By Ella Prieto, Editor-in-Chief
President’s Report
President Iuliano started the faculty meeting with a recap of his time in Washington, D.C. last week. After having written to Gettysburg’s two United States Senators and Federal Representatives last semester, he continued conversations with them about the importance of international students to the College and higher education in general.
Differing from his letter, though, was the focus on recruiting the incoming class of international students. Iuliano reported that the College has seen a 25% decrease in applications from international students, and the Admissions Office predicts that deposits from international students will be down by 50% overall.
“That’s problematic in and of itself, but in a moment where the domestic market is not exactly abundant, it obviously raises implications for our ability to fully enroll this class,” said Iuliano. “But the challenge in attracting international students has nothing to do with their experience here or the quality of education they receive. It is a byproduct of their perceptions of the hospitality of the United States to students from around the world.”
Iuliano noted that this is an issue that is occurring across higher education, and while representatives were sympathetic, enacting actual change remains to be seen. Even if a change is made, the damage will last for several classes. Thus, Iuliano encouraged support and hospitality to our current international students, so the College can continue to recruit through word of mouth.
The other discussion point in D.C. was higher education’s cost. Iuliano reported that many in government had misunderstandings about the true cost, believing it to be much higher than reality. This is especially problematic as some representatives see the high cost as a reason for overregulating higher education.
Iuliano shared some facts about Gettysburg College’s cost, including that the College gives out $100 million in aid and that it costs less to attend now than it did 15 years ago. Still, the top-line price of $86,000 is very intimidating to students. Thus, the Vice President for Enrollment and Educational Services Robert Schwartz ’92 is leading a pricing study to assess that number.
Provost’s Report
Provost Jamila Bookwala used her report to address concerns from the faculty about the impact of the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP). She shared that she and President Iuliano received a letter from 17 faculty members detailing their concerns, along with numerous one-on-one and committee discussions.
“I want to reiterate that this is an excruciatingly challenging moment for our college and higher education at large,” asserted Bookwala. “These decisions are not made casually or callously. We are faced with two realities. We must continue to attract students to come to Gettysburg, and we must continue to contain costs. One of these is not sufficient. We need to do both.”
Bookwala has met with those eligible for VSIP to provide further explanation and answer questions. She also emphasized that the College does not expect nor want every eligible person to participate in VSIP. However, they are still expecting reductions in staff, so Bookwala is meeting weekly with library leadership and convening a group of faculty and staff to consider various options for approaching the reorganizing of the adminsitrative support in the academic division.
Bookwala concluded by encouraging everyone in attendance to share their input with her through meetings, emails, the Provost’s Office’s anonymous feedback form or campus mail.
Pre-Tenure Leave
Continuing the work from last meeting, Economics Professor Charles Weise presented an amendment to the Pre-Tenure leave policy. The main change is that since leave is granted automatically, there is no need to send the proposal to the Faculty Development Committee (FDC).
German Professor Tres Lambert, a part of the original policy creation and Chair of the FDC, stated that the FDC and the Faculty Personnel Committee (FPC) did not want to amend the policy, disliking the new automatic nature.
A vote for the amendment, however, passed. A subsequent vote on the policy, as amended, also passed.
Change of Tenure Home Policy
A reworked version of the Change of Tenure Home policy was introduced by Chair of Interdisciplinary Studies Vernon Cisney. The new version involved the provost in the process, specifically with the creation of an ad hoc committee. Many faculty members still expressed concern over the policy. It will be voted on in the next faculty meeting.
