Ithaca College
Faculty Council
January 21, 2014, 7-9 PM
VIP Room, A&E Center
Present:
C. Barboza, D. Birr, J. Bonnetta, K. Breuer, M. Cozzolino, N. DiEugenio, D. Duke, J.
Freitag, S. Grigoriev, M. Hall, J. Harrington, C. Henderson, A. Kissiloff, S. Lahr, R.
Lesses, D. Lifton, S. Mauk, A. Moon, B. Murday, T. Patrone, P. Rothbart, J. Rosenthal,
S. Seltzer, T. Swensen, D. Tindall, D. Turkon, R. Wagner, P. Winters
Excused: P. Constantinou, C. McNamara, J. Pfrehm, J. Winslow
Absent:
N. Ali
Guests: K. Emnett, S. Knight (Ithacan), M.A. Taylor
Welcome/Updates: P. Rothbart welcomed Council members back from break and introduced
spring semester replacement members P. Winters, N. DiEugenio, and D. Lifton.
1. Open Session: None
2. Approval of Minutes: December 3, 2013:
Move to approve: S. Seltzer
Vote: 1 Abstention; minutes approved.
3. Chair’s Report:
 Gender Equity Study: Human Resource is scheduled to conduct a salary study
beginning the end of March/beginning of April with the results expected by the end of the
semester. If results are available, Council will review at May 2014 meeting. If results are
not available, Council will review at the September meeting.
 Academic Boycott Statement: President Rochon has publicized his position statement
regarding the boycott of Israeli academic institutions in favor of free academic discourse
in all situations.
 Inventory of Committees: P. Rothbart will begin having his TA assemble the information
received to date. When the information is ready, P. Rothbart will ask a Council member
to draw up a chart to visually demonstrate where the lines of communication are
supposed to be.
 Intellectual Property Rights: T. Byrd hopes to revisit this topic in a couple of weeks which
will likely result in reconvening the committee to re-examine documents.
 Commencement Procedures: Student Affairs has decided to utilize members of the
alumni to carry banners leading their respective schools into the stadium this year.
 Shared Governance Research Task Force: There has been some difficulty in getting the
task force members together, but the work being done is very good work. Plans include
occasional meetings to gather materials, to be followed by a two-day retreat, which the
Provost has agreed to fund. The retreat will be an opportunity to review all the
possibilities and should result in a document by September.
It was also suggested that the task force try to gather people from the Ithaca Community
(people who are interested in shared governance or who are already involved in the area
of governance) to a two/three-hour session to provide an opportunity for people to
express what it is they would like to see happen, as well as learn what works and
doesn’t work. The Task Force will be present to gather all that information to use as part
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of their deliberations. Faculty Council members were invited to put names forward to be
invited; and Council members are welcome to attend.
Other: P. Rothbart will be meeting with G. Hector and assumes this is about the
strategic initiative to save money.
A call will go out for members of the Faculty Benefits Committee. Staff Council is also
reconvening their benefits committee. President Rochon has suggested consideration of
creating a joint committee that will provide input to the benefits process.
Motion: D. Turkon motioned that Faculty Council ask M. Kelly to pay for P. Rothbart’s
membership to AAUP in order to have full access to their resources during the governance
reevaluation process.
Seconded: A. Kissiloff.
Discussion: J. Rosenthal expressed concern about asking the administration to pay for a
membership. In addition, the pros and cons of Faculty Council having its own budget were
discussed. P. Rothbart stated that there was still a motion on the floor. A request was made for
the original phrasing of the motion. The motion was subsequently amended to state, “Faculty
Council requests the Provost provide funds for the President of Faculty Council's membership in
AAUP during the shared governance exploratory process so we can draw on their full
resources.”
Motion passed with a vote of 12 in favor, 7 opposed, and 7 abstentions.
4. Whalen Symposium: M. A. Taylor, Assistant to the Provost and Coordinator of Sponsored
Research, and K. Emnett, Manager of Administrative Operations, presented on behalf of the
Whalen Symposium Committee, requesting assistance in getting faculty to volunteer to be
abstract reviewers and judges for the awards process in the upcoming April 10th event. The
handout provided at the meeting will be sent to Faculty Council members electronically.
5. Executive Session called.
6. Faculty Handbook Amendment Proposals: Recommended changes to the Faculty
Handbook were presented by S. Skopik, chair of the FHAC and discussed by Council as
follows:
Current Policy Manual Section 4.12.9 & 4.12.10:
Council members had an extensive discussion regarding the content, meaning and placement
of this section.
Motion: J. Rosenthal moved for the acceptance of the proposal with the understanding that the
Faculty Handbook Amendment Committee will revisit this within two years.
Second: S. Lahr
Discussion: The two-year reference in the motion was opposed as it ties the committee’s
hands regarding their current plan.
Motion Amended: J. Rosenthal restated the motion, recommending the approval of the change
with the understanding that the language for the new section 4.12.9 will be further reviewed
within the next several years.
Seconded: S. Lahr accepted the change.
Call to Motion: T. Swensen.
Motion passed with 1 abstention.
Clarification of Community: S. Skopik reviewed the purpose of addressing the confusing and
varied use of the word “community” throughout the faculty handbook. FHAC reviewed the
handbook and attempted to clarify and condense the 5/6 usages of the word “community”
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throughout the handbook. Clarification was requested in section 4.1.5. There was discussion
about the use of the word “and” vs. “or” in the written discussion.
Motion: C. Henderson made the motion to send the proposal back for review of the “and/or”
wording.
Seconded: R. Lesses
Vote: motion passed; 1 abstention.
Current Policy Manual Section 4.5.2.1: Upon reviewing the proposed revision of adding the
wording “not mandatory” to this section.
Motion: J. Rosenthal moved to accept.
Seconded: D. Turkon
Discussion: S. Skopik explained that in the guidelines for file preparation, there is an ambiguity
makes it seem as though the community service is an expectation and requirement for tenure
and promotion. Elsewhere in the handbook, it mentions that faculty are encouraged to serve
the community but that they do not represent Ithaca College in any way. The FHAC felt this
should be clarified. After additional discussion by Council members regarding the value of
community service, several Council members suggested wording changes to the content in this
section. S. Skopik noted that there were really two discussions taking place, one around the
language in the amendment and the second around whether community service ought to be a
requirement and there will be time for that discussion later. For the sake of time, P. Rothbart
asked Council members to send further comments and suggestions to S. Skopik.
Vote: There was no vote on the motion on the floor.
Motion: C. Henderson moved that Faculty Council send this proposal back to the Faculty
Handbook Amendment Committee to be wordsmithed.
Second: J. Freitag
Discussion: D. Turkon requested further clarification since it appears that there are
departments that require community service in their policy manuals, or at least highly encourage
it. He encouraged the addition of language that states that while this may be a departmental
requirement it is not a College requirement should be reflected in the content.
Vote: Motion to refer the proposal back to the FHAC passed; 1 abstention.
Current Policy Manual Section Appendix – Procedures for File Preparation and
Presentation Tenure and Promotion, #8: It was suggested that the word “profession” be
retained in number 8 as it seems to have been a typographical error to have struck it. Upon
further discussion, P. Rothbart encouraged Council members who had concerns about the
legacy language in the document send those comments directly to FHAC. There was further
discussion about community service.
D. Lifton asked S. Skopik to express appreciation to the Faculty Handbook Amendment
Committee for all the work they have done.
Call to Question: S. Mauk called the question to accept the amendment with those corrections
that were made in wording and with the parentheses that we know the committee will keep
reviewing.
Seconded: D. Birr
Motion passed; 3 abstentions.
Current Policy Manual Section 4.12.7.3.3
Item was tabled for review at the next Council meeting.
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8. New Business:
J. Rosenthal requested Faculty Council inquire as to what extent there is student participation in
Martin Luther King Day activities, and whether or not the College is achieving the intent of not
holding classes on this day. If it is not working well, how can the situation be improved to
increase participation? P. Rothbart will make further inquiries.
Meeting adjourned: 9:03 PM
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