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Provost’s Report to Faculty – April 2020

Andrew Bruso

Dear Colleagues:

As I begin this report, I must first thank the faculty for working so hard to make the best of the COVID-19 complicated educational milieu in which we find ourselves as disruptive circumstances and continuing uncertainties challenge us.  I thank you also for your receptivity and responsiveness to our students and their thoughtful expression of hopes and aspirations in the recent open letter from students to the faculty.

As I will say more about below, students miss in-person interactions with the faculty.  Students feel the loss of the extensive engagement that New Paltz seniors rate more highly here than do their peers at comparator institutions, on a national survey that examines student perceptions of their undergraduate experiences.  It inspires us to realize that students long for a return to our vibrant campus life so rich in learning opportunities mediated by the faculty both inside the classroom and through interrelated out-of-class activities and events.  Knowing that students miss and even mourn their interactions with the faculty, I encourage you to continue reaching out to students who so value signs of your investment in their intellectual and personal growth in these difficult times.

In this report, I will provide updates and announcements as well as call your attention to faculty awards, honors, and publications reported since last month.

Contents

  • New Paltz Substantially Ahead on National Survey of Student Engagement Indicators
  • Middle States Self-Study Progress Continues
  • Updates on Matters Impacted by COVID-19 in Spring 2020
    • RTP/SI
    • SUNY System and RTP – Invited Comment
    • SEIs
    • Sabbaticals
  • Recent Faculty Awards, Honors, and Publications
  • Faculty Development Center (FDC) Survey
  • Reflecting on Departmental Meetings

New Paltz Substantially Ahead on National Survey of Student Engagement Indicators

As you may know, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), a widely used self-report instrument, examines student perceptions of a group of factors called Engagement Indicators.  The survey is administered periodically to samples of first-year and of senior students and inter-institutional comparisons of results signal institutional strengths as well as potential areas for further study.  On the most recent administration of the NSSE to New Paltz seniors, for three of the ten indicators, there was no significant difference between our seniors and those from peer comparator institutions (other institutions that had also admitted our students).

However, on six of the ten Student Engagement indicators, our seniors’ scoring of the indicator was significantly higher than that of seniors at comparator institutions.  Those included, in the NSSE category of Experiences with Faculty, a) Student-Faculty Interaction and b) Effective Teaching Practices. Judging from such findings, in my estimation, our students cannot wait to return to the exceptional learning experiences offered by the faculty here on our New Paltz campus and I have no doubt that the anticipation is mutual.

Middle States Self-Study Update

The Work Groups for the Middle States Self-Study have continued their attention to the draft reports on their respective assigned standards while the Middle States Steering Committee has continued its charge to optimize articulation and demonstration of the extent to which we are meeting the characteristics of excellence.  At the April 22 Faculty Senate meeting, the Middle States Work Group addressing Standard VI:  Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement will present its report.

As the draft self-study iteratively evolves towards completion, there will be opportunities for the larger campus community to review it.  Before the self-study circulates to all campus constituents, a seven-member editorial team of faculty and staff which has ultimate responsibility for refining the report will review it, ably headed in that effort by Dr. Tom Olsen, English, who has recently agreed to serve as lead editor for the Middle States Self-Study.

Updates on Matters Impacted by COVID-19 in Spring 2020

RTP/SI: Through the shared governance process and considerable consultation, one-time modifications have been made to the RTP review process and to the SI review process for full-time faculty.  For the RTP process, the Central Committee’s timeline to complete its reviews has been extended to allow for appropriate social distancing and for related safety and health measures while still ensuring that dossiers receive thorough and thoughtful reviews as always. For the SI process, a one-time change has been made whereby upon recommendation of the SI Committee, the Faculty Executive Committee voted to bypass the review of the SI Committee this year.  In both cases, applicants have been notified and reassured that their materials will be fully reviewed at each prescribed level for this year and candidates’ opportunities to respond if desired will be fully preserved.

SUNY System and RTP – Invited Comment: In recognition of COVID-19 disruption to faculty teaching, scholarly/creative activity, and service affecting faculty at all SUNY campuses, System Provost Tod Laursen invited comments from institutions with regard to possible pausing of the tenure clock and potential modifications to faculty evaluation resting on SEIs, peer observations, and curricular materials.  Based upon input from our Faculty Executive Committee, the Deans, and President’s Cabinet, New Paltz campus input was forwarded to SUNY with recommendations to:

  • Offer every pre-tenure faculty member the opportunity to add a full year to the tenure clock with an OPT OUT feature.
  • Continue to administer SEIs as they provide an important venue for student feedback and serve as a valuable source of insights for faculty as they consider enhancements to curriculum and instruction.  However, offer an OPT OUT feature allowing teaching faculty to exclude SEIs, peer evaluations, and curricular materials from Spring 2020 from all future dossiers whether for reappointment, tenure, or promotion.

Student Evaluations of Instruction (SEIs): While it is important that an OPT OUT feature be available to faculty, providing teaching faculty the opportunity to exclude Spring 2020 SEIs from all future dossiers for reappointment, tenure, or promotion, SEIs remain valuable sources of feedback and thus will be administered April 23 through May 7.  Judging from the exceptionally high SEI response rates at the College, New Paltz students clearly value this opportunity to provide input and appreciate that faculty use student feedback in considering enhancements to curriculum and instruction.  Judging also from the empathy for faculty expressed in a recent article in the Oracle, students do recognize that this has been an anomalous semester, challenging not only for them.

Sabbaticals: As a result of COVID-19 related disruptions and upon their request, two faculty members have been approved for postponement of their 2020-2021 awarded sabbaticals.  After review of the requests including their budgetary impacts, the sabbatical leaves, one semester-long and one year-long, were approved to be conducted in 2021-2022.  In providing this update, I would be less than forthright if I did not add that while the call for sabbatical applications for 2021-2022 is scheduled to go out on May 15, our uncertain budget situation means that sabbatical funding for 2021-2022 could face curtailment.

Recent Faculty Awards, Honors, and Publications 

Please join me in congratulating all of the faculty for whom you will find a listing of recent honors, awards, presentations, and publications at https://sites.newpaltz.edu/news/2019/03/faculty-and-staff-awards-honors-and-publications-13/.

Faculty Development Center (FDC) Survey

Faculty, staff, and administrators are encouraged to complete the annual anonymous survey to help the Faculty Development Center improve its programming and resources.  Please go to the following link to complete the survey: https://newpaltz.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9B9HXuEkStsMAxT

Please also continue to visit the FDC website to learn the latest about the center’s impressive array of programs designed to support and enhance our talented and expert faculty in teaching, scholarly/creative activities, and service roles.

Reflecting on Departmental Meetings

It was fortunate that I was able to complete a full round of departmental meetings before the coronavirus crisis emerged.  What a loss it would have been had I not had the opportunity to learn so much from our conversations about faculty’s well-earned points of pride, program goals and aspirations, and challenges and opportunities faced at the departmental level.  During the entire cycle of meetings from October 16 through February 26 of this academic year, we had no way to know that our challenges would come to include the COVID-19 pandemic.  What I was able to begin to learn about the creative, dedicated, and generous spirit of the faculty through those meetings buoys my confidence that the College is as well-positioned as any public institution of higher education to make it to the other side of the coronavirus crisis and to thrive more than ever in meeting its academic mission.

Best regards,

Barbara

Barbara G. Lyman
Interim Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs