FAEC MINUTES 02/01/23

FAEC MINUTES 02/01/23

Present: Ken McMurdy (President, TAS), Katie Cohen (Library), Amruth Kumar (TAS), Marc Gidal (CA), Malavika Sundararajan (ASB), John McTighe (SSHS), Dean Chen (Vice President, HGS), Jeffrey Ellsworth (Secretary)

*Both Councilor-at-Large positions are currently open. FAEC has consistently been reaching out to the faculty attempting to recruit individuals. 

Vote to bring the meeting to order at 10:05am.

FA President’s Report:

• Discussion of whether FAEC should break down the Moral Survey data in a unit specific way or maintain it at an all college level. 

FAEC Discussion:

• Guests: David Oh (ARC Chair), and Susan Gaulden (Interim Provost) 

ARC Chair David Oh was invited to FAEC in response to concerns voiced by faculty regarding the course proposal review process.

Faculty concerns center around:

• autonomy with respect to content
• strict adherence to the ARC Manual with respect to suggestions vs requirements
• clarity and collegiality in communication and interaction
• role of ex officio members in the review process

ARC Chair’s perspective on these and other issues were expressed as follows:

• ARC avoids reviewing content except in extraordinary circumstances. In these cases, it makes recommendations that are not required for approval.
• Ultimately, no course proposals are rejected, which may be a cause for concern.
• ARC committee members have a difficult job and are often the targets of criticism
• Some tension between ARC and faculty is due to misunderstandings and miscommunication. ARC is working on improving communication, for example relying more on phone calls instead of emails.
• Stricter review by convenor and dean prior to ARC submission would simplify and shorten the ARC review process.

An overriding view, which has been expressed by current and past ARC Chairs, is that the ARC course proposal process is inefficient, and that it has forced ARC’s function to become largely technocratic. However, accountability in curricular oversight is essential. It is the position of FAEC that curricular oversight should continue to reside with ARC, if Faculty are to maintain a high level of autonomy over the curriculum. FAEC is currently preparing FA bylaws revisions that will, in particular, clarify and improve the role of ARC in this regard. These bylaws revisions will be brought to FA later this semester.

• Susan Gaulden (Interim Provost): 
  • Discussion of Morale Survey. 
  • Discussion of travel funding and FDF funding. 
  • Discussion of sabbaticals and career development funds.
  • County College of Morris: articulation agreement in computer science
  • Liaising with high schools to facilitate enrollment 
  • New book in the works involving stories from high school students, following in the footsteps of the book on COVID stories, but this volume will not be COVID related. 
  • February 10: Poetry Out Loud event will be hosted at Ramapo College.
  • February 14: Bite-Sized Research Talk 
  • Schomberg Visiting Scholar Program: some small funds are still available. 
  • Faculty Awards are coming up! Get your nominations in now. 
  • TLC Calendar: Google calendar available for use 
  • Considering new software for online student course evaluations

Meeting adjourned at 11:53 pm.

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