The meeting opened with a call for the approval of the minutes for the previous Faculty Meeting, which took place on Nov. 7, as well as a reading of the abbreviated minutes for the meeting of the Committee of Six's 18th meeting that took place on Monday.
A question was raised by a faculty member regarding a reference to visiting artists and artists-in-residence with regards to the possibility of long-term contracts for the purpose of forming lasting relations between them and the College.
An objection was raised insofar as the language of the minutes seemed to indicate that visiting artists and artists-in-residence were to be considered in a different light than tenured and tenure-track professors.
Following the review of the minutes and remarks from President Tony Marx and the Dean of Faculty Gregory S. Call, the meeting moved on to the next item in the agenda: a proposed revision of the Charge to the Committee on Educational Policy (CEP). The Charge to the CEP, essentially, outlines the structure of the CEP in terms of its members and its duties. The proposal introduced text to the Charge that added a researcher to the CEP and elaborated an expectation of the CEP to "study" the general educational policy of the College.
Additionally, the proposal introduced the words "tenured and tenure-track" with regards to the allocation of faculty positions to departments and the statement that the CEP "considers the curricular needs of individual departments and the commitment of departments to offer courses that meet identified college-wide priorities and curricular needs."
Objections were made to the last two additions to the Charge. Again, the objection to the words "tenured and tenure-track" were raised in that they did not take into account faculty that did not fall under those categories, like visiting artists and senior lecturers.
Several faculty members objected to addition to the considerations of the CEP on the grounds that the ambiguity of the language could allow for interpretations that would restrict the CEP or various departments when submitting requests for faculty positions in the future.
Professor of Sociology and current chair of the CEP Jerome Himmelstein attempted to address these concerns, stating that addition to the charge was meant to serve as a tool for facilitating discussion about campus-wide priorities. He said, "the language gives us a direction to start conversations [with departments]."
The matter was soon called to question, at which time a series of votes were held regarding the issue. As a result of the voting, the words "tenure and tenure-track" were deleted from the Charge and the phrase "inter alia" was added to the charge after the words "the committee considers." An insertion proposed by Professor of Philosophy Alexander George: "inter alia" means "among other things." The insertion serves to specific that which follows it is not to be considered to be an exhaustive list of the considerations of the CEP. Following the vote, President Marx and faculty members took the time to bid the Amanda and Lisa Cross Professor of Physics Robert C. Hilborn farewell and good luck on his future endeavors.
The meeting then resumed with next item on its agenda: a Committee of Six Charge to the Faculty Committee on Admission and Financial Aid (FCAFA).
The Charge was followed by a session for questions to the administration and an addressing of any unfinished business.