Ithaca College
Faculty Council
May 7, 2013, 7-9 PM
VIP Room, A & E Center
Present:
J. Bonnetta, B. Bower, W. Dann, J. Frietag, M. Hall, J. Harrington, s. HowardBaptiste, A. Kissiloff, J. Lapp, R. Lesses, J. Levy, C. McNamara, B. Murday, T.
Patrone, J. Pena-Shaff, D. Rifkin, J. Rosenthal, P. Rothbart, W. Schlesinger, S.
Stansfield, T. Swensen, D. Turkon, R. Wagner
Absent:
D. Birr, L. Black, S. Freedman, J. Pfrehm, B. Whitehead
Excused: J. Blumberg, K. Breuer, D. Duke S. Grigoriev, A. Monticello S. Osterreich
Guests:
S. Neal, E. Maguire
1. Welcome and Announcements:
P. Rothbart called the meeting to order.
2. Open Session:
None
Faculty Council Elections/New Members: P. Rothbart asked new members to introduce
themselves. They included: Janice Levy, Melinda Cozzolino, John Winslow, Jason Freitag,
Rachel Wager, Calida Barboza, Debbie Rifkin, and returning member John Rosenthal.
While there is no formal orientation process for new members, P. Rothbart stated that over
the summer he plans to create a Faculty Council Member Packet that should serve to inform
members of their roles, procedures, and the work of Council members.
3. Approval of Minutes: April 2, 2013:
P. Rothbart presented the minutes. Motion to accept the minutes was made by D.
Turkon, seconded by T. Swensen. A. Kissiloff questioned whether there was a quorum
and suggested reminding new members that they are not allowed to vote during this
meeting. P. Rothbart stated he believed there was a quorum, and hearing no
objections, minutes were accepted.
4. Chair’s Report:
 New Printing Procedures: Information about these new procedures for students was
provided; and had been sent to Council members for comment. No vote was
required. P. Rothbart requested comments be sent directly to the project team.
There was no further discussion.

Outgoing Faculty Trustee J. Hamilton shared with P. Rothbart that the process for
evaluation of the President, that Faculty Council will participate in, is still ongoing.
The Trustees do understand the depth of change that is transforming the College,
and it has been shared with them the changes have been hard on the faculty, given
the short timeline. Further discussion included the idea of having the Chair of
Faculty Council, or APC, be able to address the Board of Trustees at some point in
the process (as part of shared governance). J. Hamilton explained that the role of
the Faculty Trustee is not considered to be the voice of the faculty, but is a faculty
perspective. In J. Hamilton’s view, he is not representing [faculty] on the board, but
one faculty’s perspective. P. Rothbart stated that he believes this reinforces the
need for the voice of the faculty to be able to address the Board of Trustees. Further
discussion would be appropriate during the exploration of the idea of a Shared
1
Governance Committee. The new Faculty Trustee has not been selected yet, and P.
Rothbart believes that selection will take place during the May meeting.

Faculty Council Executive Committee has met with the President and Provost a
couple of times. At the request of the President, he has asked for discussion about
the survey results. Without providing names, quotes or statistics, this allowed for
the beginning of discussion around such as the pace with which things are moving,
the cascade affect mentioned by a couple of faculty—the idea that when a procedure
changes, it is not just the procedure itself that changes, and that learning curve is
magnified several times. Relearning the processes and procedures takes time. The
issue of corporatization was also touched upon.

P. Rothbart shared that he and the President spent some time walking around
campus together. This activity aided in establishing a more familiar form of
communication between the two of them that he feels will extend to faculty in
general. This is a reminder that effective communications go both ways.
Administration and Faculty need to communicate with each other.

P. Rothbart had a couple of meetings with the Provost. Issues of part-time faculty
not receiving their first check until the last business day in August was discussed. It
is not clear whether this affects all part-time faculty, and it is a complicated process.
Provost Kelly has indicated she will look into this.

P. Rothbart had a meeting with S. Neal, Director of the Advising Center, to get a
sense of her timeframe and learn more about the status of the Advisory Committee
for the Advising Center. The current “committee” is not an elected one. During his
meeting with S. Neal, they discussed what the Advisory Committee should look like.
P. Rothbart suggested setting up a one-year ad hoc committee, because at this point
the Committee has no defined charge or level of advising, etc.

Believing Council should continue to lead from the front, P. Rothbart has invited the
Provost to continue attending Faculty Council meetings on a regular basis, and
advocates that the new Executive Committee consider continuing the practice of the
Provost being a part of this process which promotes the concept of shared
governance and encourage the furthering of more dialogue, as it has proven
valuable; and, the Provost is often a resource for information and can provide a
different perspective.
5. Provost’s Report:
 Provost Kelly updated Council members the IC 20/20 Advisory Committee’s effort
undertaken over the past year. The Committee is at the point where they can begin
monitoring implemented initiatives. Project leaders have reported to the Committee
on accomplishments, key challenges, plans for next year, and assessment strategies
appropriate to where they are in the process. Review of the reports as a whole
provided insight into who should be the point person to report on a particular
initiative, what wasn’t included, what needs continued attention/revisiting, and
provided the opportunity to stay on top of the 15 initiatives. M. Kelly expressed that
there is still a lot of work/assessment to be done. Interrelated major issues that
needed to come forward simultaneously have really been launched. With a few
exceptions, the biggest steps forward in terms of IC 20/20 implementations have
been completed; and future work over the next few years will be further
implementation of these initiatives.
2

Provost Kelly also touched upon her request to Steve Skopik, Chair of the Faculty
Handbook Committee regarding the review of the tenure and promotion policies and
procedures, and underscoring the importance of this task. Recognizing this is a
major undertaking that requires several series of conversations across campus at a
time when everyone is exhausted from the amount of work that has already taken
place, she feels this is task is really critical, and hopes faculty will engage in what is
a faculty driven process. It is still the case that for junior faculty there is a lot of
confusion around process questions, as well as questions about what is valued/not
valued, particularly in an IC 20/20 universe. Faculty deserve clarity on these issues.
Provost Kelly thanked Faculty Council for endorsing the Committee’s move forward
at their last meeting. Emphasizing that she has no particular outcome in mind,
which would be inappropriate, the exception is that there is clarity and equity in the
process across the institution. She hopes that by the AY 14/15 year, a set of
procedures and criteria as appropriate to different schools and disciplines, that will
give us the greatest amount of confidence that we are treating everybody in the way
that they should be treated, and that provides clarity at the outset of that process,
will be in place.
Council members asked question of Provost Kelly and commenting/inquiring about the
consideration of flexible work time, explicit minimums for scholarship, and clarifying the
window of time criteria changes and how it affects existing faculty members vs. new
incoming faculty.
6. Advising Center Director’s Introduction and Update:
P. Rothbart introduced S. Neal, the new Director of the Academic Advising Center. S. Neal
updated Council members on the progress of hiring the professional academic advisor, the
office’s move to Rothchild’s Place on Monday, May 13, the Center’s and organizational
structure, how she has already been able to work with other offices to identify areas of
collaboration, as well as the Center’s goals for serving the students, and the faculty, of
Ithaca College. She asked Council members for suggestions and input about the
establishment of a campus-wide advising committee to talk about advising, explore areas
that could streamlined, discuss individual advising programs between the schools, and to
identify professional development opportunities with the Center for Faculty Excellence. S.
Neal expressed the desire to improve communications amongst the advisors and advising
offices across campus. Discussion and feedback was provided to S. Neal.
Recommendations included a balance in the membership of this committee: A
Deans/Faculty/a mix of students, and even AAs. The importance of understanding the
committee charge was discussed, and it was noted that responsibility for a student’s
education lies with the student – and this should be encouraged. S. Neal also addressed
assessment for the Advising Center and professional advisors; and it was clarified that she
was not referring to assessment of faculty as advisors. Because of time, P. Rothbart
suggested they invite S. Neal back to the September meeting to provide an update.
7. Shared Governance Task Force Proposal:
P. Rothbart expressed an interest in moving forward on the concept of a shared governance.
As there is no one definitive definition of shared governance, the first task is to define what
shared governance is for the College. P. Rothbart motioned to form a Shared
Governance Research Task Force with a charge to articulate several plans that
might be applicable with the purpose of starting the conversation on campus
about shared governance. Proposed membership consisted of three faculty
members (chosen by Faculty Council), administration members chosen by the
3
Provost and President, and ex officio members including the Chair of Faculty
Council, Chair of APC, President, Provost and General Counsel. The task force
would report to Faculty Council and/or the Academic Cabinet, and it should
endeavor to complete a study by January 1, but may extend that date as
necessary. Motion was seconded by J. Rosenthal.
Council members discussed timing, makeup of the membership, the role of Faculty Council
Executive Committee and voiced their opinions on how and when to move forward. D.
Rifkin made a friendly amendment to eliminate the ex officio so that every
member has a vote. P. Rothbart accepted the friendly amendment; the seconder
(J. Rosenthal) did not accept the friendly amendment. After some additional input
from Provost Kelly, P. Rothbart amended stating that he wished to remove reference
to ex officio; and J. Rosenthal agreed to accept. P. Rothbart reiterated that this is a
research project for the purposes of gathering information. C. McNamara called to
question. P. Rothbart called a vote: no opposed, no abstentions. W. Schlesinger
asked if it included his suggestion to put out the call now with the Executive Committee
making a decision about who is on the committee. P. Rothbart and J. Rosenthal
accepted. P. Rothbart asked for a vote on the amended proposal. Motion was
passed as amended.
8. LEAP Proposal:
Copies of the LEAP proposal were distributed. Faculty Council has been asked whether or
not they want to advocate that President Rochon sign the document. H&S Senate has
recommended that the President sign the proposal, and he is considering it. A. Kissiloff
moved to have Faculty Council recommend the President sign the letter. D.
Turkon seconded. P. Rothbart called for discussion. Council members generally
supported the signing of the document, but there were questions about process and timing.
W. Schlesinger expressed that as there was nothing in the document for which Ithaca
College does not already stand for and it is just an affirmation; and it was not necessary to
go back to respective school’s colleagues before a vote. A. Kissiloff moved to call to
question. P. Rothbart asked for a vote. With no opposing votes or abstentions, the
Question was called. A motion to support the President’s signing the document was
carried.
9. Admissions Update:
Eric Maguire, Vice President of Enrollment and Communications, reported they had enrolled
1,907 students in the freshman class. The goal this year was around 1,820, and this
number is expected to come in around 1,770 in October. With regard to transfer
population, the goal was 110 students, and they are currently tracking about 30 students
above at this time. Retention projections are not available yet, but the hope is that
freshman to sophomore retention will be up this coming year. There have been some
increases in first second semester retention rates and there is a hop this follows through to
freshman to sophomore year retention. Graduate enrollment figures are still being worked
out. E. Maguire believes a small plus/minus margin of the overall goal for graduate
programs will occur. There was a 13% increase in the freshman applicant pool, which
allowed for an accept rate which matched recent history. While information is still coming in
with regard to class profile, this will be the most diverse incoming class by a significant
margin. Council members had questions about discount rate, the impact of the recent ABC
News report, quality, over/under enrollment in individual schools.
10. CCR Delegate Position: P. Rothbart presented the names and information on two
candidates: James Pfrehm and Paul Geisler. A vote was taken and P. Geisler was elected.
4
A. Kissiloff made a motion to extend the meeting. Motion was passed. P. Rothbart
stated the meeting would end at 9:15 pm.
11. Faculty Council Chair Election:
P. Rothbart requested nominations for the position of Chair. C. McNamara nominated P.
Rothbart. Nomination was seconded. As no other names were put forward, A.
Kissiloff moved to accept by acclimation. Council voted to Acclimate. P. Rothbart
was re-elected as Chair. P. Rothbart thanked Council members.
12. Faculty Council Executive Committee Elections:
Nominations were opened for the position of Secretary. D. Turkon nominated T.
Swensen, nomination was seconded. T. Swensen accepted the nomination. No
other nominations were made; and J. Rosenthal moved to affirm by acclamation. Council
voted to elect T. Swensen as Secretary.
Nominations were opened for the three (3) at-large members of the Executive Committee.
D. Rifkin nominated J. Rosenthal. J. Rosenthal accepted the nomination. D. Rifkin
was nominated. D. Rifkin stated that she would be on sabbatical in the spring and
was unsure about how that would affect her participation. C. McNamara selfnominated. J. Harrington stated he might be interested in serving in the spring.
D. Turkon self-nominated. D. Rifkin nominated T. Patrone, who declined as her
term on Council was ending. Hearing no further nominations, P. Rothbart asked
members to vote via secret ballot. Ballots were collected by T. Swensen. Two
candidates were tied in a vote; therefore, P. Rothbart cast a vote to break the tie.
The following individuals were elected to Executive Council: C. McNamara, D.
Rifkin, and J. Rosenthal.
12. New Business:
P. Rothbart requested discussion on any new business. D. Turkon mentioned the value of
requesting that the College share institutional research with Faculty Council. P. Rothbart
stated that Executive Committee had discussed this and felt the best approach was to, when
there was a question, to ask. If a road block exists, then this will warrant further
discussion.
P. Rothbart spoke briefly on the topic of respecting others, in general, and with regard to
shared governance. D. Turkon stated that the breakfast with the President, and coffee with
the Provost, have been really valuable.
J. Rosenthal stated that in past years they begin their budget process in September and
vote in October – which is late. He requested they find a mechanism to communicate
earlier (August) and review in September, having a preliminary discussion in May, not in
September.
P. Rothbart stated that this summer he plans to put together a welcome packet for
members, and formal guidelines for the Chair. Discussion on things such as the honorary
degree, budget items, will be moved up in the timeline, including regular reporting dates for
committees.
Meeting adjourned: 9:16 PM
5