Present: Mahmoud Abdalla, Mahabat Baimyrzaeva, Philipp Bleek, Katherine Punteney (Vice President/President Elect), Thor Sawin (President). Absent: William Arrocha, Pushpa Iyer, Anna Vassilieva. Staff: Stacie Riley.
Budget Advisory Committee Update: The committee met on Monday, March 8. It was announced that the Board of Trustees will not approve an unbalanced budget for fiscal year 2022. To achieve a balanced budget many of the cuts made during the pandemic will remain in place. A survey was then produced.
- Question one dealt with ways to achieve savings, many of which affect the college only.
- Moving the student ratio from 1:8 to 1:9. MIIS student ratio is already higher than this.
- Reduce retirement contributions at the college from 15% to 11%, which is where MIIS is currently. This option was very unappealing to the college faculty.
- Keep all open positions unfilled.
- Question two asked if after balancing the budget there was a surplus what priorities should be restored first.
- Cost of living increases.
- Salary compression adjustments and faculty and staff promotions.
- A low priority was increases to operational spending such as travel and library funding.
Campus Master Plan: Facilities has requested a meeting with faculty in April to gain feedback on the two proposed next steps in the Institute’s Master Plan. The Senate agreed that a town hall (if interaction is desired) or a survey would be the best option. Thor will propose these options to Facilities.
Faculty Feedback Survey: A survey will be sent to faculty after spring break to gather feedback on the following items:
- Timing of student evaluation.
- Anti-bias statement for student evaluations with researched citations.
- Faculty presentation day options.
- Discussion with faculty member and peer review committee as part of the promotion process.
- Single peer review committee for both promotion and contract renewal, if going up in the same academic year?
- Generate ideas about other sources that can contribute to teaching effectiveness besides student evaluations.
- Information gathering on faculty workload review.
Upcoming Faculty Town Hall: On Thursday, March 11, there will be a faculty town hall to discuss planning for the fall 2021 semester.
Meeting with General Counsel: A meeting between the Faculty Senate and Hannah Ross still needs to be scheduled. Thor will invite Hannah to attend a meeting after spring break.