Faculty Assembly Executive Council (FAEC) Meeting Minutes October 18 2017 ASB 008 Room 10:30am to 12:30am

Attendees:​ Christina Connor, Cristina Perez, Roark Atkinson, Renata Gangemi, Kathryn Zeno, Eva Ogens, Tae Kwak, Gladys Torres-Baumgarten, Kim Lorber

Secretary:​ Hugh Sheehy

Guests:​ Leigh Keller and Liz Siecke; Ken McMurdy

Minutes of 10/11 Approved

There was a discussion of the newly announced Search Committee for Provost and whether its establishment violates the spirit of shared governance; it was confirmed that the College administration is not bound to honor the recommendations of the Search Committee when making a hiring decision. It was stated that while the President commands the power to hire a Provost or assign a Search Committee for Provost without input from the faculty, the assignment of the current Search Committee for Provost is not consistent with the College’s history of administrators communicating their intent to faculty members before acting in such matters. It was noted that the composition of this search committee differs from that of the last in that it contains no deans and no library representatives.

Reporting out to Units: Library Renovation and Exam Schedule

1.     Library Renovation: There are concerns about the President’s finalized proposal for library programming, which may not accord with the Library Renovation Task Force document endorsed by the faculty. There are a number of concerns: that there is no identified swing space in the proposed library programming, possible financial shortfalls with respect to dedicated spaces in proposed programming, and square footage for dedicated spaces in proposed programming seems to take up a large proportion of the library. There are also concerns regarding a lack of communication between administration and faculty, such as a need for more clarity about the continued existence of Library Renovation Task Force and administration’s intentions for some dedicated spaces in proposed programming (e.g. whether food will be served in Krame Center). It was asked that the proposed programming be discussed in Unit Councils and subsequently at November 1 Faculty Assembly. It was stated that faculty should have access to last Spring’s survey of student wishes and attitudes regarding new library. It was suggested FAEC create a document including links to white paper on student surveys and President’s proposed programming. It was proposed that FAEC invite Cathy Davey, Kirsten DaSilva, and Cathy Ollmann to November 1 Faculty Assembly.
2.     Exam Schedule: If there are no major objections from faculty, proposed exam schedule changes for Spring 2018 will be posted.

Ken McMurdy: Revisiting Presentation on Shared Governance Task Force. SGTF developed out of FAEC subcommittee that ran from 2013-2016; in Fall 2016, FAEC and Provost initiated a Joint Effort between faculty and administration. SGTF will be charged with developing principles of shared governance that are in keeping with College mission and which will allow College to develop in keeping with its vision and goals. Presentation includes a definition of “shared governance” which requires scrutiny and evaluation at Faculty Assembly, goals for Shared Governance, three organizing principles (Respect and Collegiality, Trust and Transparency, and Clarity and Compliance) for maintaining Shared Governance, a “dynamic protocol” for making decisions under SG scheme (underpinned by a “Shared Governance Plan”), an establishment of “Relative Roles in SG,” with Additional Notes. New SG Plan will make a distinction between Direct Curriculum and Indirect Curriculum and establishes relative roles within College for making decisions related to Curriculum. FAEC expressed optimism about this proposal; a faculty member expressed that in the “Implementation” element of the plan should place a strong emphasis on establishing trust between administration and faculty; a faculty member suggested looking at the “Paris Model” as a means of removing hierarchy from SG process and replacing it with a clarification of relative roles. McMurdy expressed that SGTF is open to input as it goes forward in trying to find an ideal language for the ideas the TF is trying to promote.

Provost’s Visit: Having been present for SGTF, Provost clarified that some Curricular matters are governed by interests of Convening Groups and Programs; College reaffirms academic freedoms of individual instructors, but instructors are obligated to tailor their course content and teaching to parameters set by Convening Groups and Programs.

        Discussions are ongoing regarding creating an ARC subcommittee on online and hybrid courses.