Monday, April 3, 2023

April 2023 - EFC Committee/Liaison Reports

FACULTY COUNCIL

Tue 11 Apr 2023

EFC NOTES – Submitted by Minnetta V. Gardinier

  1. Call to Order

  1. Approvals
    1. Meeting Agenda
    2. Faculty Council Minutes (March 7, 2023)
    3. Draft Faculty Senate Agenda (April 25, 2023)
    4. Faculty Senate and Council Election Results (Ana Rodríguez- Rodríguez)
    5. 2023-24 Committee Recommendations (Ed Gillan, Chair, Committee on Committees)

  1. New Business
  1. UI Communication Strategy (Jeneane Beck, Assistant Vice President for External Relations, Office of Strategic Communication)

Building & Protecting the Brand – it’s not just about the ‘logo’
 

5 priorities: 1) establish priorities for the Univ and the strategic plan; focus on our audiences (both Univ and outside); rely on metrics for effectiveness; serving the campus; constantly evolving as needed

Numerous OSC resources:

  • Graphic design
  • Recruiting/marketing materials
  • Photography (incl. faculty headshots; uiowa.photoshelter.com for campus photos)
  • Video production
  • Social/digital media (incl. stories.uiowa.edu)
  • Web development (use no code / low code SiteNow layout builder)
  • Brand resources (see brand.uiowa.edu)
  • Training opportunities
  • Targeted internal communications for faculty/staff, students, parents
  • Advisory group with faculty/staff/students

  1. Charter Committee Update (Carolyn Colvin, Faculty Co-chair, Financial Aid Advisory Committee)

  • Financial Aid Advisory Committee reviews policies and makes recommendations to the President
  • Assist the Office of Student Financial Aid
  • Committee incl. 6 faculty, 6 students (3 undergrads, 2 grad, 1 professional), and 2 staff – it has been difficult to recruit students on this committee
  • Recent changes – simplify the FAFSA application; expand Pell Grant eligibility; expand college access
  • Concern for the coming year – federal DOE will not be ready to go by October – early 2024 is new target date; Univ will be struggling to fill this gap time

  1. Faculty Policies & Compensation Committee Update (Doris Witt, Chair)

FPCC is advisory only – no ‘clout’

It has worked on 4 main projects this past year:

  • Operations Manual – III.10. Faculty and III.29. Faculty Dispute Procedures affecting Tenure Track, Clinical Track, Research Track, and Instructional Track faculty (reviewing and working to update these sections)
  • Reviewing the rules and enforcement on policy for consensual relationships involving students
  • Proposed a new Ops Manual policy to address consideration of misconduct that occurred in prior employment
  • Putting together a report following the new Instructional Track Faculty policy that was completed this past year, collaborating with the Faculty Senate

  1. President’s Report (Ana Rodríguez-Rodríguez)

Primarily, thanks to her Faculty Council colleagues over the past year. Ed Gillan (Chemistry) will be the new President (2023/2024).

  1. From the Floor – nothing

  1. Announcements
  1. Faculty Senate meeting - Tue April 25 (3:30 – 5:15 pm), Senate Chamber, Old Capito
    Election of officers will take place.

  1. Executive Session
      1. Michael J. Brody Award recipients

  1. Adjournment

The Faculty Senate met Tuesday, March 28th

Reported by Mary Ann Rasmussen of EFC

Main Items on the Agenda:

Amber Crow, President, Graduate and Professional Student Government, spoke about issues important to her group, events they’ve organized, and causes they’ve supported. She emphasized mental health concerns, DEI efforts, food and economic insecurity, and the desire among graduate and professional students for a sense of community and connection. 

President Rodriguez-Rodriguez led discussion of the Mental Health Training Resolution put forward to University of Iowa faculty and staff by Undergraduate Student Government. The resolution encouraged all faculty and staff to participate in an online mental health training program called Kognito.  Reasons cited: it will help staff and faculty know what mental health resources are available on campus; provide faculty and staff with the skill set necessary to partake in interactions with students experiencing mental health struggles or crises; since all incoming freshmen and transfer students are now required to take Kognito training, faculty and staff participation will create “a sense of shared understanding across campus”; and Kognito has a high success rate. The resolution passed.

Liz Tovar, VP of DEI, spoke about the need to stand up for and be able to explain to others the value and importance of university DEI efforts.  She cited a massive misperception of what DEI is and does and discussed the impact in these areas of proposed state legislation to end or curtail DEI: faculty recruitment, athletics, research grants and federal funding, student success, and our institutional reputation.  Faculty asked questions about the upcoming Regents review of DEI. VP Tovar is not yet certain what they’re doing or the process they’re using. 

Minutes for the Feb 9th Faculty Senate Meeting are available at https://faculty-senate.uiowa.edu/sites/faculty-senate.uiowa.edu/files/2023-03/Minutes.Faculty%20Senate.02.07.23_0.pdf

Key moments from that meeting include presentations by Pres. Wilson and Athletic Director Gary Barta; a DEI Lightning Talk on Equitable Assessment by Sara Nasrollahian Mojarad and Anastasia Williams from the Center for Teaching; and a presentation on the results of the Working at Iowa Survey by Rachel Napoli from University HR and Isandra Martinez-Marrero from Division of DEI.

Presidential Committee on Athletics

April 6, 2023 Meeting

Reported by Bill Hines EFC

Chair Zaharis called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

The Minutes of the Feb. 28, PCA Meeting were approved with one minor correction.

The Head Coach Speaker was Dave Dilanni, Women’s Soccer. Iowa’s women’s soccer program has been successful under Dilanni, with one Big Ten championship and two NCAA appearances. He spent some time describing the new soccer facility now in its second year. It has made a significant impact on the soccer program, both in its daily use and in recruiting. The soccer team graduated 14 players last May, so this season was something of a “reload.” The returning team is younger and more athletic than any team he has coached at Iowa and he has high hopes for another Big Ten championship. The Big Ten is the premier women’s soccer conference in the U.S. and the Midwest states are great sources of soccer talent.

Beth Goetz gave a short Power Point presentation on the HERky’s program, a recently created affinity organization for Iowa’s current and past women athletes.

 Chair Zaharis reported on her recent attendance at Iowa women’s basketball competitions in Minneapolis, Seattle, and Dallas.

The three PCA Subcommittees reported on their recent meetings

Academic Achievement discussed the “Missed Classes Policy.”

Diversity. Equity & Inclusion discussed the possible impact of efforts in the Iowa legislature to curtail Board of Regents schools’ DEI programs.

Student Athlete Well-Being met with ISAAC to discuss ways to help faculty members better understand why student athletes must miss some classes.

ISAAC reported its recent activities, including its meeting with SAW, continuing efforts to help student athletes transition into future jobs outside of sports, and the upcoming Volunteer Day.

Athletic Director Gary Barta reported on Big Ten and NCAA activities. The search is underway for a new Big Ten Commissioner., and plans are being developed to absorb UCLA and USC into the Big Ten. The new NCAA President i office and is maintaining a high visibility.

 In his Athletic Director Report, Barta cited the great success of Iowa sports over the past 3 years – an unprecedented 14 Big Ten Titles and numerous wins in NCAA competitions, topped by the women’s basketball team’s recent trip to the Final Four and Men’s wrestling finishing as 2d nationally. New season ticket requests for women’s basketball total 7000, not counting renewals.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m.