By Laken Franchetti, Editor-in-Chief
President Bob Iuliano began Thursday’s faculty meeting by thanking everyone involved that organized or participated in the meetings with the Board of Trustees this past weekend.
Iuliano also revealed the news that a $5.5 million commitment had been made to the Gettysburg Fund from two alumni in the Class of 1976. This is larger than any commitment from a living donor in the last capital campaign.
Update from the Provost
Provost Jamila Bookwala then spoke to the faculty and expressed her understanding of the Provost’s Office failure to meet faculty expectations. Bookwala shared that the Provost’s Office believed that they were being open in regards to communication with faculty yet recognized that faculty believed this communication was coming late in the process, after a decision had already been made. Bookwala stated that the Provost’s Office will be more mindful of bringing matters to faculty earlier.
Bookwala then spoke about the matter of student success at Gettysburg College and urged faculty members to utilize the Navigate platform. Bookwala said that this platform provides a direct method for faculty to support student retention and success.
Motion to Approve New International Student Exchange Programs
Interim Director of the Center for Global Education (CGE) Jesse Phillips and Chairperson of the Physics Department Bret Crawford gave a motion to approve six new international student exchange programs. Crawford stood in for Chair of Academic Policy and Program Committee (APPC) and Chairperson of the Italian Department Lidia Anchisi.
The affiliation of these programs with Gettysburg College would begin in fall of 2024. The six programs include two offerings at Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea) and the remaining offerings at the University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan); the University of Ghana (Accra, Ghana); La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia) and the University of Salvador (Buenos Aires, Argentina).
These six programs are intended to replace other offerings in an effort to cut costs. This motion was only to approve the six new programs, not to approve the removal of the others.
Phillips and Crawford took questions before the motion was voted upon.
Some faculty members expressed concern over replacing the program at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. Associate Professor of Biology István Urcuyo questioned why the biology department was not consulted prior to this decision, as the James Cook program was important for students wishing to study the marine sciences.
Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Susan Russell asked if CGE would be available to further help students understand and choose these programs and the application processes that come with them. Phillips answered that it is likely that CGE will be spending more time with students in preparation for their study abroad programs.
Associate Professor of Spanish Alicia Rolon shared concern at the change from University of Buenos Aires to University of Salvador as the latter is a lower ranking institution. Phillips stated that CGE was looking to see if the curriculum at University of Salvador was a good fit for Gettysburg College students rather than the University’s rankings, yet he expressed that rankings could be taken into consideration for future decisions if the faculty felt that important.
Chairperson of the Religious Studies Department Deborah Sommer questioned why a program in Korea felt needed and asked if there was faculty input in choosing that program. Phillips responded by saying that the Yonsei University program serves various Gettysburg College curriculums and majors, therefore it felt like a good program to have. He also shared that faculty was not consulted in this process yet expressed that the Global Study Program Committee would work on building this communication process with faculty to receive input and feedback.
The motion was then voted on and passed.
Proposal for a New Major: Finance and Economics
Associate Professor of Economics Brendan Cushing-Daniels brought forth a proposal to create a new major in finance and economics. If approved, this major would be offered starting in the 2025-2026 academic year. Cushing-Daniels opened the floor to discussions surrounding the proposal and shared that he would discuss issues with the department.
Russell questioned how many new faculty members would have to be hired for the new major. Bookwala answered that this major would create 1.5 new lines of faculty.
Chairperson of the Management Department Joseph Radzevick expressed concern as to why the management department was only recently looped into this new potential major. Radzevick felt that communicating with the management department earlier could have been helpful in sharing further input and expertise for the proposed program.
Discussion on this proposal will continue at the next faculty meeting.
Faculty Personnel Committee Update
Chair of the Faculty Personnel Committee (FPC) and Chairperson for the Political Science Department Caroline Hartzell said that there is a meeting scheduled on March 4 for all candidates of pre-tenure and tenure next academic year. She addressed the concern that the standard operating procedure and appendices have not been sent to faulty members yet and shared that this is due to the FPC currently overhauling these documents.
Hartzell said the completed documents will be sent to everyone who is up for pre-tenure and tenure electronically next week.
