Minutes 09-11-2020

Minutes

Faculty Assembly, School of Liberal Arts

2:00–3:30 pm – Friday, September 11, 2020 – Zoom 

Faculty Attendees: Marta Antón, Jason Aukerman, Emily Beckman, Rick Bein, Julie Belz, Gail Bennett, Bill Blomquist, Maria Brann, Herbert Brant, Marilee Brooks-Gillies, Andy Buchenot, Chad Carmichael, Thorsten Carstensen, Subir Chakrabarti, Charli Champion-Shaw, Matt Condon, Ulla Connor, David Craig, Kevin Cramer, Holly Cusack-McVeigh, Terry Davis, Tom Davis, Andre De Tienne, Cornelis De Waal, Fred DiCamilla, Catherine Dobris, Aaron Dusso, Owen Dwyer, Jonathan Eller, Estela Ene, Margie Ferguson, Carrie Foote, Steve Fox, Amanda Friesen, Beth Goering, Phil Goff, Nancy Goldfarb, Claudia Grossman, Jennifer Guiliano, Hannah Haas, Ray Haberski, Sara Harrell, Katharine Head, David Hoegberg, Laura Holzman, Michael Hughes, Sue Hyatt, Lynn Jetpace, Sumana Jogi,  Samuel Kahn, John Kaufman-McKivigan, Jason Kelly, Tracy Kemp, Terry Kirts, Daniella Kostroun, Liz Kryder-Reid, Keiko Kuriyama, Chris Lamb, Kathryn Lauten, Sarah Layden, Jennifer Mahoney, Enric Mallorqui-Ruscalleda, Tom Marvin, Amira Mashhour, Kate Miller, Leslie Miller, Kyle Minor, Kenzie Mintus, Malcolm Moran, Anita Morgan, Paul Mullins, Megan Musgrave, Elizabeth Nelson, Nichole Neuman, Obi Nnaemeka, Honnor Orlando, Steve Overbey, John Parrish-Sprowl, Mike Polites, Josh Prada, Rob Rebein, Charles Reyes, Audrey Ricke, Nancy Robertson, Stephanie Rowe, Steve Russell, Ron Sandwina, Carly Schall, Ian Sheeler, Kristy Sheeler, Rebecca Shrum, Carrie Sickmann, Lois Silverman, Frank Smith, Laura Smith, Michael Snodgrass, Brian Steensland, Richard Steinberg, Shana Stump, Vidhura Tennekoon, Joseph Terza, Elizabeth Thill, Jennifer Thorington Springer, Peter Thuesen, John Tilley, Joseph Tucker Edmonds, Thom Upton, Scott Weeden, Rachel Wheeler, Robert White, Kim White-Mills, Jeff Wilson, Jeremy Wilson, Mel Wininger, Xin Zhang, Iker Zulaica Hernandez 

Guest Attendees:  Sandy Balint, Jeremy Beach, Katherine Blake, Pam Blevins Hinkle, Jay Gladden, Liz Goodfellow, Tanner Hammock,  Rick Hanson, Kim Heavrin, Matt Hume, Merle Illg, Tiea Julian, Shannon Kelley, Thomas Mason, Edith Milliken, Sherry Minton, Tricia O’Neil, Emilio G. Robles, Mike Scott, Candy Smith, Roxanne Terhune, Sam Walters, Angenita Williams 

  1. Ray Haberski called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m.
  2. Jay Gladden, chair of the SLA Dean Search Committee, provided an update on the search.
    1. The search committee completed the off-site Zoom interviews in Feb. 2020 and had invited four candidates for on-campus interviews when the pandemic forced a pause in the search. When the search was allowed to continue, the search committee decided unanimously to continue the search, and three of the four invited candidates were still interested and available.  In addition, the alternate candidate was still interested and available and was added to the list
    2. Virtual interviews will begin on Sept. 28 and run through Oct. 9. Although the interviews will be virtual, they will simulate the schedule they would have if these were on-campus visits. 
    3. A standard protocol will be followed for each interview. From 9-10 a.m. on Day 1 of each interview, the candidate will make an open forum presentation to which all IUPUI faculty, staff, students and community stakeholders are invited.  Meetings will be scheduled with the Chancellor, Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer, Executive Committees of Indianapolis Faculty Council and IUPUI Staff Council, IUPUI Council of Deans, SLA staff, SLA student representations, SLA chairs/program/center directors, SLA community partners, alumni, and donors, and the search committee.  In addition, two meetings will be scheduled, one on each day of the interview, in which SLA faculty can meet with each candidate.
    4. Faculty are strongly encouraged to attend the meetings and provide feedback on surveys that will be emailed out after each interview. Jay Gladden emphasized that while it is fair to ask challenging questions, it’s important that we provide a “gracious hosting experience.”
    5. Watch for emails from Linda Durr, Stephen Hundley’s administrative assistant, with schedules, Zoom links, and more details about the candidate visits.
    6. Peter Thuesen asked if all four candidates are external. Jay Gladden said that he is not at liberty to answer that.  Information about the candidates cannot be released until 24-48 hours before their visits. 
  3. Margie Ferguson, Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, provided updates on the campus response to COVID.
    1. Margie reported that, unlike other campuses, even within Indiana, IUPUI has had relatively low positive test rates. She emphasized that surveillance testing is an important part of the process, so if you are asked to come in for testing, please do so.  If you are never on campus, there is a mechanism to opt out. 
    2. Margie expressed gratitude for how adaptable we have been and for the care we have shown to students. She asked us to continue to be as responsive and adaptable as possible.
    3. Her office is holding regular town halls for faculty and staff. The next one is next week.
    4. One common question she has received is whether instructors will be notified if a student in their class tests positive. Margie explained that because of HIPAA regulations, we will not be notified.  If a student tells you they have tested positive, take them at their word.    
    5. Q&A
      1. Ray Haberski asked about how other schools are doing. Margie said that in her opinion, SLA is doing a better job of being adaptive and rolling with the punches.  She said that SLA’s experience and expertise in online teaching has helped.
      2. Margie said she would be interested in feedback from faculty about how they are managing the “three-in-one” classrooms (simultaneously face-to-face, synchronous virtual, and asynchronous).
      3. Jennifer Mahoney asked whether the calendar will be revised for Spring, noting that Purdue just issued a revised Spring calendar. Margie said that we had already made those adjustments to the Spring calendar and she doesn’t think that will change.
      4. Leslie Miller asked for advice about dealing with a student who doesn’t wear the mask properly, claiming she has breathing difficulties. Margie said we need to be very strict about enforcing the mask policy and require that masks be worn properly.  If the student can’t physically safely wear a mask, then she can’t attend the face-to-face class.  AES is the only entity that can grant an accommodation, and they aren’t making an accommodation that says you don’t have to wear a mask because that puts other people at risk.  Margie acknowledged that it’s not easy to do, but we need to enforce the mask requirement 100%.
      5. Kevin Cramer asked what the policy is about a student attending in person who gets a positive test. Margie explained that the student should tell the instructor that they can’t come to class.  They don’t need to disclose why, and the instructor cannot ask why.  In addition, the instructor cannot ask for proof of a positive test.   If the instructor or other students in the class were in direct contact with a student who tested positive, they will get notification through contact tracing. 
      6. Steve Fox asked about recording, given all of the difficulties we’ve been having with Kaltura. Margie encouraged faculty to record and do closed captioning as much as we can in case students get sick or have tech failures. 
      7. Steve Overbey asked whether the university publishes numbers of cases. Margie said that there is a dashboard that shares test results.  Nancy Robertson put the link in the chat: https://fall2020.iu.edu/dashboards/. 
      8. Liz Thill shared an experience with a student she met in a hallway who wasn’t wearing a mask and claimed to have a doctor’s note telling her not to wear a mask. Margie said that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have to wear a mask on campus. Only AES can give accommodations, and they don’t give accommodations that allow students to not wear masks on campus.  Margie noted that passing in a hallway is less worrisome than sitting in a classroom, but emphasized that being vigilant and asking is important. If it’s in your classroom, ask the student to leave. If they refuse, there are policies and procedures for dealing with that. If they say there is a medical reason, tell them to go to AES for an accommodation (which they won’t get).
      9. Amira Mashhour asked about wearing face shields. Margie explained that face shields are not a substitute for face masks.
      10. Mike Polites asked Margie to comment on how to deal with students who don’t attend Zoom classes because of the no attendance policy rule. Margie suggested using the early warning system, staying in contact with students as much as possible, and creating mechanisms for grading work that aren’t grading presence (i.e., points given for participating in a Zoom activity). 
    6. Ray ended discussion and encouraged people to contact the Executive Committee and/or the SLA COVID taskforce if they have other COVID-related concerns. 
  4. The minutes from April 24, 2020, Faculty Assembly meeting were approved as written. 
  5. President's remarks
    1. Ray Haberski introduced the Executive Committee members: Ray Haberski, president; Steve Fox, vice-president; Beth Goering, secretary; Chad Carmichael, Kenzie Latham Mintus, Steve Russell, Rosa Tezanos-Pinto. Rob Rebein is the SLA Admin on the committee.  Ray explained that one of the functions of the Executive Committee is to funnel faculty concerns to the appropriate committees so that they can be addressed through the structures of faculty governance.  He encouraged faculty to share concerns they have with members of the Executive Committee.
    2. Ray announced the results of the special election. Jennifer Mahoney was elected as the Senior Lecturer on P&T. Ray Haberski will serve as IFC Rep.  
  6. Interim Dean Rob Rebein provided the State of the School address.
      1. Rob Rebein began with four highlights: 1) SLA has done an incredible job of rising to this unprecedented challenge. He expressed his thanks for the huge amount of work everyone is putting in.  2) The current situation, while precarious, isn’t as bad as people feared in March and April.  There is much to be optimistic about going into the future.  3) There is bad news in the State of the School address, but most of it is related to COVID.  If we work together to continue to respond to this crisis, we have a chance to emerge in a stronger position.  4) While we face significant challenges this year, there are opportunities we need to grab. 
      2. Celebrating success
        1. Jennifer Thorington Springer was promoted to full professor
        2. Granted tenure and promoted to associate professor: Tijen Demirel-Pegg, Sumedha Gupta (Econ), Katy Head (COMM), Carly Schall (SOC),
        3. Promoted to Senior Lecturer: Mary Ann Cohen (ENG)
      3. New appointments and reappointments
        1. Marta Antón – Associate Dean for Academic Purposes
        2. Jennifer Thorington Springer – Associate Dean for Student Affairs
        3. Laura Holzman, Director, Museum Studies Program
        4. Chris Lamb, Chair, Dept. of Journalism & PR
        5. Thorsten Carstensen, Director, German Program
        6. Rachel Wheeler, Director, Pathways Minor Program
      4. Reappointments of Chairs & Directors: Timothy Lyons (PHIL), Ed Curtis (Millennium Chair of the Liberal Arts), Leslie Etienne (Acting Dir, Africana Studies), Ray Haberski (Dir, American Studies & the Institute for American Thought), Mohammad Kaviani (Dir, Center for Economic Education), Stephanie Rowe (Exec. Dir., National Council on Public History), Michael Snodgrass (Dir., Global & International Studies and Coordinator of Euroculture), Thom Upton (Dir., PIE), Julie White (Dir., American Sign Language/English Interpreting)
      5. Emeritus Faculty: Robert Aponte, David Bell, Linda Green Bell, Wan-Ning Bao, Lynn Pike
      6. New Faculty and Staff
        1. Amy Irby-Shasanmi, Asst Prof., Sociology
        2. Andrew Whitehead, Associate Prof, Sociology & Co-Director of ARDA (Association of Religion Data Archives)
        3. Carrie Sickmann, Lecturer, English
        4. Kannan Govindarajan, Visiting Asst. Research Scientist, Peirce Project
        5. Patricia Jordan, Visiting Clinical Asst. Prof. of Africana Studies
        6. Martin Maillot, Future Faculty Teaching Fellow, French
        7. Soulit Chacko and Adam Park - Postdoctoral Fellows in Religion and Urban Culture Project
        8. Erin Kelley, Program Director, Spirit & Place
        9. LaShawnda Crowe Storm, Community Engagement Director, Spirit & Place
        10. India Rias-Thompson, Asst Dir of Career Services
        11. Stasia Tanzer, Membership Coordinator, Nat Council of Public History
      7.  Awards
        1. Beth Goering – Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
        2. Elizabeth Kryder-Reid, Thomas Ehrlich Award for Excellence in Service Learning
        3. Trustees’ Teaching Awards: Tijen Demirel-Pegg, Marilee Brooks Gillies, Kate Miller, Jing Wang, Nancy Goldfarb, Scott Weeden
        4. Outstanding Tenure Track Faculty Award - SLA: Jeremy Wilson
        5. Outstanding Associate Faculty Award – SLA: Thomas Mason
        6. Outstanding Visiting Faculty Award – SLA: Haizia Zhao
        7. Don Schultheis Outstanding Staff Award: Candy Smith
        8. Staff Council Outstanding New Member: Tricia O’Neil
        9. Student Awards -- $343,400 awarded to students in 2020-21 award cycle
          1. 3 students in Graduate & Professional Elite 50: Sarah Bahr, Abigail Bragg, Katherine Ridley-Merriweather
          2. 20 of the Top 100 students are SLA students
          3. 2020 Chancellor’s Scholar: Eden Rea-Hendrick
          4. 2020 Faculty Medal of Academic Distinction: Ahmed Abbas
          5. 2020 Faculty Medal of Academic Distinction: Kamna Gupta
      8. Annual Report – the PPT slides will be available for faculty to review; only highlights are included in the minutes.
        1. External funding has steadily increased over the past 3 years.
        2. Internal funding has also grown, even though several internal grants were suspended because of COVID. Seven people were awarded COVID rapid response grants.
        3. New Student Scholarships created in 2019-20: Bruce & Davena Beal Study Abroad Scholarship, Robert Aponte Memorial Scholarship in Latino Studies at IUPUI, and Malcolm Moran Study Abroad Scholarship
        4. Campus Campaign – 98 SLA faculty and staff have contributed over $62,500 so far in 2020
        5. Website Updates – 4 sites have been completed (POLS, PIE, Paralegal, Museum Studies). 14 more are actively in production. The goal is for every site to be revised by the end of the school year. 
        6. New Marketing Campaign has been launched showing the value and relevance of a liberal arts education.
        7. Engagement on all social media platforms has increased during COVID-19.
        8. Financial Data
          1. SLA experienced an increase in revenue in 2019-20; however expenses also increased, leaving the school with a deficit of $2.2 million.
          2. SLA has lost over $18 million over the past 7 years
          3. To stop the downward spiral, we need to stabilize/increase credit hour income and reduce expenses
        9.  Enrollment
          1. SLA credit hours are down only 1.4%; however, we’re down 5.3% in headcount. Rob explained that the loss can be explained by decreases in PIE, which was hit particularly hard by COVID, and a smaller freshman class, which is also COVID related.
          2. IUPUI is now 30% students of color.
      9.  Challenges
        1. The big three challenges facing SLA are global health pandemic, nationwide crisis of systemic racism, state/campus/school budget deficits.
        2. These challenges ripple into other challenges, including restrictions on travel, limits on in-person interaction, disrupted research, cancellation of in-person events, shifting instructional demands, hiring freeze for staff & hiring frost for faculty.

    1. Opportunities – the current situation gives us the opportunity to:
      1. Rethink what we do and how/why we do it.
      2. Refocus our efforts in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
      3. Rethink SLA events and the purposes they serve.
      4. Embrace new ways of collaborating and create new online communities
      5. Expand mastery of new pedagogies and revise curriculum to highlight interdisciplinarity
      6. Leadership priorities for 2020-21
        1. Maintain a safe environment for SLA faculty, staff, and students
        2. Foster a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion
        3. Support excellence in teaching across all modes of delivery
        4. Support innovative research and grant writing.
      7. Immediate action items
        1. Form Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Strategic Planning Committee and begin planning process
        2. Form Ad Hoc Committee for rethinking and revamping SLA events
        3. Work with Faculty Affairs Committee to address COVID-related inequities
        4. Work with D&I Committee to address staff issue
        5. Aggressively market Pathways Minors and Dual Degree Advantage programs
      8. The Dean answered questions from the faculty
        1. Peter Thuesen asked how reductions in state appropriations would impact SLA. Rob explain that the IUPUI appropriation was cut 7% ($350k). Chancellor Paydar is committed to sharing the impact and not just asking the schools to absorb it.  There is a chance that there could be further reductions, which is why we have to expect campus to be extremely fiscally conservative right now. 
        2. Concerns were raised in chat about how the unusual times have the impacted the work we do. Rob stated that we will need to work to adjust annual reviews, P&T, etc. and expressed his commitment to do what’s right and best for faculty.   
        3. Tricia O’Neil added some good news on the financial side. IU launched a capital campaign with an initial goal of $2.5 billion, which has already been reached.  SLA raised its goal from $20 to 29 million, and we achieved that in April 2020. 
        4. David Craig asked for clarification on sabbaticals. Rob explain that he and Jeff are examining the approved sabbaticals that were put on hold because of COVID to see which are viable right now.  Some were for travel that’s not possible right now.  Rob expressed concern about not letting the sabbaticals “pile up.”  
        5. Nancy Robertson mentioned examples from other universities of administrators taking pay cuts by choice and encouraged IUPUI’s upper-level administration to look into that. She noted that the level of demoralization is high, and the administration needs to show that “not all the hits will be taken by faculty.”  Rob thanked Nancy for her message and said he would bring it up at the next council of dean’s meeting.  He explained that AO’s first line of cuts right now is the hiring freeze with a commitment to no pay cuts.  Nancy pointed out that hiring freeze increases workload for faculty and staff, which exacerbates the demoralization.  
  7. New business
    1. The Undergraduate Curriculum & Standards Committee brought three action items to the assembly for consideration.
      1. SLA’s participation in IU Online’s collaborative-build B.S. in Digital Storytelling. Herb Brann, Chair of UCSC, introduced the proposal. There was no discussion.   The proposal passed with 72 yes votes and 4 no votes. 
      2. SLA’s participation in IU Online’s collaborative-build B.S. in Spanish. Herb introduced the proposal. Michael Snodgrass asked about Bloomington not being part of the proposed degree.  Herb explained that they aren’t choosing to participate.  Josh Prada explained that all campuses are invited to participate and individual campuses decide whether to be part of the collaborative degree or not.  The vote was called.  The proposal passed with 66 yes and 7 no votes. 
      3. Pathway Minor: Liberal Arts Perspectives on Social Justice and Civic Engagement. Herb introduced the proposal. There was no discussion. The proposal passed with 81 yes votes and 3 no votes. 
    2. The Graduate Curriculum Committee brought two action items to the assembly for consideration.
      1. Approval of SLA’s participation in IU Online’s collaborative-build Graduate Certificate in Spanish. Katy Head, Chair of the Graduate Curriculum Committee, introduced the proposal.  There was no discussion.  The proposal passed with 73 yes votes and 3 no votes. 
      2. IU Online collaborative-build M.A. in History. Katy introduced the proposal and explained that Bloomington does tend to participate more in the graduate level collaborative build programs.  Kevin Cramer explained that the Department of History voted to approve this proposal.  They have been involved with the collaborative build BA in History, and this is a logical extension. He noted that the department has some concerns about staffing issues.  Daniella Koustron will liaise with IU Online.  Katy explained that Communication Studies is part of a collaborative build degree, but made a department-level decision requiring students in the MA in Applied Communication and the PhD in Health Communication to take only classes taught by IUPUI faculty.  Ray Haberski reminded everyone that SLA committees, such as the Online Committee, can help us address concerns related to online programs.  The vote was called.  The proposal passed with 67 yes votes and 4 no votes.  
  8. The meeting adjourned at 3:54 p.m.