As usual there is a lot happening. I have been working over the past few weeks with the Faculty Advisory Council, with Stephen Klein of ARC, and with the Provost to pull together the various activities of the faculty and organize them into some achievable schedule. This has required reviewing the tasks currently before ARC and slated to come before ARC this year, all the task force reports and recommendations, the progress of the CLA2 Task Force, the new committees at work this year including the Deans Evaluation Committee and the soon to be created Academic Structure Exploratory Committee (ASEC) -- about which more in a moment. There have been very productive meetings between the Faculty Advisory Council and the Academic Review Committee; and with both of those groups and the CLA2 Task Force and the Provost.
I am now presenting to the faculty (and posting on the FA website) an overview agenda for the Faculty Assembly for the year with tentative dates to help us plan and order these various activities. The document includes a chart detailing each objective and subobjective, who is responsible, what the status is, what the next step is, who is responsible for the next step, and a tentative deadline. There is a key to the abbreviations on the chart attached. The information is also provided in a different format as a breakdown by Faculty Assembly meeting throughout the year. Please feel free to respond and to bring to my attention other activities I may have overlooked.
The priority items on the agenda are 1) the evolving discussion around Course Load Adjustment – and we will be voting on the first 3 recommendations of the CLA group at the Nov. 12 faculty assembly and the Gen Ed implications will be considered in the spring 2) the evaluation of ARC and decision regarding the appropriate faculty assembly structure – the first stage of which will be the presentation of ARC’s self-assessment at the Nov. meeting followed by analysis and queries at the unit level and at the FAC level, discussion at the Dec. meeting, and final discussion at the February meeting, followed by a paper ballot and 3) the examination of whether the academic structure under which we currently operate (schools, convening groups, deans, conveners, etc.) is, in fact, the most appropriate structure. To this third end we (the Faculty Assembly leadership and the Provost jointly) are establishing a new task force: ASEC (the Academic Structure Exploratory Committee) to study all the proposals that have been made to date by individual faculty, task forces, etc. (including the recommendation for a new Teacher Ed Institute and the recommendation for a new school of International Education) and to gather and analyze additional proposals and suggestions by the faculty. The provost in his report will outline the charge, the make up, and the process for this committee. They will be producing a report in time for a special faculty assembly meeting on in-service day (i.e. there will be two faculty assemblies that day – a regular one in the morning and a special one in the afternoon). The special FA will be solely devoted to discussing and responding to the report and recommendations of ASEC.
I would also like to alert you to some upcoming events:
**Today through Saturday (Nov. 12-15) are the final performances of
The Seagull, directed Maria Vail Guevara at 8p.m. Berrie Center.. See
http://www.ramapo.edu/news/pressreleases/2003/10_22_2003b.html
**Next Mon., Nov. 17, Prof. Karl Johnson, will be speaking on "The African American Connection: From Slavery To Present." From 1-2 in SC219.
**Next Tues. Nov. 18 Prof. Walter Brown will be speaking on “The JFK Assassination: Forty Years of Unanswered Questions” from 1-2 in SC137. Pizza and soda served.
**Next Tuesday is the Founder’s Day Program and Dinner from 3:30-5:30 in the Pavilion featuring the presentation of the Fred and Florence Thomases Award to Professors Michael Edelstein and Maria Vail Guevara. Congratulations to both!
**Next Wed. Nov. 19 there will be a book discussion on Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich sponsored by the Women’s Studies Group 3:30 in the Women's Center
Also next Wed. Nov. 19 Prof. Sam Mustafa will be presenting on "The Past Doesn't Like to Move: Meaning, Memory and the Story of a German War Memorial" from 4:30-6 in Pavilion 3 (There will be refreshments!)
**Dec. 5 David Biesel will be a guest speaker on “Hitler,
Diplomancy and Emotions: The Role of Feelings in Dealing with Nazi
Germany from 1-2 in A108-109
**Ongoing; Text, Number, Story: Video by Jewish and African American Artists
A changing program of videos exploring themes of displacement,
telenomadicism, and language curated by Professor Shalom Gorewitz Berrie
Center Photo Lounge
** Through Dec. 12 New Jersey Newest Artists Potter Library Gallery
**Through Dec. 12 (Opening reception today Nov. 12 5-7) Counterparts: Self-portraiture
of Joan Semmel and John Copeland Kresge Gallery and Alumni Redux 3 (Alumnus
Jeff Birdsill) Pascal Gallery