Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards
College of Humanities and Fine Arts
Fall 2013 General Faculty Meeting
August 15, 2013
Call to Order - Dr. Dan Ennis welcomed back the faculty and called the meeting to order.
Approval of Minutes - A motion was made by Steve Madden to approve the January 10, 2013 minutes and seconded
by Kyle Holody. The motion passed unanimously.
Ralph Byington, Interim Provost - Dr. Byington expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to spend next year as
the Interim Provost. He announced his plan to address two items of concern that arose from the last Faculty Senate
meeting. The first item is a communications issue with central administration and their interaction with faculty and
staff. He indicated his door is always open. Further, the Provost Office website will post the discussion items from the
Deans’ Council meetings. If faculty have questions, they should start the line of communication through the College
Dean, who will bring them directly to the Provost. There also will be more structure to discussion items. He will
assign one/two of the Deans to investigate issues/concerns, gather more information, and bring it back to the Deans’
Council. This was the process used for the development of the new COOL Department (Coastal Office of Online
Learning). Dr. Byington announced that the monthly meetings with the Chairs/Directors will also include
representatives from Human Resources, Budget, Registrar, Admissions, etc. He is planning at least two open forums
with faculty during each semester. The first is tentatively scheduled for September 23. The topic will be salary
adjustments and will be held in coordination with the Faculty Welfare and Development Committee. The forum will
be open for general questions; although there may not be answers to all the questions, the key will be for the faculty to
make him aware of their concerns.
The second item of concern was the large percentage of faculty responding “occasionally, frequently, or very
frequently” to experiencing harassment or observing harassment. Charmaine Tomczyk, the Ombudsperson, will
conduct workshops to address the need to report these issues. Denise Morkis will also be addressing the Title IX
training project.
John Beard, Associate Provost - Dr. Beard spoke about Teal Online, the university’s platform for assessment. It
contains assessment plans and reports from all the academic units as well as from every student and administrative
office on campus. It was originally constructed to provide a place for the SACS accreditors to review the status of
CCU’s assessment efforts, specifically the assessment of student learning. Over time, TEAL Online has become the
visible face of assessment. Additional assessment is also done by many departments/programs for their accrediting
bodies. Recent efforts by the colleges have been directed toward making whatever assessment exists more clear,
accurate, and understandable to readers outside the specific discipline. Dr. Beard gave a brief tutorial of Teal Online,
which is now accessible to all faculty/staff with a username/password. We can view assessment reports/plans,
including those from previous years, for all areas of the university. He reviewed the assessment timeline for the 201314 academic year. When the reports are finalized and posted, different assessment committees review them and offer
helpful suggestions along with the university-wide committee. The goal is to leave a trail of reference behind that will
show results, and indicate whether we are getting better or remaining the same. Dr. Beard announced Assessment Day
on September 6, and invited faculty to attend if they would like to know more specific information about what is
happening with assessment.
Denise Morkis, EEO Manager/Title IX Coordinator - Denise announced that she will be emailing faculty the first
week of September informing everyone they will be expected to take the Title IX training, either online or by attending
a session. The Title IX team is composed of Denise, Travis Overton, Deputy Title IX Coordinator, 13 trained
investigators, and two victim advocates. Title IX involves our students and our obligation to understand sexual
harassment, sexual assault, or a sexual violence incident/case. Denise explained that it is the responsibility of everyone
to report any knowledge they have of a sexual incident immediately. There is a 60-day window under federal law for
the university to conduct an investigation. The law indicates that if a school should know or reasonably should know
about a sexual misconduct case involving a student, it must be reported. Denise stressed the necessity for everyone to
report the incident regardless of their relationship with the student, even if the student requests it not be reported, no
matter what the reason. Parents are only informed if the individual requests them to be or if the student is a minor. If
the case involves a student, it should be reported to the Title IX Coordinator; if it is a staff member, it is the EEO. If
someone is in immediate danger, the police department should be called or dial 911. The University is committed to
making every effort to inform students about Title IX. Dr. Ennis added that it is not at the discretion of administrators
to decide whether something is sexual misconduct or not. There is no filter on the administrative side, and it is not our
right to decide not to report something.
New Faculty Introductions - The following new hires were introduced by the Department Chairs:
Communication, Languages, and Cultures: Assistant Professor, Clay Craig; Lecturers, Mary Guidone, Manya
Wubbold, Emily Porter, Jeanne Stewart, Jose Ortiz-Rosario
The department begins the academic year with two new Administrative Specialists. Jeannie Benson has been hired to
replace Karen Williams, who moved to the Department of Politics/Geography. JoAnn Campbell moved from the
English Department to replace Joan Trupiano.
English: Assistant Professor, Cara Adams; Lecturer, Amanda Grefski
Administrative Specialist, Joan Trupiano was welcomed to the English Department upon departing the
Communication, Languages, and Cultures Department.
History: Assistant Professor, Uri Rosenheck
Music: Associate Professor, Jill Trinka
Philosophy/Religious Studies: Assistant Professor, Jeffry Halverson: Lecturers, Casey Woodling, Clifford Sosis,
Patrick Brissey
Margaret Fineagan's Administrative Specialist position became full-time during the spring semester.
Politics/Geography: Assistant Professor, Clayton Whitesides; Lecturer, Michael Julius
Bonnie Senser retired from the University and her position in the department was filled by Karen Williams.
Theatre: Assistant Professors, Becky Timms, Adam Pelty, Michael Gribbin, Todd Wren; Visiting Assistant Professor,
John Woodson; Lecturer, Gregg Buck
Visual Arts: Assistant Professor, Jacob Cotton
Promotion and Tenure – Dr. Ennis acknowledged the following faculty promoted to Associate Professor with tenure:
Aneilya Barnes, Suheir Daoud, Jeffrey Jones, David Kellogg, Joseph Oestreich, Easton Selby, Daniel Turner, and Min
Ye.
Appointments – COHFA has several appointments effective with the fall semester. The Dean congratulated Ron
Green, Edwards College QEP Coordinator; Eliza Glaze, Clark Chair in History; Alyssa James, Assistant Director,
Jackson Center; Becky Childs, Associate Chair of English; Easton Selby, Associate Chair of Visual Arts. Matthieu
Chan Tsin will continue as the Associate Chair of the Communication, Languages, and Cultures Department. Aneilya
Barnes was appointed in the spring as the Associate Chair of History.
Dean’s Update
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Over the summer the College experienced several transitions of space, and Dr. Ennis recognized the hard
work of our ITS and Facilities staff that made it all possible. He congratulated them for the extra effort
expended to make it all come together by the start of the fall semester.
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The QEP Selection Committee recommended funding an Institute for Leadership and Public Policy. This
is a joint effort between the Departments of Politics/Geography, Communication, Languages, and
Cultures, and the Jackson Center. The Institute has three components that will be valuable for, first and
foremost, our students, as well as our faculty. The initiative will consist of a Polling Center, a Public
Analysis Center, and a Leadership Fellows Program. The hope is to have Coastal’s name attached to
every local/regional report on the political cycle. The Jackson Scholars Program, with some adjustments
to its curriculum and additional resources, can be built into a leadership program that is based on ethical
leadership, public engagement, and service to the community. The Quality Enhancement Program is a
five-year program that will adopt five interdisciplinary projects that have the potential to be free-standing
and continue after the conclusion of QEP.
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The M.A. in Liberal Studies was approved by CHE. There is one more vote, which generally is a
formality, and some SACS assessment paperwork due. Therefore, we are making plans to have the M.A.
implemented in the fall of 2014. Dan thanked the committee for their work.
Last spring, the Humanities Ad Hoc Committee met several times and developed some curricular ideas.
As a result, COHFA is moving through the approval process this fall to offer an integrated humanities
degree and a degree in digital humanities. The two areas interlock in many ways and will afford two new
interdisciplinary B.A. programs.
Interim Provost Byington is calling for every college to have one, free-standing, completely online B.A.
program. The Chairs have been working with Dan and discussing ideas and will be communicating with
their faculty for input and ideas.
There is still some calculating being done and adjustments being made for decompression. The formula
was developed by Faculty Welfare and Development. Human Resources will officially release everyone’s
decompression number when it is finalized. Faculty at any time can email the Faculty Welfare and
Development Committee. In terms of final numbers, the Dean does not know exactly what each faculty
member’s decompression number will be.
Office Hours/Exam Policy – The Dean distributed an elaboration of the COHFA Office Hours Policy in
response to questions about online/distance learning education and how that fits into office hours. Dan
reiterated that in the Edward College the policy has not changed. Faculty are expected to hold two office
hours/class, up to eight total hours in the faculty’s assigned office space. Virtual office hours are
acceptable, but should be done in conjunction with the faculty being physically present in their offices.
There are cases where the assigned space is not always the best place to be, such as when multiple faculty
share the same space. Faculty should work with their Chair to alter the location of their office hours,
provided they are posted on the office door, in the syllabus, in the Blue Card, etc. This does not mean,
however, that office hours are held off campus, at home, or in the evening/early a.m. Office hours are
designed for physical consultation with our students. The majority (80%) of the students enrolled in
distance learning classes are actually on campus. Office hours must be held during exam week, but may
need to be adjusted.
The final examination policy was also reviewed. Whatever the discipline/department defines as a final
exam (test, presentation, recital, critique, etc.) should be honored during the published exam period. It is
not appropriate for a final exam to be administered on the last day of classes. The Dean cautioned faculty
against giving students a deadline for submission of assignments at the end of exam week or after the final.
Remarks
Pens were distributed to the faculty with the tag line “I Heard About That” imprinted on them. The Dean gave the
example of the student who did not deliver on a project requested. When he asked the student about the fact that it did
not get done, the student responded with “Yeah, I heard about that.” Attaching professionalized skills without
emphasizing the professional-like attitudes students need is only going to get us halfway. What we need to do is to
take their knowledge, skills, experiences and try to attach them to activities. The example student had the appropriate
skills and knowledge, yet the comment, “I heard about that,” was a sign that the skills were not yet connected to a
sense of ownership of the project. The Dean asked how we convert “I heard about that” into “I did that.” The phrase
also triggered a different line of thinking and he reflected on what is it we really hear, and is it the message that was
intended to be sent. Maybe there are more times when we should listen rather than talk.
Dan introduced Phillip Powell and his musical performance composed by John Cage in 1952.
Submitted by: Judy Davis