February 6, 2015 H&S Senate minutes
Present: Brendan Murday, Maria DiFrancesco, Rebecca Plante, Wendy Dann, Matt Price, Jennifer Jolly,
Carla Stetson, Paula Murray Cole, Kelley Sullivan, Claire Gleitman, Sharon Stansfeld, Dave Turkon.
Absent: Hugh Egan, Matt Klemm (both on sabbatical), Jen Tennant. Guest: Dean Leslie Lewis
Meeting started at 4:05pm
1) Minutes approved – 10 approved, none opposed, 2 abstentions.
2) Conversation with Peter Rothbart, Faculty Council Chair.
a. What will be the next step for Faculty Handbook Amendment Committee, who has been
identifying possible clarifications/disambiguations of various sections? Council will put
the FHAC work on the March meeting agenda, voting on any recommendations perhaps
in May.
b. Plans for Faculty Council to resize and/or reapportion the number of representatives
from each school? Yes to the latter; they will consider the former. They will also look
into whether their voting list conforms to the list of faculty who should be eligible to
vote.
c. Ideas to improve communication between Council and the faculty body: releasing
upcoming agendas in advance; delaying votes on important issues until the subsequent
meeting to allow representatives to communicate with constituents.
d. Executive sessions – should Council make less use of executive sessions, in the interest
of transparency? Council will consider this.
e. Shared governance update: town halls to be held on Feb 17 and 19.
3) Master Plan update: the architectural firm’s report will go to the Board of Trustees in their
February meeting, where they will have a vote. After that, ranking the priorities will be
determined by a conversation among various groups; faculty input should be submitted to a
Dean or Provost. Creativity Center is still a part of conversations.
4) Elections Committee: Sharon Stansfield will serve as Paula Murray Cole’s deputy.
5) Peer Review of Teaching
a. Politics. MOTION to recommend that the Dean approve their statement: 10 approved,
none opposed, 2 abstentions.
b. Education. MOTION to recommend that the Dean approve their statement: 11
approved, none opposed, 1 abstention.
c. History. MOTION to recommend that the Dean approve their statement, though
offering a suggestion to the department that they consider expanding the range of
individuals who can perform formative evaluations of teaching: 11 approved, none
opposed, 1 abstention.
6) School meeting planning:
a. Aim for a Thursday noon hour in the first 2 weeks after spring break.
b. Focus on faculty concerns/questions regarding the ICC; we’ll solicit questions in
advance, compile a list, and talk through it with Danette in advance.
c. Observation that faculty may also want to talk about budget issues.
d. Dean Lewis interested in having a meeting with students to get their views on ICC;
faculty would be welcome to come too.
7) Parking policies and practices: there is a change in practice regarding towing of vehicles on
campus; Senate discussed the change in practice and found no issues with it.
8) Risk management and experiential learning: faculty have found that risk management concerns
have inhibited our ability to deliver experiential learning opportunities to students. Amanda
Lippincott will be serving as a faculty liaison to risk management, helping faculty to get their
experiential learning proposals approved.
Adjourned: 5:59pm