Present: J. Cummins, B. Ferguson, K. Jacobson, J. Meehan, R. Osgood, S. Rebelsky, J. Swartz, E. Willis

The meeting came to order at 1:15 p.m. in room 203 of the Rosenfield Student Center.

The minutes and excerpts from September 19, 2007 were approved.

President’s Remarks

The President noted that he had attended the Lawrence-Grinnell football game on Saturday and remarked on the diverse composition of our team and on the beauty of the field.

He also mentioned that on Sunday Georgia Representative John Lewis gave a wonderful address about his time with Dr. Martin Luther King marking the 40th anniversary of King’s address to the College community. He thanked Wayne Moyer and Kathleen Skerrett for their work in organizing this event.

The President remarked that the Presidents of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities had met on the Grinnell campus recently. He noted that during their meeting they honored John Hartung ’61 for his 25 years of service to the organization as its President.

The President noted that the College has drafted a “Carbon Policy” for discussion by the Board of Trustees. The policy is premised on building a utility grade wind farm in the area.

He also noted that this weekend is Family Weekend. He will be presenting his State of the College address on September 29 at 9:15 a.m. in room 101 of the Rosenfield Student Center.

Finally, he noted that he is In the midst of appointing an academic dean.

Dean’s Remarks

The Dean noted that nominations for Director of the Rosenfield Program have been received by his Office.

He noted that the Curriculum Committee has been working to identify changes in process of first-year student registration for classes. There was a brief discussion. S. Rebelsky voiced the concern that there are bigger issues than process. E. Willis agreed and reminded everyone that it is the Executive Council which is charged with discussion of resource issues.

The Dean asked Council if they would like motions regarding reviews conducted by the Faculty Budget Committee to be introduced to the faculty at their next meeting to be included verbatim on the agenda for the meeting. It was agreed and there was discussion.

Council Remarks

E. Willis continued discussion of previous faculty action with regard to use of end-of-course evaluation data by the Faculty Budget Committee in deliberations of merit pay in relation to the first proposed motion. The Dean had earlier distributed a memorandum prepared by Council in 2000 regarding the actions of the faculty at that time. She then quickly reviewed the second proposed motion regarding classroom visitation during the review process by chairs.

S. Rebelsky reported to Council, in his role as Liaison to the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies Advisory Board, on activities of the Board.

S. Rebelsky noted that the Chronicle for Higher Education had recently referred to an online survey of how supportive campus environments are for LGBT students and allies, available at http:// www.campusclimateindex.org/. He was surprised to see that Grinnell did not appear on the list. He asked if there had been a survey that had been received by someone at the College and not returned as he thinks of Grinnell as such a campus. The President and Dean had no knowledge of such a survey. The Dean will ask Tom Crady to follow up on the survey.

Rebelsky asked the President about the availability of a “packet” of faculty responses to him regarding various ideas generated by the Trustees in their recent summer retreat—asking that he share these responses with Council. The President indicated that these responses were nearly ready to be assembled.

Finally, Rebelsky asked Council whether or not it should give consideration to appointing a new working group on the future of American Studies at Grinnell. E. Willis reviewed the recent history and demise of the American Studies faculty working group. There was discussion. It was decided that it was not the role of Council to encourage faculty to undertake further activity in this area, regardless of its opinions on the value of such offerings in our curriculum.

Following on the brief discussion of potential changes to the registration process for first-year students, K. Jacobson asked the Dean if he is doing anything at this time to encourage departments to offer additional introductory sections of various courses next semester. The Dean responded that having briefly looked at enrollments after the passing of the recent add/drop date he does not believe that this is the reason for the pressure. Rather, initially it looks as though the closing of many 200-level courses due to high enrollments by upper-level students caused many of them to seek enrollment in 100-level courses. So, he plans careful analysis of these data in order to not design an approach to fixing the wrong problem.

B. Ferguson seconded the President’s remarks thanking Wayne Moyer and Kathleen Skerrett for their work on the events commemorating the late Martin Luther King.

Ferguson also noted that there have been faculty complaints regarding the inadequacy of AV equipment in ARH classrooms. The Dean responded that ITS is ready to respond but needs to wait for break to be able to have sufficient time in those classrooms to make repairs and substitutions.

K. Jacobson noted that a faculty member had recently raised an issue regarding the lack of standardization of the work of the various departmental SEPCs. The Dean responded that the work of the SEPCs falls in the domain of the SGA and not the faculty. E. Willis suggested that perhaps the faculty could provide assistance to them by creating a uniform survey that they could all use in gathering evaluative information. No decision was taken.

Honorary Degree Nominations

E. Willis moved, K. Jacobson seconded, approval of the recommendations of the Honorary Degree Committee for Honorary Degree recipients at the 2008 Commencement ceremonies, with the nominees moving forward to the faculty for a vote. The motion was approved.

Consideration of Promotion from Associate to Full Professor

The Dean reviewed the usual annual process for soliciting expression of interest from faculty who are interested in moving through the review process for consideration of promotion to full professor. He noted that in the past he has solicited self nominations as well as nominations from department and division chairs. He asked if Council wished to maintain these multiple pathways to nominations. It was agreed that Council desires to remain aggressive in this regard.

Appointment and Review Processes for Interdisciplinary Faculty

E. Willis shared the progress the previous Council made on this matter. The end of year struggle to complete normal business of Council curtailed progress and it is now time to take this matter up again. She noted that the previous Council had agreed on general framework for this process and had drawn up and distributed a “Frequently Asked Questions” document to department chairs to guide them in considering making a departmentally-based interdisciplinary appointment. There was a ranging discussion of the alternatives for structural composition of search committees and review teams. It was generally agreed that the terms of appointment and review would be negotiated and set out in the initial appointment contract. It was agreed that the President would approach the College Lawyer for review of the Faculty Handbook and to draft proposed language changes to accommodate these situational appointments.

The meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m.

Secretary
Karen Wiese