My Iona

Faculty Senate Minutes, September 28, 2023

Present: A. Rosenfeld (Chair), B. Gaines (Secretary), G. Barry, D. Brophy, C. Carlson, K. Engemann, D. Gunn, J. Haber, M. Higgins, A. Howerton-Fox, L. Ivanov, Y. Kang, J. Klein, H. Park, S. Petrovic, A. Qayyum

Excused: C. Dougherty, A. Kelso, N. Kyaw

A. Rosenfeld called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m. Quorum was met

Announcements

N/A

Updates

N/A

Action Item: Committee Vacancies

  • The Senate endorsed Binny Singh for the NYPISHS vacancy on the Enrollment Committee, and Helena He for the LSB vacancy on the Honors Council.
  • There was one self-nominee for Senate from NYPISHS; an election ballot will be going out to faculty members from the school shortly.
  • There remain no self-nominees to run for the other vacancies on elected committees, including 1 A&S opening on RTA, 1 A&S opening on CAA, and 1 A&S, 1 LSB openings on Senate. At this point those seats will remain vacant for the term. Possible options discussed include changing the times of those meetings in the future, if they are not working for interested faculty, and seeking faculty who may be able to join in the spring.

Discussion Item: Update on Workload Committee

Committee members who are on the Senate gave brief update on two meetings so far. There has been substantive discussion on how there is insufficient time for research. The point was made that much of our time working is not accounted for by any categories we currently have.

Discussion Item: Invites

After debate, the Senate decided on inviting the following guests to meetings for the academic year.

  • Invite Joanne Steele to 11/2 meeting (decided at previous meeting)
  • Invite Provost Tricia Mulligan to 11/30 meeting
  • Invite President Seamus Carey to 2/29 (in person) -- reach out to his office, share our meeting dates, see if one works, suggest that we could change one if needed.
  • Invite Alison Munsch to 4/4 meeting, possibly for 5:00 p.m..

Discussion Item: 401k question for overloads

Update: Individual faculty members have met with a lawyer regarding this issue. It was decided that this item no longer is within the purview of the faculty senate.

Discussion Item: Follett questions

Faculty and chairs have been sending information as requested to the Chair of the Senate. These will be shared out with the Senate, and we will return to the question at a future meeting.

Discussion Item: Faculty Development

The Chair raised the new iteration of the `Development Plan’, where faculty would come up with plan of what they need in terms of resources, and what they need for upcoming year, and their goals, for discussion. There is concern that this sounds like post-tenure review and that it might duplicate a lot of the information already collected from departments as a whole via the APR. Lastly, there are concerns about the fact that chairs are being asked to review these plans for their department members. Topic for further discussion when more information is made available.

Discussion Item: Future Increase in Student Population

In next 5 years, enroll 1000 more students per year (including graduate and undergraduate students). Questions raised about how this will be accomplished.

Discussion Item: Narcan

Narcan is an anti-opioid treatment. There was discussion about possible training for faculty, and having it available for potential overdoses. It was shared that campus security has it, and can be contacted to administer it. Senators should ask constituencies about their thoughts on the university’s role in supplying this, and in ensuring faculty feel prepared to deal with situations where it is required.

Action Item: Constitution and Potential Changes

The senate voted to form a subcommittee to review the constitution and suggest potential changes. The subcommittee will consist of D. Gunn, A. Rosenfeld, and D. Brophy. They welcome suggestions for topics to think about from other senators as well.

Action Item: Peer Group Transparency re: Compensation

The senate voted to form a subcommittee to review what information is available, do initial research on the peer group numbers, and work to determine the questions we need to be asking. The subcommittee will consist of Y. Kang, B. Gaines, and G. Barry.

Discussion Item: Faculty Participation in events like Convocation

Following low participation in convocation, the provost raised the question of “How do you get faculty participate more fully in the life of college?” Senate discussed the need to question faculty members across the college about what current obstacles exist and what faculty need in order to participate more.

New Business:

Senate was asked to seat a faculty committee to review the applicants for the position of Honors Director. The committee is to consist of 3 A&S faculty, 1 LSB faculty, and 1 NYPISHS faculty, and be led by Associate Provost T.J. Moretti. It was requested that the Senate have the committee seated by 10/10. E-mail soliciting self-nominations will go out in the near future.

There being no other business, A. Rosenfeld adjourned the Faculty Senate meeting at 5:35 p.m. The next Senate meeting will be held via Zoom on 11/2/2023 at 3:30 p.m.