forum_200612
PROVOST'S FORUM
14 December 2006
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This forum began at 8 AM and ultimately there were perhaps 25-30 people in attendance. The Provost began this forum by noting that he would speak until about 8:20 AM and then answer questions only to 8:45 AM due to the fact that he had to go to a negotiating session with staff representatives that would start at 9 AM.
Searches continue on for the LAS and F&PA Dean positions. The LAS Dean search is a bit further along though the F&PA search is making good progress. Approximately 25 faculty searches [for both new and replacement positions] are proceeding along well and it is the hope of the Provost that these searches will be completed by April 1st. Staff searches also continue.
The Teaching Load Adjustment (TLA) task force met on November 28th and will meet several times during the Spring 2007 semester to resolve issues germane to the TLA [including, in part, such concerns as release time and the roles of coordinators]. It is important to realize that this task force will continue to meet even after the current TLA is fully implemented; there will be a need to periodically evaluate issues and this task force is a place to begin such discussion.
The Rank Promotion Task Force met yesterday for the first time. This meeting was lively and the Provost feels that this group of faculty, department chairs and members of the administration is a good, thoughtful, representative group.
Workplace civility is a matter that we need to be aware of and monitor ourselves on. The Provost here thanked Keith Kostecka for his efforts in bringing the issue of civility in the workplace forward for discussion [Marvin Cohen and Joan McGrath were also noted by Keith Kostecka as individuals important in bringing this issue before the college community]. The Provost noted that workplace civility is a matter that he and President Carter have discussed. Provost Kapelke noted that we need to do better at being civil in the workplace; he cited an email exchange involving a faculty member about a technology issue. Our staff and faculty work hard to maintain quality service and it might be better, according to the Provost, to address problems through face-to-face discussion or telephone conservations rather than having email dialog potentially erode the community of the college. Civility will not be legislated but we all can do better since everyone in the college should be treated with respect.
Recent discussion has occurred on student evaluations of faculty performance [in particular at the College Council meeting of December 1st] and the public listing of these results. The Provost stated emphatically that no decision has been made to do so nor will no decision to do so ever occur without significant discussion within the college. There may have been miscommunication and/or misunderstandings on this matter that Provost Kapelke hopes have been addressed.
From July 23-27, 2007, the college will host for the fourth consecutive year the AP Summer Institute for the Arts which partners Columbia College with the College Board. We anticipate about 180 high school teachers who will attend this workshop. The efforts of Jeffrey Grauel with this initiative were noted.
The College may soon have a University Press on site. Negotiations are occurring for this.
The CASTEL Institute will have a three-day meeting here this upcoming summer in June. Several of our faculty [including Kathleen Perkins] will present in this "event" which will see many institutions from throughout the USA participating in. Thanks are offered to David Krause for his efforts with this Institute.
The appointments for the next series of College Fellows will be made public after the first of the year. The Provost noted he is somewhat disappointed with the recommendation process from department chairs and Deans for these Fellow positions.
Recently, there have been individuals advocating for salary increases greater than 3% for faculty. Discussions have only begun amongst senior administration on this matter. There are many pressures on our institution's budget, including: faculty development money; departmental operations money; new federal legislation from this summer mandating that all unfunded amounts in defined benefits plans be resolved in five years - thereby necessitating that the college put more money into the currently frozen defined benefits plan;
[I understand that President Bush signed the Pension Protection Act of 2006 in August which is geared toward under-funded plans and states that as of 1/1/08 all plans need to be fully funded within seven years of that date - What exactly does fully funded mean?]
expenses from the TLA and already planned salary increases. The Provost noted that the faculty and staff must realize that salary increases are not made without great thought. Our college has decided to maintain the enrollment aspect of our mission and will keep tuition increases modest. Volume and pricing are the two variables that make up what we can spend as an institution. The Chair of the Board of Trustees (BOT) and members of the BOT are taking fund-raising very seriously but their efforts will take time. All should realize that if salaries go up an additional 2% past the base raise of 3% something else will have to give; this is far from a simple process. Provost Kapelke, while noting that our salary increases have been better than those at other institutions, did ask us to continue our lobbying for increases in salary.
QUESTION/ ANSWER SESSION OF THE PROVOST FORUM
(I HAVE DONE MY BEST HERE TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THE Q/A SESSION).
Question
Asked by Keith Kostecka
Can you update us on college international initiatives?
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
We had a symposium here in October that involved our college and the Dublin Institute of Technology. In March, there will be the reverse. Columbia is in the process of signing an agreement with the Medici Institute in Florence. They have programs in Art & Design, Film and Creative Writing. This "partnership" will be open to our students. President Carter has been instrumental in developing a relationship with a Japanese consortium of schools ["GK"?]. Louise Love and Gillian Moore will travel to Japan in April to further explore this opportunity. An exchange program with the University of East London will occur next month. The Provost and Dean Bartoni will be at the London College of Communication in March to explore possible collaboration. As an aside, the Provost said that our college might be able to have as an exhibition the enormous Stanley Kubrick archive. Currently, we do not have the wall space for this to be exhibited though the college is working to find a place. We would be the sole venue in the USA for this, if it happens. The Provost noted that we have had four faculty apply to date to present at the Brighton 2007 conference. He also said that our college is now beginning to look more and more "outward".
Question
Asked by Pan Papacosta
What about putting these programs into a brochure for students and parents?
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Gillian Moore noted that there will be a web site dealing with these programs up at the beginning of February. A web site is easier to do than paper.
Question
Asked by Pan Papacosta
What is the status of the Center for Innovation?
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Planning is continuing. We might be up and running in the Fall of 2008. One reason why this is so far in the future is that the college needs to develop a policy on Intellectual Property.
Question
Asked by Keith Kostecka
What will be the tuition increase for next year?
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Perhaps under 5%. This was discussed at the last meeting of the Board of Trustees. We want to keep the increases as low as possible.
Question
Asked by Pan Papacosta
What is happening with looking at class/course fees?
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Anne, John Wilkin (sp?) and I working on this. This concern was raised in a recent issue of the Chronicle.
THE PROVOST CLOSED THE FORUM BY THANKING ALL FOR THEIR HARD WORK AND NOTED HOW PLEASED HE IS THAT HE KNOWS MANY OF US PERSONALLY.
Notes submitted by
Keith Kostecka
CCFO President
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14 December 2006
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This forum began at 8 AM and ultimately there were perhaps 25-30 people in attendance. The Provost began this forum by noting that he would speak until about 8:20 AM and then answer questions only to 8:45 AM due to the fact that he had to go to a negotiating session with staff representatives that would start at 9 AM.
Searches continue on for the LAS and F&PA Dean positions. The LAS Dean search is a bit further along though the F&PA search is making good progress. Approximately 25 faculty searches [for both new and replacement positions] are proceeding along well and it is the hope of the Provost that these searches will be completed by April 1st. Staff searches also continue.
The Teaching Load Adjustment (TLA) task force met on November 28th and will meet several times during the Spring 2007 semester to resolve issues germane to the TLA [including, in part, such concerns as release time and the roles of coordinators]. It is important to realize that this task force will continue to meet even after the current TLA is fully implemented; there will be a need to periodically evaluate issues and this task force is a place to begin such discussion.
The Rank Promotion Task Force met yesterday for the first time. This meeting was lively and the Provost feels that this group of faculty, department chairs and members of the administration is a good, thoughtful, representative group.
Workplace civility is a matter that we need to be aware of and monitor ourselves on. The Provost here thanked Keith Kostecka for his efforts in bringing the issue of civility in the workplace forward for discussion [Marvin Cohen and Joan McGrath were also noted by Keith Kostecka as individuals important in bringing this issue before the college community]. The Provost noted that workplace civility is a matter that he and President Carter have discussed. Provost Kapelke noted that we need to do better at being civil in the workplace; he cited an email exchange involving a faculty member about a technology issue. Our staff and faculty work hard to maintain quality service and it might be better, according to the Provost, to address problems through face-to-face discussion or telephone conservations rather than having email dialog potentially erode the community of the college. Civility will not be legislated but we all can do better since everyone in the college should be treated with respect.
Recent discussion has occurred on student evaluations of faculty performance [in particular at the College Council meeting of December 1st] and the public listing of these results. The Provost stated emphatically that no decision has been made to do so nor will no decision to do so ever occur without significant discussion within the college. There may have been miscommunication and/or misunderstandings on this matter that Provost Kapelke hopes have been addressed.
From July 23-27, 2007, the college will host for the fourth consecutive year the AP Summer Institute for the Arts which partners Columbia College with the College Board. We anticipate about 180 high school teachers who will attend this workshop. The efforts of Jeffrey Grauel with this initiative were noted.
The College may soon have a University Press on site. Negotiations are occurring for this.
The CASTEL Institute will have a three-day meeting here this upcoming summer in June. Several of our faculty [including Kathleen Perkins] will present in this "event" which will see many institutions from throughout the USA participating in. Thanks are offered to David Krause for his efforts with this Institute.
The appointments for the next series of College Fellows will be made public after the first of the year. The Provost noted he is somewhat disappointed with the recommendation process from department chairs and Deans for these Fellow positions.
Recently, there have been individuals advocating for salary increases greater than 3% for faculty. Discussions have only begun amongst senior administration on this matter. There are many pressures on our institution's budget, including: faculty development money; departmental operations money; new federal legislation from this summer mandating that all unfunded amounts in defined benefits plans be resolved in five years - thereby necessitating that the college put more money into the currently frozen defined benefits plan;
[I understand that President Bush signed the Pension Protection Act of 2006 in August which is geared toward under-funded plans and states that as of 1/1/08 all plans need to be fully funded within seven years of that date - What exactly does fully funded mean?]
expenses from the TLA and already planned salary increases. The Provost noted that the faculty and staff must realize that salary increases are not made without great thought. Our college has decided to maintain the enrollment aspect of our mission and will keep tuition increases modest. Volume and pricing are the two variables that make up what we can spend as an institution. The Chair of the Board of Trustees (BOT) and members of the BOT are taking fund-raising very seriously but their efforts will take time. All should realize that if salaries go up an additional 2% past the base raise of 3% something else will have to give; this is far from a simple process. Provost Kapelke, while noting that our salary increases have been better than those at other institutions, did ask us to continue our lobbying for increases in salary.
QUESTION/ ANSWER SESSION OF THE PROVOST FORUM
(I HAVE DONE MY BEST HERE TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THE Q/A SESSION).
Question
Asked by Keith Kostecka
Can you update us on college international initiatives?
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
We had a symposium here in October that involved our college and the Dublin Institute of Technology. In March, there will be the reverse. Columbia is in the process of signing an agreement with the Medici Institute in Florence. They have programs in Art & Design, Film and Creative Writing. This "partnership" will be open to our students. President Carter has been instrumental in developing a relationship with a Japanese consortium of schools ["GK"?]. Louise Love and Gillian Moore will travel to Japan in April to further explore this opportunity. An exchange program with the University of East London will occur next month. The Provost and Dean Bartoni will be at the London College of Communication in March to explore possible collaboration. As an aside, the Provost said that our college might be able to have as an exhibition the enormous Stanley Kubrick archive. Currently, we do not have the wall space for this to be exhibited though the college is working to find a place. We would be the sole venue in the USA for this, if it happens. The Provost noted that we have had four faculty apply to date to present at the Brighton 2007 conference. He also said that our college is now beginning to look more and more "outward".
Question
Asked by Pan Papacosta
What about putting these programs into a brochure for students and parents?
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Gillian Moore noted that there will be a web site dealing with these programs up at the beginning of February. A web site is easier to do than paper.
Question
Asked by Pan Papacosta
What is the status of the Center for Innovation?
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Planning is continuing. We might be up and running in the Fall of 2008. One reason why this is so far in the future is that the college needs to develop a policy on Intellectual Property.
Question
Asked by Keith Kostecka
What will be the tuition increase for next year?
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Perhaps under 5%. This was discussed at the last meeting of the Board of Trustees. We want to keep the increases as low as possible.
Question
Asked by Pan Papacosta
What is happening with looking at class/course fees?
Answer (Provost Kapelke)
Anne, John Wilkin (sp?) and I working on this. This concern was raised in a recent issue of the Chronicle.
THE PROVOST CLOSED THE FORUM BY THANKING ALL FOR THEIR HARD WORK AND NOTED HOW PLEASED HE IS THAT HE KNOWS MANY OF US PERSONALLY.
Notes submitted by
Keith Kostecka
CCFO President
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