Present: President Osgood, Dean Swartz, Associate Deans H. Scott and P. Smith, Special Assistant to the President Jonathan Brand, E. Dobbs. R. Grey, M. Pillado-Miller, L. Sinnett, D. Smith, and B. Voyles
The President called the meeting to order at 4:18 p.m. in Windsor House.
The minutes of September 2 were corrected and approved.
Remarks by the President
Trustee Board Chair, Fred Little, during a recent short campus visit with the President commented on the need for Board members to move beyond "disorganized impressions" and truly become educated about the college. The Board is discussing the formation of an Academic Affairs Committee similar to that of Boards' at other small colleges. The Board does not wish to abolish the Trustee/Faculty Relations Committee; the President would like to have faculty members of that committee appointed by Council rather than by the President. At the October Board meeting, Vince Cuseo will report on strengths and weaknesses of the Admission Office. At the February Board meeting, the Dean will present an overview of academic programs.
Remarks by the Dean
The Faculty/Staff Directory has been delayed by substantial administrative reorganization. The Directory should be out at the beginning of next week.
The Dean asked Council members whether or not they think the photo pamphlet of new students ought to be continued. It was the unanimous recommendation of council members that this be continued since this pamphlet has proved to be very useful to faculty members in identifying students and especially for writing recommendations for students after they have graduated.
The Dean reported that the College will adopt a consistent standard for counting our full-time faculty. Our counting will follow the guidelines set forward by the AAUP which means that administrators with faculty rank, librarians and coaches will not be included in our number of FTEs. This will result in some discontinuity in our reporting of FTEs which will be handled by a brief note indicating this change.
Approval of Faculty Positions to be Filled
The President asked whether descriptions typically are accompanied by statements from departments justifying the filling of the position. Council members responded that we usually do not require this of departments except in the case where a faculty member retires after a long career at the college. Sinnett explained that the Dean requested such a justification from the Psychology department, for example, when Tom Brozoski retired after twenty-seven years at the College. The Dean added that such justification is always required if such a position would result in an addition to the staffing for a department.
Council plans to discuss the issues raised by the President's question when the topic of faculty allocation is on the agenda.
Voyles/Grey moved approval of the description for a tenure-track position in chemistry. The motion carried.
Pillado-Miller/Dobbs moved approval of the description for a tenure-track position in French. The motion carried.
Pillado-Miller/Dobbs moved approval of the description for a tenure-track position in English. The motion carried.
Pillado-Miller/Grey moved approval of the description for a one-year and a two-year leave replacement in Russian. The motion carried.
Discussion of Council Agenda Items for 1998-99
Council decided on the following topics for discussion this academic year:
1. Standard list of comparison schools (Carol Trosset, Director of Institutional Research will provide Council with a preliminary recommendation)
2. Faculty salary pool policy (the trustees would like a recommendation from the President by February)
3. Student evaluation of teaching (discussion to begin after fall break)
4. Role of Executive Council in personnel matters (P. Smith will prepare a summary of current practice and a summary of the discussion at a joint meeting of last year's Council and Personnel Committee)
5. American Studies
6. Faculty allocation policy
7. Supervision of department learning assessments
8. Evaluation/development of faculty
9. Faculty status: Lecturers
10. Grievance procedure
11. Leave policy for untenured faculty members
12. Advising system
13. Associate Professor rank and Senior Faculty Status
14. Length of service in probationary period
15. Tuition remission for Grinnell students studying off campus
Three topics discussed but not included on the list of agenda items are: faculty involvement in the budget process (the Dean reported that an additional faculty member has been added to the Budget Committee: Jack Mutti and Jenny Michaels will both serve); partner employment issues (this is currently under the charge of Frank Thomas as Administrative Coordinator for Community Relations and Campus Master Plan; faculty involvement in Admission/Financial Aid report (this is being handled by Tom Crady as Vice President for Student Affairs).
Discussion Regarding Minutes
Council members requested that excerpted minutes be a full as possible so that the faculty is well informed about Council discussions. Minutes will be distributed as early as possible so as to get corrections back before our meetings.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
Helen Scott
Secretary