FACULTY MEETING MINUTES
Minutes of the November 4, 2004 Faculty Meeting
President Chris Thomforde called the meeting to order at 11:33 a.m. Pastor Jennifer Koenig offered an excerpt from the Joseph Sittler book, Gravity and Grace.
Approval of the October 2004 Minutes
Moved and approved.
President’s Remarks
President Thomforde began by reminding the faculty about Founders’ Day taking place on Nov. 5 th at 10:10 in Boe Chapel in which Lois Rand, wife of the late President Sidney Rand, will be speaking. He also reported to the faculty that he had received the second report from the Nursing Task Force and will be forwarding it onto CEPC and several other interested groups. President Thomforde announced that the college has appointed Michael Kyle as Vice President of Admissions and Financial Aid. He explained the process of appointing Michael and thanked the faculty for their help in this process. President Thomforde then highlighted one charge he had given the Vice President of Admissions and Financial Aid. This charge was to work even more collaboratively with the faculty on not only issues of student recruitment but also on what type of student St. Olaf should be recruiting in order to continue to strengthen the student base of the college. He also announced the promotion of John Kilbride (class of ’87) to the position of Vice President of Advancement and detailed his background. President Thomforde continued on by explaining that John Kilbride and himself had recently met with the co-chairs of the fund drive for the Science complex and put together a strategy for going forward from now until June. The President also reported that there were two gifts in the multi-million dollar range and several at the $500,000-700,000 range for the Science complex. He concluded by introducing students from Mary Carlsen’s class who were observing social interaction during the faculty meeting.
CEPC
The chair of CEPC, David Booth, moved for the adoption of CEPC 04/05-2, approving three new courses. Seconded. Motion was moved and approved.
IDOCS
The chair of IDOCS, Wendy Allen, moved for the adoption of IDOCS 04/05-1, approving Art TA 229 as the Field Supervised course for the Fall 2005 Term in Asia. Seconded. She made one correction to the Green Sheet stating that the only GE offered for the course was ALS-A, not both ALS-A and MCS-G as printed. She clarified that the program as a whole carries MCS-G. Motion was moved and approved.
ARFAC
The chair of ARFAC, Paul Jackson, thanked the faculty for participating in the process of hiring the new Vice President of Admissions. He stated that faculty input was an invaluable part of this process. Next he provided a friendly reminder to the faculty about following through on the things that we do around campus that relate to student retention such as completing mid-term evaluations for TRIO students and using the Continuous Reporting System.
Dean’s Remarks
Dean May began by reiterating ARFAC’s praise for the fabulous job St. Olaf does at retaining students primarily due to the great work of the faculty. He stated that even though we are ranked among the highest across the country for student retention we could still do even better. He then talked about several areas where he will turn his attention for the rest of the semester. These areas include the seven tenure-track searches underway and the tenure and promotion reviews. He thanked those involved in these for their time and effort. Dean May then publicly thanked Margaret O’Leary and Eric Lund, the two finalists for the International and Off-campus Studies Director position. He stated that it will be a very difficult decision due to the outstanding nature of both candidates and that a decision will be forthcoming very soon. Dean May reminded the faculty of what a privileged profession we belong and the fact that we have jobs that make a palpable difference in the world. He relayed this message through his own experiences growing up and his recent experience of grading and feeling sorry for himself over Fall Break. He also encouraged the faculty to read the life stories of students who come to St. Olaf in the Student Support Services handbook. Dean May concluded by reading an excerpt from one of these stories again reminding us of the privilege we have teaching these students and what a difference we make in their lives.
Announcements
Kris MacPherson, on behalf of the Faculty Development Committee, reminded the faculty about the first Mellby lecture of the year on Nov. 11 th at 7pm in the Viking Theater given by Paul Humke on the Fourth Dimension.
Open Agenda
There were no open agenda items.
Meeting adjourned at 11:58 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Heather Klopchin
Acting Faculty Secretary (In the absence of the regular faculty secretary, Vicki Harper)
