Ohio Northern University Faculty
2015 - 2016
Minutes of the February 23 Meeting
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President DiBiasio called the meeting to order at 11:02 AM.
Invocation was offered by Jeff Allison.
Minutes from January 26, 2016 were approved with the following corrections:
a. VIIIb. This entry was changed to, “The renovation plans on the first floor of
Heterick Library continue to develop” rather than the previous statement which
incorrectly indicated that the renovation was nearly complete.
b. XIIa. This entry was changed to reflect the fact that Amanda Liebrecht was our
first ONU Newman Civic Fellow last year and that Derek Price, a freshman
political science major, is a good example of a current student that is
extraordinarily active in service projects with his pay-it-forward initiative in local
Ada establishments. The previous entry incorrectly stated that Derek Price was
the Newman Civic Fellow from last year.
Unfinished Business: None.
Report from University Council: Heath LeBlanc indicated that new business was
brought forth by the Academic Affairs committee.
a. Edits to Faculty Handbook Section 3.31 regarding the student grade appeals
procedure. No comments were brought forth by Council members on this first
reading.
b. New appendix to the Faculty Handbook detailing faculty course release policy
due to external grant funding (Appendix 32). An edit was requested by Council to
further clarify where workload information could be gathered.
Reports from Constitutional Committees:
a. Budget and Appropriations: Bill Ballard shared that the committee is reviewing
recommendations from the Personnel committee and reviewing budget
preparation materials as they become available.
b. Academic Affairs: Kelly Kobiela announced that the committee is finalizing
Appendix 5 this week and the proposed changes should go to the next meeting of
University Council.
c. Student Affairs: Heath LeBlanc shared that three student organizations were
approved by Student Senate in their February meeting: Merge, College
Democrats, and 4 Paws. Student Activities Committee will be reviewing the
constitutions and bylaws of these student organizations over the next couple of
weeks and will meet to take action on these organizations in mid-March.
d. Personnel: Bryan Boulanger shared that the committee has been meeting weekly
to review Sections 2.4, 2.8 and 2.18 of the Faculty Handbook regarding tenure
and promotion procedures. They also delivered recommendations for salary and
travel to the Budget committee. Discussion followed regarding travel
recommendations. There was concern that unused travel money could not be
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saved and carried over to the next year to attend more expensive, high-impact
conferences. It was noted that deans have additional money to promote
professional activity. The goals of the proposed changes are to increase travel
amounts, encourage more regular faculty travel and to resolve a budget issue.
Please come to talk to Bryan Boulanger if you have alternative solutions for
optimizing our resources for faculty travel.
Reports from Operational Committees:
a. Athletic Events: Tom Simmons made a few announcements.
i. Men’s swimming finished first in the OAC; women’s swimming finished
3rd.
ii. The women’s basketball team will play Saturday at Marietta. We have
clinched the OAC Regular Season Championship and are the top seed in
the OAC tournament.
iii. Both men’s and women’s lacrosse will have their first games at ONU on
Saturday. The games start at 1 PM and 4 PM.
iv. Track will be at the OAC Championship this weekend.
b. Cultural Events: CASE, in conjunction with other campus entities, is sponsoring a
visit from Frank Warren, creator of the PostSecret Project. He is an expert on
mental health issues and his TED talk is one of the most viewed talks in the
series. He will present, “The Most Trusted Stranger in America” @ 7:30 PM on
March 30th in the Freed Center. Admission is free but tickets are required and
must be reserved in advance. On March 14th, tickets will be extended to alumni
and others if seats are still available.
c. International Affairs: Lynda Nyce announced that the committee last met on
February 4th and plans to meet again on March 31st. A commitment letter from
President DiBiasio in January has indicated that ONU intends to participate in
Generation Study Abroad, joining such schools as Cal Poly and Howard. The
goal is to increase student participation in study abroad programs to 6%; currently
about 1 – 2 % of students study abroad. The Multicultural Fair is being held on
April 8th in Kinghorn. Note that this is a change of venue from previous years.
We will have many faculty traveling over the next few months to places such as
Cuba, Romania and Salford, England.
d. Religious Affairs: Adrienne Thompson-Bradshaw reminded everyone that the
deadline for NETVUE mini-grant proposals are due March 7th. Chaplain
MacDonald also submitted the following announcements via email:
i. The Religious Affairs Committee met to approve a new student religious
organization called Merge, which is a weekly meeting for group spiritual
direction.
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ii. This year's Baccalaureate speaker will be Rev. Dr. Charles Yoost, retired
minister from the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church,
and a member of the ONU board of trustees.
iii. Applications are due for the NetVUE vocational mini-grants by March
7th. Please contact the Chaplain if you have questions about submitting
an application.
e. Information Technology: Jeff Rieman shared that IT is working on a data security
agreement between ONU and vendors. They are also working on an internal
version to increase standards. We have officially printed our 10 millionth page
since switching to common printers!
Questions for the President: President DiBiasio made a few comments before opening
the floor to questions.
a. At the January Board meeting, action was taken on promotion, tenure and
sabbatical requests. A strong pool of faculty candidates resulted in the following:
11 granted tenure, 12 promotions, 7 sabbatical requests approved and 8 granted
emeritus status. Honorary degree candidates were also approved. The Board saw
excellent student presentations highlighting high impact learning at ONU.
Student representatives included Katie Cochran (Business), Rody Seballos (Arts
& Sciences) and Lucas Casserlie (Arts & Sciences and Pharmacy). Evening
activities highlighted faculty success with extramural funding, expressing to the
Board how important these activities are. Faculty participants included J.D.
Yoder, Phillip Zoladz, Howard Fenton and Steve Martin. There was also a
discussion of expectations of service by Board members and a standards of
practice document was approved. This document is useful when recruiting Board
members because it outlines responsibilities.
b. An announcement regarding the Provost search will be distributed later this week.
c. The search for a new Dean of the Dicke College of Business is underway, with 25
possible candidates already.
d. Commencement speakers have been confirmed. David Greene, a co-host on
NPR’s Morning Edition and author of the recently published “Midnight in
Siberia” will deliver the Undergraduate keynote address. His wife and father-inlaw are both ONU alumni. Tammy Stefanovic is the Pharmacy commencement
speaker. She is an ONU alum and currently serves as the President of U.S.
Operations for GAVIS Pharmaceuticals. Colonel William Orr will serve as the
Law commencement speaker. He is a double graduate, having received both his
B.A. and J.D. degrees from ONU. He has been involved in Air Force Judiciary for
many years, having served as the chief appellate military judge on the Air Force
Court of Criminal Appeals.
e. During recent contract negotiations, Sodexo will now provide $3.2 million to
upgrade food service. This will include upgrades to White Bear and changes to
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Northern on Main in light of the increased coffee availability across campus.
Northern on Main will become a full service restaurant (Cosi). The remaining
funds will be used to upgrade the cafeteria.
f. The President expressed his appreciation to all faculty that have been participating
in student recruitment and working with Bill Aiello and his staff. The next
several months are incredibly important for converting accepted students into
future ONU students.
Questions for the Provost: Provost Crago made a few comments before opening the
floor to questions.
a. At the January Board meeting, a presentation was given to Board members
regarding grants and the importance of investments related to supporting and
attracting grants. On March 15th, McAllister & Quinn will be on campus to meet
with faculty members interested in their support services as it pertains to
acquisition of extramural funding and their visit will include a presentation in the
McIntosh Ballroom from 10:30 AM – 11:15 AM. We want to continue to build
on our successes. Four years ago, extramural funding was under $150,000; this
year, funding has exceeded $3 million.
b. Staffing plan for the upcoming academic year involved hiring 30 new faculty
members. Currently, 8 – 12 interviews are being conducted each week. The
quality of the candidate pools is very strong, and in many cases, we have attracted
the top candidate.
c. The renovation on the first floor of Heterick Library should be completed by Fall
2016.
Other Reports: None
New business: None
Announcements:
a. John Kramer and Brett Wonders were awarded first prize in the Two-Year/Small
College Audio Division at the Broadcast Education Association Festival of Arts.
Brett and John will be going to Vegas to accept their award in April.
b. The Wind Orchestra will perform Thursday, February 25th @ 7:30 PM. On
March 10th @ 7:30 PM in the Freed Center, an African Drumming and Dance
Extravaganza will feature Fulbright Visiting Scholar in Residence, Professor
Benjamin Obido Ayettey.
c. Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor society, is hosting a film and lecture
event on Wednesday, February 24th. The event has been made possible through a
grant from the national office of Pi Sigma Alpha. From 6:30-7:30, we will be
hosting Dr. David Jackson, a nationally known scholar of popular culture and
politics in the Dicke Forum. Dr. Jackson will be discussing the role of celebrity
in politics. The lecture will be followed by a showing of the film, Team America:
World Police at the Ada Theatre beginning at 8:00. The film is free of charge as
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is a small popcorn and a small drink. Members of the campus community along
with the Ada community are invited.
d. On March 21st and 22nd, John Prados, a leading expert on the CIA, will be visiting
campus. On March 21st @ 4 PM, he will present “Freedom of Information Act,”
sponsored by CASE and Society of Collegiate Journalists, and @ 7 PM, “Is There
a Future for the CIA,” sponsored by CASE and Phi Beta Delta. On March 22nd @
7 PM, he will present “The End of the Cold War,” sponsored by CASE and
Department of History, Politics and Justice.
e. On March 21st @ 7 PM, Brian Willians from Bucknell University will discuss
physical chemistry and applications to laboratory activities. Don’t miss his
visually compelling presentation.
f. Frank Warren’s visit is also being sponsored by the President’s Office, the
Department of Communication & Media Studies, the Department of Psychology,
Sociology & Criminal Justice and the Freed Center for the Performing Arts.
g. Mark Cruea announced that his daughter and ONU student, Rachel Cruea, just
had her 15th and 16th poems accepted to the Adroit Journal. One of these poems
explored her brother’s recent struggle with cancer. She was awarded the Adroit
Prize for Poetry for this poem.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 11:42 AM.
Submitted by,
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Leslie A. Riley
Secretary