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Minutes
Faculty Council Meeting
September 7, 2007
Present: Greg Bassham (Chair), Derrick Boucher (Chair-elect), Joan Coffin (A&P
Chair-elect), Kristi Concannon (C&T Chair-elect), Sheileen Corbett (At-large
Rep.), Howard Fedrick (Div. B Rep.), Dan Ghezzi (A&P Chair), Fr. Tony Grasso (AVPAA),
Michele McGowan (Div. D Rep.), Brian Pavlac (C&T Chair), Regan Reitsma (Div. C
Rep.), Jeremy Simington (Div. A Rep.); Valerie Kepner (Guest)
1. The meeting was called to order at 2:05 PM in the Lipo Room of The Sheehy-Farmer
Campus Center.
2. The Chair thanked the members of Faculty Council for serving this year.
3. Report of the Chair:
A. Summer initiatives included the following:
1. The new smoking policy for the College was reviewed by Faculty Council and
approved by the College.
2. Dr. Nicholas Holodick, Vice-President for Academic Affairs, will ask the
Board of Directors to approve the creation of multi-year contracts for promoted
Professional Specialist faculty and academic appointees at the Fall 2007 Board
meeting.
3. The Faculty Handbook needs to be updated but does not need a significant
revision overall. A committee composed of former AVPAA Fr. Tom Looney, C.S.C.,
current AVPAA Fr. Anthony Grasso, C.S.C., Faculty Council Chair Greg Bassham,
and Prof. Mike Little worked on an update over the summer. Copies of the revised
Handbook are expected to be available in a few weeks.
B. The following faculty who serve on the Senior Promotion Committee have been
elected to serve on the Tenure and Promotion Committee: Margaret Corgan, Bernie
Healey, Bill Lutes, and Bob Paoletti.
C. There is a vacant at-large seat on A&P that is designated for a Full
Professor. The Faculty Council Chair will make a final request to Full
Professors for nominees (self-nominees are acceptable) for the seat. If there
are no nominees, the Chair will appoint an Associate Professor who is interested
in the seat, as per the Faculty Constitution.
D. Dr. Holodick will supervise a review of the decision to move Neuroscience
from an independent, interdisciplinary Program to a Major within the Psychology
Department.
E. The Chair will meet with faculty in the Mass Communications Department to
discuss their perspectives of recent changes in the department.
4. Report of the Chair of A&P:
A. A&P Chair Dan Ghezzi reported that the committee expects to complete the
revision of Part II – Section 2 of the Faculty Handbook by September 17, 2007.
1. The revision will provide clarity in the criteria for teaching effectiveness,
professional development and public scholarship, and college and community
service.
2. Following approval of the revision by Faculty Council, department chairs and
program directors will be asked to develop criteria for teaching, faculty
development, and service that follow the guidelines of the Faculty Handbook but
are specific to the department or program.
B. The A&P Sub-committee that is revising the Academic Integrity Policy will
present the revised policy to A&P on September 14, 2007.
C. A&P will monitor and review the ETS course evaluation pilot study.
D. A&P will develop specific guidelines and criteria that will used to evaluate
and rank applicants for the Faculty Scholarship.
5. Report of the Chair of the Curriculum and Teaching Committee (C&T):
A. C & T Chair Brian Pavlac proposed the creation of a sub-committee to
determine the best way to implement a service learning initiative, proposed by
Fr. O’Hara, which would require every student at King’s College to participate
in service learning before graduating.
Motion: To form a C&T Sub-committee to determine the best way to implement a
service learning initiative.—Motion PASSED
B. CORE Curriculum Revision progress:
1. C&T will present details of the new CORE to the Registrar by January 2008 to
ensure proper implementation for Fall 2008. Also, new text regarding any
revisions to the CORE will be submitted to the Registrar in March 2008 to be
included in the 2008-09 College Catalog.
2. C&T has invited Social Science faculty to submit comments or proposals on the
Social Science component of the new Core for discussion at the C & T meeting on
September 14, 2007.
3. C&T will ask Faculty Council to vote on the finalized Social Science
categories in October 2007.
4. C&T will organize and clarify the role of First Year Experience (FYE) and
Orientation in the revised CORE.
5. C&T will appoint Core Area Responsibility Team (CART) Coordinators.
6. Report of the Chair of the Social Activities Committee:
A. Social Activities Chair Sheileen Corbett reported that all of last year’s
committee members have agreed to serve again in 2007-08. Plans are underway for
more roving socials. The committee is also considering events geared toward
faculty with small children.
7. New Business
A. Senior Faculty Development Program
1. Faculty Council Chair Greg Bassham proposed various revisions to the current
Senior Faculty Development Program delineated in the Faculty Handbook, Fall
2005.
Motion: To accept all proposed revisions to the Senior Faculty Development
Program.—Motion PASSED. (REVISED SENIOR FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM BELOW.)
2. Motion: That King’s College will begin a phased implementation of the Senior
Faculty Development Policy beginning in Fall 2007. Subject to budgetary
constraints, approximately ten (10) senior faculty will go through the process
each year. The process will begin with faculty who have gone longest without a
substantive performance review (e.g., in connection with tenure, promotion,
merit pay, or senior faculty review) and proceed in approximate order of
seniority until all eligible faculty have participated.—Motion PASSED
B. Part-time Faculty Handbook
1. Faculty Council will review electronic copies of the proposed handbook.
8. The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeremy Simington
[Revision to Faculty Handbook, Fall 2005, pp. 87-89]
VII. SENIOR FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The purposes of the Senior Faculty Development Program are to: (1) encourage
the professional growth of senior faculty members, (2) provide College resources
to assist that growth, (3) account for use of those resources, and (4) report on
the professional development of the faculty member.
It is mandatory for all regular faculty members holding tenure or an academic
appointment, and for professional specialists above the assistant (clinical or
technical) professor rank. Academic Affairs will notify faculty who must apply
in that year’s cohort by October 15. The first plan will be prepared the year
after the faculty member’s receipt of tenure or an academic appointment, or
promotion to associate (clinical or technical) professor; progress will be
reported annually. The cycle will repeat at six-year intervals. During the
initial implementation of the program, eligibility may be limited by seniority
and/or budgetary constraints.
Procedure:
The faculty member will form a committee consisting of the department chair (who
will chair the committee), the Dean (and MSB Director if appropriate), and one
other senior faculty member. If the faculty member is the department chair,
another senior faculty member to chair the committee will be selected in
consultation with the Dean or MSB Director.
The faculty member will submit to the committee:
(a) A current curriculum vitae.
(b) The last three annual activity reports.
(c) A brief (several pages) self-evaluative report on teaching, professional development, and service. If the faculty member has been tenured or promoted within the last two years, the P/T application may simply be referenced.
(d) A professional development plan addressing questions such as: How do I fit into the College future, i. e. what can I contribute to the College mission over the next six years? How can I meet the standards for promotion or merit pay? How can I improve my teaching? What areas do I need to develop in order to do these? What resources do I need? How do I propose to use the money available? How will I be evaluated?
The plan must explain the goals, how these fit the needs of the department
and College, the resources required, and the expected outcomes. It should
include any proposed sabbaticals or use of the Differential Workload policy.
Criteria for judging the achievement of these goals must be specified.
The proposed uses of the funds must directly advance the faculty member’s
development. They may be used: (1) to provide tangible items, such as books,
computers, equipment, etc. These remain the property of the College, although
they are dedicated to the faculty member’s use. (2) For travel to professional
gatherings or to use resources not available locally; (3) to free time for
scholarly work (e.g. "buying" a course reduction, paying a research assistant,
…); (4) other purposes clearly serving to remove impediments to the faculty
member’s professional development, providing these can be done without creating
taxable income for the faculty member.
The committee will evaluate the plan in light of the likely benefits to the students and College. Upon committee approval of the plan (including the proposed use of funds), the College will establish a faculty development account containing $5,000 for the faculty member’s exclusive use. Access to the funds will require the approval of the faculty member and the committee chair. The faculty member will receive an annual report on the account activity and balance.
The funds will be accounted for in a separate part of the faculty member’s annual report, which will be reviewed during the yearly meeting with the department chair (Dean or MSB Director for department chairs). The report must demonstrate that the funds were expended in accord with the plan. The chair will submit a brief report to the Dean or MSB Director, who will then forward it to the Dean.
The annual reports will also be submitted to the committee. During the third year, the committee will meet with the faculty member to review progress and make plan revisions if required. At any time, the Dean, MSB Director, or committee chair may call for a meeting to review the faculty member’s progress.
In evaluating the faculty member’s progress, the committee shall bear in mind
that interests change and unexpected opportunities occur. Thus, the plan is not
a contract. However, the committee must judge whether a sufficient level of
appropriate professional development has taken place.
Satisfactory progress requires no action except a notation to that effect. If
progress is deemed unsatisfactory, all disbursements will be halted as described
below. Until the committee is satisfied with the progress, any faculty
development expenditures will require the explicit approval of the Vice
President for Academic Affairs.
At the end of the sixth year, any remaining funds revert to the College’s
general fund. The process will then repeat. Subsequent plans shall address the
results of the previous plan.
Eligible faculty who do not have an approved plan, or whose performance within
that plan is judged unsatisfactory, will be ineligible for any College faculty
development funds. That is, no monies will be expended on behalf of that faculty
member – from any College account – without explicit approval from the Vice
President for Academic Affairs. In addition, the faculty member will be
ineligible for sabbatical leave or merit pay.