forum_200503

PROVOST'S CHAT
MARCH 17th , 2005

The Provost began this "chat" (having about 25 people present - most notably a large number of faculty from the Marketing/Communications Department) at 8 AM by noting that he is concerned everyone knows that our academic calendar changes and that the Fall semester begins on September 6th. Faculty contracts will begin on August 16th. He also mentioned the J-term and the faculty retreat (at which new faculty orientation will tentatively occur). It may also be possible to have a retreat "session" dealing with Columbia College tenure procedures. Another leadership seminar, sponsored by the Provost's office, will be held tomorrow. If you might be interested in attending a future leadership seminar, please contact the Provost's office.

The AP Summer Institute Brochure is now out. Our college is now working with the College Board to have a two-week program in mid-July for high school AP art teachers which will allow them to have a chance in the second week to have studio space available and possibly master classes open to them.

The Faculty Convocation will be on Friday April 8th and it will be held on the 8th floor of the Luddington Building. Each VP will "present" for 10-15 minutes and then Q/A will follow. I asked if these remarks will be available beforehand so that the Q/A session can be more productive. The Provost believes this is a good idea and is possible.

Jan Garfield will be presenting at the annual meeting of NCA during the weekend of April 8th . The college anticipates receiving its "note" from NCA sometime in the next year; this would be about two years ahead of their visit. There will be a meeting of the Columbia 2010 Implementation Team on April 1 th .

Norma Greene and Erin McCarthy are at the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) as part of our articulation efforts with this institution. Currently, there are two DIT students studying here at Columbia College. In the near future, Barbara Calabrese will travel to DIT with two or three radio students for radio week.

PFAC contract negotiations will begin this summer; the current contract expires on 1/31/06. The Provost noted that it is his hope to have these negotiations over with by the end of the summer.

I asked about the current status of the teaching load reduction plan. My concern is what will occur about the "standardization" of release time and stipends (which are two concerns that President Carter has about the plan). Steve noted that he would talk to Howard Schlossberg and I about that concern. In addition, as stated by the Provost, the college's Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees will meet in the next week to discuss productivity issues as they relate to the teaching load reduction plan. Steve anticipates a positive outcome from this meeting.

A question was asked about assessment efforts at the college. The Provost noted that assessment is a continual part of the learning process and needs to be done college-wide. In fact, he would like to have one assessment "manager" per school.

Eric May asked that since application are up where will the new students go? Steve answered by noting that our overall teaching schedule is a mess; we only use our instructional space 41% of the time between 9-9 (M to Th) and 9-5 (F). The Space Planning Committee, under Alicia Berg's direction, is studying this issue. In any event, we must better use the days of the week and our available space.

Perhaps the college needs to design programs for older, non-traditional students who have different educational/academic needs. Maybe, the college needs to better fill Friday and/or Saturday classes by having smaller sized classes. The Provost further noted that the college has ~ 125 different concentrations and that some of these concentrations have very few students in them. This is not a good use of our space nor the best way to utilize our faculty.

Alton Miller asked if there could be more transparency about class size, fiscal responsibility and general space planning. The Provost said that he will not raise enrollment caps in the departments; he may even approve lower numbers. He does though want an honest examination of these enrollment caps by departments.

Eric May asked if the college has information about the number of its students who work; the answer is yes to the question.

The Provost noted that he is concerned about our lack of a uniform schedule. He feels that this should have been addressed 10-15 years ago. He in fact thinks that we may be able to work with two or three different schedule models.

The Provost also noted his concerns about "congestion" in the tenure process and mentioned that he had asked Dan Dinello to "get" evidence of these concerns. Steve noted that though our tenure standards are appropriate, there are faculty throughout the college who are carrying the better part of the load of serving on tenure committees.

Notes submitted by
Keith Kostecka
CCFO President