Ithaca College
Faculty Council
December 4, 2012
A & E Center – VIP Lounge
Present:
B. Belyea, D. Birr, L. Black, J. Blumberg, J. Bonnetta, B. Bower, K. Breuer, W. Dann,
S. Freedman, S. Grigoriev, M. Hall, C. Henderson, A. Kissiloff,
S. Lahr, D. Lifton, S. Mauk, A. Monticello, B. Murday, S. Osterreich, T. Patrone,
J. Pena-Shaff, J. Rosenthal, P. Rothbart, W. Schlesinger, S. Stansfield, T. Swensen,
D. Tindall, D. Turkon
Absent:
C. McNamara, J. Stafford
Excused: J. Harrington, S. Howard-Baptiste, E. Kelly,
Guests:
S. Erickson, E. Gonzalez (The Ithacan), M. Kelly, M. Trotti
1. Welcome and Announcements:
P. Rothbart called the meeting to order and asked for any Open Session discussion.
2. Open Session: None
3. Approval of Minutes: November 13, 2012:
D. Lifton moved to amend the meeting minutes with the addition of one sentence
to the fifth section of page two: “Thus, Provost Kelly responded to the statement,
indicating that she does not support Faculty Council’s recommendation for a 3% general
merit pool increase and is not advocating for it at IEBC meetings.” The motion was
seconded. After discussion, it was requested that the transcription of the original audio
recording be revisited to determine the accuracy of the statement before inclusion in
amended meetings minutes.
4. Chair’s Report:
P. Rothbart opened the Chair’s Report with a request that any media present be identified.
A reporter from The Ithacan was in attendance. P. Rothbart touched upon the recent
survey that was sent to faculty and indicated that he would be reviewing the content of the
anonymous survey results in Executive Session, at which time he would seek advice on next
steps for the data. Given the upcoming Winter Break and the fact the next Faculty Council
meeting will not be until late January, P. Rothbart expressed an interest in forging ahead
with the process and would be emailing members over the break.
5. Provost’s Report
Provost Kelly opened with a report on the Huron recommendations and process for review.
Referring to a memo from President Rochon, Provost Kelly stated that all of these
recommendations, comments, etc. will be sent to the IEBC which will utilize them as part of
their spring planning and effectiveness review. Provost Kelly emphasized that to be an
effective institution, planning and institutional assessment take place in the spring as
opposed to focusing strictly on budget; the budget process will follow in the fall. In the
spring, IEBC will review the recommendations made by Huron and will forward to the
President which recommendations they believe should be implemented, what kind of time
frame, what should not be implemented, and what should be slowed down. In reference to
the IEBC elections to take place later in the evening, Provost Kelly emphasized that, while
always important, the makeup of the IEBC this year is critical. Additionally, there will be
two students and two non-exempt staff added to the IEBC so all constituencies are
represented and can participate in that conversation.
Regarding meetings with individual school faculty, Provost Kelly apologized for the recent
unavoidable scheduling conflicts with regard to open faculty meetings with each of the
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schools. The idea behind these meetings was to allow her and IC 20/20 Advisory
Committee members the opportunity to listen to questions, concerns and issues the faculty
might have about any particular IC 20/20 initiative, or other topics. These open sessions
may conflict with the open sessions for the entire campus community for the Director of the
Advising Center candidate visits. W. Schlesinger asked the Provost if it would be possible to
make two or three seats available during search committee meetings so that interested
faculty could attend. Because of the tight scheduling for candidates, Provost Kelly did not
want to close the door on that idea if someone had a conflict because of a school meeting,
but really wanted to participate, suggesting that Margie Arnold would be the person with
whom to address this question.
D. Turkon asked about the Huron group’s presentation and where teaching staff fit into this
review process. Provost Kelly stated that nothing related to teaching, whether it is
categorized as a faculty member, or not, would not come under Huron scrutiny. The only
way in which academic units would be affected by a Huron recommendation would be in a
manner which would affect the entire campus, using the example of something such as a
billing process change, which would affect all departments.
J. Rosenthal queried Provost Kelly about rumored changes in the phased retirement system,
in terms of the load that faculty must teach, and what is defined as a full load. Provost
Kelly said to the best of her knowledge there had been no changes. However, what is
happening is that they are trying to make sure that IC is following its own policies. Legal
Affairs had questions about whether or not faculty could be allowed, in phased retirement,
to stack all of their teaching in one semester and not teach at all the following semester.
Part of the concern is whether or not IC is treating all faculty who enter phased retirement
equally. It was decided to allow this presuming the department dean and chair sign off on
it. J. Rosenthal asked if there were any changes to benefits eligibility; to which Provost
Kelly replied “no.” Further clarification was requested as to whether the percentage had
changed, and Provost Kelly replied “not to her knowledge,” unless there was something
from Human Resources related to legal requirements, and/or federal law changes. J.
Rosenthal encouraged Provost Kelly to check on this.
D. Lifton addressed Provost Kelly with these comments: “Dr. Kelly, I’m serving on Council
as a one-semester replacement so this is my last opportunity to engage in this matter.
Again, I have a very brief comment, and if you would like to react, I welcome that. And,
the comment is this: The Middle States study highlighted process of Faculty Council’s
budget inputs as an example of shared governance. In my view, when the administration
rejects our salary recommendations year after year, it dilutes its commitment to shared
governance. There is still time, Provost, to rescue this situation. Given Carl Sgrecci’s
recent letter, I urge you to, number one, advocate for the top of his range, 3%. Number
two, declare the 3% to be the general merit pool in keeping with Faculty Council’s
recommendation. And, number three, that the IEBC take up extraordinary merit as a
separate budget item. Targeting Sgrecci’s 3% general merit, allocates the funds to the
broadest number of employees who have worked so hard these past years with very little
compensation reward. Thank you.” Provost Kelly replied: “Duly noted.”
D. Turkon shared with Provost Kelly that the Huron Group was unaware of the plans for the
new Advising Center and the staffing; and questioned whether this had been put before
them, and was it a part of their review. Provost Kelly responded stating that Huron is
reviewing primarily non-academic offices, and is not reviewing anything that is not up and
running.
W. Schlesinger made a motion to move to Executive Session, suspending the
agenda. Motion was seconded; 1 opposed; 0 abstentions.
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6. ICC Transfer Policy: P. Rothbart opened the floor to questions about the APC proposal
put forth for transfer credits. S. Erickson from APC was on hand to answer questions.
There were several questions about the definition of “semester hours” and whether or not
this is different from “credit hours.” Several members felt it was confusing and should be
clarified. S. Erickson provided background on the proposal. When ICC brought the proposal
to APC last spring, it rapidly became apparent that the transfer policy was going to be too
much. There is a second part to this proposal, which is not available yet. The Registrar’s
Office and Enrollment Management participated in the process. There was concern about
locking out some transfer students, making it very unattractive for transfer students, as well
as students coming in with AP credit, etc. The idea was to make this as flexible as possible,
while meeting the integrity of what is intended through ICC, but at the same time making it
flexible enough to not drive away transfer students. After further discussion, J. Rosenthal
moved to accept the proposal, and with its acceptance, APC provide clarification of
the meaning of semester hours. The motion was seconded. Further discussion and
clarification was requested about Part II, which will cover AP credits, the process, and
evaluation of artifacts for the e-portfolio process. Again the motion was put on the
table. A friendly amendment was requested for clarity of the artifacts. Vote:
Motion carried; 1 opposed; 1 abstention.
7. IEBC Elections for Spring 2013 Semester:
There are two, one-semester positions to be filled for the IEBC. P. Rothbart explained the
procedure which is to recommend up to four candidates to the President of the College. The
President will select from the candidates. Three candidates had put forth their names, and
P. Rothbart asked Council members if anyone present wished to include their name on the
slate of candidates. S. Lahr requested his name be added to the list, which included Dr.
Diane Long, Beth Ellen Clark Joseph, and James Pfrehm. During P. Rothbart’s
presentation of candidate comments, S. Osterreich indicated a preference to have only
tenured track and/or tenured faculty names put forth because they are more likely to speak
freely. Council members discussed the merits of putting forth only names of tenured track
and tenured faculty. D. Lifton requested it be noted for the historical record that there is
now a different approach to this process as to how our best thoughts are presented.
Motion to accept Steve Lahr, Beth Ellen Clark Joseph and Diane Long. Motion
carried; 0 opposed; 1 abstention.
A question about the confidentially of how IEBC votes was raised. After discussion, it was
determined that topics of discussion that are made public may be reported to Faculty
Council. In addition, IEBC members can request permission to report back on certain
topics.
8. New Business:
For the sake of full disclosure W. Schlesinger stated that he and S. Osterreich are on a
committee that is discussion residential life. S. Osterreich indicated that it is more of a
housing study, with a list of desires, not a committee that is making recommendations. It is
chaired by Bonnie Prunty, and it reports to either Marisa Kelly or Carl Sgrecci.
8. Executive Session: P. Rothbart returned to Executive Session.
Meeting adjourned at 9:31 pm.
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