CAL Faculty Council Minutes, MAr. 21, 2023
College of Arts and Letters 2022-2023 Faculty Council
Meeting Minutes
March 21, 2023, Webex
- Call to Order
Motion to begin; Second; Motion Approved; Meeting begins. - Roll Call
Present: Alamina, Allred, Baltus, Benton, Black, Caceres, Carpenter, Christman, Compora (for Geiger), Cook, Damschroder, Dudley, Feldmeier, Foss, Gamble, Grazzini, Hey, Jin, Kistner, McBane, McNamara, Mezo, Monteleone, Montpetit, Nemeth, Peralta, Sakowski, Sapci, Schlemper, Semaan, Smith, Stauch, Stover, Taylor, Whittaker, Yaklin, Yamazaki (for Emonds) (37)
Absent: Alam, Amialchuk, Beatty, Branson, Crookston, Ferris, Heberle, Miner, Thompson-Casado (9)
Guests: Barnes, Cohoe, Gregory, Keith, Lawrence, Lingan, Sullivan (7) - Approval of Agenda and Minutes
Meeting agenda submitted for approval; Motion to approve; Second; Vote: Agenda Approved.
Minutes from February 21, 2023, meeting submitted for approval; Motion to approve; Second; Vote: Minutes Approved. - Executive Committee Report: Melissa Baltus
The committee met Friday to set the agenda for today, received reports from committees for today’s reports, and discussed Old Business regarding open seats for next year’s Council, constructing next year's Council, and the Elaborations vote results. - Faculty Senate Report: Suzanne Smith
Faculty Senate met with Frank Calzonetti, Vice President for Research, and President Postel about the speed of the IRB process. Dr. Calzonetti said this was because of high turnover in the office, but that they are back to full strength. President Postel issued a call for nominations to serve on the search committee for a new provost. Two faculty members will be appointed by the Executive Committee from those nominated.
Provost Dickson has scheduled initial interviews for the Associate Vice President for Life Cycle Success. She’s held the budget planning meeting with the Deans, looking at ways to reprioritize existing budget resources. This plan must be presented to the Board of Trustees this spring. The Deans have established criteria based on the Huron data and market data to determine their priorities. Questions about specifics should be sent to the Deans. Regarding workload review: she has not done a workload review but has asked the Colleges to be sure that faculty are teaching to contract.
Matt Schroeder, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, presented a long financial report. Tuition and fee revenue through January 2023 are favorable to the budget by $2.5 million. Revenue for summer is on track with the budget, assuming the fees and revenues come in as expected. Looking ahead, revenue from tuition and fees was not sustainable as expenses are growing faster than revenue. We continue to lose market share on SSI to Ohio State and BGSU, and he emphasized that our housing and other facilities on campus continue to deteriorate. He stated that students are not living on campus as planned, and there has been several million dollars lost in meal plans. Spring 2023 was historic in low enrollment; we’ve gone from 17,430 students to 11,699, and our retention rate has also slipped. FTEs were highest in 2012 and we are now down to 12, 900; UToledo is built for 18,300 FTEs. We have lost 40% of our students since fall of 2010 and this represents $43 million in lost revenue. If this continues it is not sustainable. The Higher Learning Commission has a financial index that measures the overall health of an institution; UToledo is rated 1.66 on a scale of –1 – 10, which puts us in a weaker financial category, and we need to be cautious. Schroeder concluded that we need substantial program adjustments, and he predicts a 5-10% reduction in “staff” [not defined]. Housing is a major concern if students choose to stay on campus, but the current accommodations are not adequate because of deferred maintenance. Overall, building the balance sheet will take longer than 5 years.
Note: Full Faculty Senate Minutes are available on their website. - Dean’s Report: Mel Gregory
Enrollment: CAL has more students confirmed that they will enroll (86) compared to last year at this time (63). However, CAL also has fewer applicants and admitted students than last year, but CAL students tend to confirm/deposit later than other colleges by a full month.
Budget: Deans have been asked to model 5-10% cuts, but also asked to explain the implications of those proposed cuts. The Provost wants to consider the entire academic affairs budget and treat it as a whole. She will determine a proposal to put forward to the CFO, President, and Board of Trustees. We need an institutional footprint that is sustainable and that we can maintain with a similar budget from year to year.
Goals for this College: to be a shining example of a public liberal arts college that empowers students, is a foundation for future success, and contributes to upward social mobility. In addition, to have:
▪ Focused and productive faculty
▪ Clear priorities
▪ Relevant degree programs
▪ Predictable enrollment
▪ Upward retention
Fundraising: New director of development for the College of Arts & Letters, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and University Libraries: Dr. Brittanie Kuhr.
UToledo Day of Giving is March 29-30; this is an invitation, not an obligation. Even a dollar helps, adds up, and participation can be a valuable tool to leverage with non-employee donors. - Graduate Council Report: Jami Taylor
Huge amount of curriculum moving through Graduate Council, most non-contentious. Minor changes to the Graduate Constitution dealing with restructuring of the Graduate college, staffing changes, and improvements to the amendment process. - Elections Committee Report: Pam Stover
Elaborations passed with 23 Yes votes, 2 No votes, and 1 abstention. CAL Council elections are upcoming; nomination requests will be sent via email and will be due by April 2. Seats up for vote are:
▪ Lecturer at-large: 1
▪ Lecturer (Arts): 2
▪ Lecturer (Humanities): 2
▪ Lecturer (SS): 2
▪ Humanities at-large: 1
▪ SS at-large: 1
Individual departments will also have to determine their representatives for next year. - Constitution and Bylaws Committee Report: Jami Taylor
No report. - Curriculum Committee Report: Christopher Montpetit
Course modifications approved:
COMM 3180: Media Communication Law
COMM 4090: Media Communication Ethics
COMM 4250: Media Communication History
HIST 4110: Sports, Race, and Power in Apartheid South Africa - Old Business
A reminder that departments should be discussing their open seat(s) for Council for the 2023-2024 academic year. Elaborations for Faculty Evaluation of Tenure and Promotion are with the Provost. - New Business
No New Business. - Announcements
Several upcoming Theatre and Film events; flyer forthcoming. - Adjournment
Motion to Adjourn; Second; Motion Approved; Meeting Adjourned