The Ithaca College Faculty Council met April 1 to discuss proposed questions for student statement surveys.
The meeting opened with a report from Melanie Stein, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, who said the March 22 Experience Ithaca event saw a 55% increase in attendees from the same event last year. Stein said the increase in attendees could be because the college has been pushing to admit students earlier than last year and because of faculty engaging with admitted students.
“A lot of the work that’s going on right now is you guys, the faculty,” Stein said. “Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. … We really appreciate those efforts.”
Paula Murray Cole, professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance Performance, met with the college’s SGC at its March 24 meeting to get feedback on proposed changes to student statement surveys to bring back to the Faculty Council.
Proposed survey questions
- The methods of instruction in this course contributed to my learning
- Overall, this course contributed to my academic, professional and/or personal growth
- Overall, the classroom environment fostered an equitable space where diverse backgrounds, perspectives and abilities are valued
- Please comment on aspects of the course that contributed to your learning and should be continued
- Please comment on aspects of the course that you think should be changed
The Faculty Council passed questions one, three, four and five but did not pass question two. Additionally, the council passed the motion to switch questions four and five in an effort to end on a positive question.
At the end of the meeting, Dave Gondek, professor in the Department of Biology, said that in Spring 2026, there will be no classes held on the day of the Whalen Symposium. Stein said the space in the Spring 2026 calendar allowed for the flexibility to not hold classes that day while still maintaining the same number of classes across meeting times.
“We have to do this tinkering where we have the same number of Mondays and Tuesdays and so on,” Stein said. “We have been talking about this for years and we saw an opportunity … [but] we are not losing a day of classes.”
The Ithaca College Faculty Council meets on the first Tuesday of every month in the Taughannock Falls room of the Campus Center from 4-6 p.m. The faculty council can be contacted at [email protected].
