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University Council Minutes, November 15, 2023

General Assembly November 15, 2023 3:30 p.m., via Zoom

Present: A. Rosenfeld, B. Gaines, C. Carlson, S. Curko, J. DeMelis, A. Howerton-Fox, Y. Kang, A. Kelso, A. Qayyim, C. DelliCarpini, S. Silverberg, M Callaghan, T. Mulligan, N. Kane, J. Stabile, K. Dhanwada, E. Procario-Foley, C. Smith, J. Carroll, O. Soluade, O. Huk, N. Naqvi

Excused: S. Carey, D. Gunn, B. Sanner, M. Volza, C. Andruk, T. Pope, T. Pichardo, J. Breslin, A. Saccoman, C. Winkler

A. Rosenfeld called the meeting to order at 3:33. Quorum was met

Approval of Minutes

Minutes from the 10/11/23 University Council meeting were approved via e-mail on 10/24/23

Announcements

  • Nominations are being solicited for Faculty Awards. See e-mail from Provost’s Office. Due by 12/15/2023

Information Item President’s Report

  • No Report for General Assembly

Information Item Provost’s Report:

  • The Honors director search committee is looking at 3 internal candidates, and will begin interviews soon.
  • The Workload committee has been meeting regularly, and continues to discuss possible changes to workload.
  • Last day to withdraw from course is November 17th. Faculty should please be in touch with students so they have the most complete information to make an informed decision.
  • Annual Program Reviews (APR) should be wrapping up at the end of November.

Information Item Core Curriculum Report

  • Met 3 times since last UC meeting, on 10/16, 10/30, and 11/6
  • Update on Learning Community Recruitment: Need 11 more Cornerstone sections and 9 more connecting courses.
  • For Fall 23 Assessment:
    • the Blackboard organization system is open for Core Signature Assignment Uploads; all faculty and students involved in CSA uploads were emailed per SLO Organization on Nov 9; if a faculty member or student does not see their required Organizations, they should contact Elena directly; all questions concerning CSA uploads should come to Elena and not our good colleagues at the Ryan Library helpdesk.
    • Thirty more full-time faculty volunteers are needed to score CSAs at the end of January/beginning of February; with enough people it’s an hour or two of time and the work is completely remote and asynchronous. Please email eprocariofoley@iona.edu if you can score for core assessment in Jan/Feb.
  • Update on Ongoing Evaluation:
    • CCC held its annual discussion with Columba Cornerstone and learning community course faculty on Nov 9 by zoom. Two faculty sent in comments by email. The open discussion covered such topics as the common read, the non-course use of technology (computers/cells/etc) in the classroom, freshmen preparation for college-level work, and the benefits of collaborating with a colleague in an LC.
    • CCC reviewed the SmartEval questions for LCs embedded in the COL 150 CTE

Information Item Reports from Constituent Assemblies

Faculty Senate

  • A subcommittee on compensation and transparency has been meeting.
  • A subcommittee has been discussing possible revisions to bylaws and Faculty Senate constitution.
  • At the most recent meeting, Joanne Steele discussed technology issues that faculty have experienced.
  • Planning underway for Fall survey;will hopefully get it out soon after Thanksgiving.

Staff and Administrative Council

  • We’d like to make sure everyone is aware there is a campus announcement email that comes out every Tuesday, typically between 2-4pm. The sender name is Iona University and there is always good information regarding events for the week, campus initiatives, and items of note like parking restrictions and fire drills. They are to the point and don’t usually take longer than five minutes to read through. SAC encourages everyone to check them out.
  • Reminder that SAC meetings are open to staff and administration. Anyone who would like to join can email cdellicarpini@iona.edu for location/date info and a Zoom link if needed. Meetings are also announced in the Tuesday emails for the week of the meeting.

Student Government Association

  • Discussing mid-semester course evaluations with Provost’s office. SGA share more during presentation session.

Information item Reports from the Standing Committee

Committee on Rank, Tenure and Awards

  • Committee has laid substantial groundwork on faculty handbook revision.
  • RTA has begun to consider 3/4/5th contracts, and will move to clinical renewable contracts next week.

Committee on Academic Affairs

  • CAA met on 11/14 and passed the following:
    • Masters of Social Work
    • Nursing-101
    • Minimum GPA verbiage
  • All 3 subcommittees – academic standing, transfer credits and artificial intelligence – are planning on seeking feedback from chairs by the end of the semester

Committee on Budget

  • The Budget Committee met over Zoom on October 11th and 25th and on November 1st and also met on the 15th right before this Council Meeting

    Budget Committee discussed and voted to approve the following:

  • recommendation for a 3% increase to Room and Board for 2023/24
  • recommendation for the following increases in Graduate per-credit tuition for programs in Health Sciences:
    • Communication Sciences and Disorders: 3%,
    • Occupational Therapy: 2%
    • Marriage and Family Therapy: 2.5%
    • no increase to Secondary Nursing and MSN
  • recommendation for the introduction of a Nursing Fee of $1,150 to cover high operation costs (these fees are standard across nursing programs and ours was previously exception in having no such fee, the fee is only charged Junior and Senior year and in secondary Nursing, when students are making use of Nursing-specific labs and equipment)
  • recommendation of a 2% increase to Business School Graduate Tuition
  • A recommendation for the following increases in Graduate per credit tuition for programs in Arts and Science:
    • Education: 1%
    • School Psychology: 1%
    • General Psychology, Criminal Justice: No increase
    • Sports Communication, Public Relations: 5% reduction

Committee on Human Resources and Compensation

  • Has not met since the last University Council meeting.

Committee on Libraries and Information Technology

  • Committee met on 11/14, and heard reports on:
    • Blackboard Ultra Course View
      • Fully accessible and responsive, displays correctly on all platforms and devices.
      • Draft timeline for group input and discussion.
      • Available storage space will remain the same.
      • Blackboard Ultra Course View
    • Blackboard auto-generated email
      • Some faculty expressed a desire to disable email notifications for every submission.
      • Questions raised on if messages can be customized, on individual or system-wide scales. Adrianna will research and report back.
    • Classroom Technology Training
      • Adjuncts and other faculty do not always know what to turn on/off in classrooms. Sometimes power sources are found unplugged.
      • There is to be discussion with Deans regarding classroom technology training for faculty
      • Spaces are checked by IT, but cannot be done after every class.
    • Library Group study room
      • Concern about single users occupying group rooms. Policies and implementation to be reviewed and brought back to committee.

Committee on Institutional Advancement

  • Has not met since the last University Council meeting.

Committee on Student Life (J. Quintong)

  • Met on November 3
  • Had successful Open House on Sunday, October 8th.
    • Shakinah Silverberg did an excellent job providing the opening remarks.
    • 374 families attended.
    • Largest October Open House in years.
    • Next Open House November 19th.
  • Plans have been made for the November 20th Thanksgiving Basket Drive
  • Thanksgiving Baskets still available.
  • Finalized plans for the Ireland pilot summer academic programs at historic Westport House
    • Housing has been secured for the students
  • Iona University and Yale tied for #4 as the schools most highly recommended by their students per The Wall Street Journal & College Pulse's 2024 Best Colleges in the U.S. ranking.
  • The Iona G.I.V.E. (Gaels Interpersonal Violence Education) Grant program wrapped up Domestic Violence Awareness Month for October.
  • Celebrated National Coming Out Day with a whole week of events in October.
  • SGA Town Hall Meetings are being held to keep everyone updated on events and due dates.
  • SGA has been working on updating constitutions for each of their groups to ensure that they are up to date and up to standard.

Committee for Athletics

  • The committee met via Zoom from 12-12:29 p.m., Wednesday, November 1, 2023.
  • The Academic Report was presented by Matt Glovaski. The Athletic Academic advisors met with all student athletes to review progress reports and their Spring 2024 class schedules.
  • The Athletic Report was presented by Mr. Glovaski. Two new schools, Sacred Heart and Merrimack, will join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference on July 1, 2024. Fall sports are concluding their seasons. Highlights include men’s cross country winning its 33rd straight MAAC championship, women’s cross country placed second in the MACC championships, men’s soccer won the MAAC regular season championship and will host a semi-final match, women’s volleyball is #5 in MAAC, men’s golf competed in Ireland, men’s water polo celebrated 40 years of competition with an alumni event, and men’s and women’s swimming and diving prepare for the ECAC Championships. In winter sports, men’s and women’s basketball will begin their seasons next week.
  • The Community Service Report was presented by Mr. Glovaski. Teams are renewing involvement with local charities, including Halloween at Golotta House. Men’s and women’s basketball will host clinics for CYO coaches and players.
  • In the Director’s Report, Mr. Glovaski discussed educational resources for student athletes regarding Name, Image and Likeness to leverage their opportunities. Run by a group of Iona alumni, the Gaels National Collective has been formed to advise student athletes in partnership with Encore, part of Open Door. All student athletes will be required to attend a financial literacy workshop. The video room is currently under renovation.
  • There was no new business or old business to discuss.
  • In future business, Jack Breslin suggested workshops for senior student athletics to help leverage that status into employment opportunities and their transitions into the working world or post-graduate education. Mr. Glovaski discussed the on-going contributions of Iona Women’s Legacy and Gaels Go Forward in that area.
  • The committee will meet next at noon, Thursday, December 7.

Committee on Diversity

  • The Committee on Diversity met this week. Donte Lewis, a senior, and the chair both spoke on a program called Brothers@, which is a mentoring and enhancement program for young men of color on the campuses of predominantly white institutions to help support and foster growth both academically, financially, and emotionally. Discussion included possibly bringing their model to our campus to help with admissions, recruitment, retention, and successful degree completion.
  • Discussed communication with the campus groups, clubs, and organizations and better collaborations on projects. Especially those geared towards diversity and inclusion with prominent speakers.
  • Discussed utilizing our networks to increase fundraising and awareness.

Committee on Enrollment Management

  • Has not yet met this academic year.

Committee on Environmental Sustainability

  • The Committee on Environmental Sustainability (COES) met on 10/26/23.
  • Discussed several ongoing issues including the food waste composting project, Gaels go Green the student club, and recent events by Earth and Spirit/Berry Forum.
  • Chartwells and facilities are in discussions with ReDish and similar companies that would provide Iona with reusable cups/plates for use in dining facilities. They would wash them and bring them back for reuse. Cost is an issue.
  • Presentation by Mike Smeriglio on the new green space at the proposed Meditation Garden site.
    • The plan is currently under discussion with the City of New Rochelle and includes the space behind the Columba lot down to Mazella field. The proposal includes a lot of lawn green space, the demolition of an existing cottage, and possible student amenities such as a Pickle ball court.
    • The committee raised concerns about being involved in the planning and differences from our original proposal, the use of native species to support biodiversity, and the amount of impervious surfaces. Mike says he will involve the committee and Gaels Go Green going forward.

Discussion item DEIB

  • Chief DEIB Officer Alison Munsch and Jailene Ruiz presented the results of the DEIB survey given in Spring/Summer 2023.
  • Generally students had positive perceptions of DEIB at Iona, and staff/admin/faculty had more neutral perceptions.
  • Ideas were shared on ways to help address perceived issues in DEIB. A meeting will be held on Friday, 11/17 for key stakeholders.
  • The presentation will be made available on request after the Thanksgiving holiday.
  • Dr. Munsch answered a number of questions from attendees on the satisfaction expressed, and how to interpret results.

Discussion item Student Support/TRIO

  • Director of TRIO Student Support Service program Mayulie Luciano presented on the TRIO SSS program, what it does, eligibility requirements, and the benefits to students.
  • Focus is on helping to retain students and foster a supportive environment.
  • There have been many students visiting the TRIO Center and engaging with workshops.
  • Even if students don’t know if they are eligible, good to encourage them to apply.
  • Director of TRIO McNair Program Carrie Underwood presented on the TRIO McNair program, what it does, eligibility requirements, and the benefits to students.
  • Funds paid research with faculty supervisor, conference travel, poster printing, and more.
  • Focus is on undergraduate research, and preparing students for graduate school.
  • Supports all disciplines, not just science.
  • Students are able to be part of both programs.

Discussion item Student Experience

  • President of SGA Shakinah Silverberg brought up the idea of mid-semester evaluations, to give feedback to instructors earlier in the semester than end-of-semester evaluations
  • Objective: Solely to help improve the course (not evaluative/for portfolio), and identify where students are struggling.
  • Raised possibility of mid-semester grades for all students. Helps both professors and students in keeping up to date with grading, and helps students better understand how they’re doing in the class.
  • Re. technology in the classroom: inconsistent rules across different classes and professors can create some tension. It can be hard for students with different professors doing different things, especially in terms of computer use allowed.

Old Business: None

New Business: None

There being no other business, A. Rosenfeld adjourned the University Council meeting at 5:15 p.m. The next meeting of the Council will be held on 11/29/23.