Home >> Archives >> 10.24.05 Minutes
Attachments
I. Roll Call/Agenda
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: We are really excited to have HPC and Caz House Council with us today. I want to tell you about something fun that is coming up next week. Next week is Halloween, so you can come in a costume. We also have a Senate Summit at 5:30 and we will have pizza.
II. Old Business
A. Uniquely Compelling Discussion and Feedback (Cortni Jones, Student Bursar)
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Will the Student Bursar please approach the podium?
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: I'm going to briefly discuss a few points. First, I would like to say that when we went through the Uniquely Compelling process, we used our Constitution and used the section that stipulates funding allocations. I just want to make it clear that we don't make it up as we go. Just as the Supreme Court uses Judicial Review, the Constitution is open to our interpretation. Some feedback that I have heard is that people were somewhat confused about what we meant by "set" in reference to items that were requested.
Also, the amount is never a fixed percentage; it's always just a dollar amount. Over time this amount devalues. What we do this year is that we can make things change in the future but we cannot make changes this actual year because it will hinder the treasurers of organizations. We formulated our plan for the future so it's more accommodating and transparent. Finally, the applications are not open to the public but if your treasurer wants to come to the office and find out about how we look at the application, we are more than open to that.
Lindsey Silver, Beebe: The issue of the definition of a "set" was a big issue for our house council. No one was aware how you would interpret the constitution. I guess it wasn't clarified that the rules were open to interpretation. Also, we wanted to see if we can postpone the voting process and go through SPEC for an appeals process. I think people would appreciate it if we delayed the voting.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: Everyone was on an equal playing field. Every year there is a new SOFC committee and we will definitely make it more clear for next year. As far as deciding the vote, we won't be doing electronic voting since a lot of people felt uncomfortable about voting on this issue and we have put that into consideration for future voting. I also have some advice for those who want to purchase capital goods:
1. Fundraise
2. There are a lot of departments on campus that are able to help you and a lot of things within house councils can be acquired through Peter Eastment (head of Housing & Transportation) without the house council having to actually pay for anything - it is more of a maintenance of the building sort of thing.
If anyone wants to talk to me about other resources, they are more than welcome to come to my office hours.
Yael Gafni, Pomeroy: As you all may know, Pom didn't get what we wanted this year. First, we were confused about what was needed for the "purpose" section, whether it was supposed to match up with the exact purpose of our organization as stated in our constitution, or just something similar. The other thing that was heavily stressed was the transparency of the general process. We were concerned that the process wasn't as clear as it could have been. Perhaps a workshop would be beneficial.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: First of all, I hold between 10-15 hours of office hours. If they run into confusion, I am available for the treasurers. Another thing is that the clarity and purpose is something that HPs have to write into their constitutions at the beginning of each year, called Purpose of Organization. When they submitted a purpose for UC it had to be justified in accordance with the overall purpose. There has to be continuity to the purpose you submitted. As far as the transparency, the treasurer should be asking the questions right before the deadline.
Caroline Tall, Severance: Our treasurer was really confused about resources and what forms are online and which ones are not.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: So the forms are available either on the Treasurer's Conference or the Bursar's website. The Treasurer's Conference is like a class conference; if any changes are made on a paper you read it on the class conference. The same thing goes for the treasurer's conference; they use it as a resource to stay updated. We are trying to save paper and money by doing everything online.
Ashira Greene, Claflin: One, it might be a good idea for Peter Eastman to come in and talk about our options. Also, it would be nice in the future to have good examples of what to ask for in Uniquely Compelling.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: I'm not sure if it would be appropriate for Peter Eastment to come, but all your RD's should be aware of his availability and resources. As far as the goods to ask for, one thing that you have to keep in mind is the word: Compelling. Think of something you need and something that is UNIQUE.
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Cortni and I decided that for financial discussions, the votes should be done in house rather than online. If you could, when you go back to your house council, really talk to your treasurer and tell them about Cortni's office hours. The other thing is for them to read the Treasurer's Conference; Cortni is constantly answering the questions on the conference.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: I want everyone to know that all the suggestions are going into consideration. These are the type of questions that treasurers should be asking before applying. I love seeing the treasurers. The office hours are online on the conference and website. We have office hours as early as 8am on Saturday mornings and as late as 8 pm another day of the week. All the times are accessible. Also next week, the subcommittee with be presenting on the work on the budget process. Thank you for all your input.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: I'm going to briefly discuss a few points. First, I would like to say that when we went through the Uniquely Compelling process, we used our Constitution and used the section that stipulates funding allocations. I just want to make it clear that we don't make it up as we go. Just as the Supreme Court uses Judicial Review, the Constitution is open to our interpretation. Some feedback that I have heard is that people were somewhat confused about what we meant by "set" in reference to items that were requested.
Also, the amount is never a fixed percentage; it's always just a dollar amount. Over time this amount devalues. What we do this year is that we can make things change in the future but we cannot make changes this actual year because it will hinder the treasurers of organizations. We formulated our plan for the future so it's more accommodating and transparent. Finally, the applications are not open to the public but if your treasurer wants to come to the office and find out about how we look at the application, we are more than open to that.
Lindsey Silver, Beebe: The issue of the definition of a "set" was a big issue for our house council. No one was aware how you would interpret the constitution. I guess it wasn't clarified that the rules were open to interpretation. Also, we wanted to see if we can postpone the voting process and go through SPEC for an appeals process. I think people would appreciate it if we delayed the voting.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: Everyone was on an equal playing field. Every year there is a new SOFC committee and we will definitely make it more clear for next year. As far as deciding the vote, we won't be doing electronic voting since a lot of people felt uncomfortable about voting on this issue and we have put that into consideration for future voting. I also have some advice for those who want to purchase capital goods:
1. Fundraise
2. There are a lot of departments on campus that are able to help you and a lot of things within house councils can be acquired through Peter Eastment (head of Housing & Transportation) without the house council having to actually pay for anything - it is more of a maintenance of the building sort of thing.
If anyone wants to talk to me about other resources, they are more than welcome to come to my office hours.
Yael Gafni, Pomeroy: As you all may know, Pom didn't get what we wanted this year. First, we were confused about what was needed for the "purpose" section, whether it was supposed to match up with the exact purpose of our organization as stated in our constitution, or just something similar. The other thing that was heavily stressed was the transparency of the general process. We were concerned that the process wasn't as clear as it could have been. Perhaps a workshop would be beneficial.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: First of all, I hold between 10-15 hours of office hours. If they run into confusion, I am available for the treasurers. Another thing is that the clarity and purpose is something that HPs have to write into their constitutions at the beginning of each year, called Purpose of Organization. When they submitted a purpose for UC it had to be justified in accordance with the overall purpose. There has to be continuity to the purpose you submitted. As far as the transparency, the treasurer should be asking the questions right before the deadline.
Caroline Tall, Severance: Our treasurer was really confused about resources and what forms are online and which ones are not.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: So the forms are available either on the Treasurer's Conference or the Bursar's website. The Treasurer's Conference is like a class conference; if any changes are made on a paper you read it on the class conference. The same thing goes for the treasurer's conference; they use it as a resource to stay updated. We are trying to save paper and money by doing everything online.
Ashira Greene, Claflin: One, it might be a good idea for Peter Eastman to come in and talk about our options. Also, it would be nice in the future to have good examples of what to ask for in Uniquely Compelling.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: I'm not sure if it would be appropriate for Peter Eastment to come, but all your RD's should be aware of his availability and resources. As far as the goods to ask for, one thing that you have to keep in mind is the word: Compelling. Think of something you need and something that is UNIQUE.
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Cortni and I decided that for financial discussions, the votes should be done in house rather than online. If you could, when you go back to your house council, really talk to your treasurer and tell them about Cortni's office hours. The other thing is for them to read the Treasurer's Conference; Cortni is constantly answering the questions on the conference.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: I want everyone to know that all the suggestions are going into consideration. These are the type of questions that treasurers should be asking before applying. I love seeing the treasurers. The office hours are online on the conference and website. We have office hours as early as 8am on Saturday mornings and as late as 8 pm another day of the week. All the times are accessible. Also next week, the subcommittee with be presenting on the work on the budget process. Thank you for all your input.
C. General Judiciary Constitution (Catherine Day, Chief Justice)
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Will the Chief Justice please approach the podium.
Catherine Day, Chief Justice: So were there any questions before we take a vote on the General Judiciary Constitution?
Ashira Greene & Daria Axelrod, Claflin Senators: We did not hold a vote, as we were under the impression that there were going to be changes made before we were to vote.
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Did any other house councils or special interest groups not hold a vote?
(Several senators and special interest groups raised their hands.)
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: I move to table this vote until next week, after all the constituencies have voted.
Catherine Day, Chief Justice: So present these changes to your House Council and take a vote. If there are any concerns let me know.
Catherine Day, Chief Justice: So were there any questions before we take a vote on the General Judiciary Constitution?
Ashira Greene & Daria Axelrod, Claflin Senators: We did not hold a vote, as we were under the impression that there were going to be changes made before we were to vote.
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Did any other house councils or special interest groups not hold a vote?
(Several senators and special interest groups raised their hands.)
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: I move to table this vote until next week, after all the constituencies have voted.
Catherine Day, Chief Justice: So present these changes to your House Council and take a vote. If there are any concerns let me know.
III. New Business
A. SOAC Update (Michel Ballard, CGVP)
Lindsey Boylan, CGP:Next up, CGVP.
Michel Ballard, CGVP: So the awesome SOACsters have been busy approving organizations. These will be voted on in your House Councils. Basically we received applications and we decided whether or not the new org would serve a unique purpose to the Wellesley College community. There were seven other proposals that were not approved either because of an incomplete application or we did not think that the orgs served a unique purpose. The seven organizations that were approved and their purposes are listed here:
(See Attachment)
As far as interviews are concerned, we will have the fall appointments next Monday. I couldn't have done it without the SOACers.
Dana Montalto, Tower Senator: How did you decide which group did not serve a unique purpose?
Michel Ballard, CGVP: It was discussed by the SOAC members.
Paige Shevlin, Student at large: Our group was not approved and I was concerned why this has become such a difficult bureaucratic process? I think if we are making it as difficult as it is, we should stop telling prospies on campus tours that you can start an organization with just 5 students who are interested, it makes it seem much easier than it is.
Michel Ballard, CGVP: Because we have reached 190 organizations, we are trying to consider each organization individually. With your group in particular, I would be happy to discuss that with you personally.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: When CG decided to change this process, we told admissions to change what they were saying during the tours, so we will follow up on that.
Shayla Adams, Ethos Senator: We also promote that orgs collaborate together.
Sharon Shin, Student at Large: With the new process, was there any reconsideration of the already existing organizations?
Michel Ballard, CGVP: Right now we are not reviewing them, but we will be starting a rigorous midyear review process. SOAC is trying to encourage co-sponsorship and since we do have such a large number of orgs for such a small campus we want to make sure that we are using our limited resources adequately.
Michel Ballard, CGVP: So the awesome SOACsters have been busy approving organizations. These will be voted on in your House Councils. Basically we received applications and we decided whether or not the new org would serve a unique purpose to the Wellesley College community. There were seven other proposals that were not approved either because of an incomplete application or we did not think that the orgs served a unique purpose. The seven organizations that were approved and their purposes are listed here:
(See Attachment)
As far as interviews are concerned, we will have the fall appointments next Monday. I couldn't have done it without the SOACers.
Dana Montalto, Tower Senator: How did you decide which group did not serve a unique purpose?
Michel Ballard, CGVP: It was discussed by the SOAC members.
Paige Shevlin, Student at large: Our group was not approved and I was concerned why this has become such a difficult bureaucratic process? I think if we are making it as difficult as it is, we should stop telling prospies on campus tours that you can start an organization with just 5 students who are interested, it makes it seem much easier than it is.
Michel Ballard, CGVP: Because we have reached 190 organizations, we are trying to consider each organization individually. With your group in particular, I would be happy to discuss that with you personally.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: When CG decided to change this process, we told admissions to change what they were saying during the tours, so we will follow up on that.
Shayla Adams, Ethos Senator: We also promote that orgs collaborate together.
Sharon Shin, Student at Large: With the new process, was there any reconsideration of the already existing organizations?
Michel Ballard, CGVP: Right now we are not reviewing them, but we will be starting a rigorous midyear review process. SOAC is trying to encourage co-sponsorship and since we do have such a large number of orgs for such a small campus we want to make sure that we are using our limited resources adequately.
B. Lectures Funding (Cortni Jones, Student Bursar)
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Next will Cortni Jones, Student Bursar, approach the podium to discuss Lectures Funding.
(See Attachment)
Clara Peterson, Bates Senator: The total student activities fee for 2005-2006 is $443,390.00. The total amount we give out for lectures funding is 12%. We have four deadlines: two in December and two in February. At our SOFC meeting we decided how much to give out at each deadline. You can apply for one deadline per lecture. If you have one lecture, you can't apply for multiple deadlines. Also we don't do retroactive funding for lectures funding.
Edlyn Yuen, Pomeroy: We decided last week that we are going to allot 20 % for this lectures funding deadline. We decided as a group not to allow late applications. We reviewed the applications as a group. We had to review the rules first. We went by what we decided before looking at a single application so that the process would be equitable. Under SOFC constitution, we can only fund up to $800 or 60% (whichever is more) and after that we didn't do it on a first come first serve basis. However much the percentage was we did that.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: The first column is the organization and the second column is the event. After we look through their budget, we deduct anything that they incorrectly filled out and that is the amount granted. We also looked at what is greater between the 60% and the $800. We have to do an across the board deduction from everyone's' application at the end of the process. The calculation is the difference between what we wanted to give them and what we had to give them, which is 24%. So we could fund 75% of what we wanted to give them. I know it's confusing, but we had more requested then what we had to give out so instead of being arbitrary we just made an across the board deduction.
Edlyn Yuen, Pomeroy: So for the next deadlines we will be funding 20% and for the last funding we will have 25%. But we really encourage orgs not to depend on SOFC lectures funding and to find other resources.
Brooke Maurer, Freeman Senator: Can you explain what you mean by category?
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: There are a certain amount of categories which are stipulated in the SOFC constitution. We strictly advise people to only use the template that we give them. There are actually five deadlines throughout the year, one in April, October, two in December and one in February. VOTE ON THIS IN HOUSE COUNCIL!! Next week we will vote on this at Senate.
(See Attachment)
Clara Peterson, Bates Senator: The total student activities fee for 2005-2006 is $443,390.00. The total amount we give out for lectures funding is 12%. We have four deadlines: two in December and two in February. At our SOFC meeting we decided how much to give out at each deadline. You can apply for one deadline per lecture. If you have one lecture, you can't apply for multiple deadlines. Also we don't do retroactive funding for lectures funding.
Edlyn Yuen, Pomeroy: We decided last week that we are going to allot 20 % for this lectures funding deadline. We decided as a group not to allow late applications. We reviewed the applications as a group. We had to review the rules first. We went by what we decided before looking at a single application so that the process would be equitable. Under SOFC constitution, we can only fund up to $800 or 60% (whichever is more) and after that we didn't do it on a first come first serve basis. However much the percentage was we did that.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: The first column is the organization and the second column is the event. After we look through their budget, we deduct anything that they incorrectly filled out and that is the amount granted. We also looked at what is greater between the 60% and the $800. We have to do an across the board deduction from everyone's' application at the end of the process. The calculation is the difference between what we wanted to give them and what we had to give them, which is 24%. So we could fund 75% of what we wanted to give them. I know it's confusing, but we had more requested then what we had to give out so instead of being arbitrary we just made an across the board deduction.
Edlyn Yuen, Pomeroy: So for the next deadlines we will be funding 20% and for the last funding we will have 25%. But we really encourage orgs not to depend on SOFC lectures funding and to find other resources.
Brooke Maurer, Freeman Senator: Can you explain what you mean by category?
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: There are a certain amount of categories which are stipulated in the SOFC constitution. We strictly advise people to only use the template that we give them. There are actually five deadlines throughout the year, one in April, October, two in December and one in February. VOTE ON THIS IN HOUSE COUNCIL!! Next week we will vote on this at Senate.
IV. Open Discussion
A. Tenure and the role of the Deans (Dean Andy Shennan, Dean Berger-Sweeney, and CFA Student Reps: Shayla Adams and Rosa Fernandez)
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Next we have Dean Shennan and Dean Berger Sweeney.
Dean Shennan: Joanne and I are really happy to be here tonight. There are three main issues that we want to address. We thought it would be a good idea to first explain what the Deans of the College actually do. The second issue was the issue of the grading policy and finally, the role of students within the tenure process. We actually came to Senate last year in the wake of some decisions that the Committee of Faculty Appointments made about tenure decisions. I thought right now would be a good moment to talk about that.
Let's first start with the deans' responsibilities. First, all three of us are members of the faculty. We are professors here. We all have a different focus. Adele focuses on academics and Joanne and I work on tenure and appointment. We split up the academic departments into three groups. We do the same with the interdepartmental departments. We have a number of supervisory roles. A lot of groups report to the deans of the college such as the Davis Museum and the CWS. Please see our handout for which departments report to which deans.
Dean Berger-Sweeney: We do have designated duties, but we do very much work as a team. If you need someone but cannot get in touch with them then you can speak with one of the other deans.
Dean Shennan: A lot of my background for the discussion for grading policy came from the community thread. Let me give some background about the grading policy. This policy came two years ago from the faculty and was raised based on concerns about grade inflation. We were concerned about the very rapid increase in grades in the college. Our grades were some of the highest amongst other Ivy League and liberal arts schools. Some of our concerns were a rapid increase in average grades & that there was some difficulty distinguishing between excellent work and good work. The outcome principally affected in 100 and 200 level courses; the average grade could not be higher than a B+ or 3.33. If a faculty member's average exceeds this average, then they simply submit an explanation. I want to stress that we have not seen a large increase in the number of very low grades. We don't see any evidence of that happening. What we do see is that the number of A's and A-'s have gone down and we have seen a complete distribution of grades. We have not seen a large number of C's and below. We are well aware that some members of the faculty do not approve the policy or do not fully understand it. You should contact Adele Wolfson if you believe that either of these issues are occurring.
Ashira Greene, Claflin: I was wondering if there will be a new humanities center.
Dean Shennan: By February of next year there will be a new center.
Sophie Kim, CPLA: Was the possibility of the increase of resources or the fact that there is an increase in student intelligence put into consideration when making this policy?
Dean Shennan: Yes, both of these were put into consideration but we also looked at our peer institutions and saw that we were increasing more rapidly then other institutions.
Dean Berger-Sweeney: We also saw the discrepancy between the humanities and the sciences.
Deb Norris, Hillel: My concern is when there is a new faculty member, he or she thinks that an A is almost impossible to give and A-'s are rare. Now if an A is impossible, does that in effect shift the grades down?
Dean Shennan: That is a good example of misinformation. It just isn't true that you can't give an A anymore. Before we implemented the policy, 17% of grades were straight A's and now with the implementation of the policy it is 15%.
Catherine Day, Student At Large: I remember when this policy was implemented students talked about having a transition period where faculty had resources to change assignments. Also, how many classes exceeded the 3.33 average?
Dean Shennan: There were about 50-100 that exceeded somewhat above the 3.33 average. For the faculty discussion, I would say the PLTC would be a good resource. I think also we need to have the same sort of interaction with the faculty.
Melanie Carter, McAfee: First with teachers not understanding the policy, what about students who are concerned and want to contact your office without any repercussion? Also students in the sciences have noticed a disparity between the humanities and the sciences.
Dean Shennan: The issue of retaliation is a good point. We merely try to make sure that the faculty is aware of the policy; we do not tell them how to grade in the courses.
Shayla Adams, Ethos: How transparent is the actual process for professors to apply for an explanation and also what review process has been made about looking at the policy?
Dean Berger-Sweeney: The policy is stated for every faculty member. In addition we passed it out to all the chairs. The policy is quite transparent. The curriculum committee is responsible for enacting the grading policy and Adele Wolfson is in charge of that committee.
Mea Lewis, Student At Large: A lot of students are concerned that our size is a lot smaller compared to other schools and thus it is slightly unfair to compare our classes to schools who have classes that are a lot larger. I feel that it would be so much more difficult to achieve the level that a student feels that they are capable of.
Dean Shennan: We looked at colleges with comparable class sizes. I think it was a very reasoned case that we were making. After the three-year implementation we will review the policy.
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: You mentioned a manner in which a professor could apply to be considered outside this grading policy. Can you elaborate on that?
Dean Berger-Sweeney: There were 50-100 classes that were above the limit and those were not necessarily the number of faculty who actually made a request.
Dean Shennan: Many faculty members explained in detail why the average was higher. On the whole, the faculty has tried conscientiously to follow the policy. One of our concerns was that the faculty would not abide by the policy. I don't think there is a huge disparity in grades.
Dean Berger-Sweeney: Only two departments did not meet the requirements as set.
Dean Shennan: The final issue we wanted to discuss was tenure decisions. The senior members of the department make a recommendation to the committee about who they think should receive tenure. The Committee on Faculty Appointments, which consists of myself, Diana Chapman Walsh, and 6 faculty members who are tenured themselves, has to make a decision by December 15. Right now we have received the recommendations about the decisions for tenure. The qualifications are: the quality of teaching, scholarship, and finally service to the college. There is also a category which is called structure. We want faculty members that cover entire fields. By December 15, we send the letter to the candidates and then the president takes those candidates to the board of trustees. The opinions of students about the faculty members that are going through tenure are very critical for all appointments. The SEQs are read very attentively. In addition, many students right to us. As you know, there are three professors standing for tenure this fall. We encourage you to write to the CFA regarding your professors, and we give you the option of having your name removed from these letters. We employ people at Wellesley to teach our students, so it is of course very important to us to get the student opinion on these professors.
Dean Berger-Sweeney: This committee meets every Wednesday for three hours. Each and every case is viewed multiple times. The input that the committee is looking at is reports from colleagues, and letters from students. In research, we ask for letters from five scholars outside of the college. So all of those letters are read and in addition the colleagues make a judgment.
Jerilyn Libby, HP Cazenove: Do any of the factors count more than the other?
Dean Shennan: There is some significance to the order that they appear in. The precise combination is a matter of judgment.
Paige Shevlin, Student at Large: You were talking about the specifics about scholarship, are there any requirements like must have published a book, etc? Also, the categories are inter-related, like professors that spend time with their students do not have as much time to research, is that considered?
Dean Berger-Sweeney: This is a trajectory into the future, we want professors who will serve the students of today and our students of the future.
Dean Shennan: We rely on the colleagues in the department and the outside letters.
Ashira Greene, Claflin: Has there been any emphasis on discussion vs. lecture style?
Dean Shennan: We do not have an approved way of teaching here.
Amita Parashar, MAC: Last year there were concerns about minority faculty members, could you speak about that?
Dean Berger-Sweeney: Knowing that time is short, I will be happy to talk about all the work we have done in the last year on that another day, but a lot of work has been done.
Dean Kim: Are you doing this work in addition to looking for 18 new faculty positions?
Dean Shennan: We have 18 tenure track searches and that gives us the opportunity to recruit more diverse faculty members.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: How is our process unique to other schools?
Dean Shennan: I think the openness of the process. Everything is shared with the candidate.
Clara Peterson, Bates: How do we know which professors are up for tenure and also what if the professor recognizes your writing style?
Dean Shennan: Well there is no real protection for that. We can take out your name but there is no real protection.
Dean Berger-Sweeney: The list has been published.
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Ok, next up are the Student Liaisons to the CFA, Carly Fair, Shayla Adams, and Rosa Fernandez.
Carly Fair, Beebe Senator: As our title says, we are liaisons to the CFA. This means that we do NOT sit on the committee and that being the case we are NOT a part of deciding who does or does not get tenure. Our main roles are to make sure that the student voice gets heard in the decision making process. We make sure this occurs by strongly encouraging students to write letters to the CFA in support of or against a specific professor getting tenure, merit increase, or reappointment. We also give a presentation to the CFA once a year to bring a student perspective to the committee and to share with them the opinions of the students. Our other main goal is to educate the student body about the tenure process, such as what components the CFA looks at when determining tenure. Later you will hear about what we are doing to educate the students about tenure.
There are a number of things that we do not do, that sometimes students think we do. I will reiterate that we do NOT sit on the committee and we are NOT a part of the decision process. Also, we are NOT told what the outcomes of the decisions are. Therefore, we do not know anything that you don't know. We don't know who was granted tenure, who was not, or why the decision was made. So if you ask us, we will not have an answer simply because we don't know. Tenure decisions are never publicly announced. In order to find out the results, students must ask their professors and it is up to the individual professors whether or not to share that information. The CFA never discloses any kind of information about any particular case due to confidentiality.
Rosa Fernandez, CFA Student Liaison: I am going to talk about the process of writing letters. Students can only write about the relationship with the professor and the teaching style. However, the intellectual scholarship is not based on student opinion. All students can write letters. You can write a letter in support of your professor anytime. You should go ahead and send the letter instead of waiting for when they are up for tenure. For letter writing: we really encourage students to describe their relationships with the professors. Students from 350 and 360 classes are highly encouraged to write since they do not write SEQs. Letters should not exceed more than a page and a half. The letter should be addressed to Dean Andrew Shennan, and dropped off in Green 345. Please indicate whether or not you want your name to be revealed and whether some phrases should be removed. You have to submit a signed hard copy, we are not accepting electronic e-mails or faxes. Letters for faculty on review for tenure are due November 17th, and letters for reappoint of faculty is due March 3rd.
Shayla Adams, CFA Liaison: Right now we are compiling q&a sheets for frequently asked questions. Next we are making table tents describing how students can get involved. Finally we are planning for something in the spring so students can get more involved.
Edlyn Yuen, Pomeroy Senator: If you want to write about a visiting professor that is up for hire, can you send a letter?
Michelle Lepore, Assistant Dean of Students: Those should be sent through the department.
Rosa Fernandez, CFA Student Liaison: The Departments take care of hiring. When departments are hiring faculty you can attend open lectures.
Dean Shennan: Joanne and I are really happy to be here tonight. There are three main issues that we want to address. We thought it would be a good idea to first explain what the Deans of the College actually do. The second issue was the issue of the grading policy and finally, the role of students within the tenure process. We actually came to Senate last year in the wake of some decisions that the Committee of Faculty Appointments made about tenure decisions. I thought right now would be a good moment to talk about that.
Let's first start with the deans' responsibilities. First, all three of us are members of the faculty. We are professors here. We all have a different focus. Adele focuses on academics and Joanne and I work on tenure and appointment. We split up the academic departments into three groups. We do the same with the interdepartmental departments. We have a number of supervisory roles. A lot of groups report to the deans of the college such as the Davis Museum and the CWS. Please see our handout for which departments report to which deans.
Dean Berger-Sweeney: We do have designated duties, but we do very much work as a team. If you need someone but cannot get in touch with them then you can speak with one of the other deans.
Dean Shennan: A lot of my background for the discussion for grading policy came from the community thread. Let me give some background about the grading policy. This policy came two years ago from the faculty and was raised based on concerns about grade inflation. We were concerned about the very rapid increase in grades in the college. Our grades were some of the highest amongst other Ivy League and liberal arts schools. Some of our concerns were a rapid increase in average grades & that there was some difficulty distinguishing between excellent work and good work. The outcome principally affected in 100 and 200 level courses; the average grade could not be higher than a B+ or 3.33. If a faculty member's average exceeds this average, then they simply submit an explanation. I want to stress that we have not seen a large increase in the number of very low grades. We don't see any evidence of that happening. What we do see is that the number of A's and A-'s have gone down and we have seen a complete distribution of grades. We have not seen a large number of C's and below. We are well aware that some members of the faculty do not approve the policy or do not fully understand it. You should contact Adele Wolfson if you believe that either of these issues are occurring.
Ashira Greene, Claflin: I was wondering if there will be a new humanities center.
Dean Shennan: By February of next year there will be a new center.
Sophie Kim, CPLA: Was the possibility of the increase of resources or the fact that there is an increase in student intelligence put into consideration when making this policy?
Dean Shennan: Yes, both of these were put into consideration but we also looked at our peer institutions and saw that we were increasing more rapidly then other institutions.
Dean Berger-Sweeney: We also saw the discrepancy between the humanities and the sciences.
Deb Norris, Hillel: My concern is when there is a new faculty member, he or she thinks that an A is almost impossible to give and A-'s are rare. Now if an A is impossible, does that in effect shift the grades down?
Dean Shennan: That is a good example of misinformation. It just isn't true that you can't give an A anymore. Before we implemented the policy, 17% of grades were straight A's and now with the implementation of the policy it is 15%.
Catherine Day, Student At Large: I remember when this policy was implemented students talked about having a transition period where faculty had resources to change assignments. Also, how many classes exceeded the 3.33 average?
Dean Shennan: There were about 50-100 that exceeded somewhat above the 3.33 average. For the faculty discussion, I would say the PLTC would be a good resource. I think also we need to have the same sort of interaction with the faculty.
Melanie Carter, McAfee: First with teachers not understanding the policy, what about students who are concerned and want to contact your office without any repercussion? Also students in the sciences have noticed a disparity between the humanities and the sciences.
Dean Shennan: The issue of retaliation is a good point. We merely try to make sure that the faculty is aware of the policy; we do not tell them how to grade in the courses.
Shayla Adams, Ethos: How transparent is the actual process for professors to apply for an explanation and also what review process has been made about looking at the policy?
Dean Berger-Sweeney: The policy is stated for every faculty member. In addition we passed it out to all the chairs. The policy is quite transparent. The curriculum committee is responsible for enacting the grading policy and Adele Wolfson is in charge of that committee.
Mea Lewis, Student At Large: A lot of students are concerned that our size is a lot smaller compared to other schools and thus it is slightly unfair to compare our classes to schools who have classes that are a lot larger. I feel that it would be so much more difficult to achieve the level that a student feels that they are capable of.
Dean Shennan: We looked at colleges with comparable class sizes. I think it was a very reasoned case that we were making. After the three-year implementation we will review the policy.
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: You mentioned a manner in which a professor could apply to be considered outside this grading policy. Can you elaborate on that?
Dean Berger-Sweeney: There were 50-100 classes that were above the limit and those were not necessarily the number of faculty who actually made a request.
Dean Shennan: Many faculty members explained in detail why the average was higher. On the whole, the faculty has tried conscientiously to follow the policy. One of our concerns was that the faculty would not abide by the policy. I don't think there is a huge disparity in grades.
Dean Berger-Sweeney: Only two departments did not meet the requirements as set.
Dean Shennan: The final issue we wanted to discuss was tenure decisions. The senior members of the department make a recommendation to the committee about who they think should receive tenure. The Committee on Faculty Appointments, which consists of myself, Diana Chapman Walsh, and 6 faculty members who are tenured themselves, has to make a decision by December 15. Right now we have received the recommendations about the decisions for tenure. The qualifications are: the quality of teaching, scholarship, and finally service to the college. There is also a category which is called structure. We want faculty members that cover entire fields. By December 15, we send the letter to the candidates and then the president takes those candidates to the board of trustees. The opinions of students about the faculty members that are going through tenure are very critical for all appointments. The SEQs are read very attentively. In addition, many students right to us. As you know, there are three professors standing for tenure this fall. We encourage you to write to the CFA regarding your professors, and we give you the option of having your name removed from these letters. We employ people at Wellesley to teach our students, so it is of course very important to us to get the student opinion on these professors.
Dean Berger-Sweeney: This committee meets every Wednesday for three hours. Each and every case is viewed multiple times. The input that the committee is looking at is reports from colleagues, and letters from students. In research, we ask for letters from five scholars outside of the college. So all of those letters are read and in addition the colleagues make a judgment.
Jerilyn Libby, HP Cazenove: Do any of the factors count more than the other?
Dean Shennan: There is some significance to the order that they appear in. The precise combination is a matter of judgment.
Paige Shevlin, Student at Large: You were talking about the specifics about scholarship, are there any requirements like must have published a book, etc? Also, the categories are inter-related, like professors that spend time with their students do not have as much time to research, is that considered?
Dean Berger-Sweeney: This is a trajectory into the future, we want professors who will serve the students of today and our students of the future.
Dean Shennan: We rely on the colleagues in the department and the outside letters.
Ashira Greene, Claflin: Has there been any emphasis on discussion vs. lecture style?
Dean Shennan: We do not have an approved way of teaching here.
Amita Parashar, MAC: Last year there were concerns about minority faculty members, could you speak about that?
Dean Berger-Sweeney: Knowing that time is short, I will be happy to talk about all the work we have done in the last year on that another day, but a lot of work has been done.
Dean Kim: Are you doing this work in addition to looking for 18 new faculty positions?
Dean Shennan: We have 18 tenure track searches and that gives us the opportunity to recruit more diverse faculty members.
Cortni Jones, Student Bursar: How is our process unique to other schools?
Dean Shennan: I think the openness of the process. Everything is shared with the candidate.
Clara Peterson, Bates: How do we know which professors are up for tenure and also what if the professor recognizes your writing style?
Dean Shennan: Well there is no real protection for that. We can take out your name but there is no real protection.
Dean Berger-Sweeney: The list has been published.
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Ok, next up are the Student Liaisons to the CFA, Carly Fair, Shayla Adams, and Rosa Fernandez.
Carly Fair, Beebe Senator: As our title says, we are liaisons to the CFA. This means that we do NOT sit on the committee and that being the case we are NOT a part of deciding who does or does not get tenure. Our main roles are to make sure that the student voice gets heard in the decision making process. We make sure this occurs by strongly encouraging students to write letters to the CFA in support of or against a specific professor getting tenure, merit increase, or reappointment. We also give a presentation to the CFA once a year to bring a student perspective to the committee and to share with them the opinions of the students. Our other main goal is to educate the student body about the tenure process, such as what components the CFA looks at when determining tenure. Later you will hear about what we are doing to educate the students about tenure.
There are a number of things that we do not do, that sometimes students think we do. I will reiterate that we do NOT sit on the committee and we are NOT a part of the decision process. Also, we are NOT told what the outcomes of the decisions are. Therefore, we do not know anything that you don't know. We don't know who was granted tenure, who was not, or why the decision was made. So if you ask us, we will not have an answer simply because we don't know. Tenure decisions are never publicly announced. In order to find out the results, students must ask their professors and it is up to the individual professors whether or not to share that information. The CFA never discloses any kind of information about any particular case due to confidentiality.
Rosa Fernandez, CFA Student Liaison: I am going to talk about the process of writing letters. Students can only write about the relationship with the professor and the teaching style. However, the intellectual scholarship is not based on student opinion. All students can write letters. You can write a letter in support of your professor anytime. You should go ahead and send the letter instead of waiting for when they are up for tenure. For letter writing: we really encourage students to describe their relationships with the professors. Students from 350 and 360 classes are highly encouraged to write since they do not write SEQs. Letters should not exceed more than a page and a half. The letter should be addressed to Dean Andrew Shennan, and dropped off in Green 345. Please indicate whether or not you want your name to be revealed and whether some phrases should be removed. You have to submit a signed hard copy, we are not accepting electronic e-mails or faxes. Letters for faculty on review for tenure are due November 17th, and letters for reappoint of faculty is due March 3rd.
Shayla Adams, CFA Liaison: Right now we are compiling q&a sheets for frequently asked questions. Next we are making table tents describing how students can get involved. Finally we are planning for something in the spring so students can get more involved.
Edlyn Yuen, Pomeroy Senator: If you want to write about a visiting professor that is up for hire, can you send a letter?
Michelle Lepore, Assistant Dean of Students: Those should be sent through the department.
Rosa Fernandez, CFA Student Liaison: The Departments take care of hiring. When departments are hiring faculty you can attend open lectures.
B. HPC Presentation (Kate Derrick, President of HPC)
Lindsey Boylan, CGP: Next we are excited to introduce the House President's Council.
Kate Derrick, President of HPC: So, what does HPC do? Well HP's run House Council and we run the Res Life staff. Also we sit on HPC. We work with the Senators a lot. We can really act as resources for one another. All the HPs work with one anther to make House Council better. We also work with Residential Life issues such as Bells Policy, fines, Residence Judiciary, and finally we sit on Unity with Cabinet where we talk about important issues on campus. We also do a lot of fun things. Last week we had hug an HP day and next semester we will have a barbeque. Oh! And we run Lipsync (Monday November 14 at 9 pm)!!!! We all have different super hero roles, so I'll let each member introduce themselves and their roles (each HPC member went on to intro. themselves & their roles on HPC).
Penelope Mesen, DOOCA: Where is lipsync going to be?
Kate Derrick, HPC President: Schneider.
Shayla Adams, Ethos Senator: Will orgs going to be able to sell things?
Anna Basevich, Shafer HP: We will discuss that with House Councils.
Kate Derrick, President of HPC: So, what does HPC do? Well HP's run House Council and we run the Res Life staff. Also we sit on HPC. We work with the Senators a lot. We can really act as resources for one another. All the HPs work with one anther to make House Council better. We also work with Residential Life issues such as Bells Policy, fines, Residence Judiciary, and finally we sit on Unity with Cabinet where we talk about important issues on campus. We also do a lot of fun things. Last week we had hug an HP day and next semester we will have a barbeque. Oh! And we run Lipsync (Monday November 14 at 9 pm)!!!! We all have different super hero roles, so I'll let each member introduce themselves and their roles (each HPC member went on to intro. themselves & their roles on HPC).
Penelope Mesen, DOOCA: Where is lipsync going to be?
Kate Derrick, HPC President: Schneider.
Shayla Adams, Ethos Senator: Will orgs going to be able to sell things?
Anna Basevich, Shafer HP: We will discuss that with House Councils.
V. Dean of Students' Corner
A. Deans Kim Goff-Crews and Michelle Lepore
Lindsay Boylan, CGP: Thanks so much. Next up is Dean's Corner.
Dean Kim Goff-Crews: We had a very successful launch of the campus center. The trustees loved Punch's Alley. Tischman Commons is really nice. Of course we also had the trustee meetings going on at the same time. I did want you to know that every Friday I talk to the board of trustees and they are very happy about the work going toward hurricane and earthquake relief. My personal favorite event from this weekend was seeing the new deans dancing around the may pole at sophomore tree planting.
Admissions is updating its tape to show to prospective students. If you see people around taking pictures, that's what its for. We also have had some requests for a more stringent mailbox policy, and we're looking in to that.
Dean Michelle Lepore: We are still concerned about food shortages in the dining halls. The director of dining services wants anyone with concerns to send information to their food rep so more information can be given to them. Also food services is running a program called meet the Chef! On Wednesday, Parker Palmer is coming to campus. He will be hosting a lecture at 7 o'clock in the chapel. Also we have a fun night of Indian music on Friday night.
Lindsey Boylan: Barry Monahan is coming to Senate next week.
Melanie Carter, McAfee: Where can students send questions if they do not have a food rep?
Dean Kim Goff-Crews: Phil Harty would be the person to contact.
Dean Kim Goff-Crews: We had a very successful launch of the campus center. The trustees loved Punch's Alley. Tischman Commons is really nice. Of course we also had the trustee meetings going on at the same time. I did want you to know that every Friday I talk to the board of trustees and they are very happy about the work going toward hurricane and earthquake relief. My personal favorite event from this weekend was seeing the new deans dancing around the may pole at sophomore tree planting.
Admissions is updating its tape to show to prospective students. If you see people around taking pictures, that's what its for. We also have had some requests for a more stringent mailbox policy, and we're looking in to that.
Dean Michelle Lepore: We are still concerned about food shortages in the dining halls. The director of dining services wants anyone with concerns to send information to their food rep so more information can be given to them. Also food services is running a program called meet the Chef! On Wednesday, Parker Palmer is coming to campus. He will be hosting a lecture at 7 o'clock in the chapel. Also we have a fun night of Indian music on Friday night.
Lindsey Boylan: Barry Monahan is coming to Senate next week.
Melanie Carter, McAfee: Where can students send questions if they do not have a food rep?
Dean Kim Goff-Crews: Phil Harty would be the person to contact.
VI. Beyond the Bubble (Sophie Kim, CPLA Chair)
A. Bush Selects White House Economist Bernanke to Replace Greenspan
President Bush today nominated his chief economic adviser, Ben S. Bernanke, to replace Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve when Greenspan's term expires Jan. 31. If confirmed by the Senate, Bernanke will become the 14th Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Greenspan, who served in that capacity for 18 years. The Federal Reserve
B. Ongoing Coverage: Judicial Nominees
On "Meet the Press" this weekend, NY Senator Chuck Schumer, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated that he believed that Harriet Miers will have an uphill confirmation battle in the Senate. He stated that if the vote were held now, she would not receive a majority in the Judiciary Committee or the Senate floor.
C. Lawmakers say Bush likely to stick with Miers
Leading Republican and Democratic senators said on Sunday they do not expect President George W. Bush to withdraw Harriet Miers' U.S. Supreme Court nomination despite fierce criticism of her by conservatives and liberals. "I haven't seen anything coming from the White House that says that they're going to pull this nomination," said Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownback, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on "Fox News Sunday."
D. Lawyers see charges this week in CIA-leak case
Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald appears to be laying the groundwork for indictments this week over the outing of a covert CIA operative, including possible charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, lawyers and other sources involved in case said on Sunday.
E. Ohio War Veteran Running for Senate
Paul Hackett, the Democratic veteran of the Iraq war who narrowly lost a special election in a heavily Republican congressional district in August, made his official entry into a U.S. Senate race Monday.
He faces a tough Democratic primary with Rep. Sherrod Brown in the race for the nomination to challenge second-term Republican incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine next year.
He faces a tough Democratic primary with Rep. Sherrod Brown in the race for the nomination to challenge second-term Republican incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine next year.
F. Pakistan, India to hold Kashmir quake talks
Pakistan and India will hold talks at the end of this week about opening the de facto border in disputed Kashmir to help survivors of the earthquake which devastated northern Pakistan, Islamabad said on Monday.
An Indian delegation led by a senior Foreign Ministry official would arrive in Islamabad on Friday and the talks would begin the following day, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told Reuters.
The October 8 quake killed more than 53,000 people in northern Pakistani Kashmir and adjoining North West Frontier Province and 1,300 in Indian Kashmir.
An Indian delegation led by a senior Foreign Ministry official would arrive in Islamabad on Friday and the talks would begin the following day, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told Reuters.
The October 8 quake killed more than 53,000 people in northern Pakistani Kashmir and adjoining North West Frontier Province and 1,300 in Indian Kashmir.
G. France says too early for sanctions against Syria
France said on Monday it was too early to seek sanctions against Syria, whose officials have been implicated by a U.N. report in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
The U.N. Security Council meets on Tuesday to discuss the report, and Paris said the body should demand Damascus cooperate fully with the U.N. inquiry that ends in mid December.
The U.N. Security Council meets on Tuesday to discuss the report, and Paris said the body should demand Damascus cooperate fully with the U.N. inquiry that ends in mid December.
H. In Rice's Alabama, locals bemused by "Mr. England"
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw joined Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for a weekend tour of her home state to promote understanding of the Anglo-American alliance, but Alabamans struggled to name him. "You're the English guy," Joyce Delahoussaye said as she shook hands with the foreign minister of America's closest ally. "I've seen you on TV and they said you were from England."
I. On this day: October 24
1945: United Nations Organization is born
Less than two months after the end of World War II, the United Nations is formally established with the ratification of the United Nations Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council and a majority of other signatories. A total of 29 countries ratified the United Nations Charter that was signed by 50 nations on 26 June in San Francisco. US Secretary of State James Byrnes signed the protocol and proclaimed the charter was "now a part of the law of nations".
Less than two months after the end of World War II, the United Nations is formally established with the ratification of the United Nations Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council and a majority of other signatories. A total of 29 countries ratified the United Nations Charter that was signed by 50 nations on 26 June in San Francisco. US Secretary of State James Byrnes signed the protocol and proclaimed the charter was "now a part of the law of nations".
VII. Cabinet Announcements
VIII. Adjourn
