7:04 | Report from Director of ViCE Peter Denny ‘10 about the Flaming Lips concert. According to Denny, several restaurants reported excellent business on the night of the concert April 17.

ViCE “more than broke even” in ticket sales, Denny say.ViCE earned about $3000 from the concert, though they are still calculating the final amount, and ViCE still has upcoming events, which some of the money will go towards.

7:14 | Report from Vice President for Operations Brian Farkas ‘10: The 2010 Endowed Scholarship Fund has reached its goal and is on route to exceed it, he says.  The senior class will be hosting a panel discussion called “Why Do We Need Financial Aid” on Thursday, April 29.

The VSA elections results party will be in the Retreat tomorrow, April 26, at 8 p.m.

7:17 | Report from VSA President Caitlin Ly ‘10: “The College is close to an agreement with the county bus line.” The College will no longer run the campus shuttle during the week, but the VSA will continue to fund a weekend shuttle possibly on a more limited schedule. The county bus would not run students directly to the mall or to Stop&Shop, which the weekend shuttle will do.

The Old Laundry Building will be empty next year after development moves. As of right now, the space will be swing space–mostly office space–but the President is arguing for security to move into the building to have a presence in the center of campus or for the Computer Science Department to move onto the first floor.

7:24 | Decertification of Catalyst: “More of a merger than a decertification,” says Vice President for Activities Aaron Grober  ‘11. The magazine Catalyst will become the publication of the Student Activist Union.

7:25 | Decertification of the Investment Club: The Investment Club will be joining with the Entrepreneurs Club.

7:26 | Decertification of Red Panda: The Red Panda humor magazine has not published this year, and they have not indicated any plans to publish, says Grober.

7:28 | Vice President for Academics Stephanie Damon-Moore ‘11 is introducing a referenda. The referenda will ask students whether they would prefer to call ‘correlate sequences’ ‘minors.’

The argument is that many employers do not recognize correlates on students’ resumes and the when students come to Vassar they don’t understand what a correlate is and how it differs from a minor at other colleges. According to Damon-Moore, minors already differ amongst colleges and universities.

The Council is debating whether to include an explanation of what a correlate is. Damon-Moore says that she wants to understand how students already understand the distinction between correlate and minor.

7:48 | Allocation of $1250 from the Conference Fund to Christian Fellowship is unanimously approved.

7:50 | Allocation of $1500 from Collaboration to Town Houses for their music event “In Da Circle.”

7:53 | Open discussion.

7:01 | Executive Report from Activities: Activities: “We have some organization certifications looming on the horizon. Next week you will see the Gentlemen’s Sandwich Club and the Listening Center among others.” Activities also announces that Director of Campus Activities Terry Quinn and Associate Dean of the College Raymon Parker will now be intermittently sitting in on VSA Activities Committee Meetings to “check in on how the VSA is spending our student activities fee,” says Activities.

Fund Applications:

7:10 | Finance moves to allocate $5000 from Council Discretionary to the Community Shuttle. According to Operations, student Shuttle usage has gone up by about 12 percent since last semester.

7:12 | Motion passes unanimously.

7:44 | Finance moves to allocate $9000 from the Speakers & Lectures Fund to the Black Students Union (BSU). If granted the money, the BSU will host the Black Conference on April 23, which will feature music and lecturers and will focus mostly on black sexuality and black women, explains a representative from the BSU. Motion passes unanimously.

7:48 | Finance moves to allocate $2500 from the Conference Fund to the African Students Union. Motion passes unanimously.

7:49 | Finance moves to allocate $800 from the Conference Fund to the Polo Team. A representative from the team explains that the money would go toward the entry fee for the regional Polo competition, for which the Vassar team qualified following recent victories over Yale and Harvard Universities. Motion passes unanimously.

Open Discussion:

8:02 |  2011 asks Academics about the recent cancellation of Vassar’s five summer study abroad programs, explaining that he agreed strongly with the Miscellany News 1.28.10 Staff Editorial, saying that administrators should have sent an all-campus e-mail informing the entire community of this decision. Academics explains that as she understands it, the senior officers involved in making the decision “wanted department chairs to be the ones to inform their students about it.”

8:12 | Noyes: “The College seems to insist that the only people who care about a department are the majors within that department. We go to a liberal arts college, and the point is that everyone wants to explore different departments. Just because I’m not taking a class in the Italian Department doesn’t mean that I don’t care about the Italian Department … this is not the first time this has happened.”

8:18 | Strong, who is a student representative on the Committee on Curricular Policies (CCP), expressed frustration that she did not know about the cancellation earlier and that the decision did not go through CCP, as nearly all academic-based decisions typically do.

8:23 | President: “I do think that it’s really important that this Council be in support of experiential learning. Perhaps in the coming weeks we can draft a resolution in support of this.”

8:32 | Council adjourned.

]]> http://blogs.miscellanynews.com/newsroom/2010/01/31/live-blogging-from-the-jan-31-vsa-council-meeting/feed/ 0 http://blogs.miscellanynews.com/newsroom/2009/12/15/dean-of-the-faculty-sends-update-on-curriculum-changes/ http://blogs.miscellanynews.com/newsroom/2009/12/15/dean-of-the-faculty-sends-update-on-curriculum-changes/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:09:30 +0000 Molly Turpin, Editor in Chief http://blogs.miscellanynews.com/newsroom/?p=738 At 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 15, Dean of the Faculty Jon Chenette sent an all-campus e-mail with an update on changes to the 2010-2011 curriculum. According to Chenette, fewer than 14 current faculty contracts will not be renewed as his Nov. 15 e-mail on the curriculum estimated, and the curriculum for next year will likely be the same size or slightly larger than this year’s curriculum. 

“The larger-than-expected curriculum for 2010-11 results from two factors,” wrote Chenette, “restoration of courses to the curriculum through a reduction in course releases associated with department, program, committee, and administrative service; and an unexpectedly low number of faculty leaves compared to this year.”

According to Chenette, some departments were able to revise their staffing plans after initial responses from the Office of the Dean of the Faculty. “The smaller number of non-renewed faculty contracts results from specific decisions departments are making within the parameters outlined in response to staffing requests,” he wrote. “Some of these decisions are still pending, as departments continue to plan for next year.”

Chenette will share more specific information about the curriculum with faculty at the faculty meeting on Dec. 16 and will share information with students at an information session on Dec. 17 at 4 p.m. in Rockefeller Hall 200 as well as in information sessions planned for next semester. In the e-mail, he also encouraged students to contact the administrative assistants of departments and programs for more up-t0-date and particular information about course offerings.

The full text of the e-mail is below:

December 15, 2009

I write with an update on the status of planning for our academic offerings in 2010-11. Since early October, when departments and programs submitted staffing plan requests, my office has worked carefully with chairs and directors to develop balanced curricula that meet students’ needs for variety and depth in their studies. At the same time, we have tried to preserve for faculty the excitement of teaching in their current areas of research and creative interest as well as the energizing challenge of working with students at every level of the curriculum.

As our planning for 2010-11 proceeds, we improve our understanding of next year’s curriculum and staffing. We are now able to project that next year’s curriculum is likely to be about the same size or perhaps even slightly larger than this year, and the number of non-renewed faculty contracts is likely to be slightly smaller than the previous estimate of 14 that I provided in a campus email last month.

The larger-than-expected curriculum for 2010-11 results from two factors: restoration of courses to the curriculum through a reduction in course releases associated with department, program, committee, and administrative service; and an unexpectedly low number of faculty leaves compared to this year.

The smaller number of non-renewed faculty contracts results from specific decisions departments are making within the parameters outlined in response to staffing requests. Some of these decisions are still pending, as departments continue to plan for next year.

As we limit the number of replacement faculty, year-to-year fluctuations in faculty leaves can have a large impact on the size of some department curricula. In order to even out these fluctuations as much as possible, the staffing plan process this year included multi-year leave plans for each department.

Information on the number of course sections offered by each department and program next year compared to recent years will be shared at the December 16 faculty meeting, on the faculty Moodle site, and for students and others who attend information sessions this Thursday, December 17 (4 p.m., Rocky 200) or early next semester. To find out which specific courses are likely to be offered next year, contact departments or programs directly through their administrative assistants, who will have the latest information or can obtain it for you.

We have managed to achieve substantial savings in our projected faculty salary budget for 2010-11 while maintaining a varied curriculum that will continue to serve our students’ interests and needs effectively. Thanks to all whose input has contributed to our planning.

Best wishes for a restorative and fruitful winter break,

Jon Chenette
Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Music

7:03 | Report from the Committee on Curricular Policies (CCP) from Academics and Strong: Academics explains that the Committee has been researching peer institutions that administer their Course Evaluation Questionnaires (CEQs) online. The College has been exploring this option with the hope  that students would complete the CEQs more thoughtfully at their leisure at home, rather than in the last or second to last day of class. Academics also said that she is on the sub-committee that is looking into team teaching. This year, there are a minimum of 34 team-taught classes; last year there were 42 and the year beforethere were 52. ”The decrease already happened last year,” says Academics.

7:12 | Academics introduces a memorandum which, she explains, attempts to “walk the line between endorsing the sentiment presented in [the letter written by Judy Nichols] last week,” and also clarify inaccuracies, says Academics in reference to the letter that was drafted by Adjunct Associate Professor of English Judy Nichols and presented to the Council on Nov. 22 by representatives from the Campus Solidarity Working Group. During that meeting, members of the Council endorsed the letter in a 16 to 5 vote which followed at least three hours of discussion. “Ms. Nichols’ letter criticized the reductions in tenure lines, adjunct and visiting faculty members, and course sections as a result of the financial crisis,” reads the letter. “The document demonstrated a clear concern for the long-term health of Vassar’s multidisciplinary curriculum, our flexible course offerings, and our retention of excellent scholars and teachers. The Council voted to endorse this letter because we believe these are core properties of a Vassar education that our constituents value deeply.”

“Beyond these sentiments,” it continues, “which earned the support of the majority of Council, we feel it is our responsibility to acknowledge the inaccuracies within Ms. Nichols’ letter. As representatives, deep sympathy with a problematic or a cause cannot be an excuse to avoid the facts. The document presents a problematic interpretation of Vassar’s financial planning. We seek to highlight just some of the instances where the letter marshals false or incomplete evidence to make its case.”

7:25 | Noyes: “I really think we should vote on this letter tonight. We’re not going to agree on every single point of this memorandum, and I think that’s okay. I think that part of the point of this is that we all have different opinions.”

7: 30 | Operations explains that one of the concerns of last week’s endorsement was that constituents weren’t consulted before the Council voted in support of Nichols’ letter. “That’s not really an issue this week,” notes Operations, since the memorandum addresses actions of the Council and therefore only speaks for the Council members themselves, not their constituents.

7:36 | 2010: “It seems a little bit like we’re backpedaling or that we’re criticizing their letter.”

7:43 | According to the letter, the Dean of the Faculty released the information to the Executive Board that to the best of his knowledge 10 fewer sections will be offered next year, a much lower figure than the 30 to 40 estimated earlier this year.

8:00 | Council members propose small amendments to the wording of particular paragraphs or sections of the memorandum.

8:40 | Five-minute recess

8:58 | The Council unanimously endorses the memorandum, which will be sent to the Board of Trustees on Wednesday, Dec. 2.

A copy of the memorandum can be found at the bottom of this post.

9:08 | Allocation of $1000 from Mid Hudson Valley Fund to Hip Hop 101: Motion passes.

9:09 | Allocation of $1295 from Mid Hudson Valley Fund to Town Houses: Motion passes.

9:11 | Allocation of $875 from Great Works Fund to Vassar Public Art Committee: Motion passes.

9:14 | Open Discussion. Council adjourned.

—–

ACADEMICS MEMORANDUM

From: The Vassar Student Association Council

To: The Board of Trustees and Students of Vassar College

Cc: President Catharine Hill, Dean of the Faculty Jonathan Chenette, Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs Rachel Kitzinger, Dean of the College Christopher Roellke, Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Eismeier, Vice President for Development Cathy Baer, Vice President for Computing and Information Services Bret Ingerman, Vice President for College Relations Susan DeKrey, Chair of the Faculty Policy and Conference Committee Steve Rock

Date: November 29, 2009

We, the VSA Council, wish to elaborate on our 11.22.09 endorsement of the Campus Solidarity Working Group’s letter to the Board of Trustees. The letter, written by Adjunct Associate Professor of English Judy Nichols, was presented to Council by a group of five students. After a heated discussion of nearly four hours, Council voted 15-6 to endorse the document. We seek here to frame this endorsement in the context of our nuanced discussion.

Ms. Nichols’ letter—the second in a series of similar documents—criticized the reductions in tenure lines, adjunct and visiting faculty members, and course sections as a result of the financial crisis. The document demonstrated a clear concern for the long-term health of Vassar’s multidisciplinary curriculum, our flexible course offerings, and our retention of excellent scholars and teachers. The Council voted to endorse this letter because we believe these are core properties of a Vassar education that our constituents value deeply.

Our endorsement of this letter was, to some extent, a reflection of the mood of the student body. Council is comprised of 24 full-time students. We study in every academic department. We compete on varsity athletics teams. We do research with our professors, learn from the life experiences of our staff, and benefit from the multifaceted diversity within our own student body. Council’s views on Vassar parallels the views of our 2,450 constituents. Many Council members felt that they lacked accurate financial information; many felt unsure of the future of their department or their favorite professor; many felt annoyed that, while members of the Executive Board are routinely consulted on confidential financial planning, the broader student community is left in the dark until after decisions have been reached. These feelings, reflected by our 15-6 endorsement, are all reflective of broader concerns on campus.

We also respect the student contingent of the Solidarity Group who attended our meeting. We are their representatives, and it is our responsibility to channel their feelings to the College’s decision-making bodies. Even if we disagree on policy and approach, we applaud these students for caring about our College so deeply. Indeed, a consistent frustration among Council members is that surprisingly few constituents come to us with institutional concerns—unfortunate, in a financial climate inevitably filled with such concerns. We are often discouraged when students are apathetic about the state of the College, and do not seek information easily available through campus-wide e-mails, our VSA site, the Economy site, or The Miscellany News. We admire the commitment of the students in the Solidarity Group and appreciate their efforts to make Vassar a more conscientious, egalitarian institution.

Nevertheless, we harbor no unrealistic expectations that Vassar can remain unchanged. In this economic climate, the VSA Council is fully aware that the curriculum we all value must shrink. So too must our teaching staff. However, as members of the community, we cannot help but feel saddened when our teachers are let go. And as representatives of the student body, we cannot help but agree with the Solidarity Group’s sincere concern for the effect of the financial crisis on academic life and on the lives of community members.

Beyond these sentiments, which earned the support of the majority of Council, we feel it is our responsibility to acknowledge some of the many inaccuracies within Ms. Nichols’ letter. In its accusatory and hyperbolic tone, the document presents a problematic interpretation of Vassar’s careful financial planning. We seek to highlight just some of the instances where the letter marshals false or incomplete evidence to make its case.

The letter makes several inaccurate claims about the staffing and curricula of specific departments. Computer Science will actually be teaching four more course sections next fall compared to this year.[1] Film too will be one course ahead of the level of staffing they requested for 2010-11 because a new tenure-track appointee would have had a reduced course load in the first year.[2] As for the languages, the Dean of the Faculty office has indeed asked that tenure-line faculty members engage in teaching at the 100-level on a regular basis. Students at the 100-level deserve and benefit from contact with our tenured scholars, and our tenure-line faculty benefit from regular engagement with the challenges and rewards of teaching at that level. We disagree with the letter’s implication that this trend is negative. Further, we take issue with the letter’s baseless accusation that the administration has illegally forced faculty members to retire. While the College’s financial situation has no-doubt resulted in some retirement-age faculty feeling pressure to leave the institution, we have no reason to believe that the administration is the source of that pressure.

Most significantly, beyond these specific points, the letter conveys both implicitly and explicitly that decisions have been made by a small group of administrators without regard to community input. This is misleading. While our Senior Officers (most of whom are also teaching faculty) have directed financial planning, students and faculty also had direct input into decision-making. Two elected students—the VSA President and VSA Vice President for Operations—sit as full members on the Priorities and Planning Committee. The members of this group sit as equals, debating the College’s many noble aspirations alongside its financial restraints. The students, faculty, and administrators come together with optimism for what Vassar should be and realism for what Vassar can be. Through this committee, we have had (and continue to have) substantive and specific input into the financial decision-making process. On curricular issues, the VSA Vice President for Academics sits on the Advisory Group for the Allocation of Faculty Resources (AGAFR) and the Committee on Curricular Policies (CCP), and is a vocal advocate for multidisciplinary programs, the reduction of administrative course releases, and the general maintenance of our broad and diverse curriculum. The letter fails to acknowledge the substantive input that students have had into the current financial plan through their elected representatives.

Moreover, the letter implies that Vassar’s financial planning was reached haphazardly—that the senior administration hacked away at the budget without care for the curriculum or respect for the College’s employees. In fact, we recognize that the process was thoughtful and deliberative. Dean of the Faculty Jon Chenette has worked (and continues to work) with departments to ensure that we are making academic reductions in ways that will affect the broader curriculum as little as possible. We recognize that some members of the community, including some members of our own Council, object to staffing decisions in certain areas. However, the Senior Officers, CCP and AGAFR reached these decisions after long and careful consideration. This important work should not be dismissed.

We agree wholeheartedly with the document’s concern for the curriculum, and are pleased that since the Council’s endorsement, the most recent estimates suggest that the curriculum will lose only 10 course sections next fall, rather than the 30 previously estimated. It is important to realize that the damage done to the curriculum by these changes is not nearly as catastrophic as Ms. Nichols’ letter implies. By almost any measure, Vassar’s curriculum will remain flexible and diverse.

We would also like to clarify the conditions under which Council voted to endorse the letter. The members of the Solidarity Group told Council that Ms. Nichols planned to send her letter on Wednesday, November 25. As we later discovered, she did not plan to send it until Wednesday, December 2. This false date essentially prevented us from delaying the vote by one week to consider the motion in greater depth. While we do not believe that we were intentionally misled, this significant miscommunication put pressure on Council to act quickly. Many representatives saw this as a choice between “doing something” to advocate for the curriculum or “doing nothing.” Under this tight timeframe, the majority of Council elected to endorse the document. In some cases, this endorsement was more for the sentiments behind it than for the facts underlying it.

The feelings we express here are nuanced, but the issues facing the College are complex enough that such nuance is required. Unlike the Solidarity Group’s letter, we lack a unified thesis. We are instead left with competing and simultaneous thoughts—irreparable sadness for the loss of professors and staff, concern for our characteristically dynamic curriculum, profound respect for the College’s senior leadership, and a determination to mend our community and build an unshakable foundation for Vassar’s next 150 years.

[2] Film is indeed losing a tenured retiree, and that line may indeed be restored in the future. For the short term, the College is replacing all the courses that person would have taught by a combination of other types of appointments. Overall, the department will be one course ahead of the level of staffing they requested for 2010-11 because a new tenure-track appointee would have had a reduced course load in the first year.

For more information on next year’s curriculum, read Senior Editor Molly Turpin’s article, “Changes to curriculum to be announced by Dean of the Faculty this week,” from the Nov. 5 issue of The Miscellany News.

Please continue checking miscellanynews.com this week for further reporting on changes to the curriculum. To see Chenette’s letter in full, see below.

To: Vassar Community

From: Jon Chenette, Dean of the Faculty

Re: Faculty Staffing Update for 2010-11

November 15, 2009

As President Hill has explained in her letters to the community, work on developing a faculty salary budget for 2010-11, as part of the College’s necessary response to the economic crisis, has been ongoing over the past several months.  While the details of next year’s curriculum and who will staff it will evolve over the coming months as departments and programs continue their planning, the staffing plan that determines the overall shape of our curriculum for 2010-11 will largely be finalized this semester. I write to share with you an initial report on our work.

For several months, AGAFR (the Advisory Group on the Allocation of Faculty Resources) has been weighing faculty and student input, information about retirements, and other information about options for reducing the faculty salary budget in light of our educational mission and priorities. AGAFR’s advice has helped shape the parameters within which we are making faculty staffing decisions for 2010-11.

This week, all departments and programs at the College received my responses to their faculty staffing requests for next year. The process of responding to staffing requests from departments and programs takes place every year in the fall. This year, our consultation with chairs and directors took longer than usual because we knew we would be able to approve fewer requests than in the past. We wanted to be as well informed as possible.

In making staffing decisions, we paid particular attention to the desirability of having all faculty teaching at each level of the curriculum on a regular basis; we asked departments to coordinate more carefully the timing of faculty leaves; we asked departments and programs to preserve curricula that meet the needs of both major and non-major students, even if it meant that faculty could not teach all of the courses in special areas of interest; we limited the number of very small courses; and we asked departments to maintain a high level of commitment to multi-disciplinary program staffing.

Early in the semester we received requests from departments for authorization to conduct eight tenure-track searches. Three were requests to replace retiring faculty; three were to reauthorize searches that had been frozen in the previous year; and two were related to faculty members leaving the College.  In consultation with an advisory committee made up of faculty from the Committee on Curricular Policies, the Faculty Policy and Conference Committee, and the Faculty Appointments and Salary Committee, we approved tenure-track searches in Biology, Economics, and Psychology. Some departments whose requests for a tenure-track line were turned down at this time were approved for other kinds of appointments.

Departments and programs submitted requests for about 75 new contracts for non-tenure-track faculty to start next summer.  These requests were split almost evenly between faculty currently employed by the College whose contracts expire in 2010 and faculty yet to be hired. The contracts requested ranged from half a course to full teaching loads. If we had granted all 75 requests for new contracts, next year’s curriculum would have returned almost to the record size of last year’s curriculum.

Of the approximately 75 requests for new faculty contracts, two-thirds were approved.  Ten of those were approved at a level lower than requested. The requests that were not approved were divided almost equally between those for new contracts for current faculty and those for faculty not yet hired. There are approximately 14 current part-time and full-time non-tenure-track faculty members for whom new contracts were requested but not approved for 2010-11.  The teaching loads of those faculty constitute the equivalent of seven full-time faculty members.

We understand and deeply regret that our decisions concerning staffing requests will present particular hardships for those current faculty members for whom new contracts for 2010-11 were recommended, but not approved. We appreciate and thank them for the significant contributions they have made to our students and to the college community. We are working on ways to support them as they plan for the future.

Approximately half the College’s departments and programs are affected by these decisions to reduce or not approve requested contracts. Departments relatively unaffected by this year’s reductions were asked to contribute in other ways where possible, through such things as added Freshman Writing Seminars or expanded commitments to multidisciplinary program staffing.

Preliminary analysis suggests that the 2010-11 curriculum overall may end up about 30 to 40 class sections smaller than this year. This year approximately 1150 class sections are being taught. Reductions in release time from teaching for faculty who perform College service such as serving as chair or director or on various committees have preserved more than 30 class sections for the curriculum that might otherwise have been lost. We appreciate the cooperation of those who will be called on to provide leadership and service with fewer course releases, and we will take concrete steps to try to make their jobs easier and more rewarding.

Many people desire more information on how the reductions and non-approvals of requested contracts will affect specific areas of the curriculum. To the extent that such information can be shared while preserving the confidentiality of individual contracts and the privacy of those affected, we will compile that information and share it with students and faculty soon.

The strength of our College depends on the strength of our faculty and curriculum.  Many within the faculty ranks have worked tirelessly to develop staffing plans that serve the best interests of our teaching, of our students, and of the College.  While we have had to make difficult and sometimes painful choices, I believe that the deliberative process that has informed our decisions has led to plans for next year in which every area of the curriculum will continue to provide course offerings that are varied and exciting. I look forward to supporting the work of the remarkable teachers, scholars, and creative artists who constitute our faculty as we offer an extraordinary education for our diverse and talented students.

—

Jon Chenette
Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Music

7:02 p.m. | Attendance.

7:02 | Forum on Academics with special guests Rachel Kitzinger, Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs; Jon Chenette, Dean of Faculty; Steve Rock, Chair of Faculty Policy and Conference Committee (FPCC) and Fred Chromey, Chair of Faculty Appointments and Salary Committee (FASC) and Faculty Compensation Committee (FCC).

7:07 | The President asks the guests to speak about how the economic crisis will affect academics at Vassar. Chenette: “The next month is a really critical one, where we’ll decide what the curriculum will be for 2010-11.” This is a year when we will need to make substantial reductions in our faculty salary budget. My approach to making these difficult decisions is trying to focus on what seem to be the most pressing needs in the curriculum, for instance how many 200-level courses do students in a particular major actually need, if enrollments in a particular departments look like we could have one or two fewer courses in the department.”

“One way students are involved in the decision making process,” continued Chenette, “is Stephanie Damon-Moore [Academics] is on the Advisory Group for Allocations of Resources (AGAFR).”

7:12 | Rock: “It’s clear that the curriculum is going to shrink, although it’s also true that the curriculum is not going to shrink as much as some people are afraid it’s going to shrink.”

7: 14 | Chromey: “The shaping of the curriculum comes up from the department. And students have a voice at that level.” Chromey cites majors committees as a key way for students to involve themselves in the decision-making process.

7:21 | In regards to reducing faculty, Chenette says, “The most difficult decisions are going to be with the non-tenured faculty.”

7: 28 | Jewett asks how administrators look at required courses when making cutbacks to the curriculum. He sites Organic Chemistry as a class in particular which was very hard for him and other students to get into. ”I want to hear when you have the sort of experience that you had,” said Chenette. “I can look at enrollment numbers, but I don’t know necessarily what the wait list was, or how many students were closed out of classes. Please be communicative with the majors committee and try to get the word to me about these long-term problems. I do try to keep in touch with the Registrar about heavily-enrolled classes, and yet different students are going to have different experiences.”

7:31 | Strong asks how we compare to our peers in terms of “curriculum choice and classes.” Chenette: “This year we think we have about 60 fewer class sections this year—we won’t know for sure until we see the course schedules for next semester.” Last year, Vassar had 1250 class sections for the 2008-09 academic year, which he explained was an example of an ” incredibly diverse and rich curriculum.”

7: 36 | Strong also asks whether or not the downturn will affect tenure and promotion processes. Chenette: “We ruled that out having any effect at all at the beginning of the year.”

7:37 | Operations asks about the Computer Science department in particular. “It makes me a little sad that that department has already shrunk in by about 1/3 because I know that we’ll want that department and other sciences to remain strong in the years to come.” Operations also asks what FASC hopes to change about the Course Evaluation Questionnaires (CEQs).

Chromey: “What FASC would really like is a different instrument in addition to the CEQs. We’re thinking about what else we could do to improve our picture of teaching. We want to look at people who are maybe more removed form the experience—maybe interview seniors, having letters from alumnae/i. In terms of improving the CEQs, I don’t know. I think FASC would be interested in what other people say. There seem to be a lot of questions on there, and it’s very hard to interpret them. Usually things are correlated and we don’t find that they’re a very fine instrument for evaluating teaching.”

7:44 | In regards to the schedule requirement that mandates that there be no classes after 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Chenette says, “The Committee on Curricular Policies (CCP) will be looking at a draft course schedule revision that the Registrar put together that would move that Wednesday  free time to Friday. I’m not sure this will be popular with the faculty, but it would be a way to free up the schedule.”

7:50 | Town Students asks whether or not it’s true that many faculty have volunteered to take pay cuts in order to save the jobs of their peers. Rock replies that the rumor likely has little truth to it, explaining that few have volunteered to take a pay cut and that overall there has been “strong faculty opposition to a freeze, let alone cuts. It’s true that some are advocating cuts, but the vast majority are against it.” Chenette adds that the College strongly believes in “competitive salaries” for faculty.

8:10 | Report from the Food Committee. According to Student Committee Chair Ezra Roth ‘10 and Student Life the possibility that seniors will have to participate in a limited meal plan is no longer on the table. Get more news about the Food Committee from The Miscellany News food, health and athletics blog VC Fit.

8: 14 | Roth explains that the Committee is in the process of reviewing ACDC’s meal cycles, which last for four weeks. “We’re reviewing that right now.” Roth cites french toast as a meal that reoccurs about three times throughout the cycle that could be replaced with a more popular option for two of those three meals.

8:19 | Roth and Student Life respond to a question about the Atrium reopening, saying that though it’s being discussed it’s not a possibility for the near future.

8:25 | Jewett asks whether or not more stations can be open in ACDC in between typical meal times. Roth: “We’re working on it.”

8:31 | Executive Report from Student Life. In regards to the recent influx in campus security alerts, Student Life explains that Dean of the College Chris Roellke has arranged for additional rounds on foot, rather than in dormitories. According to Student Life, there will also be increased lighting. Town Houses asks why she never sees campus patrollers on campus and, in particular, in the campus patrol huts around campus. The President explained that there was a reduction in 30 student campus patrollers, but Dean Roellke is in favor of “bumping that number up for second semester.

8:39 | Executive Report from Academics. Academics explains that she has been working on enriching existing majors committees and developing committees for majors in which committees do not already exist. “It would be really great if you could give me ideas about how to get student input about these issues,” says Academics to the Council members.

9:20 | Appointment of Joshua Rosen ‘12 as Cushing House Freshman Representative. All Council members vote in favor. The motion passes.

9:22 | The motion on the table is the allocation of $925 from Speakers and Lecturers to the Vassar Association of Class Activists to bring labor organizer Veronica Leyva to give ”Border Dynamics,” a lecture discussing the battle at the border to confront militarization, increased internal migration and insecure living conditions. The motion passes unanimously.

9:26 | Open Discussion

9:27 | Finance asks Council to consider another fund application, since the event in question will occur before the next Council meeting. Finance moves to allocate $1100 to the Vassar Virginia Smith Debate Society from Council Discretionary Fund to help fund the Society’s participation in their annual off-campus debate tournament.

9:33 | Finance moves to amend the allocation amount to $890.

9:41 | Finance withdraws his last amendment and moves to amend the amount to $1,100. All vote in favor of the amendment. All vote in favor of the motion to allocate $1,100 to the Debate Society.

9:42 | Council adjourned.

The decision to reduce library hours starting this semester was met with serious concern and disapproval from students.  After a petition signed by over 10 percent of the student body asking for the reinstatement of the original hours, the administration has responded by reinstating the original hours. However, “because of the nature of staffing constraints, the library may have to close on any given day at midnight, if there is illness or any other reason that staff cannot be present,” wrote Kitzinger.

“We also plan to continue offering extended hours during study and exam periods,” she added.  “I would like to thank Security for their contribution to this solution and all the students who have made constructive suggestions. I also offer my thanks to the whole community for your patience.”