By Laken Franchetti, Editor-in-Chief
President Bob Iuliano began Thursday’s faculty meeting by reminding faculty members about the “Consequential Elections” event occurring April 5 with Ken Burns. Iuliano also mentioned the Hanson Lecture that would be held with Associate Professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University and Research Director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology Meredith Broussard on April 10.
Iuliano then recognized Associate Professor of Mathematics Kimberly Spayd for her receival of a grant from the Mathematical Association of America that will fund faculty mentored research and the mentoring of students from underrepresented groups. He also congratulated Assistant Professor of Asian Studies Yoko Nishimura for receiving a grant from the ALLEX Foundation to bring a language teaching assistant to campus next year. Iuliano then concluded by recognizing the Center for Public Service, who received a $1.2 million grant to help foster community learning.
Provost Jamila Bookwala thanked the faculty members who attended the Retention 101 session held on Wednesday with the Provost’s Office. Bookwala then recognized the Provost’s Office’s receival of numerous comments and concerns for curricular oversight and implementation. With that, she welcomed Chairperson of the Chemistry Department Donald Jameson to speak on the issue.
Jameson read a statement written by a subset of faculty that expressed concern with curriculum redundancies not being addressed at the College. He shared that as new majors are created and current majors are updated, there is no process that requires the faculty impacted by these changes to be consulted. To avoid curriculum redundancies, Jameson suggested that the Academic Policy and Program Committee should require all departments and programs proposing new majors, or significant changes to an existing major, to consult with the impacted departments.
Faculty Governance Review Commission Update
Chairperson of the Faculty Governance Review Commission (FGRC) and Professor of English Christopher Fee returned to discussions surrounding the five faculty generated motions that the FGRC had brought to faculty at the previous faculty meeting. The motions are as follows: present an explicit understanding of what shared governance is at the College, put guidelines in place for ad hoc committees, defining and quantifying “invisible labor,” eliminating committees deemed unnecessary or non-functioning and amending the College-wide governance cycle.
Four of the motions passed, and due to time constraints, the motion regarding the College-wide governance cycle was not able to be voted on at this meeting. It will be voted on at the next faculty meeting.
There were some concerns raised during these discussions. Professor of Economics Charles Weise shared a want for the governance system to be updated and fixed as he felt the current system is broken and showcases distrust between the administration and the faculty. Sunderman Conservatory of Music Professor Jocelyn Swigger expressed concern over some typos in the motions, which Fee explained would be fixed.
Provost’s Office Motion
Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Jeanne Hamming brought forth a motion from the Provost’s Office that would correct wording in the faculty handbook. The motion would correct language regarding the external review cycle, changing the phrasing of seven years to approximately 10 years.
The motion was voted on and passed.
Curriculum Implementation Update
Professor of Mathematics and Co-Chair of the Curriculum Implementation Committee (CIC) Benjamin Kennedy provided an update on the committee’s work.
Kennedy said that the course schedule for the 2025-2026 academic year should be in shape by the next winter break. There will be stipends available for the development and modification of courses to meet the new curriculum requirements.
Kennedy also shared that, in consultation with the Provost Office, CIC will institute a Director of Seminars and Skills. This role will adopt the responsibilities of the current First-Year Seminar Director and oversee the curricular elements. There will be a group of faculty, including three coordinators, working with this Director. An open call will go out soon for these positions, and the CIC will then review applications to make recommendations to the Provost’s Office.
