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English Department Meeting: October 15, 2020

English Department Meeting Information

“Go forth! Be brave! Be proud! Be true!”

  • IUP English Professor Jane Leonard (1840-1925)

Image result for jane leonard iup

Thanks

  • To Dean Yaw Asamoah for many years of outstanding leadership of the proud College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Approval of Department Meeting Minutes

We will vote to approve Minutes from the English Department meetings held on the dates below:

  • 7/9/20 (Minutes Taker: Resa Crane Bizzaro)
  • 8/7/20 (Minutes Taker: Brian Carpenter)
  • 9/17/20 (Minutes Taker: Susan Comfort)

Minutes are available in the Microsoft Teams English Department Group folder called English Department Meeting Minutes.

Agenda Items

1. English Elections Committee Vote

  • Tanya Heflin has volunteered to join Brian Carpenter on the Elections Committee
  • We will hold a quick vote on this

2. IUP Fall 2020

  • Thanksgiving Break
    • Be sure to let students know in writing course requirements for after Thanksgiving break
    • Faculty are encouraged not to have students return from home, but you may require that if you feel it is best for your courses
  • Student Evaluations
    • All Student Evaluations will be sent via email link
    • Students get roughly 4 weeks to complete these
    • If you are teaching Hybrid or Remote and wish to set aside a specific time in which students can voluntarily complete their evaluations, you can arrange for someone to serve as a facilitator while you exit the room/zoom meeting
  • Student Remote Learning Choice
    • Because of current COVID-19 safety concerns, all IUP students have the right to request that they attend any class remotely
    • Although this is IUP policy, it is not officially written down
    • Faculty do not have to provide an online learning experience if they are already providing a remote zoom synchronous learning experience; students can be required to remotely attend classes on days/times that were scheduled in Banner (but non-scheduled times must be strictly optional)
    • If faculty want to require students to have their video screens on, this should be stated on the course syllabus (give out a syllabus addendum if you need to add it as a course policy)
    • Please be as flexible as you can be given the pandemic
  • In Person Attendance Issues
    • Some faculty have reported classes dwindling to very small numbers, around 5 or fewer students attending in person
    • That’s ok, but you might wish to adjust things if this happens
    • Please discuss with your students the possibility of going full remote (with scheduled zoom meetings) if that makes sense to you
    • Offer students the option to meet in person for office hours if they feel they need that
    • If you make a change, tell students you will check with them in 2 weeks to make sure the change is working
    • Provide your plan in writing to all students

3. IUP Spring 2021

  • Spring 2021 will be like Fall 2020
  • Spring Registration started on Monday, Oct. 12, and in the first 2 days, all open ENGL 101s filled up; we have kept back a few seats to handle special student needs
  • Please do not say students can add your classes in spring if they are full and closed; instead, send the issue to Gian and copy Dawnette so we can manage the enrollment numbers for you
  • Freshmen courses (ENGL 100, ENGL 101, ENGL 121, and ENGL 122) will be Hybrid (combination of in person with reduced student numbers and Remote/Distance Education)
  • The first 2 weeks of 100 level courses cannot be all online
  • All other courses will be Remote (primarily synchronous) OR Distance Education (asynchronous)
  • First Day of Classes for Spring 2021: January 19
  • Last Day of Classes for Spring 2021: May 3
  • Finals Week for Spring 2021: May 4-May 7
  • No Spring 2021 Break Week; instead there will break dates with no classes for the day throughout the semester on the dates below
    • Friday the 26th of February
    • Thursday the 4th of March
    • Saturday the 13th of March
    • Sunday the 14th of March
    • Tuesday the 23rd of March
    • Wednesday the 7th of April
    • Monday the 26th of April

4. Retrenchment

  • Dean Asamoah stated at the CHSS Chairs Meeting that the current faculty retrenchment number is projected at 134 (roughly 25% of faculty)
  • IUP Seniority Reports
  • APSCUF Retrenchment Toolkit (requires login)
  • Dean Asamoah has asked Gian to collect faculty CVs because some English faculty will be retrenched
    • The dean did not give a number of English retrenchments
    • Faculty need to send a current CV and/or a statement of professional qualifications to Gian AND Dawnette by Monday Oct. 19
    • This does not apply to TA’s
  • Retrenched faculty positions end on June 1
    • Since termination is involuntary, unemployment compensation should be available (contact APSCUF concerning this)
  • Every English faculty member is important and all are needed
  • Gian as English Chair gets no say in retrenchment decisions
    • It appears that the Chair will not even be told directly who is being retrenched
    • Please contact Gian if you are notified of retrenchment
    • Please also contact APSCUF
  • Any changes to retrenchment decisions would go through Dean Asamoah
  • Management has said it plans to meet individually with all faculty members being retrenched
  • If a person wishes to voluntarily retire in order to save another faculty member’s job, the retiring faculty member  needs to send notice to HR, Dean Asamoah, and Gian within 60 days of retrenchment letters being sent out
    • Please talk to Gian about this before taking any action
    • Please also contact APSCUF
    • Retirement letters can be set for a future date (i.e., a letter can be turned in November 15, 2020, for a retirement set to begin July 1, 2021)
    • Retirement letters cannot be withdrawn
    • No one is required to retire; retirements would be strictly voluntary
  • IUP management has also talked about cutting and/or outsourcing staff, but no information has been given about that
  • Retrenchment and further budget cuts could occur again next year too
  • Gian is willing provide a strong letter of recommendation for any faculty member voluntarily or involuntarily going on the job market

5. PROPOSAL: Winter/Summer Teaching Rotation Policy Addendum

  • Any faculty member who receives notification of retrenchment will have first priority for any winter and/or MAY summer teaching opportunity
  • The faculty member must be qualified to teach the course
  • 1 course offered per faculty member as available
  • Courses offered in reverse order of seniority
  • Any faculty member voluntarily retiring to save a colleague’s job would have next priority for these courses (1 per faculty member) in order of seniority
  • All other Winter/Summer Teaching Rotation Policies remain in effect
  • Summer/Winter Committee Chair: Sharon Deckert
  • Gian will work to assign all courses based on English policies fairly, equitably, and to provide help to any faculty member under threat of job loss

6. IUP Restructuring

  • President Driscoll has announced a major restructuring of IUP
    • This plan is being called IUP Next Gen
    • President Driscoll’s video announcing the plan
    • IUP’s press release about the plan
    • Dean Asamoah was not been given any written documents for the proposal; He was told some general details in a meeting with the Provost and President
    • Most of the plan details are still quite sketchy;  however, Dean Asamoah said he believed that this plan was 95% set in stone
    • All of this would go into effect for Fall 2021
  • The president announced that the College of Humanities and Social Sciences is being dismantled
    • The departments in CHSS, including English, will be sent to other colleges
    • Economics will be sent to Business
    • Anthropology and Geography will be sent to Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Information Management will also be sent to NSM
    • Sociology and Psychology will be sent to Health
    • Journalism may be cut entirely
    • It has not been decided where Political Science will go
  • The College of Fine Arts will be retitled the College of Creative Arts, Humanities, and Design
    • English will be sent to this new college
    • The departments of History, Foreign Languages, and a new combined Philosophy/Religious Studies Department will also go to the new college
    • The Dean said he believed the Honors College would also move to this new college
    • Dr. Asamoah will no longer be our dean
    • Dean Curt Scheib will become the dean of the new college
  • It’s possible that English Education, Social Studies Education, and Foreign Language Education will be moved to the College of Education
  • That particular decision has not been fully finalized, but it is likely that move will take place
  • Having asked around, it sounds like this might not actually happen
  • There is some talk that the two English doctoral programs would somehow be combined
    • Dean Asamoah said this was a bad idea which did not understand the nature of the two programs
    • That idea is still under review
    • President Driscoll did mention the importance of IUP’s doctoral research mission twice in his video; it is also mentioned in the written document

7. Background Clearance Checks

  • Some requests for people to do background clearance checks have been sent out
  • If you are notified that you need to complete a Clearances check, please also do this as promptly as possible
  • If you don’t have the proper clearances to teach, you can be pulled out of teaching any 100 level classes (this has happened to people, so please no it can be a real problem and avoid getting stuck in this situation)
  • If you are asked to do a clearance check, your email will likely be as follows:

8. Title IX Training

  • We will again need to complete the online Title IX training
  • Please make this a priority because IUP administration is growing increasingly strict about compliance
  • The new training is super quick and easy and informative
  • And yes, all of this may seem like a pain, but you’ll be glad you had some training when a student needs your help with a Title IX situation

Announcements

  • If anyone has an important announcement, we’ll use the last few minutes of the meeting to cover this