FACULTY COUNCIL MINUTES
April 13, 2007
Members Present:
Howard Fedrick (Council Chair),
Greg Bassham (Council Chair-elect)
Charles Brooks (Division B Rep.), Joan Coffin (Division A Rep),
M. Sheileen Corbett (at-large), Dan Ghezzi (A&P Chair-elect),
Claire Gilmore (Division D Rep), Jayne Klenner-Moore (A&P Chair),
Brian Pavlac (C&T Chair-elect), Regan Reitsma (Division C Rep),
Jennifer McClinton-Temple (C&T Chair), Fr. Tom Looney (AVPAA).
Guest: Fr. O’Hara, C.S.C. - President
In attendance:
Kristi Concannon, Margaret Corgan, Joe Evan,
Hamid Hosseini, Jeremy Simington, Bindu Vyas
The meeting was called to order in the Lipo Room at 2:07 PM.
Q&A with Fr. O’Hara:
In response to questions by Faculty Council members, Fr. O’Hara had the following comments:
* For the upcoming academic year, enrollment numbers and indicators look good at this point in time.
* $25 million of the $30 million goal has been pledged to the Capital Campaign.
* King’s College is solid financially, but is at the margin of its
borrowing power. Planned renovations for Holy Cross Hall and the Gymnasium have already been budgeted.
* Renovations to Holy Cross Hall are planned to take 2 summers plus 2 semesters. Renovations will proceed 6 floors at a time, with the lower floors being completed first, then the upper floors. For the 2 semesters of renovations, 130 students will be housed at the Ramada Inn.
* SAT scores have been dropped as a requirement for application to
King’s College because SAT scores are not the best predictor of success in
college. High school transcripts and the total student profile are better
predictors. Many schools like King’s College have dropped SAT’s;
Stonehill College for one. Statistics show that 90% of applicants to
schools that do not require SAT’s still report their SAT scores.
* The bookstore is doing better (fiscally) than the projections. By placing
the bookstore in downtown Wilkes-Barre, King’s College is making a
statement that a successful downtown area is important to King’s College.
* In regard to the Wilkes University Law School, Fr. O’Hara stated that
King’s College should remain confident in what we do; and we should
focus on excelling at the things we do best. Thinking ahead, Fr. O’Hara asked: “What graduate programs can we move into; programs that we
know we can do well?”
* The proposed Medical School in the Scranton area opens possibilities for
King’s College in that the Medical School might be looking for satellite locations.
* CityVest might purchase up to 4 buildings behind the front row of
buildings on Main Street across from the gymnasium.
* The dining services contract has not yet been awarded. Parkhurst, Chartwells, Sodexo, and Aaramark are the 4 bidders.
After the Q&A, Fr. O’Hara thanked Faculty Council and C&T for their hard work on the Core Revision.
Report of the Chair:
Howard Fedrick presented the results of the elections for the Faculty Committees 2007-2008. He asked that Council certify the results. By unanimous vote, the results were certified by Council.
Howard reported that Dr. Janice Thompson is continuing her work in putting together a “Student-Parents Support Group”. It is hoped that the group will prove to be valuable to King’s College students who have the added responsibilities of being a parent.
The next Faculty Council meeting will be April 27th. Due to the scheduling of interviews for the AVPAA position, the April 27th meeting might be moved earlier by ½ hour or so.
Howard will inform members of the meeting time and location.
Standing Committee Reports:
A&P Report
Jayne Klenner-Moore, A&P Chair, submitted to Council A&P’s proposal for “Conversion of Professional Specialist Faculty to Tenure-Track”. Howard suggested that Council members review the document before the April 27th meeting. The document will be discussed at that meeting.
Jayne reported that A&P is continuing its work on the Academic Integrity policy.
Dan Ghezzi, A&P chair-elect, reported that his subcommittee has sent its proposal on criteria for tenure and promotion to the full A&P committee. A&P will be discussing the proposal at its April 20th meeting. Howard requested that Dan give Faculty Council an update at the April 27th meeting. Dan agreed to do so.
C&T Report
Greg Bassham, Faculty Council Chair-elect and Chair of the Voting Committee, reported that the faculty voted 60 YES, 39 NO, and 1 invalid ballot on the Proposed Core.
Howard thanked Greg, Brian Pavlac, and Dan Ghezzi for counting the ballots and for collating the many comments of the faculty. Greg disseminated the comments to all members of Faculty Council on Thursday April 12th.
Council then engaged in a collegial discussion of the vote and the submitted comments. Council members made the following observations during this discussion.
* There was a large percentage (39%) of NO votes. Many of those voting NO indicated a strong opposition to the Proposed Core.
* There is room for consensus building.
* We should take the time to get it right
* Faculty comments indicate that many among the faculty are concerned
about the many interdisciplinary issues and the vagueness of the Proposed Core.
* Social Science division needs to make its concerns and its preferences
clearly known to C&T
* The faculty vote can be perceived as a “confirmation” of the work completed by C&T and a “challenge” for C&T and the entire faculty to
continue moving forward.
* A couple of the faculty comments were negative towards C&T but on the whole faculty viewed C&T’s work and efforts favorably.
* Should Core 1xxx be IB241?
After the discussion, the following motion was made:
“Faculty Council will continue the discussion on the Proposed Core at its April 27th meeting; and FC will vote on the Proposed Core at the April 27th meeting. This vote will include any qualifying attachments added by Council at that meeting.”
The YES votes on the motion totaled 7.
The NO votes totaled 4.
The motion passed.
Howard suggested that Council members read the faculty comments carefully and take advantage of any opportunity to discuss the Proposed Core with their colleagues.
Kristi Concannon (Physics) reported on her efforts to create a Physics Consortium consisting of King’s College, Wilkes University, College Misericordia, Luzerne County Community College, and Penn State-WB. The Consortium plans to provide a Physics major. C&T has already given their stamp of approval to the Physics department to have King’s College be a part of this consortium. Kristi would like to have input by FC. Howard indicated that he would e-mail to Council members the information that Kristi has given to him. Council would then discuss this issue at the April 27th meeting.
Special Committee Reports:
Social Affairs Committee
Sheileen Corbett reported that the next Roving Social will be sponsored by the Mathematics Department on Monday April 30th beginning at 3:30. The location will be the Mathematics Department Lobby located on the 4th floor of the Administration building. Joe Evan indicated that the social will also serve as a farewell to Mathematics Specialist Marc Evans who will be leaving King’s College after the spring semester.
The meeting adjourned at 3:47 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Dan Ghezzi (Chair-Elect A&P)