Faculty Forum Meeting

John Carroll University

Wednesday, March 20, 2002, 4PM

LSC Conference Room

Chair:  Ernie DeZolt

Vice Chair:  Dick Horwath

Secretary:  Karen Gygli

 

1.  Invocation:  Sr. Mary Ann Flannery

 

2.  Approval of Minutes from the February 14 Forum Meeting:  Approved with the following amendments:

·         Dr. LaGuardia’s address is on the Faculty Forum Web Page, not attached to this meeting’s agenda as stated.

·         Minor change on second announcement.  The full title of the North Central subcommittee is the subcommittee on faculty morale, evaluation and governance. 

 

3.  Announcements:

·         Ernie is in Prague delivering a paper, so Dick Horwath is leading today’s meeting.

·         Faculty interested in serving on an ad hoc committee formed by the Executive Committee in order to reassess the wording on the JCU diplomas should email or phone Ernie ASAP.  In April, the Executive Committee will select  people to be on the committee. 

·         Faculty Forum election results have been sent out in campus mail and are on posted on the Web page--congratulations to Roland Madison who will serve as the next Faculty Forum secretary.  Also, the motion to change the number of First Year Seminar common texts passed 123 votes of yes to14 no votes with 16 abstaining.

·         The Faculty Forum meetings for the next academic year have been placed on the University calendar.  Two meetings, one from 12:15-1:45PM on a Thursday in November and one from noon to 1:30 on a Wednesday in April, will be lunch meetings. 

·         After the meeting today, there will a reception in atrium as part of the Celebration of Scholarship program.

 

4.  Committee Reports:

·         Committee on Academic Policies:  Joe Miller and Nick Baumgartner met with the committee to discuss the change in policy regarding first year students dropping a class without first consulting with their academic advisor. 

·         Rank, Tenure and Salary:  no report.

·         Research, Service and Faculty Development:  There are no new developments to report concerning faculty teaching evaluations.  Dwight Hahn is replacing Dick Fleischman on the University Research Committee, since Dick is on leave this semester.  The committee will begin to report on the University Research Committee’s actions as well as their own. 

 

·         Finance Committee:  There will be no report today on the proposal concerning changes in the teaching load of retired faculty.  Thank you to the faculty who have attended open hearings.  The committee heard so many good suggestions that they are taking some more time to work on the proposal. 

 

5.  New Business: 

·         Proposal from the Executive Committee:  to make the Vice Chair of Faculty Forum the ex officio member of the Nominations Committee instead of the Secretary AND to make the Vice Chair of Faculty Forum the Chair of the Nominations Committee. (Full proposal attached to this meeting’s agenda).  After Jerry Weinstein summarized the proposal, there was a amendment proposed from the floor:  to omit making the Forum Vice Chair the Chair of the Nominations Committee.  The proposed amendment was seconded from the floor.  The proposed amendment was made to avoid setting up a bad precedent whereby the Forum Executive Committee designates the chair of a committee.  That part of the proposal was defended on the grounds that making the Vice Chair the Chair of the committee would provide continuity in the face of new members being elected at the end of the year.  Discussion ensued.  The amendment carried with a majority of votes in favor.  There was a brief discussion on the first part of the proposal, and then it was decided that the proposal would be sent out soon to the faculty for a vote. 

·         Academic Vice President Appointment:  A proposal was made from the floor that Faculty Forum write a letter to David LaGuardia, the recently appointed Academic Vice President, and to Fr. Ed Glynn, the President, to state their opposition to the appointment of that position without a national search.  Discussion ensued.  Some of the ideas discussed were:  whether it would be a good idea to meet with the President and get more information on the appointment;  whether the trustees should also be included if we notify the President and Academic VP; and that this appointment is symptomatic of a larger problem at this university, which is the complete absence of power-sharing.  Perhaps we should include a request for further dialogue about power-sharing at this university. 

 

                The first proposal:  The Faculty of John Carroll University object to the recent appointment of a permanent academic vice president without a search.  This statement would be sent to the President, the Academic Vice President and the Board of Trustees.  The Forum voted to send this proposal out by campus mail for a vote. 

 

                The second proposal:  The faculty would like to open up dialogue on how to achieve greater faculty involvement in the decision-making process at this university.  To this end the Executive Committee will appoint an ad hoc committee to discuss further faculty involvement in university decision-making.  This committee would like to meet with the President and the Academic Vice President. This proposal passed with a very large majority of votes after much discussion and many amendments. 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30PM.

 

Minutes prepared by Karen Gygli, Secretary, Faculty Forum.