FA Minutes 04/24/24

Faculty Assembly Meeting Minutes
April 24, 2024
1:00 pm
Alumni Lounges

Faculty Assembly is open to a general college audience, including administrators, but only FA members may vote. Faculty, including library faculty and all full-time employees contractually obligated to teach are FA members as defined by our bylaws.

*FA Secretary position is currently open. Meeting minutes taken by Jeff Ellsworth.

Agenda:

Approval of Minutes (3/27/2024)

Faculty Assembly President’s Report:

• Adaptations due to full agenda: announcements and ballot to be sent out after the meeting.
• Encouraged participation in FA/RSA/SGA Joint Social “Game Night”, as well as AFT Academic Freedom talk on Monday (4/29).
• Expressed appreciation to faculty for their dedication and service to the College and our students.

College President’s Report:

• Reiterated appreciation for the service of faculty, staff and administrators. Special recognition of FA President.
• Service on NJ Academic Issues Committee (AIC) has heightened appreciation for the incredible work that goes into each new academic proposal.
• Outstanding student work, on display at Scholars’ Day, research symposia, honor society inductions and awards, etc., reflect faculty student-centered focus and mentorship.
• Looking forward to celebrating the Class of 2024 together.

Provost’s Report:

• Time/comments reserved for Awards Ceremony.

Awards Ceremony: (recipients listed)

• Provost Award for Faculty Service: Rebecca Root (HGS)
• Jack Richardson Memorial Award: Jeffrey Ellsworth (SSHS)
• Faculty Assembly Service Award: Sarah Carberry (TAS), Yvette Kisor (HGS)

Presentations/Discussion Items:

• ARC (Catalin Martin, ARC Chair)
  • BA in Visual Communication Design (new program)
  • Revisions to the ARC Manual (slides, Manual)
    Note: After discussion, a minor edit removing recommended Convener/CG role in handling minor course revisions (not subject to ARC review), and adding a reference to the Academic Policy on Minimum/Maximum Course Enrollment, was accepted.
• GECCo (Sarah Carberry, Chris Reali, GECCo Co-Chairs)
  • Revisions to the General Education Program (slides)
    Note: After discussion, it was agreed that the voting item on revisions to the SSS category would be split into two pieces: name change and change of description to allow 100 level courses.
• Budget (Colleen O’Keefe, CFO/VP for Fiscal Health)
  • Slides available here.
  • Attendees encouraged to attend Budget Hearing (May 8, 10 am) for more details.

Announcements: (sent out after the meeting due to time constraints)

• International Education Council (IEC), Leiah Heckathorn
  IEC to conduct College-wide internationalization survey, in alignment with Boldly Ascending and CAP. Will begin with a survey of faculty in early Fall 2024.
• Instructional Design Center (IDC), Michael Bitz
  Updates provided on Turnitin AI Detector and YuJa Replacement. (slides)
• CAP Implementation, Wilson Rose (ASB)
  Progress report on Core Values 1-4; two Task Forces charged by Provost. (slides)

Voting Items: (109 eligible voters)

• BA in Visual Communication Design (90 Approve, 1 Do NOT Approve, 9 Abstain)
• Revised ARC Manual (87 Approve, 6 Do NOT Approve, 7 Abstain)
• Revision to FA Bylaws: Election of specified FAEC Councilors in Even and Odd Years (87 Approve, 2 Do NOT Approve, 11 Abstain)
• GECCo: Revisions to the General Education Program
  • Change the wording of an objective: Apply interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to address complex problems. (86 Approve, 7 Do NOT Approve, 7 Abstain)
  • Title Change of SSS Category: Social Systems and Society (63 Approve, 23 Do NOT Approve, 14 Abstain)
  • Change SSS Category Description: Courses submitted and approved for inclusion in this Distribution Category will be at the 100, 200, or 300 level. Courses at the 100 level should still build on topics in the Keystone courses (likely SSI). The prereqs, if present, must be in the Keystone courses (First Year Seminar, Studies in the Arts and Humanities, Critical Reading and Writing II, Historical Perspectives, Global Awareness, Scientific Reasoning, Social Science Inquiry, Quantitative Reasoning or Social Science Inquiry). (84 Approve, 8 Do NOT Approve, 8 Abstain)

Elections:

• Malavika Sundararajan (ASB): FAEC Councilor-At-Large, Adjuncts Liaison (91 Approve, 5 Do NOT Approve, 4 Abstain)
• Rebecca Leung (CA): Values and Ethics Category Coordinator (97 Approve, 0 Do NOT Approve, 3 Abstain)
• Tae Kwak (HGS): Historical Perspectives Category Coordinator (98 Approve, 2 Do NOT Approve, 0 Abstain)
• Chris Reali (CA): Culture and Creativity Category Coordinator (94 Approve, 2 Do NOT Approve, 4 Abstain)

Meeting adjourned at 2:50pm.

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