Report of the Faculty Conference Committee 2002-2003 Academic Year

For many years the FCC has worked diligently to improve faculty participation in the overall planning and policy formulation processes of the College. This year's iteration of the FCC has continued in that tradition. We believe that the fruits of this long effort can be easily seen in the high level of participation of faculty in discussions of plan 2010 and in the renewed focus on elected faculty committees as the primary location for evaluating and reevaluating policies, problem solving, and planning. Concerns about parallel governance have receded. The FCC could not have achieved this success without the support and cooperation of President Creighton, Dean O'Shea, and the Trustees. It is our belief that faculty are in a unique position to evaluate the degree to which specific policies and the overall strategy embodied in the larger planning process satisfies the academic mission of the College. Therefore, it is our hope that future FCCs will continue to find creative ways for faculty to participate in formulation of College policies and plans.

The FCC took as a primary mission for the year to improve the general conditions for teaching and advising, while simultaneously addressing new issues brought to our attention by members of the community. Towards this mission, we conducted a survey of faculty early in the year to ascertain what areas of concern should be given precedence. The following areas were identified:

Honor Code: In addressing the honor code (referred to in faculty legislation in appendix 5, paragraph 7), the FCC met and/or corresponded with a wide range of individuals and committees, including the Student Conference Committee (SCC). The meeting with the SCC made it clear that the student leadership shared our concern with strengthening the honor code. It was determined that a critical aspect of this process of strengthening the honor code was to improve communication with both students and faculty about the meaning of the code. The conversation between the FCC and the SCC led both groups to conclude that there was a great deal of confusion about the honor code, including a misconception, by some, that there were two distinct honor codes, one for social life and the other for academic life. In further conversations with other constituencies it became clear that there was a need for the establishment of an ad hoc committee to address these issues. The FCC concluded that the most appropriate approach would be for the Multicultural Community and College Life (MCCL) committee and the Academic Policy Committee (APC) to collaborate in the establishment of such an ad hoc committee, with both faculty and student representation. MCCL and APC subsequently agreed to take on this task with the assistance of the outgoing and incoming Deans of the College.

Classroom Assignment Process: The FCC addressed the problems with the classroom assignment process both by communicating with the appropriate administrators (including communicating the need to improve handling of handicapped accessibility issues) and by processing data received from the Registrar's Office to determine the extent and source of the problem. The preliminary conclusion was that the problem was not College-wide but primarily resulting from spikes in demand for certain types of classrooms, such as mediated classrooms and seminar space, during certain times within certain buildings. The FCC is continuing to evaluate this issue, including reviewing past consultant's reports on classroom space, and stands ready to make concrete recommendations upon completion of our analysis.

Registration Process: The FCC met with the registrar to discuss problems with the registration process. The College is planning a wholesale restructuring and computerization of the process and the FCC is confident the concerns of faculty will be addressed by the new registration system. As we understand it, the new process will create a far more flexible and manageable registration process, allowing faculty increased latitude for determining the requirements for participation in classes and class size maximums. It should also result in a better experience for students.

Future Tenure-track Faculty Positions: The ability to secure the increases in tenured and tenure track faculty outlined in plan 2010 was also an area of concern, particularly given the budgetary issues that have arisen in the current economic climate. The FCC has played an active role in the process of thinking through plan 2010 and keeping faculty concerns about the academic mission at the forefront of discussions. The FCC has reason to feel sanguine about the future cooperation between the Trustees and faculty committees in seeking creative ways to continue moving forward with objectives related to our academic mission, including funding new faculty positions, as outlined in plan 2010.

Dean of the College: Faculty had previously requested the FCC review the Dean of the College position out of concern that the Dean of the College had been given too wide a range of responsibilities (covering student life, administrative issues, and academic/curricular concerns). President Creighton addressed the specific concern that the Dean of the College needs to be in a better position to address curricular objectives by restructuring the responsibilities associated with that position. The President and the FCC had fruitful discussions on this matter and shared a strong belief that the final restructuring would significantly strengthen the Office of the Dean of the College. Our optimism about the future role of the Dean of the College as an important voice on curricular matters was reinforced when a member of the FCC, Lee Bowie, was selected to fill that position.

Plan 2010: The FCC met with President Creighton and the Educational Priorities Committee (EPC). The FCC made the case for opening the process of evaluating drafts of plan 2010 to more faculty and, more generally, community input. Plan 2010 was topic of the day for two faculty meetings and faculty participated in a series of meetings with Trustees. FCC feels confident that adequate opportunity for faculty and, more generally, community input was provided and that this process sets the standard for future plans.

College Mortgage Program: FCC has continued to play an important role in reviewing changes to the College Mortgage Program. This year Planning and Budget, working with the Treasurer's Office, has done stellar work in producing a positive modification to the College Mortgage Program that benefits young faculty members, in particular, and addresses concerns that housing costs in South Hadley have been rising at a pace that reduces the overall utility of the existing mortage program. The changes raise the limits for the first and second mortgage and provide for lower interest rates on the second mortgage. The College Mortgage Program changes will be outlined in detail on the FCC website --- mhcfaculty.net before the end of April.

College Retirement Policy: FCC is in the process of reviewing and making a recommendation to the Trustees on a new voluntary early retirement option. This option has already been reviewed by Planning and Budget, which has an FCC representative. However, as is usual policy with the FCC, we want to make sure that faculty benefits are not, in any way, reduced as a result of adoption of this policy. When and if the Trustees approve a new retirement policy, FCC will post the policy in detail on mhcfaculty.net and provide the policy in writing to any faculty member who requests a hard copy.

Agenda for Faculty Meetings: FCC meets with the Dean of Faculty and Associate Dean (and secretary for faculty meetings) to set the agenda for each faculty meeting. A long-term objective of the FCC has been to streamline and make more efficient the agenda. In particular, FCC continues to be concerned that too much time is taken for reports and not enough for faculty governance. The FCC anticipates that future improvements to the agenda for faculty meetings will be necessary as part of an overall strategy to improve faculty participation in the meetings.

Campus Master Plan: FCC has had to deal with a number of issues related to the Campus Master Plan. Most of these issues have arisen because of either inadequate faculty consideration of construction projects (such as the new parking lot on College Street) or revisions to the existing plan that were not properly vetted through faculty committees (such as the alteration in the road adjacent to Lower Lake). FCC continues to seek improvements to the process of decision-making that would reduce the probability of similar problems in the future.

mhcfaculty.net: FCC continues to provide a website for publicizing policy changes and providing a home for FCC surveys of faculty. FCC welcomes suggestions for improvements to the website, including ways the website might better serve the faculty.

Code of Conduct: FCC has handled a complaint from staff members relating to budgetary issues and the code of conduct by referring the issue to the Treasurer's Office. The FCC hopes to continue to be helpful in finding creative ways to address budgetary issues, primarily by referring suggestions to other committees or to appropriate administrative officers.

Lecturers: In the past, the FCC has played an important role in reshaping College policy towards lecturers and senior lecturers. FCC continues to monitor these policies and respond to problems that arise out of potential disparities in the treatment of non-tenured members of the faculty.

Standing Committees: Committees are the core component of the governance structure at the College. The FCC has, in the recent past, restructured committees with the hope of making them more effective. Nevertheless, the ability for committees to serve as vehicles for meeting the mission of the College and realizing objectives related to that mission depends upon the quality of faculty participation. Thus, FCC continues to work diligently to identify the best possible nominees for standing committees.