College of Arts and Letters

CAL Faculty Council Minutes, April 4, 2023

College of Arts and Letters 2022-2023 Faculty Council

Meeting Minutes

April 4, 2023, Webex

1. Call to Order
   Motion to begin; Second; Motion Approved; Meeting begins.
   
   
2. Roll Call
   Present: Alam, Allred, Baltus, Benton, Black, Caceres, Christman, Cook, Damschroder, Emonds, Feldmeier, Ferris, Foss, Gamble, Grazzini, Heberle, Jin, Kistner, McNamara, Mezo, Miner, Monteleone, Montpetit, Peralta, Sakowski, Sapci, Schlemper, Semaan, Smith, Stauch, Stover, Taylor, Thompson-Casado, Whittaker, Yaklin (35)
   
   Absent: Alamina, Amialchuk, Beatty, Branson, Carpenter, Compora (for Geiger), Crookston, Dudley, Hey, McBane, Nemeth (11)
   
   Guests: Cheng, Cox, Erben, Hottell, Keith, Lawrence, Lingan (7) 
   
   
3. Approval of Agenda and Minutes
   Meeting agenda submitted for approval; Motion to approve; Second; Vote: Agenda Approved.
   
   Minutes from March 21, 2023, meeting submitted for approval; Motion to approve; Second; Vote: 1 Abstain; Minutes Approved.
   
   
4. 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 elections. The committee also discussed the timing of core curriculum approvals.
   
   
5. Faculty Senate Report: Suzanne Smith
   The Executive Committee met with Chief of Staff Diane Miller to work on a university response to Senate Bill 83. Discussions with Provost Dickson, Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Scott Molitor, and Vice Provost for Academic Administration and Faculty Affairs La Fleur Small regarding the hiding of 100 courses in both fall and spring semesters. The Executive Committee also met with Human Resources to begin required steps to propose changes to the university’s paternal leave policy.
   
   Senate Vice President Linda Rouillard introduced Senate Bill 83 and said that hearings both for and against the Bill are coming up in the Ohio legislature in April. As written, she said this Bill is an attack on faculty and academic freedom. Issues that any individual cannot bring up without facing sanction include issues related to sustainability, social justice, climate change, and gender identity. Faculty are urged to read the Bill and use their personal email to contact state and local representatives, as the sponsoring senators want to have this Bill signed and in place by fall 2023.
   
   Provost Dickson said her office is working on colleges with fall and spring schedules specifically addressing the rationale for hiding 100 courses for each semester. She said these represent 10 courses per college and are courses where fewer sections are needed for student demand. The Dean and chairs were first informed about the list of proposed courses and got input from the Colleges and arrived at the list to be hidden. If demand warrants, deans can petition for sections to be opened. Students will use the wait list system. Regarding the budget process, the Provost said that budget targets have been achieved and her office has begun an academic affairs budget group to review key issues related to the academic budget. She said the college Deans and committees are making decisions about TAs, not the Provost’s office, and that the budget for TAs has been transferred to colleges and is no longer in COGS.
   
   The Faculty Senate Academics Program Committee approved a new minor in Health Humanities in the College of Arts and Letters. The Core Curriculum Committee courses for approval included a new course from Health Education called HEAL 2100 – Living Well. HHS and the Committee want to include this course in the core under the social sciences category. However, there were many objections, including concern that the course may overlap with other social science courses. The sponsoring department is supposed to ask other departments about this overlap, but the director of Law & Social Thought said there was no consultation with sociology or CAL about including HEAL 2100 in the core. Additional concerns were raised about the topic of the course, the textbook, the fact that the submitted syllabus is identical to one submitted in December 2022 when HEAL 2100 was sent back for clarification – no clarifications seem to have been made – and finally, that the course is not included in the Ohio Transfer Module, which could present a problem for students. It was suggested that the Core Curriculum Committee consult with CAL and course approval was tabled.
   
   The Committee on Constitution and Rules presented two proposed changes to the Constitution, both involving Article I Section 4. The Constitution calls for one representative from each college and the library on all standing faculty Senate committees; however, for smaller colleges such as Honors, the burden to have faculty representatives on every committee is very high. The language has been changed so that if a college has fewer faculty than the number of committees, they can waive their right to representation on select committees. That was approved. Also approved was allowing the Senate President to select chairs of committees before the full committee has been chosen.
   
   The Student Affairs Committee gave a report on several issues concerning the International Student Association, noting that international student enrollment is up. Concerns include scholarships (international students are not eligible for FAFSA and many scholarships require that information), campus jobs, housing, orientation, bias, and racism.
   
   Comment from the floor concerned clarification on the process when new or modified programs and courses are proposed, and how the departments that might be affected by those changes are notified and consulted. All course and programs modifications and proposals are available in CIM and faculty have access. It is up to the proponent to identify potential conflicts and consult the relevant departments and Colleges that may be affected by approved proposals.
   
   Note: Full Faculty Senate Minutes are available on their website.
   
   
6. Dean’s Report: Associate Dean Kristen Keith
   We had a 122% increase in Day of Giving donors this year compared to last year; thank you! We beat Engineering, HS, medicine, NSM, Nursing, COBI, and University College in terms of our level of participation.
   
   The College of Arts & Letters Honors and Awards Celebration is Friday, May 5, at 3:00 PM and the Graduate Student Ceremony is that same day at 6:00 PM.
   
   
7. Graduate Council Report: Jami Taylor
   Graduate Council met and focused on student recognition. They also updated their Bylaws with minor changes.
   
   
8. Elections Committee Report: Pam Stover
   Nomination emails were sent; ballots will be emailed on Monday, April 10 and close on Sunday, April 16. Up for election 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. Election results will be announced at the April 18 CAL Faculty Council Meeting.
   
   
9. Constitution and Bylaws Committee Report: Jami Taylor
   No report.
   
   
10. Curriculum Committee Report: Renee Heberle
    Program modifications approved:
    AR-COMM-BA-DCOM: Communication Studies – Digital Communication Concentration, BA
    AR-COMM-BA-OASC: Communication Studies – Organizational and Strategic Communication Concentration, BA
    AR-COMM-BA-INPC: Communication Studies – Interpersonal Communication Concentration, BA
    Vote: 1 Abstain; three program modifications passed
    
    AR-MCOM-BA: Media Communication, BA
    Vote: passed 
    
    AR-THTR-BA-SASA: Theatre – Stage and Screen Acting Concentration, BA
    AR-THTR-BA-TDAT: Theatre – Theatre Design & Technology Concentration, BA
    AR-THTR-BA-THTA: Theatre – Theatre Arts Concentration, BA
    Vote: passed
    
    COMM: General Communication, Minor
    Vote: 1 Abstain; passed
    
    TDAT: Theatre Design and Technology, Minor
    Vote: 1 Abstain; passed
    
    Course modifications approved:
    COMM 2150: Digital Design for Media Communication
    Vote: 2 Abstain; passed
    
    COMM 3340: Visual Communication
    COMM 4340: Advanced Visual Communication
    Vote: 1 Abstain; passed
    
    
11. Old Business
    A reminder that departments should be discussing their open seat(s) for Council for the 2023-2024 academic year. Email Sheri Benton or Stephen Sakowski with department representative decisions. The Elaborations have been approved by the Provost and will be posted on the CAL Council website. Please vote for CAL Faculty Council and CCAP representatives by Sunday, April 16.
    
    
12. New Business
    The Department of Sociology and Anthropology is concerned about course changes that were approved at the College level in January but were in the Core Curriculum Committee until the end of March. The website states that “The committee will review and make recommendations on all proposals that it reviews in a timely manner not to exceed 30 days.” Council members recommend contacting the chair of the Core Curriculum Committee when this happens; it was also suggested that the Core Curriculum Committee announce a timeline or schedule, much like Faculty Senate does for its deadlines for course and program proposals and modifications.
    
    
13. Announcements
    Send concerns about SB 83 to Diane Miller with reference to specific language in the Bill along with your comments.
    
    Additional ways to be involved include the Save Ohio Higher Ed organization. Several events will be held in April for National Arab American Heritage Month.
    
    
14. Adjournment
    Motion to Adjourn; Second; Motion Approved; Meeting Adjourned

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