Faculty Meeting News and Notes: April 30, 2020
Campus Photo (Photo Allyson Frantz/The Gettysburgian)
By Anna Cincotta, editor-at-large
President Iuliano’s tone in the last faculty meeting of this academic year reflected the uncertainty facing every college community during the COVID-19 pandemic—concerns about enrollment, as well as the operational and financial realities of the current global health crisis, have resulted in new challenges for residential colleges like Gettysburg. “There’s nothing about our situation that exempts us from the very same pressures that are affecting every institution of higher education,” said Iuliano.
Still, the college president remained optimistic when discussing Gettysburg’s future. “The problems presented by the virus really aren’t about us,” he said.
The class of 2024 was chosen from the second largest applicant pool in the institution’s history. “What we do continues to matter, [and] we continue to do it well.” Iuliano went further to say that the concerns of students and parents in these uncertain times, at least in part, highlight the successes of the residential model of higher education that Gettysburg College dedicates itself to as an institution.
Students will still be attending residential colleges despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, according to Iuliano. What we must focus on as a community, then, is what colleges these prospective students will want to attend moving forward. The institution’s goal, in the words of Iuliano, “is to be smarter, more creative, and more ambitious than our peers.” After this pandemic, the administration hopes that Gettysburg will be better positioned than similar schools in terms of enrollment.
President Iuliano expressed gratitude for the dedication of faculty and staff, and encouraged those in attendance to continue with the hard work they’ve been doing for the past two months. “Look ahead, not behind,” he said. “Be flexible [and] open to change … [and] let’s keep our focus, as we always do, on our students.”
News and Notes
- The faculty voted to postpone next year’s scheduled governance review by one year.
- The recipient of the 2020 JCCTL Excellence in Teaching Award is Gettysburg’s Educational Technology Department.
- The recipient of the 2020 Luther W. and Bernice L. Thompson Distinguished Teaching Award is Professor Sahana Mukherjee.
- The recipient of the 2020 Benjamin Franklin Professorship in the Liberal Arts and Sciences is Dr. Brian Meier.
- Recognition of Retirees:
- Fritz Gaenslen, Department of Political Science: Announcement by Provost Zappe
- Koren Lipsett, Department of Chemistry: Announcement by Provost Zappe
- Charles Emmons, Department of Sociology: Remarks by Craig Lair
- Eileen Stillwaggon, Department of Economics: Remarks by Rebecca Bergren
