this year, especially Aaron, Shakinah, and Casey for leading respective constituencies.

Information Item Provost’s Report

  • Congratulations to faculty that worked on new and revised academic programs, including Neuroscience, two Master’s in nursing, and revisions in MSC and Spanish among others.
  • Thank you to the Honors Task Force for the work done over the last year on the proposal.
  • Adjunct Faculty reception took place on 9/20 at 5:00 p.m.
  • Archdiocese event Monday 9/25, faculty were notified before classes began that classes before 1p.m. (aside from labs) should please find alternative assignments. Labs meet as scheduled.
  • Priorities for the year include faculty workload review, for which a working group has been constituted and will begin meeting this week.
  • Review of the Faculty Handbook begun with RTA and Faculty Senate will continue.
  • Look for upcoming events, including the Faculty Gathering on 9/21.
  • We continue to augment Student Support Services, crucial in reaching retention mentioned in President’s report. Please use Gaels360 to alert support services to student issues.

Information Item Core Curriculum Report (T. Moretti)

  • The Core Curriculum Committee met on May 4, May 17, and September 7, since last UC meeting.
  • Assisted with May 31 Cornerstone/LC training.
  • Coordinated 40 faculty volunteers and 6 volunteers from Deans and Provosts office in core curriculum assessment in May/June.
  • Finalized a total of 26 faculty teaching 30 COL 150 sections and 25 faculty teaching 30 connected LC sections.
  • Created a 4 part Your Iona Story speaker series with Drs. Thiery, Gunn, and D’Alfonso
  • Finalized Core Curriculum SLO assessment map, and contacted departments and faculty teaching courses to be assessed this fall.
  • Reviewed and advised a department on a new course.

Information Item Reports from Constituent Assemblies

Faculty Senate

  • Met over the summer at a retreat to talk about long term planning issues. One major focus was on communication.
  • New constitutency based approach where each faculty senator has departments and offices they’re responsible for liaising with.
  • Working together with new Chief DEIB officer, invitation to speak to faculty senate to facilitate coordination.
  • Staffing committees. Key vacancies in RTA, CAA, Faculty Senate.
  • Enpaneled the provost’s workload committee, and grateful to Dr. Mulligan for putting that together. Special session of Faculty Senate to share past knowledge with committee members and those invested in this issue.

Staff and Administrative Council

  • First meeting is tomorrow, will welcome new members, look forward to getting to work for the academic year.

Student Government Association

  • Having fourth meeting of semester tomorrow, inducting new senators
  • We have released the Recognition Packet to all of our clubs and organizations. This lays out all of the expectations for our 80 clubs and organizations. These expectations are set out to increase engagement between clubs and organizations and make activities more accessible and organized throughout our student body.
    • This includes organizations listen under club sports, fine and performing arts, general interest groups, academic groups, Multiculturalism clubs, Greek Life, and Gaels Activities Board.
  • We have been working on updating constitutions for each of these groups to ensure that they are up to date and up to standard.
  • The First 50 Days Killian’s Kickoff Booklet has doubled in size since last year, meaning that we tripled the number of engagement opportunities for incoming and returning students for the first 50 days of the Fall semester.
    • SGA is cohosting a number of events with different departments to engage on campus.

Information item Reports from the Standing Committee

Committee on Rank, Tenure and Awards:

  • The first meeting was held on September 18, 2023.
  • The discussion included introductions of new members, review of the RTA process, and a process to review policies and procedures.
  • The meetings in September and October are given over to policies and procedures. The first reviews will start in November.

Committee on Academic Affairs

  • CAA voted 6-0 to approve the Honors Curriculum
  • CAA voted 6-0 to continue work of the academic standing sub-committee with following goal
    • Review places where roles in graduate policy can be clearer
    • Create undergraduate policy that
      • Highlights student support services
      • Creates clear path to improving academic standing
      • Helps identify then coach students who may benefit from taking time away from school
  • CAA voted 6-0 to start artificial intelligence sub-committee with following goal
    • Update plagiarism policy
      • Defines uses of A.I. that are considered plagiarism
      • Makes student and faculty handbooks more consistent
      • Encourages faculty to report plagiarism
      • Reduces plagiarism
      • Writes syllabus verbiage
    • Promote students developing skills will need to apply A.I. post-graduation
    • Develop process for policy to be updated as technology evolves
  • CAA voted 6-0 to start transfer credit sub-committee with the following goal
    • Evaluate number of credits accepted for current students
    • Create guidance for courses that are accepted

Committee on Budget

  • Elected a new committee chair via email
  • Had first meeting on 9/6/2023
  • We welcomed new members and had introductions. Then we reviewed and discussed:
  • The mission/vision of the university and the role of the budget committee (including planned meeting dates going forward)
  • Comparison information about tuition and food/board pricing at local and peer institutions

Committee on Human Resources and Compensation

  • Met on September 8
  • Only item to report at this time is new chair elected, Casey Dellicarpin

Committee on Libraries and Information Technology (Sent after UC)

  • First meeting held on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.
  • At that meeting we identified some issues that needed resolution. These issues were assigned to members for follow-up and to report back to the committee at its next meeting.

Committee on Institutional Advancement

  • Nothing to report, will meet on 9/21.

Committee on Student Life (J. Quintong)

  • Set to meet on Friday, 9/29

Committee for Athletics

  • Nothing to report, will elect chair on 9/21/23

Committee on Diversity

  • Had first meeting on 9/8/2023
  • Welcomed new members and had introductions
  • Open discussion of obstacles facing efforts to highlight value of diversity education at Iona
  • Chief DEIB Officer Dr. Alison Munsch spoke about need to emphasize shared language, and asked deans to include statements of academic freedom and tolerance in all course syllabi
  • Members discussed social responsibility, DEIB system assistance, admissions and recruitment, community partnerships and fundraising, and strengthening ties between Iona University and the City of New Rochelle.

Committee on Enrollment Management

  • No report

Committee on Environmental Sustainability

  • Had first meeting on 8/31/23
  • Cenergistic presented Iona’s Committee on Environmental Sustainability with a $2500 award in recognition of its achievements
  • Press Release: “In recognition of the work Iona and its students, faculty and staff have done to conserve energy on campus, Cenergistic presented Iona with the Best in Class Energy Program Award. “The students here are the future; they’re taking care of the planet,” said Mary Ellen Leder, Cenergistic regional vice president. “The work that you all do here is very important.” Iona biology professor Dr. Christina Andruk and psychology professor Dr. Nilofer Naqvi serve as co-chairs of the University’s Committee on Environmental Sustainability. As such, they help to promote conservation efforts across campus and work closely with Cenergistic’s campus energy specialist, Thomas Van Wert, whose job is to monitor energy usage and see how it can be improved."
  • The committee is soliciting recommendations for how to spend the grant mone
  • COES also continues to expand its food waste composting program involving in particular Columba 150 students.
  • Supports the work of the new Gaels Go Green student club, which is having their first general meeting tomorrow, 9/21/23

Action item Honors Curriculum Proposal

  • T. Moretti presented the Honors Curriculum proposal developed last year, distributed prior to the meeting.
  • Reiterated that a cornerstone class capped at a smaller number of students should allow for a seminar-style class, even though team teaching is gone.
  • Passed unanimously by the present members of the University Council.

Old Business: None

New Business: None

There being no other business, A. Rosenfeld adjourned the University Council meeting at 4:20 p.m. The next meeting of the Council will be held on 10/11/23