School of Contemporary Arts
Unit Council Meeting
October 8, 2014
Attendance: Tobin Addington, Marta Bautis, Bonnie Blake, Mack Brandon, Rachel Budin, Peter Campbell,
Regina Clark, Seth Cluett, Gilad Cohen, Meredith Davis, Yolanda del Amo, Renata Gangemi, Marc Gidal,
Hilary Goldstein, Shalom Gorewitz, Pat Keeton, Ann LePore, Rebecca Leung, Jonathan Lipkin, Lisa Lutter,
Edna Negron, Ben Neill, David Oh, Steven Perry, Neel Scott, Ruma Sen, Beba Shamash, Jackie Skrzynski,
Sarah Stackhouse, Maria Vail, Warner Wada.
Dean Perry called the meeting to order at 11:40 am
Dean’s Announcements:
-Grant seeking program proposals: faculty interested in this program should submit a 1 page
proposal to the Dean by Nov. 14.
-Schedule planning for 2015-2016: Dean announced that the rollover has not yet been received from
the Registrar; once received, Conveners should mark up the rollover with the new schedule
information.
 Rooms are designated for CA; Room prioritization will be considered by the Dean.
 All courses should run twice per week; unless approved by the Dean to be offered once per
week.
 Dean suggested that faculty be more aware of the adjunct faculty needs and take them into
account.
-Scholarships: a handout of available scholarships and their guidelines was handed out to faculty;
application applications for 2014-15 are being accepted through October 31. The Foundation is
asking that all applications for scholarships be provided in time for the Scholarship Dinner.
Selections must be finalized and submitted to the Scholarship Office by December 19th.
Applications are available on www.ramapo.edu/scholarships site.
Personnel Items:
-Sabbatical applications: Peter Campbell and Beba Shamash presented their sabbatical applications
and each gave their overview. The Dean presented Meredith Davis’ application, in her absence at the
time.
Faculty voted to endorse each application.
-Nomination for Faculty Emeritus status of Judith Peck: Jackie Skrzynski nominated and read the
summary for Judith Peck’s Emeritus status. Faculty voted to approve the nomination.
Committee Reports:
-Sophomore Engagement: Marc Gidal gave a sophomore advisement presentation for CA Faculty; he
encouraged faculty to talk to sophomores about 4 year plans, career plans, resources available,
internships, study abroad opportunities and exchange programs. A survey will be sent out to both
advisors and advisees.
-Faculty Executive Council (FAEC): Jonathan Lipkin-Task Force on Academic Excellence &
Engagement to be discussed at next meeting.
-Academic Review Committee (ARC): Ruma Sen- Proposals for the 2015-16 academic year must
be received by October 15th, 2014. Submit the signed original of the full package; request form,
syllabus, and an electronic copy of the syllabus, checklist, and supporting documents.
-International Education Committee (IEC): Neel Scott-announced that committee, which consists of
representatives from each school, has been researching and developing a strategic plan for the
college; encouraged faculty to review draft plan on http://www.ramapo.edu/international/dashboard/
and submit feedback by October 31, 2014.
-Study Abroad: Marc Gidal-Conveners should be familiar with the study abroad opportunities and
should encourage students to go abroad.
-DAC: Edna Negron & Ruma Sen- Nothing to report.
-AFT: Rachel Budin-Announced that this is the negotiation year. Survey coming out in hard copy.
Faculty will now be able to teach as adjuncts after 180 days of retirement. New tenure bill is being
grieved.
-Teaching, Learning, Technology Roundtable (TLTR): Rebecca Leung and Gilad Cohen nominated
themselves for this committee. Deadline for funding is end of November.
Guest Presentations:
-John Yao, CA liason from CAAFYE, gave advisement updates; October is advisement month,
gave out handouts on lifting students’ holds, encouraged faculty to use the degree evaluation as a
tool especially for transfer students, informed faculty of “My Advisees” site, informed them of 2
faculty advisement workshops coming up, will arrange to meet with the Convening Groups.
-Joe Connell, Director of Student Success, gave a presentation on Connect; gave a handout on
Connect from Faculty Assembly.
-Eileen Quaglino, CA liason, from the Cahill Center, gave out a list of co-op employers and CA
students from FY 2013-2014 by majors and concentrations and a statistics sheet for the number of
CA cooperative Education Students. Each semester, the Cahill Center sends out surveys and
performance evaluations to all participating employers and students.
Meeting adjourned at 1:10 pm
Minutes submitted by Irene Grskovic, Unit Secretary