Faculty Senate Resumes

by Tom Westerman

Before introducing Adelphi President, Robert A. Scott to the Faculty Senate, January 29, Patrick Kelly, much to the glee of the members present, announced that due to the support of acting Provost Dominick Cavallo, 18 new tenure track positions have been authorized with the possibility of more on the way.

With that report Professor Kelly, associate professor of History, at the helm the Faculty Senate resumed its debate on issues prevalent to the faculty and the University at large. With Dr. Scott and Dr. Cavallo in attendance, the Senate was updated on issues that it will be involved in during the coming months.

Dr. Scott began his report by praising Dr. Cavallo, who plans to step down as acting Provost in September, as a "great friend and tutor." Despite thinking that it was too late to start searching for a provost, the second highest position at Adelphi and the Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Scott decided to hire Dr. Ronald Steed from the Academic Search Consultation Service to help conduct the search. Dr. Scott said he really opened up to the idea of starting the search now when he found out that Dr. Ken Prewitt, the former director of the Census Bureau under former President Bill Clinton, became a dean at the New School.

Dr. Prewitt is a "model" for Dr. Scott combining academic integrity with administrative experience. Dr. Scott admitted that he was upset that the possibility of having Dr. Prewitt join the Adephi team was out of the question and that drove him to believe that it was not too late to start a search.

Dr. Scott plans on being a member of the search committee along with members of the administration and faculty, and even brought up the idea of chairing or co-chairing it. That prompted Valerie Feinman, associate professor of Libraries to ask if there is a conflict of interest since the president has the final say. "No," said Dr. Scott, "I wouldn't want someone divergent from my views," and he reiterated that he would be a co-chair instead.

Professor Kelly asked if it would be possible to get someone who had tenure at another institution. Steven Goldberg, associate professor of Chemistry asked a follow up indicating the possibility of having the new provost tenured here. Dr. Scott said he would look into those options but did not want to rule anything out, including the possibility of elevating someone on the inside to the post.

The presentation continued to focus on the consulting firm that has been hired to assess the university with regard to objectives and overall assessment. Dr. Scott also indicated he plans for a balanced budget in two years.

After this presentation Professor Kelly asked members to present ideas on faculty development that would be presented to the administration. Professor Goldberg brought up the fact that faculty are not really compensated for conferences or other events that pertain to their field. Professor Feinman said that there "should be some money to show that Adelphi cares about presenting [at conferences]" or even help with tax deductions that are possible if a professor pays out of pocket.

Gayle Insler, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said that "if you go to a conference [etc.] we find money" to pay for some (not all) the expenses. But this only applies to the College of Arts and Science. Other departments have some budgets but, according to many professors, they do not adequately cover costs.