<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=44fwhG_1GrmI4v400" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=44fwhG_1GrmI4v400" width="1200" height="800" ></figure>The Ithaca College Faculty Council met for its monthly meeting Nov. 3 where the members discussed the college’s proposed academic restructuring in executive session and continued debating changes to the faculty handbook. Dennis Charsky, professor in the Department of Strategic Communications and chair of the Faculty Council, proposed an executive session. Charsky said the majority of the meeting would take place during the session for the council to discuss the proposed merger. The session was proposed to be closed to all non-council members with the exception of invited guest Melanie Stein, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, and Narges Kasiri, professor in the School of Business and chair of the Department of Management. Kasiri is not a current elected member of the council and said via email to The Ithacan that she attended the meeting as a senior faculty guest to listen and support the School of Business. Kristina Shanton, music librarian for the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, proposed that the executive session be limited to only elected members of the council. “I don’t believe that it is fair to have people outside of the faculty council members who have the privilege and the responsibility to be here during executive sessions,” Shanton said. “I don’t believe that it is fair to have some individuals from schools without offering that opening to all individuals from all schools. I think there are a lot of people that would like to be here in this meeting.”Charsky said he chose to invite Kasiri because of how the proposed plan would affect the Business School. “The model that was purported is one that was going to effectively close the business school,” Charsky said. “I thought it was well worth the time and effort that she become a fly on the wall and be able to take that conversation back to her school.” After much deliberation, the council voted to conduct a closed paper ballot vote in which a vote yes would be a vote to exclude anyone who is not a faculty council member or Stein from executive session, and a vote no would be to allow the meeting to stay open. The final vote was 15 yay and eight nay. The council then moved to a closed executive session with Stein as a guest, and Kasiri left.“Sorry, I was just doing a favor to a colleague,” Kasiri said. <h2>Changes to handbook</h2>Kelley Sullivan, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and a leader in the Faculty Handbook Amendment Committee, proposed changes to the handbook about faculty promotions at their last meeting Oct. 6. The proposed amendment would change the criteria for promotion from associate professor to professor. The current criteria include the word “normally” and the phrase “teaching experience.” The amendment proposes to remove this to clarify that a candidate can be eligible for their promotion review in their sixth year of teaching as long as at least five years as an associate professor have been completed. Sullivan said the rationale for doing this is to clarify how time away from teaching, such as sabbaticals or leave for family or medical reasons, would affect the number of years of teaching experience. “[It] seems in contradiction and a penalty for someone who might undergo something difficult or joyous as a baby in their life,” Sullivan said. “Normally many folks have been putting themselves up in their sixth year with five to five and a half years of teaching experience, so that seems sort of in keeping with the typical or current practice.”Devan Rosen, professor in the Department of Media Arts, Sciences, and Studies, asked what the difference is between a hypothetical faculty member who took a sabbatical and then took medical leave and someone “going up” after three semesters. “I don’t see why one would be able to go up and the other not,” Rosen said. “They’re putting them forward in the same package. One has just been getting paid for three more semesters.” Sullivan said that to her, a sabbatical is a time of improvement for a faculty member’s teaching. “A sabbatical is in service to the college,” Sullivan said. “Leave is just not something someone should be penalized for. It’s something that happens in their life.” Sullivan said it might be best to postpone the decision on the amendment and instead give council members more time to discuss.“Promotion is a very important part of our process as faculty,” Sullivan said. “So I think we will pause to try to gather that information [and] keep conversations going.”</div></body>

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The Ithaca College Faculty Council met for its monthly meeting Nov. 3 where the members discussed the college’s proposed academic restructuring in executive session and continued debating changes to the faculty handbook. Dennis Charsky, professor in the Department of Strategic Communications and chair of the Faculty Council, proposed an...

Faculty Council discusses proposed restructuring in executive session

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The Ithaca College Faculty Council met for its monthly meeting Nov. 3 where the members discussed the college’s proposed academic restructuring in executiv

Faculty Council discusses proposed restructuring in executive session

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