President Russell K. Osgood opened the meeting at 9:28 a.m. in ARH 302.
Approval of
Minutes--Russell Osgood
Minutes from the
May 10, 2004, meeting were approved with the following changes:
Remarks--Russell
Osgood
Osgood welcomed
everyone back and made the following announcements with the help of faculty:
Introduction
of new faculty members--Jim Swartz, Dean of the College
Swartz facilitated the introduction of new faculty, including additional visitors for the Center for Humanities: Kristin Ross, Professor of French and Comparative Literature at New York University; Susan Bordo, Otis A. Singletary, Chair in the Humanities and Professor of English and Women's Studies at the University of Kentucky; Amy Hollywood, Professor of the History of Christianity and Theology at the University of Chicago; and Rosi Braidotti, Professor of Women's Studies and Scientific Director of the Netherlands Research School of Women's Studies at the University of Utrecht.
He also highlighted
several of the faculty's recently published books:
In addition, Swartz
recognized the following awards of grants to faculty:
Remarks--Jim
Swartz
Swartz reported on the various accomplishments of the past year: reformed faculty salary process; changes in policies dealing with student leaves, course withdrawals, incompletes; Executive Council made changes in Senior Faculty Status policy; the Budget Committee led process of rectifying discrepancies among ranks in faculty salaries; Executive Council has set a diversity initiative; made progress on strategic planning; created American Studies Concentration; formulated programs in participations of writing assessment; established a Peace Studies Program; subscribed to ARTStor.
Further, he announced that this year, Grinnell was starting with a strong, energetic group of new faculty members, a wonderful new class of students, substantially improved student retention, a new academic facility at CERA under construction, a campus center which will provide excellent new classroom spaces under construction, and new facilities to support the Physical Education program.
The launching of a new newsletter to faculty members is called the Faculty Digest. The publication includes deadlines and other necessary information regarding the academic program. It will be published the Thursday or Friday prior to each regularly scheduled faculty meeting.
A total of 1,420 students enrolled this year compared to the 1,389 last year, which is about 35 more new students than planned. Two new tutorials have been added plus four other introductory sections to meet this need of increased enrollment.
Swartz spoke about strategic planning as it relates to the academic program. The Strategic Planning and Steering Committee issued a draft report at the end of last year, which Associate Professor of Economics Mark Montgomery finalized over the summer. The Executive Council will focus on issues in respect to the academic program with substantial efforts to support faculty collaboration and interdisciplinary efforts. The focus will include realistic improvements to academic programs, better support for faculty members in teaching and scholarship, and supporting the broad liberal arts curriculum.
Associate Dean Marci Sorter spoke about opportunities for faculty career enhancement. The Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement Initiatives are extremely valuable as they allow faculty to enrich their teaching and also provide support from other colleges. The three opportunities include Eight-institution partnerships, Grinnell-Oberlin partnerships, and ACM partnerships. Announcements will be emailed over the next couple of days.
Swartz introduced Associate Dean Jon Chenette and mentioned that a very clear description of Associate Dean job responsibilities has been posted at http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/dean/staff/deans/. Chenette introduced the three Curricular Technology Specialists (CTS) Mike Connor (ARH 217D), Fred Hagemeister (Science 211), and Jared Price (BCA 265).
Chenette also spoke about the new ARTStor project, which became available in July. This project is an outgrowth of the Mellon Foundation and is parallel to JSTOR. Grinnell has been selected to serve as a pilot project, so it is important to give feedback about its strengths and weaknesses. ARTStor uploads images and gives access to collections. Chenette also discussed copyright issues: ARTStor allows access and display rights, but not reproductive rights. Access is easy from the Burling Library front page. Training opportunities have been available over the summer and are continuing to develop. At the current time, ARTStor only works on Internet Explorer and for those using Macs with OS X.
Chenette concluded
with information about the Technology Discovery Center (TDC). The purposes of
the center are to:
At the present time, ITS is disbursed throughout campus, which does not seem to be the best setup for the institution's needs. The TDC is located on the corner of 8th Street and Park St., across from Faculty House.
Remarks--Wayne
Moyer, Chair of the Faculty
Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Faculty Wayne Moyer made a brief announcement that the Strategic Planning details need more faculty discussion and emphasized the desire for openness and transparency. Wayne requested that any issues be brought to his attention.
Admissions
Update--James Sumner, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid
Sumner reminded the faculty that the Dean's website hosts a summary of activities distributing comprehensive admission document. Sumner proceeded to announce the following statistics to compare this year's success with last year's. Last year's POSSE program brought 12 students to Grinnell, one of whom was put on academic probation in the fall semester, but by the end of the spring, all were in good academic standing. The second year of the POSSE program has been instigated. Ten new students from the Los Angeles Unified District plan to attend Grinnell this fall; Frank Thomas agreed to serve as their mentor. Howard Burkle was the previous mentor to POSSE I, but must step down from that role due to health conflicts. A new mentor will be appointed shortly. Next year, Grinnell will open the POSSE program to Washington, D.C., with the hopes of adding another ten students. Sumner proceeded to discuss the major difference between the two programs: QuestBridge draws on socioeconomic parameters while POSSE draws on geographic parameters. Sumner concluded by expressing that Grinnell is in a better situation in terms of student demographics than comparable institutions.
Announcements
and new business
Gerald Adams from the Registrar's Office made a quick announcement that registration would be starting precisely at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon.
Associate Professor of Anthropology, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, and Chair of American Studies Concentration Katya Gibel Azoulay spoke about and called for participation in the long-range plan for the American Studies Concentration. The first year is a "year of brainstorming" that will focus on building an interdisciplinary curriculum that reflects and reacts to the trends in the state, the nations, and around the globe. The second year will be the year of drafting proposals to upgrade the Concentration to a Department. Gibel Azoulay encouraged the faculty to think more about what kinds of collaborations are possible for this Department. The third year will be pushing the proposal forward to various stages for approval. By the fourth year, the hope is that the American Studies Concentration will be a Department suitable to serve all three divisions. Gibel Azoulay also discussed the workshops that have been or will be available for faculty. In the fall and spring, faculty workshops focusing on current issues in American Studies and curriculum development will be offered. Please contact Katya Gibel Azoulay for more information or to get involved.
Swartz announced that the editor of the Scarlet and Black, Jason S. Rathod, invites the faculty to submit opinion columns 600-800 words in length.
On behalf of the Grinnell League of Women Voters, Purcell announced that voter registration forms are now available. If you have already registered, you will be eligible to vote for the school election on Sept. 14 (3 seats, 2 unopposed).
Associate Professor of Russian Kelly Herold announced that the Prairie View preschool is reopening as the Learning Garden at the United Methodist Church.
Gibel Azoulay thanked Mark Montgomery for his extensive, clear, and important work on the Strategic Planning documents.
No new business was addressed.
President Osgood adjourned the meeting at 10:39 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Shannon C. Harman
Secretary to the Faculty