Minutes of the March 1, 2013 Faculty meeting.
AGENDA
Provost's Office
February 25, 2013
Minutes of the February 1, 2013 Faculty meeting.
February 1, 2013
The first faculty meeting of the spring semester was called to order by President Ronald A. Crutcher at 2:00 pm on Friday, February 1st, 2013 in Hindle Auditorium in the Science Center.
The President began by announcing that eight faculty members will be recommended for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor to the Board of Trustees later this month. Those faculty are:
Thandi Buthelezi, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Dolita Cathcart, Assistant Professor of History
Teresa Celada, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Phoebe Chan, Assistant Professor of Economics
Matthew Evans, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Touba Ghadessi, Assistant Professor of Art History
Alireza Shomali, Assistant Professor of Political Science
Gabriela Torres, Assistant Professor of Anthropology.
He thanked the members of the Tenure Committee--Professors Darlene Boroviak (Chair of the Committee), Geoff Collins, Shawn Christian, and Shelly Leibowitz , and Professor Hyun Kim who also served on one of the tenure cases. There will be a dinner for the candidates and their representatives, with the Board of Trustees, on Friday, February 22nd.
Alex Trayford, Associate Dean of Studies and Chair of the Committee on Academic Standing, presented the following students who have fulfilled all requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts:
magna cum laude
Margaux Julienne Charpentier
Ha Sung Scott Kim
Lauren Michelle Thompson
cum laude
Susan Marie Rodriguez
Isaac David Roosa
Evan Forbes Shaw
Melissa Cristina Barón
Nina Carson Coates
David Russell Eklund
Ke Feng
Dean Hollands¹
Elana Marie Jabbour
Marise Jiménez
Roy William Kresge
Christopher Paine, Jr.
Alexandra Anne Smith
Dominique Mathieu Margaretha Alexander Stassen
Molly Laskey Tobin
Shuqian Yu
¹As of 2011
The faculty voted to approve the Committee’s recommendation.
The minutes of the December 7th, 2012 faculty meeting were approved as circulated.
President Crutcher spoke about the meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) held in Atlanta, GA in January. He chaired a session of the Presidents’ Forum at the meeting and found it reassuring to hear that other colleges and universities are dealing with the same issues and challenges as Wheaton. The President said that, while there is some cause for concern, he came away feeling upbeat about the strategic directions that have been outlined for the College. He is confident of the impact that these changes will have for the future of Wheaton over the next five years.
The President announced a new lecture series he will be hosting entitled “Thought Leaders: An Ongoing Conversation on the Future of the Liberal Arts.” The purpose of the series is to provide an ongoing way for engaging the community in a conversation about the future of liberal arts colleges in the United States. The series will be inaugurated with five different events this spring and will run through the end of 2014.
· February 11th, Rebecca Chopp, President of Swarthmore College, will give a lecture entitled “Against The Grain: Liberal Arts in the 21st Century” at 7:30pm in Hindle Auditorium.
· February 12th, the President has invited members of the Provost’s Advisory Committee, the Advisory Committee and the Planning and Priorities Committee to join Dr. Chopp at breakfast for an informal discussion of her presentation.
· March 22nd, Jose Bowen, Dean of Meadows College at Southern Methodist University, and author of the book Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning will be at Wheaton. A workshop will be held that afternoon. This event will be sponsored by LIS with the assistance of Scott Hamlin.
· April 8th, Phil Glotzbach, President of Skidmore College, will engage in a dialogue with President Crutcher on future directions of liberal arts colleges.
· April 18th, Carol Geary Schneider, President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, will speak about engaging faculty, faculty leadership in achieving an integrative learning environment. Her presentation will be directly related to the “Teagle Team” (Professors Kathleen Morgan and Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, and Provost Linda Eisenmann) project.
President Crutcher noted that there would be a message on the College website containing more information about the series. He already has the names of several possible speakers for next year but he will be happy to accept other suggestions.
Gail Berson, Vice President and Dean of Admission, reported that the number of applications declined this year after the large surge last year. About half of the colleges with which Wheaton trades statistics are having similar experiences. Ms. Berson said that Wheaton is down about eleven percent and she attributes the drop to the reinstatement of an application fee and changes in the financial aid regimen. She said that there is a significant enrollment target to meet this year from the almost 3400 applications that are in hand so it will really be all about yield. The first open house for accepted students is scheduled on February 22nd. Ms. Berson will be writing to the faculty about other initiatives that could improve the yield. She thanked the faculty in advance for participating in the open house and for all that they do to help admissions to meet the enrollment target.
Brian Douglas, Vice President for Finance and Administration, spoke about Wheaton’s emergency preparedness in light of Newtown which prompted the College to take a new look at Wheaton’s emergency preparedness. He highlighted some of the steps that are being taken: 1) threat assessment--identify people in distress and to formalize procedures that are already in place and outline steps that faculty and students can take to recognize someone in distress; 2) increase campus security—improve campus lighting, signage, external sirens for emergency notification purposes, card access. Mr. Douglas displayed a poster that was developed four years ago explaining what to do in an emergency, steps to take and numbers to call for help. The posters will be displayed in every classroom and public space around campus. He said that he is happy to answer any questions that faculty may have and he and members of his staff would be available to meet with their departments to answer any questions; 3) planning and training—the emergency notification system is in place, there are plans to do “table top” exercises and eventually to conduct practice drills on campus. Mr. Douglas said that Wheaton is working to strengthen the relationship with the Norton Police Department.
Next, Mr. Douglas reported on enhancements to Wheaton’s retirement plan that will go into effect on April 1st. He introduced the members of the 403B Fiduciary Committee: Professor of Economics John Gildea, Remle Gordon, Barbara Lema, and Meghan Kass. (Mr. Douglas is chairing the Committee.) He explained that Federal regulations have changed related to the employer’s responsibilities toward employees’ retirement plans. The College now has to ensure that the options presented to employees are good options. This required the College to renegotiate the plan with TIAA-CREF. He said that in the next two weeks, faculty and staff will receive a guide from TIAA-CREF outlining the next steps to take to transition from the old plan to the new. Three workshops will be held on campus to help sort through what this means for individuals; it is very important for everyone to attend. The dates are February 25th, March 4th, and April 4th. There will also be one-on-one sessions with a TIAA representative. Mr. Douglas explained that as of April 1st, all new contributions (the employee’s and the College’s) will be in these new contracts. More information regarding signing up for the workshops will be sent to faculty and staff during the month of February.
Provost Linda Eisenmann began her remarks by encouraging the faculty to attend the Thought Leader Series. She asked them not to wait to be invited but to email the President if there is a session that they are particularly interested in attending. Provost Eisenmann then went on to highlight faculty scholarship. Associate Professor of Music, Tim Harbold’s arrangement entitled “Marchin’ to Zion” has been published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing and he has produced two CDs,: “Valerie Anastasio and Tim Harbold: Give’em the Oo-La-La” and “Marching Along with Time: Songs by Irving Berlin 1935-1945”. The show version of “Marching Along with Time” premiered at Wheaton in September; Professor of English, Michael Drout created a series of lectures for the modern scholar called “The Norseman: Understanding Vikings and Their Culture”; Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Matthew Evans’ article “Ice sheet record of recent sea-ice behavior and polynya variability in the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica” has been published in the Journal of Geophysical research: Oceans; Assistant Professor of Sociology, Karen McCormack’s article “Comfort and Burden: The Changing Meaning of Home for Owners At-Risk of Foreclosure” was published in the journal Symbolic Interaction; Visiting Assistant Professor of Russian Studies, Tom Dolack’s article “Homo Oneginensis: Pushkin and Evo-Cognitive Approaches to Literature” has been published in the journal Style; Associate Professor of Classics, Nancy Evans has two chapters—“Embedding Rome in Athens” was published in Rome and Religion: A Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue on the Imperial Cult and “From Traditional Rural Festivals to Urban Associations: Evidence for Slaves at the Table in the Ancient Mediterranean” was published in Meals in the Early Christian World: Social Formation, Experimentation, and Conflict; Associate Professor of Theater/Dance, Stephanie Daniels is doing several performances of her show “Birth Breath Bride Elizabeth”. She will be performing the play on February 7th in Kresge Experimental Theatre here at Wheaton and at Brown University’s Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women on February 13th. She will perform the play at the ArtsEmerson Theater in Boston on February 22nd and 23rd as part of THE NEXT THING FESTIVAL. The costumes for Professor Daniels’ performance were designed by Associate Professor of Theater/Dance, Clinton O’Dell.
The next item on the agenda was discussion of the draft proposal of the business and management major a copy of which had been distributed to the faculty prior to the faculty meeting.
Professor John Kricher, Chair of the Educational Policy Committee, explained the background by describing how the Committee arrived at supporting the proposal to establish a business major at Wheaton. In the summer, the members of the President’s Council met to revise the Focus Plan because the College’s financial situation, while it was improving in some regards, was still not where it should be. The Board of Trustees made it clear that they wanted proposals for new initiatives and that was the reason for the work of the President’s Council on the Focus Plan over the summer. He said that seventeen different options were proposed for enhancing revenue, of which four were identified as ones with relatively high predictable success and ones that could be carried out quickly. One of those four was to institute a business major; last year the College instituted an enhanced business minor. When the Educational Policy Committee looked at the context of this proposal to consider instituting a business major, they realized that it could not happen without the support of the whole faculty. He said that the Faculty Planning and Priorities Committee met with President Crutcher, Provost Eisenmann and Vice President Douglas in the fall and the Faculty PPC urged that the Educational Policy Committee consider seriously the business major and to start to plan for that option sooner rather than later. The Educational Policy Committee then asked the Committee on Committees and Agenda to examine how to set up a committee that would be charged with assembling a proposal for a major in business. Since there already was a committee in place because of the business minor, some members of that committee agreed to serve on an ad hoc committee to work on the business major and additional faculty members were asked to serve in order to have all divisions of the College represented. Professor Kricher said that if there was to be a business major, it had to be a real business major, a robust business major but one that reflects the liberal arts and Wheaton values. The Faculty PPC attended the plenary session of the Board of Trustees on October 20th, 2012 and found that the Trustees were very eager to have this major instituted. He noted that Provost Eisenmann was asked about staffing for the new major and she made it clear that funds for additional staffing would be added, so the administration expressed its commitment to growing the faculty in order to accommodate the business major and the Board of Trustees was in support of this.
Professor Kricher said that there are not many other obvious options to enhance the curriculum so significantly, but the business major is one that would actually work; so one of the questions that was raised at the Board of Trustees meeting was “can this be fast tracked?” He said that he believes that it can be done; the ad hoc committee has succeeded in putting together a proposal that can indeed be fast tracked. Professor Kricher reminded the faculty of the past effort by former Provost Hannah Goldberg who proposed instituting the First Year Seminar. At that time, many faculty members were skeptical; but, since other colleges had done this and were attracting students, Wheaton had to adopt the FYS in order to draw students and stay competitive; it is now a solid part of the curriculum. He said that this is a reasonable way to enhance the curriculum, both making a program unique to Wheaton and recognizing what’s going on in the world. Such change doesn’t have to be only in response to the financial situation. He went on to consider the fact that our Connections program, which is known all over the country, was initiated when the College was in a flush situation financially, at a time when the Wheaton faculty salary plan was doing very well. In consulting with Gail Berson and Jan Krukowski, Connections proved to be very popular at the time with students and still are. Professor Kricher said that the faculty has always adjusted the curriculum, to a certain degree, on the basis of awareness of what has worked for Wheaton, and that the recent data presented by Vice President Berson should make it abundantly clear that this is something that the faculty must continue to do. He reminded the faculty that the overview of the new business major distributed to them earlier was meant to assist with the discussion to follow. In order to vote on the new major, the proposal must be distributed to the faculty two weeks before the next faculty meeting, which is scheduled for March 1st, 2013. Professor Kricher said that the Educational Policy Committee strongly urges the faculty to vote on the proposed new major on March 1st in order to allow for enough lead time for it to impact the next round of Admissions; potential students could be told about it and be told about it honestly. He noted that business has become a competitive major among liberal arts colleges. Professor Kricher explained that following today’s discussion between the faculty and the ad hoc Committee on the Business Major, the final version of the proposal will be brought to the Educational Policy Committee by the ad hoc committee. Educational Policy will review the proposal and decide whether or not to bring it to the faculty for a vote.
Associate Professor of Economics, Russell Williams, Chair of the ad hoc Committee on the Business Major, introduced the other members of the committee: Professor of Music, Matthew Allen, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies, Francisco deAlba, Provost Linda Eisenmann, Associate Professor of Psychology, Peony Fhagen-Smith, Professor of Chemistry, Elita Pastra-Landis, Professor of Mathematics, Michael Kahn and Professor of Political Science, Jeanne Wilson (Professors Kahn and Wilson could not attend the faculty meeting). Professor Williams explained how the committee went about creating the proposed business major and the criteria they followed using the Wheaton curriculum as a foundation for the major and without losing a strong emphasis on the liberal arts, while keeping in mind the dual goals of preparing students for the careers that they would have after graduating and of attracting new students. He commented that every member of the ad hoc committee played a leadership role—a tribute to the commitment of the committee and to the Committee on Committees and Agenda who set up the ad hoc committee. Meetings were held with Vice President Gail Berson and a consultant, Diana Stork, who had created a similar program at another liberal arts school, in order to gain insights on how to think about the challenge they had in front of them. Professor Williams said that they developed the plan which they are presenting at this meeting. It consists of ten core courses and three additional courses in a “concentration” that emphasizes some of the aspects of the Wheaton curriculum. He then reviewed all aspects of the proposed major and invited questions and comments from the faculty.
A lengthy discussion followed. Questions and concerns expressed by the faculty included:
Advising workload
The ad hoc committee responded to these questions and concerns and will take them into consideration when preparing the final version of the proposed new major for the March 1st faculty meeting. The Provost announced that there would be an opportunity for further discussion. An open meeting is scheduled for February 8th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm in the Diana Spencer Davis Café. Members of the ad hoc committee will be there for people to bring their questions and concerns. She said that those faculty unable to attend the meeting may contact Professor Williams.
Associate Professor of Chemistry, Christopher Kalberg, Chair of the Committee on Committees and Agenda, announced that the committee will begin the election process very soon. Thirteen positions are open on committees next year. He referred the faculty to Faculty Legislation for the specific sequence of elections. The first set of ballots will be sent out in a few weeks.
Associate Professor of English, Lisa Lebduska, on behalf of the writing subcommittee of the Educational Policy Committee, announced that there will be a brown bag lunch on teaching electronic conversations in the Presidents’ Dining Room at 12:30 pm on Tuesday, February 6th.
The faculty meeting was adjourned at 4:05 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynda Marcoccia
Senior Executive Assistant to the Provost
Secretary to the Faculty
Minutes of the December 7, 2012 Faculty meeting.
The faculty meeting was called to order by President Ronald A. Crutcher at 2:00 pm on Friday, December 7, 2012 in Hindle Auditorium.
The minutes of the November 9, 2012 faculty meeting were approved as circulated.
President Crutcher began his remarks by announcing that three students have won Benjamin Gilman International Scholarships to study abroad--Maya Ennis is going to Egypt, Alexis Nieves is going to Spain and Gilda Rodrigues is going to Brazil. These scholarships range between $3,000 and $5,000 and are awarded to students who might not otherwise have such an opportunity because of financial constraints.
The President announced that, in honor of the celebration of the start of Hanukkah, there will be a lighting of the Menorah at 5:30 pm on Saturday, December 8th on the Chapel steps. He updated the faculty on actions in response to the recent anti-Semitic graffiti incident on campus. Referring to the email message that went out to the Community on December 6th, he announced that he has asked the President’s Action Committee on Inclusive Excellence (PACIE) to take the lead in developing proposals for “sustaining a diverse community in which everyone can appreciate differences and learn from each other.” The Committee will begin its work in the New Year and complete a full report by the end of the spring semester. Professor Russell Williams and Raquel Ramos, Associate Dean/Director of the Marshall Center for Intercultural Learning, serve as the Co-Chairs of PACIE. The President announced that Derek Schulman, the Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League of New England will be on campus on Monday, December 10th. The President will be hosting a luncheon for Mr. Schulman and Ms. Ramos, Professor Williams, and other staff and students will be attending that event.
President Crutcher thanked faculty members who participated in two recent alumnae/i events. On December 6th, Professors Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus and Betsey Dyer attended the event held at the Museum of Science in Boston and two weeks ago, Professor Meg Kirkpatrick spoke to alumnae/i at an event held in San Francisco. The President stressed how important it is to the alumnae/i to have faculty participation in these events.
Provost Linda Eisenmann began her remarks by reminding everyone of the plans for a faculty get-together immediately following the faculty meeting at the Trattoria Della Nonna in Mansfield. She then highlighted faculty publications and exhibitions; Professor Kim Miller has co-edited a special issue of the journal African Arts. This issue is on the topic of “Gender and South African Art”; Professor Tim Barker, Gary Ahrendts and Shelby Delos ’14 have a second article on the “Rotation Period Determination for 247 Eukrate”published in Minor Planet Bulletin; Professor Delvyn Case’s new musical piece “Fire in the Big Top!” a 45-minute composition for narrator and brass quintet intended for elementary school audiences, has been performed for thousands of children at schools, libraries, and performing arts centers across the state of Maine by members of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. His holiday overture, “Rocket Sleigh” is being performed by numerous ensembles across the country this December including the Arkansas Symphony, Alabama Symphony, the United States Coast Guard Band, and the Yale Concert Band; Professor Jay Goodman’s article “U.S. Supreme Court Narrows Theft of Honest Services Crimes” has been published in the November/December issue of the Rhode Island Bar Journal.
President Crutcher called on Dean Alex Trayford, Chair of the Committee on Academic Standing, to present proposed changes to Faculty Legislation regarding definitions of good academic standing. Before presenting the changes, Dean Trayford distributed a document outlining the various designations within the Academic Review. He explained each designation and the process followed by the Committee on Academic Standing (CAS). Professor Tommasina Gabriele, a member of the committee, explained that athletics and student financial services are two factors that never come into play during the academic review. The Committee only focuses on the student’s academic record. A brief discussion followed. Dean Lee Williams summarized the role of CAS. She noted that the Committee operates on a platform of very rigorous standards with a great deal of intense consideration of a student’s individual circumstances. She also gave a quick summary of the background for bringing the changes to Faculty Legislation noting that Faculty Legislation is inconsistent in some of its definitions due to a number of historic changes; and this has a number of significant implications because some actions are based on the definition of particular student designations. Dean Williams gave athletics as an example. She said that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) states very clearly that a student must be in good academic standing to participate in athletics. Because Athletics has found multiple definitions of good academic standing in Faculty Legislation, they asked for clarification.
Dean Trayford, on behalf of the Committee on Academic Standing, formally presented the changes to Faculty Legislation, Part II, VIII, Academic Standing as well as the rationale for each change:
NOTE: Proposed changes to wording are represented in bold. Deletions are shown by strikethroughs
VIII. Academic Standing
ADD:
A. Good Academic Standing
A student remains in good academic standing as long as he or she is matriculated at Wheaton and is considered by the Committee on Academic Standing to be making satisfactory progress toward the degree.
Rationale: To eliminate inconsistencies in, and update, faculty legislation to reflect longstanding college practice that differentiates between Good Academic Standing and Academic Probation. It is the role of the Committee on Academic Standing to give thoughtful consideration to a student’s semester and cumulative grade point averages, as well as to any pertinent extenuating circumstances that can interfere in the student’s academic success (e.g., medical issues, family troubles, loss of close relatives, disruptive campus living conditions, to name a few). The committee thus understands that students are placed on Academic Probation and Suspension for a wide variety of reasons. Therefore, it is the committee’s understanding that the longstanding college practice which differentiates Good Academic Standing from Academic Probation is meant to enable those students whom the committee allows to re-matriculate at Wheaton a full participation in campus life as the best possible course of action for academic improvement and success, for full integration in the Wheaton community, and for retention.
A. B. Class Standing Year
A student's standing class year in the College is stated in terms of the number of credits which have been earned. A student's academic standing class year is as follows when the student has earned the following number of credits:
Freshman First-year 0
Sophomore 8
Junior 16
Senior 24
[December 19, 1972, p. 3081]
Rationale: Clarification of terms
C. Minimum Grade Average
B. C. To be in good academic standing, a A student must earn at least an average of 2.0 in the freshman year and a yearly and cumulative average of 2.0 thereafter. will normally be placed on academic probation if the semester or cumulative grade point average is below a 2.0. For graduation, a student must have an average of 2.0 in the major and overall. [February 3, 1995, p. 4049]
Rationale: Clarification
C. Mid-semester
Reports of unsatisfactory work shall be sent to the Associate Dean's Office in the middle of each semester. [October 14, 1969, p. 2927]
Rationale: Not practiced.
D. Academic Review
1. A student whose semester record, or a First Year student whose tentative record at the middle of either semester, includes an average grade point average is below C 2.0 (for members of the Class of 1999 and beyond) or C- 1.67 (for members of the class of 1998 or earlier) shall be reviewed by the Committee on Admissions and Academic Standing.
Rationale: Not practiced.
a. First Year students at Mid-Semester shall be placed on Mid-Semester Academic Probation.
Rationale: No longer practiced.
b. a. All students who fall below the minimum for Good Standing whose semester or cumulative grade point average is below 2.0 at the end of any semester will face any of a range of institutional responses, from placing that student on Academic Probation through Suspension for one academic year to Academic Dismissal. The determination of that sanction shall be the responsibility of the Committee and shall be made based upon the student‘s academic record and all other information available to the Committee at that time. Students shall have the right to appeal the Committee decision.
Rationale: Clarification
c. Students who have fallen more than two credits behind their class as a function of withdrawn or failed courses are defined as making insufficient progress towards the completion of their degree and will be placed on Academic Probation.
Rationale: No longer practiced.
d. Students on Academic Probation shall be considered in conditional good standing during their first semester and will be eligible to participate in all student co-curricular activities. [May 6, 2005, p. 4502]
Rationale: Never practiced.
2. If a student meets the minimum semester's 2.0 semester Grade Point Average criterion for academic good standing during their semester on academic probation, but not raise their cumulative Grade Point Average above the minimum criterion 2.0, they may will be continued on Academic Probation and in conditional good standing for one additional semester. Should a student be continued for a third consecutive semester on academic probation, she or he will no longer be eligible to participate in co-curricular activities.
[March 12, 1962, p. 2678; February 3, 1995, p. 4049; December 5, 1997, p. 4169]
Rationale: Not currently practiced.
E. Academic Suspension and Dismissal
1. All students on Academic Probation will be reviewed at the end of each semester. A student on academic probation who fails to achieve both a semester and a cumulative GPA of 2.0 (for the Class of '99 and beyond) or 1.67 (for the Class of '98 and earlier) shall be placed on academic suspension for one year. Once suspended, a student falls out of academic good standing. A student returning from academic suspension shall be placed on academic probation until the cumulative grade point average is 2.0. for one semester to earn grades sufficient to return him or her to academic good standing. Failure to return to good standing in any semester after a student has been suspended shall do so may result in Academic Dismissal from the college. [December 19, 1972, p. 3080; April 11, 1980, p. 3455; February 3, 1995, p. 4049; December 5, 1997, pp. 4169-4170, May 6, 2005, p. 4503]
Rationale: More clearly expresses current practice. Eliminating contradiction within E1.
Professor Betsey Dyer (on behalf of a number of co-sponsors) presented the following AMENDMENTS to Section A and Section E of the proposed legislation from CAS, especially concerning Good Academic Standing(changes for this amended amendment are in bold with ** before and after) as well as the rationale for the proposed amendments.
NOTE: Proposed changes by CAS to wording are represented in bold. Deletions are shown by strikethroughs.
VIII. Academic Standing
ADD:
A. Good Academic Standing
A student remains in good academic standing as long as he or she
**maintains a cumulative grade point average of
After two semesters: 1.67
After four semesters: 1.67
After six semesters: 2.0
After eight semesters: 2.0**
**OMIT : <is matriculated at Wheaton and is considered by the Committee on Academic Standing to be making satisfactory progress toward the degree.>**
*
*
E. Academic Suspension and Dismissal
All students on Academic Probation will be reviewed at the end of each semester. A student on academic probation who fails to achieve both a semester and a cumulative GPA of 2.0 (for the Class of '99 and beyond) or 1.67 (for the Class of '98 and earlier) shall be placed on academic suspension for one year.
**A suspended student is not in good academic standing.**
**OMIT :<Once suspended, a student falls out of academic good standing.>**
Rationale for the Amendment
The essence of this amendment is that we wish to maintain (or to raise in practice) the standard of good academic standing such that it is connected with the numerical GPA required for graduation (as stated in the original faculty legislation.) We are opposed to having no GPA at all associated with the concept of good academic standing.
A technicality of the term “good academic standing” is that it is used primarily in only two Wheaton Departments: Financial Aid and Athletics; good academic standing is not typically used by CAS nor is CAS involved with the application of the term by Financial Aid or Athletics
Thus (if this amendment is passed) we will have the same standards for federal financial aid students as for all other students, rather than two different standards.
(See attachment for back-up data referred to in the rationale.)
Dean Trayford gave the rationale for presenting the changes to Faculty Legislation being brought to the faculty by the Committee on Academic Standing. He explained that the practice outlined in Faculty Legislation has been followed for many decades. The proposed change is intended to bring the Legislation up-to-date and reflect the current practice.
The discussion on the proposed amendment to the original proposal followed. Professor Dyer spoke to the amendment. She said that the co-sponsors of the amendment are requesting a GPA associated with the concept of good academic standing. She explained that several departments (Career Services, Financial Aid, the Global Center, Athletics, and others) use the GPA when referring to good academic standing. Only two departments, Athletics and Financial Aid, are required by outside agencies to have a definition of good academic standing. She explained the NCAA requirement that the academic progress of athletes be monitored to assure their graduation; NCAA requests that student athletes not be allowed to participate in their sport if they are at risk of not graduating or being suspended. Professor Dyer noted that this is a retention issue since students who come to Wheaton to participate in sports and are not allowed to do so may be likely to leave. A lengthy discussion followed. A motion was made to call the question and was approved. A vote on the amendment to the original proposal was taken and the amendment was approved.
President Crutcher proposed a further amendment to Part II, Article VIII A. as follows:
A student remains in good academic standing as long as he or she maintains a cumulative grade point average of:
After two semesters: 1.67
After four semesters: 1.67
After six semesters: 2.0
After eight semesters: 2.0.
A very brief discussion of President Crutcher’s proposed amendment to the amendment followed. Professor Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus called the question to end the discussion of the amendment to the first amendment already approved. A vote was taken and approved. The faculty then voted on the amendment to the amendment and it was approved. The original proposed change to Faculty Legislation from CAS as amended was now on the floor for consideration. A motion was made to call the question; the vote was taken and passed. The faculty then voted on the original proposal by CAS as doubly amended and it was approved.
Professors Touba Ghadessi and Yuen Gen Liang announced the Wheaton Institute for Interdisciplinary Humanities (WIIH) events planned for the spring semester of 2013. Professor Ghadessi showcased the WIIH website highlighting each segment (Mission, Directors, Theme and Events, Students, Visitors, and Faculty) and encouraged the faculty to visit the website for further information. Professor Liang noted that the inaugural theme for the Institute is “The Humanities Give Back: The Role of the Humanities in Professional Fields.” A number of events are planned for the spring; on February 20th, Dr. Evelynn Hammonds, Dean of Harvard College and Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrants, Professor of the History of Science and African American Studies will be giving a guest lecture; on February 28th there will be a roundtable discussion featuring four leading medical practitioners in the community on “Practicing Medicine and Practicing the Humanities”. These two events will lead into the inaugural roundtable gala on April 1st entitled “The Humanities Give Back: Inauguration of the WIIH”. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Anthony Grafton, Henry Putnam University Professor of History at Princeton University and 2011 President of the American Historical Association. Professor Liang noted that the website will be updated frequently and he encouraged the faculty to check the website often. Professor Ghadessi mentioned that funding for the spring programming is made possible by the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, the Evelyn Dansig Haas Visiting Artists Program, the Student Government Association’s Speaker, Venture, Senate and Educational Council Funds, Phi Beta Kappa and the Women’s Studies Program. She invited the faculty to email her and/or Professor Liang with questions and suggestions.
Professor Russell Williams, Chair of the Faculty Business Major ad hoc Committee, reported on the work of the Committee. He began by introducing the members of the Committee: Professors Matthew Allen, Fran deAlba, Peony Fhagen-Smith, Michael Kahn, Elita Pastra-Landis, and Jeanne Wilson, Provost Linda Eisenmann and staff support for the Committee by Susan Colson. The Committee meets once a week and has met three times as of this date. He noted that there is a deep commitment on the part of each Committee member “to anchor this new major in the liberal arts and in the values of the Wheaton curriculum including global perspectives, infusion and interdepartmental synergy”. He is optimistic that the Committee will be able to develop a recommendation of a program that meets these goals. If any faculty members have questions or ideas they are welcome to contact members of the Committee. Professor Williams said that the Committee will be meeting with the Educational Policy Committee to garner their feedback and input. He will report to the faculty again at the February faculty meeting.
Professors Bob Morris, Rachelle DeCoste and Dean Jim Mancall reminded the faculty that the Academic Festival is scheduled for Friday, April 26th. Dean Mancall said that an informal working group (Professors Morris and DeCoste, Claire Buck, Dean Alex Vasquez, Scott Hamlin and two students), has been formed with the goal of reenergizing the Academic Festival. He and Professor Morris said that some of the parts of the festival worked well while others did not. They asked the faculty to think about how their spring semester classes (especially the junior and senior seminars) can work toward the Academic Festival, perhaps highlighting the exceptional or exciting work of a group of students or an entire class. They would like suggestions of how to present, in the most exciting way, the most exciting work in the various disciplines. Professor DeCoste noted that the group is planning a kick-off event on Thursday, April 25th and asked the faculty to mark their calendars.
Professor Matthew Allen announced that there would be an end-of- semester Jazz Band concert that evening (December 7th) in the Experimental Theater to honor Professor Rick Britto who passed away this summer.
Professor Mary Beth Tierney-Tello, Chair of the Committee on Faculty Scholarship and Promotion noted that an email announcing summer research funds and revised guidelines,will be distributed to the faculty very soon.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynda S. Marcoccia
Senior Executive Assistant to the Provost
Secretary to the Faculty
Prof. of Education Vicki Bartolini shares results from her study of Finland’s consistent top placement of international educational measures. Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 in PDR I and II.
Vicki Bartolini, Professor of Education, will share about her recent trip to Finland to study what makes Finland consistently tops on international educational measures. Discussions will consider teacher preparation, standardized testing, rights of children, and most importantly - RECESS!!
Martin Fromm, Mellon Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow in History will present the next Faculty Lunch Talk on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 in PDR.
In the summer of 1900, at the height of the "carving out of China" by Western imperialism and the anti-foreign Boxer Uprising, Russian officers along the Sino-Russian border rounded up several thousand Chinese residents and drowned them in the Amur River. This talk traces the evolution of this event in Chinese, Japanese, and Russian memories from 1900 to the 1980s. How have the meanings associated with this massacre changed over time, and what does this reveal about the emergence of new forms of ethnic, colonial, and nationalist identities in the twentieth century?
Martin Fromm, Mellon Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow in History presents a faculty lunch talk on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. in President's Dining Room. For the full schedule of Fall 2012 Faculty Lunch Talks, click here
Alireza Shomali, Assistant Professor of Political Science presents this week’s Faculty Lunch talk. Tuesday, November 13th in PDR.
Presently the circles of the Iranian intelligentsia witness the gradual growth of at least two discourses on political secularism. These discourses have significant philosophical as well as political contents:
a. what I wish to call the strict secularist discourse aspires to take religious “truth-claims†off the public sphere. For the strictly secular intellectuals religious claims should reside in the private sphere since their truth-content is subjective.
b. to the participants in the second discourse, secularism implies that reason alone is able to know good and evil: justice is defined beyond the realm of revelation. Therefore, it is Islam that must match itself with ideas such as justice and democracy and not vice-versa.
In my presentation I shall critically examine the contribution of each discourse to the opening of a democratic horizon in Iran.
Assistant Professor of Political Science Alireza Shomali is scheduled to present this talk on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. in President's Dining Room. For the full schedule of Fall 2012 Faculty Lunch Talks, click here
Minutes of the November 9, 2012 Faculty meeting.
President Ronald A. Crutcher called the faculty meeting to order at 2:00 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012 in Hindle Auditorium in the Science Center.
President Crutcher began his remarks by announcing the names of those who will receive honorary degrees at Commencement in May--Patricia Flaherty ’83, Senior Project Manager for the Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services, a community-based nonprofit housing and economic development organization located in Boston; Diane Leshefsky Troderman ’63, a philanthropist who has held numerous leadership roles in the Jewish community on local, national and international levels; and this year’s Commencement speaker, Judge Nancy Gertner, former U.S. federal judge for the District Court of Massachusetts appointed in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. Judge Gertner is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University and Yale University and is currently on the faculty at Harvard Law School. The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees reviews the list of names in September.
The President invited the faculty to nominate candidates to receive an honorary degree or to give the Commencement address in future years by sending their names to him.
The President reminded the faculty that Wheaton is ranked tenth among the top liberal arts colleges whose students receive Fulbright scholarships. This is the eighth year in a row that Wheaton has been ranked in the top ten. Professor Russell Williams prepared an analysis based on the total number of Fulbright applicants at the school versus the total number of awards. The result of that analysis indicated that Wheaton is actually ranked number four when the number of applications is considered. Professor Kathy Morgan thanked Dean Alex Trayford and the faculty members who worked with the students and wrote recommendation letters contributing to the College’s success in receiving these awards.
President Crutcher called on Vice President for Finance and Administration Brian Douglas to present information on the endowment in addition to the information presented at the last faculty meeting. Referring to the question posed by Professor Tommasina Gabriele at the last faculty meeting concerning the impact of the Capital Campaign on the endowment, Mr. Douglas said that to date, $18,600,000 in gifts and pledges has been received and invested in the endowment from the Capital Campaign; another $15,400,000 in outstanding pledges will be received, amounting to a net of $34,000,000 from the Capital Campaign to be put toward the endowment. With another twenty months to go in the Capital Campaign, the numbers could improve. Mr. Douglas went on to speak about the private investments in the College’s endowment. He said that the College has an unusually high percentage of its endowment in private investments compared to peer institutions. He reminded the faculty that it is not easy to move away from these types of investments. Our investment advisors (LVW) have reviewed the private investments with a number of firms who specialize in buying and selling these. As a result of that process, they confirmed that if these investments were sold, the College would have to take a 25% to 30% loss instead of a normally anticipated loss of 15% to 20%. However, LVW found that these same investments would help the performance of the endowment over the next three years and have a good chance of returning earnings to the endowment. Mr. Douglas explained that, given these findings, the Investment Committee decided that this was not the right time to divest from the private investments.
The President noted that the plan during the Capital Campaign was to raise $44,000,000 for scholarships. To date, $32,000,000 has been raised however; 61% of that amount is in deferred gifts. He went on to share a portion of the PowerPoint presentation given to the Board of Trustees in October. He noted that the Board of Trustees unanimously endorsed the new Strategic Initiatives for the College. The President reminded the faculty of the three primary goals established last year in the Focus Plan; namely, to return the College to financial equilibrium, to add value to a Wheaton degree and to create a platform from which to achieve these priorities. He said that even though there were positive results from the Focus Plan last year, there are still pressures on higher education institutions, particularly liberal arts colleges. The President and the Vice Presidents spent the summer working with research associates from Harvard and the College’s econometrics consultant investigating approximately twenty strategies to identify dynamic strategies that would position Wheaton well and lead to the College becoming a stronger, more vibrant institution. He spoke about how these strategic initiatives were evaluated and the reasons for choosing the final ones.
The main initiatives chosen:
There were four secondary strategies:
Each one of the four secondary strategies has a Vice President overseeing the timelines, strategies, resources, etc. The President will oversee the community music school. He addressed the reasons for making these changes now. The cost of college tuitions has risen far higher and faster than family incomes; families are looking for real value when looking at colleges. President Crutcher said that the initiatives that the College is taking “represent the inspired evolution of the liberal arts while remaining distinctively Wheaton.” He said that in ten years, Wheaton will remain a liberal arts college but with other offerings. The liberal arts core will persist. These initiatives will provide Wheaton with the strength to respond to emerging issues. They build on the College’s strengths as a liberal arts college. He went on to say that all of the strategies have been thoughtfully researched; they were tested with Wheaton “friends” and with a consulting firm for their feedback; these consultants affirmed that the College would move in a strong direction by implementing these initiatives.
President Crutcher spoke about the plans to utilize the campus facilities year round. The College has been in conversation with the EXPLO program, a thirty-year-old science exploration program for intellectually curious students ages nine through seventeen. Currently, these programs take place at three different locations (including Wellesley College and Yale University), and they were looking for a new location for their nine through twelve-year-old students. Starting in 2014, they will be at Wheaton. The students come from forty different states, fifty different countries and they are all full-pay students. He commended Kristen Turcotte for her work with the directors of EXPLO. Provost Eisenmann spoke about the EXPLO program. She explained that the program considers the interests that students have; those interests are incorporated into courses that are a mix of both challenge and fun. Graduate students and college students generally teach the courses. The Provost went on to say that the director of EXPLO is interested in any “engagement” that our faculty would like to have. She explained that faculty participation is optional but faculty members may be interested in participating in some capacity from serving on one of their committees to helping to put a curriculum together by serving as a “content expert”.
The President noted that the financial gains from these new initiatives wouldn’t be fully realized for a couple of years. Some modest investments will have to be made to implement these strategies. He emphasized the fact that there will not be further cuts in personnel. The President outlined the overall benefits of the strategies—they build on our strengths, they help the College to maintain its market position, they will lead to a more desirable and more vibrant Wheaton and a more sustainable financial institution. He went on to speak about the next steps. He said that the implementation of these strategies is critical; “it has to be fast but not hasty, it has to be creative and nimble but with attention to people and detail and we have to be committed to achieving the outcomes.” There needs to be a new planning process for Wheaton. The current strategic plan will conclude in 2014. Over time, the President will be consulting with the Faculty and Staff Planning and Priorities Committees, the Advisory Committee, the Provost’s Advisory Committee and the Staff Council to develop a process for the next plan. The President emphasized that these strategic initiatives will help the College for the next five years to achieve a stable plateau, although they don’t address major issues relating to the College’s operations. The biggest issue that the College faces is the cost of higher education. He said that many colleges are keeping tuition flat but Wheaton is not currently in a position to hold back tuition increases. The President ended his remarks by stating that the outcome of the discussions with the Board of Trustees was positive.
The minutes from the October 5th faculty meeting were approved as circulated.
Provost Eisenmann began her remarks by announcing recent faculty publications. Professor of English Sam Coale’s new book is entitled Quirks of the Quantum; Postmodernism and Contemporary American Fiction; Associate Professor of History Yuen-Gen Liang is the co-editor of the special issue of the Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies and the co-author of the introduction entitled “A Forgotten Empire: the Spanish-North African Borderlands”; Professor of Geology Geoffrey Collins, together with colleagues, has published an article in the Journal of Geophysical Research entitled “Influence of temperature, composition, and grain size on the tensile failure of water ice: Implications for erosion on Titan”; an article by Assistant Professor of English Talitha Espiritu entitled “Native subjects on display: reviving the colonial exposition of Marcos’ Philippines” was published in Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture. In addition to the faculty publications, the Provost announced that Assistant Professor of Education Scott Gelber received an award from the History of Education Society to recognize and reward the most outstanding scholarly work in the field of the history of higher education in the United States produced by a junior scholar in the immediate prior two years. He was awarded the prize for his book entitled The University and the People: Envisioning American Higher Education in an era of Populist Protest.
Discussion regarding the strategic initiatives followed. Professor Mark LeBlanc asked which Vice Presidents were assigned to oversee the three secondary strategies and the timeline for implementation that will involve the faculty. Provost Eisenmann and Director of Career Services Lisa Gavigan will oversee the expanded internships, Brian Douglas will take the lead on the online and blended learning by considering work that Associate Provost Relihan has done on this strategy to date, and Gail Berson and Director of Communications Mike Graca will oversee the three-year degree option. The Provost pointed out that because these three strategies are secondary, they are not an immediate priority. She said that the plans for a three-year degree would not change any aspect of the curriculum; only the language will be made clearer to make it more obvious to students, as more students are expressing interest. The College website already features a guide for how a student can obtain a Wheaton degree in six or seven semesters. The Provost said that she is open to suggestions on the best ways to integrate previous work with new ideas on both the internships and the online blended learning initiatives. Professor Shumway asked why the three-year plan is advantageous. Provost Eisenmann responded. She said that the three-year plan is advantageous only if it brings in more students at the start. But if we don’t offer a three-year program, we risk losing students to other schools that offer the option. Professor Nancy Evans asked how students finish their degrees in three years. The Provost explained that it is a combination of advanced placement credits, international baccalaureate credits, taking overloads during the semester, or summer school credits from other institutions. The Provost cautioned that successful completion early requires effective advising; students have to be strong and be able to carry an overload of courses. Professor Evans also noted that the major has to be factored in, especially during the sophomore and junior year.
Professor John Miller said that given that there seems to be a great deal of discussion about our rising discount rate. This would suggest that net tuition revenue isn’t increasing very quickly; he asked if it makes sense to publish those numbers to demonstrate that once you get past the sticker price, net tuition, in fact, is not rising. Mr. Douglas responded. He said that indeed the most important question is net tuition revenue and not the total tuition value. The calculations for the current five-year plan show an increase in net tuition revenue partly driven by the inflationary increases in the tuition rate and increases in the number of students with the ability to pay. He said that Professor Miller is correct by suggesting that we hold the net tuition rate constant by increasing the amount of aid. The suggestion to reverse this trend does not seem to be the way to go for the College in the next five years, but it is a subject for ongoing conversations. President Crutcher noted that as Wheaton attracts more full paying students, it may be possible to hold the overall tuition value constant.
Professor Darlene Boroviak asked if the graduate course in Education advertised recently is the first step in offering graduate degrees. Professor Mary Lee Griffin, Chair of the Education Department, explained that the state of Massachusetts has been told by the Department of Justice that they are not addressing the needs of teachers of English language learners so new regulations are being put in place and from 2014 onward our Education majors will not only need an endorsement from the College that they have successfully completed the three programs for teaching elementary, intermediate and secondary education, but they will now need a second endorsement from the College that they have successfully completed a graduate level course in teaching English language learners. Originally, the department thought that they would offer an experimental course as a 298 and then it would go to the Educational Policy Committee next year for their approval; but now every K through 12 teacher in the state of Massachusetts is going to have to have this endorsement in order to continue to retain their license to teach. In order to be fair to students graduating in 2013, the department decided to bump the course up to the graduate level. She assured the faculty that the department had checked with the Committee on Educational Policy and had their approval.
Professor MaryBeth Tierney-Tello, Chair of the Committee on Faculty Scholarship and Promotion, presented new and improved guidelines for applying for Faculty Summer Research Awards in the hopes of generating a wide and deep pool of applications for summer research funding. She pointed out the changes to the guidelines and noted that the funding provided by the Mellon Foundation grant has two more years, expiring in 2014. The Committee would like to encourage as many people as possible to apply for these grants. Professor Tommasina Gabriele asked about the number of grants available and if the Committee on Faculty Scholarship had tracked whether or not the number of awards given out over the last five years has gone up or down. Professor Tierney-Tello noted that the number of awards available is determined by the funding available, especially endowment. Last year there were 31 awards available. Provost Eisenmann stated that because revenues from endowment funds were decreasing in the last few years, she submitted a grant proposal to the Mellon Foundation to support faculty and faculty/student research, which was successful.
Provost Eisenmann reminded the faculty that at the end of the last academic year, Wheaton was one of nine liberal arts institutions in Massachusetts and New York invited by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, through their LEAP program, to be part of a two and a half-year grant from the Teagle Foundation called “Faculty Leadership for Integrative Learning: Principles and Practices.” The Provost explained that the idea is to work specifically with liberal arts colleges to see what efforts are focused on integrative learning. Teams of three (two faculty members and one administrator) from each school will work together to develop a set of principles and practices that work well on the campuses to “create or strengthen faculty leadership and oversight of integrative liberal learning”. Faculty members of Wheaton’s team are Professors Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus and Kathy Morgan. Provost Eisenmann will serve as the academic administrator. Professors Brumberg-Kraus and Morgan spoke about the project and about the workshop that they attended at Clark University on October 22nd. They spoke about how integrative learning includes various pieces of the current curriculum; however, work is required towards better articulating to our students and to those outside of Wheaton what our goals and successes are. The Provost outlined the next steps to be taken. A meeting will be scheduled to ascertain faculty members’ interest in participating in the project. The team will be reaching out to faculty for their input. They see this project as an opportunity to share information with the other colleges and to learn from them in return. Professors Brumberg-Kraus and Morgan noted that this project is a faculty project. The faculty will define the principle and practices of the integrated learning project.
Professor Tommasina Gabriele asked about the specific charge to the Business Major sub-committee. Professor Chris Kalberg, Chair of the Committee on Committees and Agenda responded that they are charged with developing a proposal for formulating the business major. Professor Gabriele also asked if the new major will be in place in time for recruiting faculty members this spring and if the search committee members will be drawn from the Business Major sub-committee. Professor Kalberg said it would depend on how quickly the major is approved by the Educational Policy Committee. President Crutcher said that he hopes that Gail Berson will be able to advertise the offering of a business major in her recruiting efforts as soon as possible. He did say that he expects that courses for the business major will be in place as soon as the fall of 2014.
Professor Dolita Cathcart reminded the faculty of the party for faculty being held at the Trattoria Della Nonna following the faculty meeting.
Dean Lee Williams announced that the women’s soccer team would be hosting the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, November 10th. She urged faculty to attend.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynda S. Marcoccia
Senior Executive Assistant to the Provost
Secretary to the Faculty.
Associate Prof. of Anthropology Bruce Owens talks about 25 years of change affecting Newar Buddist monastic compounds. Wednesday, November 7th in PDR.
This research surveys the changes that have taken place over the past 25 years in the 363 Newar Buddist monastic compounds of the Kathmandu Valley. These centers of Newar Buddhist life house those who are at once monks, tantric priests, and married householders. The complex and apparently contradictory roles played by their residents are reflected in the built environments in which they live and the transformations that these places of worship, initiation, and day-to-day life have undergone.
The talk is scheduled for Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. in President's Dining Room
For the full schedule of Fall 2012 Faculty Lunch Talks, click here.
Goldberg Professor of French Kirk Anderson talks about how early American Rock and Roll was translated, culturally as well as textually, into French.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 in PDR.
"French baby-boomers in the early sixties created a sudden demand for the new sounds of Anglo-American pop music, but the public and the record industry weren't yet ready for songs in English. Local versions of American and British hits, by singers were on hand to promote them, filled the gap. But does singing 'Rip It Up' in French make it a French song, and why does the question matter?"
Professor Anderson's talk is scheduled for Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. in President's Dining Room
For the full schedule of Fall 2012 Faculty Lunch Talks, click here.
Jay Goodman, Professor of Political Science, asks the question, “Is Obama Destined to be a One-Term President?” Wednesday, October 24, 2012 in PDR.
Professor Goodman will analyze the President's situation using poll data and other sources and will introduce some valuable websites.
Professor Goodman's talk is scheduled for Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. in President's Dining Room
For the full schedule of Fall 2012 Faculty Lunch Talks, click here.
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