Posted By Laken Franchetti on Jan 26, 2024 | 1 comment

By Laken Franchetti, Editor-in-Chief

President Bob Iuliano began the faculty meeting on Thursday by welcoming faculty members back from winter break before turning the discussion to this year’s admissions progress.

Admissions Update

The deadline for general applications for the Class of 2028 was Jan. 15. For the second year in a row, Gettysburg College has received a record number of applications with over 8,100 applicants. Iuliano revealed that this is a 17% increase over the last year and 48% increase over the last two years.

Iuliano did state that a large portion of this growth can be attributed to an increase in international applications. Relative to what has been heard from their peers, Iuliano shared that the College is outperforming peer schools both domestically and internationally.

Fundraising Update

Iuliano shared that the College has already raised more money this year than any other point in the history of the College. He reminded faculty members that commitments do not necessarily translate into immediate funds, and thus, this fundraising does not result in an immediate solution to the College’s budgetary pressures. Iuliano underscored that this does, however, demonstrate the willingness of alumni and friends to support the College.

Iuliano thanked the faculty members in admissions, financial aid and advancement for their work.

The Forward Thinking Group

Iuliano described the Forward Thinking Group, an initiative that Janet Morgan Riggs created when she was President at the College. The group consists of the President’s Council, the Faculty Council and the chair of the Faculty Finance Committee. Iuliano expanded this group to include the entire Faculty Finance Committee as well as the prior chairs of the Faculty Council and the Faculty Finance Committee.

The group met four times over the fall 2023 semester to provide Iuliano with advice on the College’s current situation. Iuliano stated that this group was not responsible for decisions that were made yet merely provided advice and offered their perspectives. He hopes this group will meet more over the course of the spring 2024 semester.

Iuliano then congratulated Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Tasha Gownaris on receiving a two-year $150,000 grant from the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation to continue her research on seabirds.

Curriculum Update

Provost Jamila Bookwala recognized that the fall semester was a difficult and challenging time in numerous ways, including finding methods to make the College’s curriculum more sustainable and efficient. The Provost’s Office is poised to now deliver a new curriculum starting next year.

Bookwala stated that the Provost’s Office would assess the impact of the changes made to the curriculum and consider modifications if needed. She shared that she understood how some departments in particular may have to make greater compromises. In these cases, department and program chairs were invited to work with the Provost’s Office to consider other creative approaches.

There were fewer requests made last semester for visiting faculty positions for the next academic year. Bookwala stated the College will be hiring about half as many visiting faculty as they have in the current year.

Teacher Certification and New Majors

Bookwala revealed that, with endorsement from the President, teacher certification will continue at Gettysburg College. Under the auspices of the education studies minor and the direction of Associate Professor of Sociology in Educational Studies Divonna Stebick, the Office of Teacher Education and Certification will work to certify interested students to become qualified teachers.

The College already certifies students in music education and will now certify students who wish to teach English and social studies at the secondary school level. Bookwala stated that this will likely expand to include a certification for teaching math and biology as well.

Bookwala also revealed that the Provost’s Office is exploring new majors that interest today’s students and faculty. These new majors have been proposed by faculty members and will be evaluated by the Provost’s Office to assess the probability of success and the required investment of resources and fundraising.

The Compensation of Department Chairs

Bookwala shared there were concerns brought to her attention regarding the possibility of uneven compensation of department chairs.  Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs Michelle Schmidt is working with a group of past department chairs to assess the current chair compensation structure. Bookwala states she is also committed to exploring ways to address the gender and other inequities that exist in faculty salaries.

Experiential Learning with the Eisenhower Institute

Executive Director of the Eisenhower Institute (EI) Tracie Potts spoke on EI’s goal to collaborate with more faculty to extend what happens in the classroom for students. She reiterated that these opportunities take a broad approach to public policy and are open to any department, not just political science and public policy.

Potts shared her hope to build more experiential learning opportunities in collaboration with faculty members. She gave various ideas as to how faculty members can collaborate with EI further, such as building programs; finding experts; co-creating events or participating in a sabbatical in Washington, D.C.

Honor Code Discussion

Dean of Student Success Keira Kant spoke on the history and context of the Honor Code and the discussions this has caused within the Honor Code Commission.

The Honors Code was written in 1957 and had revisions in 2006 and 2014. Kant stated that the College is at a point of change, and these changes include the role artificial intelligence (AI) plays in society and classrooms, student demographics that have adjusted since the Honor Code’s fruition in 1957 and concerns brought forward by faculty regarding Honor Code violations.

Associate Dean for Student Success Hannah Sollenberger revealed some of the key points that the Honor Code Commission felt could be reviewed in the Honor Code: instituting a policy surrounding AI into the Honor Code, reducing or reviewing the minimum number of people required to attend an Honor Code hearing board and instituting a warning option or educational sanction for students that obtain minor Honor Code infractions.

Sollenberger additionally shared the proposed updates to the Honor Code: expand resources for students undergoing or experiencing an Honor Code violation, review the proctored exams policy to increase faculty presence in the classroom during exams, improve and expand the outreach of Honor Commission members and reevaluating the role of the Office of Student Success in the Honor Code process.

Kant stated that there will be a full review of the Honor Code with the goal of having a new Honor Code implemented for the 2024-2025 academic year. This would need approval from faculty, Student Senate and the Honor Commission.

Faculty members were then welcomed to ask questions or provide points for discussion.

Professor of Health Sciences Josef Brandauer shared that he and Lecturer of English Melissa Forbes have conducted research into the AI policies being utilized by Gettysburg College faculty members. Brandauer explained that they have provided faculty members with the same scenarios surrounding AI to see what constitutes an Honor Code violation. He revealed there have been varied answers from faculty members, and this demonstrates how they could not reach a consensus on what constitutes an Honor Code violation.

Associate Professor of Spanish Jennifer Dumont expressed interest in learning further about implementing a warning policy. She cautioned that warnings could demonstrate that the professors may be dismissing academic integrity entirely as they choose what constitutes a warning or a complete violation.

Associate Professor of Biology István Urcuyo expressed concern about the possibility of resuming proctored exams. Urcuyo felt that unproctored exams develop a better sense of trust and responsibility between himself and his students.

Concerns were then raised with the point in the Honor Code that stipulates students are responsible for reporting any violations that they witness or become aware of. Sollenberger shared that there is a greater difficulty with these accusations, as faculty members wish to see tangible proof that there was an Honor Code violation.

Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Susan Russell explained that she felt proctoring exams could help remove that responsibility from students. Russell stated that she felt students may become distracted or overwhelmed during exams due to this stipulation, and she felt this responsibility could be taken away from students if exams were to become proctored.

Art and Art History Professor Felicia Else mentioned that the exam accommodations of some students should be taken into consideration if proctoring exams were to return.

Johnson Center for Creative Teaching and Learning Update

Schmidt shared that the new director of the Johnson Center for Creative Teaching and Learning (JCCTL) for the 2024-2025 academic year has been chosen: Asian Studies Chairperson and Associate Professor Junjie Luo.

Iuliano reminded faculty that the memorial service for Sara Gifford would be held that evening, and the meeting was then adjourned.