Present: President Osgood, Special Assistant to the President J. Brand, Dean Swartz, Associate Dean P. Smith, E. Dobbs, B. Ferguson, T. Moore, M. Pillado-Miller, D. Smith, B. Voyles.

The meeting was called to order by the President at 4:20 p.m. in the Nollen House conference room.

The minutes and excerpts of the 10/13/99 Executive Council meeting were corrected and approved.

Remarks by the President

President Osgood briefly discussed the key points of his thinking on how the campus master planning process should proceed.

Remarks by the Dean

The Dean asked to rearrange the agenda in order to ensure that the most time-sensitive issues were dealt with in this meeting.

B. Voyles moved, and M. Pillado-Miller seconded, approval of a one-year leave replacement position for A. Ellis for next year. The motion carried.

B. Voyles moved, and E. Dobbs seconded, approval for a one-year extension of A. Mobley's contract. The motion carried.

B. Ferguson moved, and E. Dobbs seconded, approval for a one-year leave replacement for S. Ferguson for next year. The motion carried.

E. Dobbs moved, and Bill Ferguson seconded, the approval of Dolores Huerta as Spring 2000 Commencement speaker. The motion carried.

Discussion of Principles Used in Staffing Decisions

Council looked back at its Spring and Fall discussions of faculty allocations and summarized the main principles that were implicit in its decisions. The list of these principles, which is not set in any ranked order, includes the following:

1. that we should continue the College's commitment to a liberal arts curriculum by maintaining a diversity of departments, even if few students avail themselves of that diversity by enrolling in or majoring in some departments;
2. that we should support the close faculty-student interactions espoused by the educational model of the College by ensuring a department has enough faculty to be able to offer classes that are not so large as to interfere in a serious way with student learning;
3. that we should support the quality of the Grinnell College academic program by ensuring a department has enough faculty to be able to offer at least the minimal range of courses required for a major;
4. that we should support the quality of student education by not leaving a department in a situation that forces it to rely on temporary faculty for an extended period and by, where possible, considering leave-proofing a department;
5. that we should support a balance between departmental and more broadly defined staffing needs, such as those of concentrations or other special programs; and
6. that we should conduct our deliberations in the context of current and future college-wide goals, including strengthening the diversity of the faculty.

End of Course Evaluations

Council discussed the content of a letter to the faculty, drafted by E. Dobbs, which introduced and summarized a report on research conducted on the previously used end-of-course evaluation instrument and presented to Council by the Office of Institutional Research and which proposed a two-semester trial of a revised set of questions. The Dean suggested that the modifications be made by E. Dobbs and that the letter be sent to the faculty (with a link to the report) on 10/28/99 in order that the faculty have time to read the letter and the report prior to the November 1, 1999 faculty meeting.

Theatre Proposal

M. Pillado-Miller moved, and E. Dobbs seconded, approval of a tenure-track position in the Theatre Department similar to the one which was previously occupied by J. Czechowski. Discussion followed. The position was approved. E. Dobbs moved, and M. Pillado-Miller seconded, a description for this position. The description was approved subject to minor alterations to which the Dean will attend.

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows

The Dean noted that six proposals had been received for Mellon Postdoctoral fellows. He asked Council approval for him to draft a position announcement which would recruit all six positions simultaneously. Council approved.

Council Remarks

E. Dobbs presented the salary policy recommendation that the Faculty Budget Committee has sent to the President and Dean. The Committee endorsed the recommendation of a long-term salary policy that the 1998-99 Committee made to President Osgood and Dean Swartz in November of 1998. The Committee recommended setting the salaries of Grinnell College faculty at 105% of the average salary at each rank of our comparison group of colleges.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.

Karen Wiese
Secretary