MEETING OF THE
President Russell Osgood called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. in ARH 302.
Approval of Minutes – Russell Osgood, President of the College
Minutes from the meeting on August 29, 2007, were approved as submitted.
Election of Personnel Appeals Board Members – Laura Sinnett, Faculty Organization Committee
Faculty members voted for nominees to the Personnel Appeals Board election ballot. There are three two-year term positions up for election.
Announcement – Wayne Moyer, Director of the Rosenfield Program
Moyer announced the week-long symposium at Grinnell commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1967 Campus Address. The symposium opens on Sunday, September 23, at 2 p.m. with an address by Congressman John Lewis titled “Marching with Dr. King.”
Salary Merit Review Process – Eliza Willis, Chair of the Faculty
Willis led a discussion about a salary review process proposal making end-of-course evaluation (EOCE) information directly available by the dean to the Faculty Budget Committee for use in the merit review process for tenured faculty and faculty with 5-year review contracts. The faculty voted to prohibit direct use of these data in 2000.
The salary review process is being examined this year for the following reasons:
• It is the end of the first three-year cycle of the new review system instituted in 2004.
• In 2004, the Personnel Committee was empowered to grant merit scores for faculty undergoing interim, full and tenure reviews.
• There is concern that the current use of whole numbers for merit scores is too limiting.
• Information about teaching is inconsistent. Innovative teaching methods are overemphasized.
• More information is available to the Personnel Committee than the Faculty Budget Committee.
Situations which support the proposal to make EOCE data available to the Faculty Budget Committee include:
• Many tenured faculty members find class visits intrusive.
• Reports from single class visits provide little useful information.
• The current system does not provide student input.
• Some reviews include information from EOCEs and some do not.
Under the new proposal, the Faculty Budget Committee would receive the following information:
• Total number of EOCEs submitted for each course taught during the review period.
• The proportion of “Agree” and “Strongly Agree” responses to statement #2: The instructor helped me to understand the subject matter of the course and statement #6: I learned a lot in this course.
• The same data as above but totaled within each course-level, and corresponding data from the faculty as a whole for comparison.
Benefits of the proposal include similar data for all reviews, class visits made optional, more time available for reviewers to assess other aspects of teaching, and recorded data for assessment of performance over time.
This proposal will come before the faculty for a vote in the near future and should it pass the changes will take place immediately. A straw vote was conducted by a show of hands and President Osgood estimated a 50 to 7 count in favor of the proposed change.
EKI Update – Marci Sortor, Associate Dean of the College
Sortor encouraged faculty to see the website of the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies. This year’s Interdisciplinary Fellows are Bob Grey and Clark Lindgren. This year’s Advisory Board members are Leslie Delmenico and Susan Strauber in a shared position, Vince Eckhart, Wayne Moyer, Tammy Nyden-Bullock, Sam Rebelsky, Monty Roper, and SGA liaison, Eric Olson.
This year’s course schedule includes fifty-five courses that contribute to the curricular goals of the EKI. Sortor spoke about ways in which courses can be taught collaboratively and described various collaborations utilized this semester.
Sortor described the ways in which the EKI searches approved for this year meet EKI goals. The Neuro-Philosophy position in the Philosophy Department brings science and humanistic study together and builds on the new neuroscience concentration. It expands the faculty while bringing a new area of study to the College’s curriculum.
The Film History and Studies position is the first of what will probably be a number of proposals coming from the Humanities Division. The position proposed supports the Humanities core and will free existing faculty to do interdisciplinary work. Sortor thanked Tyler Roberts for his effort on this position proposal.
Finally, the Computer Science position effectively leave-proofs the department (reducing the need for term faculty), enables department members to teach interdisciplinary courses on a regular cycle, and adds a new tutorial.
The Instructional Support Committee has again granted money for Common Ground Lunches and information is forthcoming.
This year, the Advisory Board will be looking at the re-envisioning of concentrations (called for in the EKI) and at other ways of linking courses.
Remarks – President Osgood
September 15 was the nominations deadline for the dean of the college position. President Osgood thanked everyone for their input.
Faculty Achievements - Jim Swartz, Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College
Dave Lopatto received a grant to write a book on his research on what students learn when engaged in undergraduate research projects.
Paula Smith has received three grants for residencies at creative arts centers.
Remarks – Eliza Willis
Executive Council (EC) will be involved in President Osgood’s selection of a dean. Willis encouraged faculty to suggest interview questions for the candidates to Willis or division chairs.
Willis has volunteered to review material using the “No Limits” theme. Please contact Willis or Seth Allen, Dean of Admission, if there is concern about subsequent usage.
Executive Council and the Curriculum Committee are discussing problems that arose during the fall semester registration process.
Willis requested suggestions (especially from new faculty members) for improving the College’s recruitment and retention of faculty members. She will be presenting this issue to the Board of Trustees.
Announcements and New Business
Laura Sinnett announced that the ballot for the Personnel Appeals Board election would be distributed the following day.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Angela Winburn
Secretary to the Faculty