Present: Dean Swartz, Associate Deans H. Scott and P. Smith, E. Dobbs, R. Grey, M. Pillado-Miller, L. Sinnett, D. Smith, B. Voyles

The Dean called the meeting to order at 4:18 p.m. in Nollen House.

Remarks by the Dean

The full-time temporary position in Gender and Women’s Studies has been filled.

The President’s document on spring Fund for Excellence proposals expresses the hope that the faculty will undertake broad academic planning discussions which will assess the overall curriculum of the College and areas which we should invest more or less in. He wishes to facilitate this discussion by making funds available.

The Fund for Excellence Diversity Committee appointed by the President has met four times over the past two weeks. That Committee will bring a proposal to Council next fall for some special diversity hires.

Requests for Faculty Positions

Council concluded its discussion of proposals for faculty positions.

Helen Scott left at 5:55 p.m.

An Academic Master Plan

Council members raised the need for an academic master plan to complement and guide the campus needs assessment and facilities master plan. The ambitious construction projects and fifteen-year projections must have their basis in a clear academic vision for the College. Many of the projections embedded in the master plan (e.g., that the college’s total enrollment will increase to 1500 students) are connected with, and have implications for, our academic program. From a Council perspective, it is important to assert the crucial value of a direct investment in academic quality (for example, a low student/faculty ratio) above the value of impressive buildings and landscaping. Another Council member pointed out that the Fund for Excellence will be nothing more than a glorified Presidential discretionary fund if the Executive Council, and the faculty as a whole, resists the imperative to shape actively a broad curricular and academic vision. The Council can serve as a long-range academic planning committee, leading the faculty in this wider discussion. Through their elected representatives, members of the faculty can “think beyond the walls of their own departments” and correct some misperceptions about the agenda of the administration. Perhaps divisions can carry out some of this broader, more long-range planning. For example, division chairs might foster discussion of the principles used by Council to set priorities for allocation of faculty positions, while also encouraging department chairs to work closely with the division chairs as they prepare these requests. Budget-related planning that involves recommendation of new faculty positions may seem like a “zero-sum game” if carried out one year at a time, while designing a strategy to build the faculty over a longer span increases the sense of available resources. Grinnell’s system of minimal college-wide requirements has fostered a proliferation of changes that affect only one part of the curriculum; by contrast, a college with a tighter set of requirements can achieve change only with reference to the curriculum as a whole. Even an “open” curriculum should be designed to provide an inspiring and challenging education to the students that Grinnell would like to attract in the future. Likewise, in this academic vision it is important to address the question, “Who are the faculty?” and to assert the value of having nearly all classes taught by full-time faculty members who hold the terminal degree in their field.

Council Members’ Remarks

As Chair of the Faculty, E. Dobbs encouraged the Executive Council to continue these discussions of long-range academic planning next year. She praised this year’s Council for taking up and resolving productively a large number of academic issues. Dobbs also thanked the two departing members, L. Sinnett and R. Grey, for their generous and helpful contributions to the Council. Several Council members noted that they initially opposed the separation of the Personnel Committee from other Council functions, but that they now appreciate the new role of the Executive Council in the academic governance of the College.

The meeting adjourned at 6:27 p.m.

Helen Scott
Paula V. Smith
Secretaries