JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY
FACULTY FORUM

Chair: Darrell Horwath
Vice Chair: Jerry Moreno
Secretary: Karen Gygli

Minutes for
November 19, 1999
LSC Conference Room

1. Invocation: Dr. Verghese J. Chirayath
   
2. Minutes of October 20, 1999: Approved with the following corrections: Jim Lissamore’s meeting with Fred Travis was the Friday previous to the Forum meeting, not Thursday as stated in minutes; the issue of adjunct faculty status for corporate employees was not an issue at that meeting; JCCI stands for John Carroll Collaborative with Industry.

    

3. Announcements:

• • The Ad Hoc Committee on the JCCI proposal is as follows: Lauren Bowen, David Ewing, Janet Larsen, Mark Treleven, and Brenda Wirkus.
  • The Proposal on Emeritus Status passed by a vote of 108-21.

  • Ex Corde Ecclesiae: Fr. Ed Glynn spoke to the faculty on the National Conference of Catholic Bishop’s recent vote in favor of the latest version of Ex Corde. He and most presidents of Catholic and Jesuit schools, along with the JCU Board of Trustees, are disappointed by the vote by the bishops in favor of the newest version of the document, and feel that this version is potentially disastrous for the Church in the U.S. The Board of Trustees and Fr. Glynn, previous to the vote, had passed a resolution to write to Bishop Anthony Pilla suggesting that the vote be tabled, or, if the vote was held, to vote on Ex Corde using a private, not public, ballot. The letter also called to Bishop Pilla’s attention the two points of Ex Corde which are of the most concern to Fr. Glynn and the Trustees: the requirement for a mandate from the bishop for all professors in the Religion department, and the requirement for recruitment of trustees and faculty who are practicing Catholics, which could alienate non-Catholic and non-Christian board members and faculty. This letter was sent to Bishop Pilla at the end of October, and Bishop Pilla was not surprised by this letter, since he himself is concerned that this document could be detrimental to local churches. In addition, Fr. Glynn stated that an institution of higher education that is Jesuit and Catholic is an institution of higher education and not an institution of indoctrination. He stated that he won’t ask if a candidate for a faculty job is Catholic, and he will not ask for a faculty member from the Religion Department to receive a mandate from the Bishop.
  • In February, in place of the annual Academic Vice President and Provost’s Address to the Faculty, there will be instead a question and answer session, with questions collected by the Executive Committee and forwarded to the Provost in advance of the meeting. Send questions you want asked to Dick Horwath, Jerry Moreno and Karen Gygli as soon as possible. We will also send out a reminder in late January.
  • Dick Horwath would like to thank everyone for the cards, visits and phone calls while he was recuperating from heart surgery. He would also like to thank Jerry Moreno for running the Forum and Executive Committee meetings.

2. Committee Reports:
   • Committee on Academic Policies: Ernie DeZolt thanked the faculty for the input both by email and at open hearings. Many departments wanted more time to discuss the plus/minus grades for graduate courses, so although the committee intended that the final proposal drafts be ready at this meeting, they will not be ready until the February Forum meeting.
   • Committee on Rank, Tenure and Salary: Paul Shick reported that he met with Fred Travis and David LaGuardia about creating an ad hoc university-wide committee to study the use of part time faculty. The use of an ad hoc committee was not acceptable, so RTS will report directly to faculty.
   • Committee on Research, Service and Faculty Development: Dwight Hahn reported that the committee is continuing to work on several proposals to reward and recognize good teaching. There will be open hearings concerning these proposals early next semester.
   • Finance Committee: Joe Kelly reported that the committee is investigating who is using which benefit. They expect a report from Jonathan Ivec in December. Also, the life insurance company for John Carroll was reluctant to authorize an unlimited life insurance cap, so the cap will be at $250,000.00. When questioned whether the Finance Committee was consulted about the changes in health care benefits, Kelly replied that Ivec had addressed that issue with the committee before Joe was on the committee.
   • Ad Hoc Committee on the JCCI proposal: Lauren Bowen reported that the committee has met several times, and has also met with Peter Anagnostos. By Monday, the most recent JCCI statement, plus a statement on the background and history of the proposal will be posted on the Web. The committee invites email responses by Friday, December 3. There will be open hearings the last week of classes, and the responses from email and the hearings will be synthesized some time during final exam week. The committee is not sure that there can be closure by the end of this semester, but the report should be done by the end of January. In response to questions from the floor, Bowen replied that the Board is meeting in December to discuss funding for the science building, and that the JCCI proposal might be part of that discussion, but that the Board is not planning on taking any action on the JCCI proposal at this meeting. Also, the relevant pages of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant proposal will be included on the Web posting, but the full proposal is very long and not pertinent. The Sciences’ strategic plan working document will also be posted.
   2. Presentation on Medical Mutual Changes: Lisa Mencini stated that because there have been several informational meetings concerning the new health benefits, she will not be taking questions from the floor but will wait in the back with the benefits representative to answer questions after the meeting. She stressed that these changes are enhancements to the coverage that most John Carroll employees already enjoy. She encouraged faculty to take the informative packets from the back of the room and read them over, emailing Lisa with any questions. Those faculty who are presently enrolled in Medical Mutual need not reapply to get the same benefits they have gotten in the past; faculty enrolled in Kaiser or Medical Mutual who want the new plan need to get the forms filled out and in by November 29, since the company needs lead time to get everyone into the computer by January 1. Several faculty members asked that questions from the floor be taken, since there was almost forty minutes left to the meeting. Discussion ensued. Lisa and Dennis, the benefits representative, stated that this is a long research project now coming to fruition, that this new plan is in response to the needs expressed by many faculty for coverage of children’s physicals, dental and vision costs, and that the costs to faculty would not change. The possibility of semi-annual or annual meetings to address concerns was raised. The certificate booklet will be available in mid-December.

   3. Report from the Ad Hoc Committee on the Evaluation of the First Year Seminar: Jerry Moreno referred to the data summaries and report attached to the meeting agenda and several committee members presented parts of the document. The committee ran out of time, and it was agreed to have an additional Faculty Forum meeting in order to complete the presentation of this report.

   4. The meeting was adjourned at 5:20PM.

   5. Meeting to continue the November Faculty Forum meeting, January 27, 2000.
   • The first order of business was a motion to table the completion of the Committee on the Evaluation of the First Year Seminar’s report so that the Ad Hoc Committee on the John Carroll Collaborative with Industry proposal could report their findings to the Forum in the time needed. The motion was seconded and the CEFYS report was tabled until the next Forum meeting.
   • Lauren Bowen, the chair of the committee, thanked Faculty Forum for allowing the time to present the JCCI report, and she also thanked the faculty for their assistance through attendance at open hearings and emails to the committee. She reminded the Forum of the JCCI committee’s charge: to solicit thoughts, concerns and opinions on the JCCI proposal from faculty, to hold open hearings, to draft a report without recommendations and to submit that report to the Forum. She referred to the copy of the report distributed to faculty prior to this meeting, which organized faculty opinions and concerns according to four major areas: the process by which JCCI was pursued; oversight of the JCCI program; academic issues; and additional substantive issues. She also stated that while this presentation was the committee’s last job, a faculty recommendation could emerge from this report. Committee members highlighted the chronological process by which JCCI was pursued, and relevant issues of the report, which also included academic freedom, the reputation of John Carroll and JCCI’s compatibility with John Carroll’s Mission Statement.
   • Discussion ensued after the report was completed.
   • Fred Travis gave the President’s view, since Fr. Glynn could not attend today’s meeting. Fr. Glynn believes that the JCCI proposal is consistent with the mission of JCU as a Catholic and Jesuit university, since the Jesuit mission stresses engagement in the world. The President also believes that issues such as those raised by the JCCI report must and will be considered. Travis also stated that it is necessary for JCU to go this route in view of the changes in higher education today, which endanger small liberal arts schools. Travis asked for faculty support of the proposal with an appropriate oversight committee. He also stated that the science faculty must carry the ball in the development of this concept.
   • There was no decision by the Faculty Forum on future action based on this report. Dick Horwath commended the Ad Hoc committee for a job well done. He also reminded the faculty to submit questions to the Executive Committee for Fred Travis’ annual address to the Faculty Forum, and that a form for this would be distributed, but also announced that Fred’s address would take place at the March Forum meeting instead of the February meeting, since Fred would be out of town in February for his daughter’s wedding.
   • The meeting was adjourned at 5PM.

   Submitted by Karen Gygli, Faculty Forum Secretary.