Attendance:

Faculty Senate: Mahmoud Abdalla, William Arrocha, Mahabat Baimyrzaeva, Philipp Bleek, Pushpa Iyer, Katherine Punteney, Thor Sawin (President), Anna Vassilieva. Assembly: Netta Avineri, Kathi Bailey, Chuanyun Bao, Ashley Beleny, Abdelkader Berrahmoun, Marie Butcher, Paige Butler, Daniel Chatham, Wallace Chen, Avner Cohen, Cherry Ding, Monica Galligan, Kent Glenzer, Gabriel Guillen, Jacolyn Harmer, Tony He, George Henson, Andrea Hofmann-Miller, Maria-Jesus Iglesias-Barca, Renee Jourdenais, Eva Klaudinyova, Jeff Knopf, Fredric Kropp, Jeff Langholz, Heekyeong Lee, Charles Lester, Beryl Levinger, Wei Liang, Jason Martel, Chris McShane, Sabino Morera, Pablo Oliva, Barry Olsen, Deniz Ortactepe, Patty Pai, Grace Shen, Kalina Swanson, Max Troyer, David Wick, Tanya Williams, Joseph Wojowski, Adam Wooten, Charlotte Zhu. Guests: Laura Burian, Jeff Dayton-Johnson, Laurie Patton, Patricia Szasz, Toni Thomas. Staff: Justin Hitt, Stacie Riley.

The Faculty Assembly meeting was called to order by Faculty Senate President Thor Sawin at 12:16pm.

Thor welcomes everyone to the meeting. 

Update from President Patton: Laurie thanks the Assembly for inviting her to give a brief update, and states she is glad the wildfires are over. She sees the work and flexibility the faculty have shown during this pandemic and would love our leadership in future work on distance education done well. Laurie states that the students on the Vermont campus are grateful to be there in person and there is good energy on campus. There has been one positive COVID case and two disciplinary actions. If being back on campus would work anywhere, probably a rural school in Addison County, VT is where it would work best. Lastly, Laurie is thankful for the leadership taken at MIIS in instituting anti-racism courses. 

VPAA Dayton-Johnson Update: Jeff thanks the Assembly for the invitation, noting it is good to see everyone again and welcoming the faculty to the fall semester. He is going to briefly cover the updates requested by the Senate last week.

• Dorm Building at 787 Munras. There is currently no change in the plan due to COVID. The building should be operational in the 2021-2022 academic year, more likely in the spring of 2022, which was the original plan. As a reminder, a development firm (used previously by Middlebury) purchased the building and Middlebury is the broker between the current owner and the developer. Sustainability graduate assistant Corbin Panturad has been contributing suggestions regarding the renovation of the 787 Munras building. His suggestions are primarily focused on incorporating sustainable practices and features into the interior renovation and the use of greywater to conserve on water usage. Jeff remains optimistic that we will stay on schedule.
• Update on Project Underbrush and MIIS as a Study Away Site. The pandemic has certainly created new ways for undergrads to take courses on our campus. Currently, there are six MIDD undergraduates taking a total of seven MIIS courses remotely. While this is a good number, we would have liked for it to have grown a bit more. Operation Underbrush, which was delayed due to COVID, has provided an inventory of policy obstacles that are being addressed at this time.
• Enrollment: Jeff points out that Day 20 of the fall semester is the official headcount day for fall FTE’s. We will have more accurate and complete information later this month. Due to the pandemic, this year we allowed students to defer their admission. There were 74 who deferred, 20 until the spring and 54 until the 2021-2022 academic year. We also made it easier to be a part-time student. We are in a much better position than we feared we might be and are on par with last year in terms of class size. We are seeing leaves of absence, but Jeff is uncertain if there are more of these this year than previously. At least 38 students said they were coming to MIIS because we were online this fall. As a matter of fact, being online allows for later admissions and some students are currently still completing the process for this fall. 
• Financial situation heading into AY: Jeff states that he does not have a lot of definitive things to say on this front; David Provost would be the best person to speak on this subject. Jeff commented that the budget which was approved for fiscal year 2021 was approved with full wage continuity. The budget is lean and does include new pandemic-related expenses. The goal of Middlebury is not to take extraordinary cost-saving measures such as furloughs, layoffs, etc. To Jeff’s knowledge there is no set date as to when the budget will be revisited, and no explicit communication has been shared about which exact triggers will lead to which cost-cutting measures. Although there are a lot of things that can happen over the year, Jeff remains guardedly optimistic about the Institute’s enrollment and the COVID situation in Middlebury.
• Future Planning: Obviously with so much of the pandemic unknown, it is difficult to determine if J-term and spring 2021 will be on campus or online learning. We are preparing a calendar of decisions (i.e. what are the decisions, when will they be made internally, when will they be announced, etc.). The Institute Council will be working on this tomorrow and will be bringing it to the Institute Leadership Group on Thursday. There are five big decisions that need to be made and then communicated:
  • December commencement. Jeff doubts we will be able to invite everyone to Monterey.
  •  J-term.
  • Spring semester. This is probably the biggest decision.
  • Summer 2021. 
  • Fall 2021.

Jeff’s hope is that over time each decision will reflect a genuine opening of opportunities for students, informed by changes in the policy environment in this state and the pandemic environment. In order to serve our international students hybrid classes might be necessary. It could be virtually impossible for international students to be on campus in the spring, IF we are indeed on campus in the spring. Jeff hopes to have a public calendar of decision dates by the end of this month. He does note that the Presidential election could and likely will have an impact on these decisions, but notes we cannot wait until November to work on these plans. 

Chief Diversity Officer Update: Pushpa states the first section of the required anti-racism courses started yesterday, and she is currently working on the second course, which starts this coming Monday. She has been in close contact with the SAT, Faculty Senate, and Council of Program Chairs collecting input on the required training for faculty and staff, which will be taught by consultant Erica Huggins. She is also restarting the “What Can I Do” series, which lead to good conversations over the summer. She will be sending out more information about this semester’s invited speakers, as the information becomes available. Pushpa also notes that she is working closing with BIPOC (Black, indigenous people of color) to ensure their voices are heard. There are still approximately 200 students who need to sign up for the course, and she asks faculty to encourage their students to register. Lastly, Pushpa mentions the students are participating in a pre and post course survey (where we started and what we ended with), and she hopes to report those results. She does note that she will not be sharing the student reflections. 

At this time, Thor asks anyone who is not a faculty member to please leave so the Assembly could conduct their business.  

MIIS Faculty Numbers and Committees: 

• We are a small faculty for academic year 2020-2021 made up of 70 regular faculty (49 in GSTILE and 21 in GSIPM), 8 visiting faculty, and 78 adjunct faculty. Thor expresses his appreciation of the adjunct faculty. 
• We have three new regular faculty, Patty Pai in Chinese Translation, Wei Ding in Chinese Conference Interpreting, and David Mohr in TLM. 
• 2020-2021 Faculty Senate: Mahmoud Abdalla (GSTILE., 2018-2021), William Arrocha (GSIPM, 2018-2021), Mahabat Baimyrzaeva (Ex officio member and Faculty Constituent to the Institute Board of Advisors, 2020-2023), Philipp Bleek (GSIPM, 2020-2023), Pushpa Iyer (GSIPM, 2018-2021), Katherine Punteney (Vice President/President Elect, 2020-2023), Thor Sawin (President, 2018-2021), and Anna Vassilieva (GSTILE, 2020-2023).
• 2020-2021 Faculty Evaluation Committee (FEC): Abdelkader Berrahmoun (At Large, subbing for Anne Campbell), Sharad Joshi (GSIPM), Pablo Oliva (Chair, GSTILE), and Tanya Williams (GSTILE). 
  • Paige Butler has stepped down from the committee, which leaves an opening for a GSIPM rep. Wei Liang is willing to serve in this role and will be on the upcoming ballot. 
• 2020-2021 Academic Policy, Standards, and Instruction Committee (APSIC): Maha Baimyrzaeva (GSIPM), Wallace Chen (Chair, GSTILE), Jinhuei Dai (GSTILE), Heekyeong Lee (At Large), Lyuba Zarsky (GSIPM). 

Thor thanks all departing committee members, then asks if either Pablo or Wallace would like to speak. Wallace states it is his pleasure to serve as the Chair of APSIC. He encourages anyone with questions about programmatic changes to contact him or another member of the APSIC committee. 

Reminder of Passed Legislation from June 2020: 

• The beginning of the governance year has been changed to July 1^st to align with current practice. This is the time when new officers will assume responsibilities, and when handbook changes from the previous year will go into effect. 
• The faculty handbook has been changed to allow electronic ballots, and virtual meeting attendance of eligible faculty is counted towards quorum. 
• The Faculty Assembly will now meet a minimum of twice each semester. 
• New language has been added to section C.6.i of the Faculty Handbook clarifying eligibility for sabbatical after sabbatical postponement due to Institutional need or world events beyond faculty control. 
• Under extraordinary circumstances, the VPAA may allow faculty who took a leave without pay for one year or less to count that time towards contract renewal, sabbatical, and/or promotion.

Legislation Passed August 25, 2020:

• At the FEC’s request, the Senate passed a vote to remove the peer review committee step from the sabbatical timeline. This year, we encourage those going up for sabbatical to solicit a letter of support from their Program Chair and ask at least one peer to review their application. This change allowed the Senate to move the faculty submission date from September 15 to September 30.  

Review of Handbook Measures on September 1 Ballot: Thor will be sending eligible faculty members a ballot this afternoon, which was held over from the spring, and includes: 

• Endorse Wei Liang for GSIPM rep on the FEC.
• New Faculty Senate Presidential Succession Model. Thor explains that currently when a new president is elected for a three-year term, they start without knowledge of what has happened previously in the Senate and what their duties involve. The Senate proposes a transition model where a new Senator is voted in as President Elect, an understudy for their first year, the second year they serve as President, and the third year as Past President. If you approve this model, there would be a different President each year, but would provide continuity in the Senate leadership. 
• Change the timetables for contract renewals and promotions. This would give spring hires a different first contract renewal date, clarify the VPAA recommendation date, and add the date for promotion to full professor to be submitted to the Board of Trustees. 
• Add language on what happens after a faculty member files a grievance against the Senate.
• Change the timetable for faculty evaluation of the Dean.

Upcoming Senate Priorities:

• Review the handbook and policies manual regarding online teaching. APSIC does review the student policies manual every year, but a detailed review on the policy for online learning will need to be done. There are several fully online MA proposals coming down the pipe this year. The Senate might need to convene an ad hoc committee for this purpose.
• The role of language on campus. This still needs clarification. The Senate will make this a priority this year. 
• The Senate has worked hard on revisions to sections 1-7 of the Faculty Handbook; however, work needs to be done on Section 8, which has not really been touched. This includes faculty protection from student complaints. We want to ensure that the Faculty and Employee Handbooks clearly states what the protections are for faculty, and what the consequences are if a student’s complaint is unfounded? 
• Culture of exceptions constantly granted to our students. This practice can makes faculty seem like the bad guys when we try to enforce a policy that is on the books but is often overridden by other faculty or administrators. We will be working with the administration on this issue.  
• Considering One School idea, merging GSTILE and GSIPM. There is already integration behind the scenes, i.e. Angie Quesenberry supporting both schools. Do we want to have the two schools merge or be more integrated? What would be gained and what would be lost?
• Advocate for international faculty. Faculty members on H1 visas are in a precarious position. We also want to ensure we can continue to recruit international faculty in the future.
• Professors of The Practice. It is an unclear status in our handbook and in the contract renewal and promotion processes. This rank keeps running into issues. How do you feel about maintaining this distinction between Professors and Professors of the Practice? The Senate needs to spend a lot of time on this issue this year.
• Visiting faculty on multiple single-year contracts vs. multi-year contracts. These people are essential to the delivery of our programs. Last February we passed a measure allowing visiting faculty on multi-year contracts to apply for faculty development funding so long as those faculty also underwent an annual review. It has recently come to our attention that MIIS only hires visiting faculty on single year contracts, although the Faculty Handbook strongly discourages this practice. Should visiting faculty on multiple iterations of a single-year contract be allowed to seek development funding (ex, should a certain number of single-year contracts be viewed as a multi-year contract)?

Announcements:

Thor states that some of the College professors have formed a union through which they are advocating for different issues (http://sites.middlebury.edu/aaup/). MIIS faculty are welcome to join. 

Marie Butcher announces that the International Cultural Gathering is in the process of planning events, which are open to faculty and staff. Last semester they hosted a very successful poetry event. 

Thor adjourns the meeting at 1:41pm.