Here's a very quick report on the Academic Council meeting I just came from. Nothing earthshaking--I just need to communicate quickly to you after every such meeting (Acad. Council, Exec. Committee, FAH Chairs), and I have been remiss in not doing so more regularly.
Reminder: Academic Council includes the VPAA,the Assoc. Dean, the Div. Chairs, the Faculty Body officers, and directors of FYS & Writing Program, gen. ed., sustainablity, technology, and assessment (I may have left someone out).
Topics discussed:
- Faculty positions: Paula stressed that the college will be in basically a "no-growth" posture for the next 2-3 years--no increase in numbers of students and therefore no additional $$ from that source--and she's fighting to make sure that positions that have been approved (Creative Writing, Music, Art) stay approved even if searches are postponed. (I would certainly appreciate frequent updates on current searches/discussions regarding these positions.) We talked about the need for faculty, working with Academic Affairs, to determine the appropriate number of positions for a student body of the current--and presumably future--size (940 this fall). That determination can serve as a basis for continued proposals for new positions; the need will be there, regardless of funding availability. Academic Affairs may start this process and then turn it over to Faculty Body.
- MAT (M.A. in Teaching) questions raised in yesterday's Fac. Bod. meeting regarding graduate-level independent studies: Consensus was that since Grace was presenting the program concept for the first time and it won't go into effect until 2011, it's too soon to deal with some logistical issues--they will be worked out. (I had a good long conversation with Grace about how some FAH departments could participate in the program--exciting stuff, though still early days.)
- General discussion on faculty morale (how to keep it up; how to deal with issues, rumors, etc.; how to facilitate clear communication): One point that I made was that division chairs bear responsibility in conveying good information to our faculty, so Paula isn't left to deal with every question individually. A general point regarding rumors which we all agreed on was that we should spread the word to everyone: If you hear something and you want to know more, ask. Ask me! If I don't know, I'll find out and get back to you. I think that's one of my major jobs.
- Continued talk on transparency led to a suggestion that we find a way to issue very simple accounts of what committees have met, when, who's on them, and what was discussed. (The idea is that such info would be much briefer than this report, for example: Very, very basic.) The point is for everybody to know what issues are being discussed. An added benefit would be to increase the desire for all faculty members to serve on committees of particular interest to them. There was discussion that some faculty members get tapped to serve much more than others; how can we spread the work so that everyone is involved but not overloaded? Noting the level of involvement (or uninvolvment) in division chair responses to a faculty member's annual report is another good way to encourage involvement and discourage burnout.
Cheers,
Graham
