Faculty Assembly Executive Council (FAEC) Meeting Minutes September 6 2017 HGS Conference Room 11:00am to 12:30am

Attendees:​ Christina Connor, Cristina Perez, Roark Atkinson, Kim Lorber, Renata Gangemi, Gladys Torres-Baumgarten, Kathryn Zeno, Eva Ogens, Tae Kwak

Secretary:​ Hugh Sheehy

Guests:​ Provost Beth Barnett, President Peter Mercer

1)    Roark Atkinson called meeting to order 11:17

2)    Tae Kwak proposed approving minutes of 4/26/17; RA seconded; all in favor: minutes approved

3)    Luminis: Company notified College of technology change suddenly; ITS suggests moving on to other services because of conflicts between Luminis and other College online services because Luminis is no longer reliably cooperative with the College server; ITS can only promise the availability of Luminis through the end of Fall, though it will work to extend if through end of 17-18 AY to provide more time for faculty to make the transition to other services; a principal value of Luminis was its blast email function (still available), but now there are alternatives such as Moodle, Gmail, & CONNECT. A few suggestions came up: in the future, faculty and students could benefit from a broader discussion between ITS and the faculty regarding the usefulness of teaching software; it may be valuable to explore memory management in free software (Moodle) versus a local server; we might talk to Michael Bitz to suggest ITS allocate student support for Moodle users.

1.   As a side bar, it was proposed that we consider exploring the effectiveness and oversight of Writing Center, particularly in terms of assessment, student and faculty satisfaction, and resources.

4)    Shared Governance: faculty discussed the last Shared Governance Task Force meeting and the values identified by all present: cooperation; respect; timely communication; clarity of communication, and relative levels of responsibility from various groups on campus. It was stated that the shared governance (SG) initiatives identified by the Task Force can be applied to the proper functioning of the Faculty Assembly (FA) – or a Faculty Senate as well; it was emphasized that communication between all levels of faculty and administration can be improved; communication was identified as one of the key values in future governance models; a presentation delineating the SGTF progress to date was presented at the Shared Governance Task Force “retreat”. The SGTF will continue to work during F’17 and will be sharing its findings with the broader faculty at a later date.

5) Tae Kwak asked whether FAEC meeting times should be 10:30-12:30. All were in favor.

6) A faculty member expressed concern about the process of Pres Mercer’s movement toward establishing a College Senate; further concerns were expressed about Provost Barnett’s efforts to restructure School structure of College (there is as yet no Task Force for restructuring; there has been little discussion of this issue since early summer; also, the depth of the restructuring has yet to be explained (what might be the parameters of new College School structure? Will increasing disciplinary coherence within Schools be a goal?); Mercer has indicated that a Senate will streamline budgeting (to name one example of the benefits he perceives); Mercer has not made it clear what College Senate model he has in mind.

7)    A faculty member suggested an agenda item for next Faculty Assembly: a discussion of what role College Senate would have and how that would affect the function of FA.

8)    Provost Barnett’s Visit: Admissions report on enrollment forthcoming (transfer number may be low, graduate numbers good). Overall the picture of College health is good (though could be better). Provost discussed new hire, Vice Provost Emily Williams, in terms of her role and work so far (which includes picking up a course in Literature). Hopes to soon hire an Associate Provost who will oversee budgets and enrollments of graduate programs. The Masters of Accounting program is doing well and has higher than anticipated enrollment. A faculty member expressed concern about the Fall exam schedule and the difficulty of rescheduling it; Provost Barnett says schedule published and difficult to change now without creating confusion, urged FAEC to tell faculty to urge students to check their exam schedules for conflicts. Provost Barnett said spring exam schedule can still be changed. Provost Barnett cites concerns about ample break time for students and faculty between exams being a sticking point for exam scheduling. A faculty member pointed out that FAEC is still negotiating with Registrar about the Spring exam schedule and asked if Provost Barnett would be amenable to new proposed schedule; Provost Barnett confirmed she would be. A faculty member raised issue of certain time slots, which are overscheduled, and whether new rooms might be used for those periods. A faculty member observed that some conflict is inevitable with number of exams and amount of time-space (hours combined with rooms) in which to give them. Provost Barnett observes that 4 credit courses is one source of scheduling trouble for finals at Ramapo. It was asked whether a Sunday exam would be feasible; Provost Barnett said it has not been tried. Someone noted that this is third semester in a row without a Reading Day; Provost Barnett stated the College tries but may have to negotiate with AFT in order to schedule the semester in a way that consistently includes a Reading Day. Provost Barnett said a Sunday exam slot is a possibility but may present problems for students; a faculty member noted that Sundays might also serve as emergency exam dates in case of canceled exams.

A faculty member raised the issue of School Restructuring Task Force; Provost Barnett will present new charge to FAEC when it is finished—before next week’s FAEC meeting. Provost Barnett  said she did not know whether the President planned to talk about College Senate today. A faculty member questioned what effect adopting a Senate model might have on the image of Shared Governance for Middle States, the fear being it may eliminate SG processes currently in place; the faculty membver expressed a hope for improvement at communication between the administration and the faculty. Asked for suggestions for improving Shared Governance, Provost Barnett said she anticipates there will be SG process delineated once model for College Senate presented. Hope was expressed that the charter for a new Senate would be composed by faculty for sake of SG. Provost Barnett did not disagree. She indicated she feels Provost’s Council has effective influence on academic policy in a way that serves interests of SG; subcommittees could be formed therefrom to produce policy.

A faculty member raised concern about faculty going unacknowledged at Convocation; Provost Barnett confirmed this is one of her concerns as well. She expressed optimism for Fall 2017 semester before taking her leave.

9)    President Mercer’s Visit:

Report of sexual assault on campus last night. DACA announcement creates an atmosphere of uncertainty on campus; Mercer said he is working with other college presidents on statement for Ramapo. Expressed concern, anxiety, and hope to assist vulnerable students. Indicated intent to discuss College Senate idea. Vision: balance authority of faculty in academic matters and authority of board in financial  matters. Senate body would primarily be faculty members (about 45%), with broad representation from all Schools, plus students and community reps; charter would be written by SG task force and maybe a dedicated task force. Mercer wishes for situation in which Senate sub-bodies exist prepared to take up faculty proposals that involve financial inputs—this will allow for faculty and students to make recommendations on budgetary issues. Mercer anticipates Board of Trustees will be deferential to these voices. He believes this will empower faculty and students when it comes to matters of academic policy in the College’s future.

10) Meeting adjourned 12:40