forum_200610
PROVOST'S FORUM
12 October 2006
back to forum index
This forum began at 12 PM with perhaps 45-50 people in attendance. The Provost began this forum by noting that the DIT/CCC symposia held here was a wonderful series of events. This "initiative" has been worked on for about 18 months and he thanked Gillian Moore and others for their efforts. Seventeen proposals were submitted by Columbia College faculty/staff and three were accepted and presented [Kevin Henry, Rob Lageux and Margaret Sullivan]. Our three presenters will have the chance to repeat their talks at the DIT in the spring. Thanks were also offered to the splendid presentations on our part [though one was not well attended by our faculty] and to our faculty and the Associate Deans for their hard work. The DIT presentations were equally as good.
The Provost will be attending the annual ELIA conference next week with Dean Bartoni. The ELIA Teacher's Academy will next year be at the University of Brighton on July 12th and 13th. They are currently looking for presenters; participation by our faculty is encouraged. Support will be offered by the Provost's Office for those who attend this conference. Columbia College will submit a proposal to host the 2009 ELIA Teacher's Academy.
There are two Dean searches currently going on. Thanks were given to the CCFO and Keith Kostecka for quickly completing its elections for representatives on these bodies. The F&PA Dean search committee selected Joe Roberts (faculty from AEMM) as it chair. The LAS Dean search committee is chaired by Ken Daley (Chair of the English Department). This LAS Dean search committee has already received 20-30 applications to date. Both search committees are using the same executive search firm.
The Critical Encounters Series for this fall (dealing with HIV/AIDS) have been wonderful so far. Amy Hawkins is the first fellow for this initiative; the second fellow will be named in the next month or so. Lott Hill and Jane Saks were thanked for their efforts with this series. There has been some publicity about the Critical Encounters Initiative both on insidehighered.com and in the Metro Section of the Chicago Tribune. The piece in the Tribune was more accurate in portraying the college's efforts. Both the Provost and Amy Hawkins were quoted in these stories.
The implementation of the teaching load adjustment (TLA) plan will be complete by the start of the 2007-2008 academic year. A task force dealing with this implementation will re-convene next month after the Provost has returned from his travels.
A study of rank and promotion will include four faculty chosen by CCFO as well as another dozen or so faculty, chairs and administrators. This group will deliver a white paper to the Provost when their "work" is complete.
There is, in progress with maybe six academic departments, work being conducted on developing a comprehensive academic advising "program". Issues have arisen though. One concern is that there are not enough full-time faculty to accomplish this "program". The Provost noted that he has asked for faculty for this resource group; release time may be provided. He further stated that our increasing retention rates are related to the quality of student advising, instruction and studio time that students have. Research notes, as stated by the Provost, that faculty /student interaction outside of the classroom is also important in retention. It is the hope of the Provost that this comprehensive academic advising "program" will be implemented by 2010 even though it is not perfect.
QUESTION/ ANSWER SESSION OF THE PROVOST FORUM
(I HAVE DONE MY BEST HERE TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THE Q/A SESSION).
Question
Can you give us an update on NCA?
Asked by Keith Kostecka
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Anne Foley will lead our self-study. There will be faculty and department chairs on the steering committee. I believe that we have already received the letter [this would have gone to President Carter] from NCA and we are hoping that there visit occurs in Spring 2009. I have spoken to the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees on this matter and what we would do, see and how we would address the five criteria that NCA will looking for the college to address.
Specialized accreditation is a matter that, in most cases, an institution will not deal with. A position paper will come soon from my office on this issue.
Question
What about the roles of coordinators/directors with respect to the TLA?
Asked by Shawn Shiflett
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
This will be discussed [in the task force meetings that will begin in early to mid-November after the Provost returns]. Release time will continue to exist and in most cases it will remain unchanged. It is true that many faculty have "administrative " responsibilities. We are looking for a strategic way to use staff to address departmental needs
[AS AN EDITORIAL NOTE, I TAKE THIS LAST STATEMENT TO MEAN ACADEMIC STAFF].
Question
Has the search firm involved in the search for the F&PA and LAS Deans been "briefed" to bring "back" a diverse pool of applicants?
Asked by Lisa Brock
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
We need to do a better job of having faculty diversity; it is imperative that we bring in such a pool. We currently have the two Dean searches underway and we will be having in this academic year about twenty-five faculty searches [twelve of which are for new positions]. There are also approximately a dozen staff searches that are to occur this year. We also could do targeted hiring. Departments might receive incentives if they recruit under-represented groups [though we are not committing to anything here]. It is possible that such a department might be rewarded with an additional position. In the past, we were not competitive in salary and teaching load; now we are more competitive to potential faculty.
Question
Given that the founder of Columbia College Chicago was from Emerson, what about starting a dialog with Emerson like we have with the DIT?
Asked by Pan Papacosta
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
I appreciate the idea but the reason we work with such institutions as the DIT, the University of East London and the University of the Arts in London is to give our students the cultural opportunities that come with international exchanges. There is not much in the way of a cultural exchange with Boston; though research opportunities are possible. We might be able to collaborate with other schools in the USA.
Question
What may be occurring with review of the tenure process?
Asked by Keith Kostecka
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
If we do not look at this in the spring, it will be done during the 2007-2008 academic year.
Question
With the increase in revenue [from our increased enrollment], can we increase the number of full-time faculty hires?
Asked by Gary Johnson
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Our overall advising ratio is at about 35:1 and we are maintaining the status quo on this. We are seeing large growth in departments such as AEMM and Photography. If we put more money into the faculty line of the budget for hires that would mean less for staff or something else would have to give. We are, by the way, putting $1.7 million back to the departments which came from the 6% increase in enrollment.
Question
What about the "bumps" that are occurring in the prototype advising process?
Asked by Terence Brunk
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
First, it is in the numbers. A goal of this program is to make sure that each student has a "faculty" adviser assigned to them in perhaps 3-4 years. Initial plans are to supplement the limited number of full-time faculty with PT faculty and also staff. Though there are contractual issues that exist, some of these PT faculty and/or staff would be excellent in this role.
Second, there have been some problems with OASIS and other technology issues [the college has had problems with the LMS]. Both Rebecca Courington and Bernadette McMahon have contacted Jenzabar and expressed our dissatisfaction. I could myself have done better on bringing ideas and resources to this effort. Everyone wants this to work; the Marketing Communication Department is involved in efforts to make this occur. The TLA was to free faculty for advising and scholarship. This advising initiative will take perhaps three years to implement - our students deserve better.
THE NEXT PROVOST FORUM WILL BE IN MID-NOVEMBER.
Notes submitted by
Keith Kostecka
CCFO President
back to forum index
12 October 2006
back to forum index
This forum began at 12 PM with perhaps 45-50 people in attendance. The Provost began this forum by noting that the DIT/CCC symposia held here was a wonderful series of events. This "initiative" has been worked on for about 18 months and he thanked Gillian Moore and others for their efforts. Seventeen proposals were submitted by Columbia College faculty/staff and three were accepted and presented [Kevin Henry, Rob Lageux and Margaret Sullivan]. Our three presenters will have the chance to repeat their talks at the DIT in the spring. Thanks were also offered to the splendid presentations on our part [though one was not well attended by our faculty] and to our faculty and the Associate Deans for their hard work. The DIT presentations were equally as good.
The Provost will be attending the annual ELIA conference next week with Dean Bartoni. The ELIA Teacher's Academy will next year be at the University of Brighton on July 12th and 13th. They are currently looking for presenters; participation by our faculty is encouraged. Support will be offered by the Provost's Office for those who attend this conference. Columbia College will submit a proposal to host the 2009 ELIA Teacher's Academy.
There are two Dean searches currently going on. Thanks were given to the CCFO and Keith Kostecka for quickly completing its elections for representatives on these bodies. The F&PA Dean search committee selected Joe Roberts (faculty from AEMM) as it chair. The LAS Dean search committee is chaired by Ken Daley (Chair of the English Department). This LAS Dean search committee has already received 20-30 applications to date. Both search committees are using the same executive search firm.
The Critical Encounters Series for this fall (dealing with HIV/AIDS) have been wonderful so far. Amy Hawkins is the first fellow for this initiative; the second fellow will be named in the next month or so. Lott Hill and Jane Saks were thanked for their efforts with this series. There has been some publicity about the Critical Encounters Initiative both on insidehighered.com and in the Metro Section of the Chicago Tribune. The piece in the Tribune was more accurate in portraying the college's efforts. Both the Provost and Amy Hawkins were quoted in these stories.
The implementation of the teaching load adjustment (TLA) plan will be complete by the start of the 2007-2008 academic year. A task force dealing with this implementation will re-convene next month after the Provost has returned from his travels.
A study of rank and promotion will include four faculty chosen by CCFO as well as another dozen or so faculty, chairs and administrators. This group will deliver a white paper to the Provost when their "work" is complete.
There is, in progress with maybe six academic departments, work being conducted on developing a comprehensive academic advising "program". Issues have arisen though. One concern is that there are not enough full-time faculty to accomplish this "program". The Provost noted that he has asked for faculty for this resource group; release time may be provided. He further stated that our increasing retention rates are related to the quality of student advising, instruction and studio time that students have. Research notes, as stated by the Provost, that faculty /student interaction outside of the classroom is also important in retention. It is the hope of the Provost that this comprehensive academic advising "program" will be implemented by 2010 even though it is not perfect.
QUESTION/ ANSWER SESSION OF THE PROVOST FORUM
(I HAVE DONE MY BEST HERE TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THE Q/A SESSION).
Question
Can you give us an update on NCA?
Asked by Keith Kostecka
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Anne Foley will lead our self-study. There will be faculty and department chairs on the steering committee. I believe that we have already received the letter [this would have gone to President Carter] from NCA and we are hoping that there visit occurs in Spring 2009. I have spoken to the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees on this matter and what we would do, see and how we would address the five criteria that NCA will looking for the college to address.
Specialized accreditation is a matter that, in most cases, an institution will not deal with. A position paper will come soon from my office on this issue.
Question
What about the roles of coordinators/directors with respect to the TLA?
Asked by Shawn Shiflett
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
This will be discussed [in the task force meetings that will begin in early to mid-November after the Provost returns]. Release time will continue to exist and in most cases it will remain unchanged. It is true that many faculty have "administrative " responsibilities. We are looking for a strategic way to use staff to address departmental needs
[AS AN EDITORIAL NOTE, I TAKE THIS LAST STATEMENT TO MEAN ACADEMIC STAFF].
Question
Has the search firm involved in the search for the F&PA and LAS Deans been "briefed" to bring "back" a diverse pool of applicants?
Asked by Lisa Brock
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
We need to do a better job of having faculty diversity; it is imperative that we bring in such a pool. We currently have the two Dean searches underway and we will be having in this academic year about twenty-five faculty searches [twelve of which are for new positions]. There are also approximately a dozen staff searches that are to occur this year. We also could do targeted hiring. Departments might receive incentives if they recruit under-represented groups [though we are not committing to anything here]. It is possible that such a department might be rewarded with an additional position. In the past, we were not competitive in salary and teaching load; now we are more competitive to potential faculty.
Question
Given that the founder of Columbia College Chicago was from Emerson, what about starting a dialog with Emerson like we have with the DIT?
Asked by Pan Papacosta
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
I appreciate the idea but the reason we work with such institutions as the DIT, the University of East London and the University of the Arts in London is to give our students the cultural opportunities that come with international exchanges. There is not much in the way of a cultural exchange with Boston; though research opportunities are possible. We might be able to collaborate with other schools in the USA.
Question
What may be occurring with review of the tenure process?
Asked by Keith Kostecka
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
If we do not look at this in the spring, it will be done during the 2007-2008 academic year.
Question
With the increase in revenue [from our increased enrollment], can we increase the number of full-time faculty hires?
Asked by Gary Johnson
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Our overall advising ratio is at about 35:1 and we are maintaining the status quo on this. We are seeing large growth in departments such as AEMM and Photography. If we put more money into the faculty line of the budget for hires that would mean less for staff or something else would have to give. We are, by the way, putting $1.7 million back to the departments which came from the 6% increase in enrollment.
Question
What about the "bumps" that are occurring in the prototype advising process?
Asked by Terence Brunk
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
First, it is in the numbers. A goal of this program is to make sure that each student has a "faculty" adviser assigned to them in perhaps 3-4 years. Initial plans are to supplement the limited number of full-time faculty with PT faculty and also staff. Though there are contractual issues that exist, some of these PT faculty and/or staff would be excellent in this role.
Second, there have been some problems with OASIS and other technology issues [the college has had problems with the LMS]. Both Rebecca Courington and Bernadette McMahon have contacted Jenzabar and expressed our dissatisfaction. I could myself have done better on bringing ideas and resources to this effort. Everyone wants this to work; the Marketing Communication Department is involved in efforts to make this occur. The TLA was to free faculty for advising and scholarship. This advising initiative will take perhaps three years to implement - our students deserve better.
THE NEXT PROVOST FORUM WILL BE IN MID-NOVEMBER.
Notes submitted by
Keith Kostecka
CCFO President
back to forum index
