The Academic Wick - Hartwick College

The Academic Wick
A Newsletter from the Office of Academic Affairs
Fall 2005 Volume 2, Number 2
In This Issue
• Faculty Review
Proposed
General
Education
Curriculum
• Ad Hoc Task
Force to
Develop
“Liberal Arts in
Practice”
Proposal
• More 2020
Vision Retreats
Scheduled
• Architects
Continue With
Schematic
Design Phase of
Golisano Hall
• Dean for
Integrated
Learning Search
Postponed
• Welcome Matt
Sanford as
Hartwick’s New
Registrar
• Freedman Prize
Competition
Concludes
• Pine Lake
Summer
Institute RFP
Deadline
Extended
• Provost
Anderson
Attends Council
of Independent
Colleges (CIC)
Chief Academic
I can’t believe that the fall semester is already drawing to a
close. We will be implementing the new end of the semester
calendar with no final exams scheduled for Saturday or
Sunday. Please let me know how you think this new schedule
works. The Faculty continues to work hard on the general
education curriculum and it appears as though we are making
progress. Significant progress is also being made on
assessment plans for the major. I am very pleased with the
effort faculty have put into developing their assessment plans.
I wish all of you a very joyous holiday season.
PEACE!
John
Faculty Review Proposed General Education
Curriculum
Chairman Malone and Faculty Council introduced the proposed General
Education curriculum at the November Faculty meeting. After a formal
presentation, faculty broke into working groups with Faculty Council members
serving as facilitators and recorders. Faculty have also been “weighing in” on
HARTLIST and during the “teaching tables” luncheons.
As a participant/observer in attendance at the last teaching table, I was moved
by the stories many faculty shared about their own general education
programs in their undergraduate schools. Not surprising was that there were a
wide range of experiences represented in the room, everything from a very
prescriptive traditional “core” curriculum to a totally elective general education
approach. I quickly concluded after listening to those testifying in the room
that afternoon, that all of these diverse general education programs produced
bright intellects that have a deep passion for the liberal arts! Maybe we are
too worried about structure and should spend more time thinking about how
we can validate our claims – we may learn more about how effective our
curriculum is that way.
Ad Hoc Task Force to Develop “Liberal Arts in
Practice” Proposal
I have reconvened an ad hoc Task Force for developing what I refer to (until

Officer
Conference
• Ad Hoc Task
Force Formed to
Discuss
Disaster
Planning
• VP Wood
Explains New
Budget Reports
to Department
Chairs and
Dean’s Council
• Education
Commissioner,
Richard Mills, is
the Les Rude
Lecturer for this
Year
PLUS!
*ASSESSMENT
TIPS
*PHOTO GALLERY
Faculty
Development
• The 2005-06
Faculty Lecture
Series:
December 2, 2005
Laurel Elder
February 17, 2006
Scott Dalrymple
March 3, 2006
Susan Navarette
April 7, 2006
Jason Antrosio
May 5, 2006 Rich
Brown
we can come up with a better name) a “Liberal Arts in Practice” program. The
goal is rather straightforward. I would like to be able to guarantee that
every student will have, as part of their Hartwick College experience,
an opportunity to participate in an off-campus J-term program or paid
internship.
This would be available to all students as part of their tuition. Students, who
couldn’t afford the cost for an off-campus J-term or not be able to do an
internship because they couldn’t afford living costs, will be able to have at least
one of these experiences made available to them. I think this would be an
excellent achievement. The proposed program would be supportive of our
educational mission and philosophy. In addition, I believe it would add a very
marketable and distinctive element to our educational program. Currently, the
members of the Task Force include: Bill Wood, Greg Krikorian, Patricia Maben,
Ellen Falduto, Shannon Forbes, Mary Krikorian, Nadine Carvin, Larry Malone,
and me as convener. As this idea matures, we intend to have various
constituencies respond to the idea before we bring it to the Board of Trustees.
To date, we have run the numbers through a “rough” business model and have
deemed it worthy of further attention. We have also roughed out some policy
issues as well. Our next step is to sharpen the pencil and put something down
on paper.
More 2020 Vision Retreats Scheduled
By the end of the academic year, we hope to have conducted three additional
2020 Vision Retreats with students, alumni, and Board of trustee members.
The retreats will be conducted in the same way as were the ones with faculty
and Dean’s Council. There will be a required reading of four articles about the
future of higher education and in particular, liberal arts colleges. We will
collect comments in a follow-up report that will be combined with the current
retreat reports and used in consideration for our next strategic planning phase.
Architects Continue With Schematic Design Phase
of Golisano Hall
Representatives from Burt, Hill,
Kosar, and Rittelmann were in town
this past November to refine
schematic designs for Golisano Hall.
They spent one day meeting with the
scheduled building occupants by floor.
Once again, I observed some excellent
give and take between the architects
and faculty and staff as we worked
toward a final floor plan. Any day we
should see the revised floor plans on
the designated website. Please contact

Office of Academic
Affairs
John M. Anderson
Executive Vice
President and
Provost
Gerry Hunsberger
Dean of Academic
Affairs
Donna Avery
Director of the Office
of Academic Affairs
Carla Tenace
Assistant to the
Dean
Kay Amatucci
Part-time secretary
Joan Place
Part-time secretary
me if you still don’t have access to the website or if you have any concerns
about the revised plans.
Dean for Integrated Learning Search Postponed
President Miller and I both concluded that it would be in the College’s best
interest if we suspended the search for the Dean for Integrated Learning for
one year. This decision was made after the October Board meeting when it
was determined we were not going to be able to fund the additional 1.5%
salary increase for this year. Our priority goal was to assure funding for the
faculty searches currently underway. We view the Dean for Integrated
Learning position key to the future of integrating much of our experiential
programs but decided to wait a year before implementing this strategy so we
can maintain the progress mapped out in the financial equilibrium plan. Our
intent is to begin the Dean search by fall 2006.
Welcome Matt Sanford as Hartwick’s New
Registrar
Matt Sanford officially joined the Hartwick College community November 7,
2005. Matt holds a BA in English and General Literature from Binghamton
University, and his employment background includes work as a technical editor
and writer, web applications developer and information processing specialist.
Prior to coming to Hartwick, Matt served as data manager for student records
at the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University. There he worked very
closely with the registrar’s office and was responsible for gathering and
reporting information to various constituencies at the college. Matt resides in
New Berlin with his wife, Julia. Welcome aboard Matt!
Freedman Prize Competition Concludes
It’s that time of year. Once again, thanks to the generosity of Allen and Judy
Freedman, we were treated to some of Hartwick’s most talented young adults
and their original ideas for in-depth study within their discipline this November.
For years Allen and Judy have not only funded this research competition, they
have played an active role in assessing the best that Hartwick has to offer.
The following students competed for the coveted Freedman prizes:
Jason Stone [advisor: Neil DeVotta, political science] - Degeneration,
Devolution, and the Dhammadipa: The Effects of Sinhalese-
Buddhist Fundamentalism on the Sri Lankan Peace Process
Junior G. Garraway [advisor: Thomas Licata, music] - A stylistic Solo Piano
Recital and Lecture: Beethoven, Bach/Busoni and Liszt
Stephanie Carr [advisors: Eric Johnson, geology & Paul House, chemistry] –
Development and Calibration of an Amphibole-Scapolite
Geothermometer
Laura Clough [advisor: Karl Seeley, economics] - Small Electrical Grid
Simulation of Multiple Renewable Dispersed Generation
Resources
Ryan Quarles [advisor: Stanley Sessions, biology] - Microdissection and
Molecular Evolution of the Y Chromosome in the Salamander,

Necturus maculosus
Stefanie Coforio [advisor: Ron Brzenk, mathematics] - Analysis of Epidermal
Nerve Endings: Applying Math to Uncover Patterns and
Statistical Significance
Jessica Valluzzi [advisor: KinHo Chan, psychology] - Effects of Fluoxetine on
Learning and Cognitive Abilities
Lindsay Yorns [advisor: Laura Malloy, biology] - The Role of Histamine H 3
Receptors In Myocardial Function and Infarct Size Following
Cardiac Ischemic Preconditioning
All contestants gave oral presentations of up to twenty minutes, followed by a
session of up to twenty minutes of questions from the judging panel. The
panel consisted of Dr. Allen & Mrs. Judy Freedman, Susan Navarette (English),
Robert Gann (computer & information science and physics) and William Lister
(education) and was chaired by Gerald Hunsberger, Dean of Academic Affairs.
The student presenters were
guaranteed an award of at least
$500 as a result of winning at the
divisional level. Saturday’s
winners will receive the following
total prizes (which include the
$500 previously awarded):
Lindsay Yorns -- $4000 / Malloy --
$1000
Ryan Quarles -- $4000 / Sessions
-- $1000
Stefanie Coforio -- $2500 /
Brzenk -- $500
Jessica Valluzzi -- $1500 / Chan --
$500
Stephanie Carr --- $1500 / Johnson & House -- $500
Pine Lake Summer Institute RFP Deadline
Extended
The following was a memo I sent faculty in October. Please note that I have
extended the deadline to the end of this semester. If you have any
questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call.
“The intent of this proposal is to establish for-credit and not-for-credit courses
at the Pine Lake Summer Institute for summer 2006. Courses could be
existing courses or new ones, but each should be related in some way to the
advantages of being taught at Pine Lake. Our goal is to develop and deliver at
least one for-credit and one not-for-credit course from each division of the
College. Involved faculty would assist the Pine Lake Director in marketing and
promoting the courses. This is a pilot model to be reassessed once a new
Director for Pine Lake assumes office July, 2006.
Course Development for both for-credit and not-for-credit courses:
1. Develop a course syllabus which should include as a minimum, brief
course description learning objectives, course content, course schedule,

eadings, and evaluation methods.
2. If for-credit status is desired, the faculty will have to adhere to Faculty
Council Guidelines regarding summer course credits and seek approval
from Faculty Council in a timely manner if needed such as approval for
curriculum XXI status.
3. Work with the Pine Lake Director, office of admissions, and academic
affairs to identify potential student markets, and specifically with the
Pine Lake Director to coordinate schedules, residence requirements,
promotional materials, access to facilities, and budget preparation (to
include course materials, etc.).
Interested faculty members should submit a brief one page proposal (form
attached) for Pine Lake Summer Institute courses to the Executive Vice
President and Provost no later than October 28, 2005 (NOTE: deadline
extended to December 22,2005). A peer review will be conducted and
faculty notified by November 15, 2005 (NOTE: Changed to January 15,
2006). If approved, faculty will receive $1,000 per credit hour to develop
and teach the course. If the course is designed as not-for-credit,
compensation will be negotiated based on the particular course schedule. If
minimum enrollment is not achieved the faculty will still be compensated at
50%.
Tuition would be based on the summer rate of $220 per credit hour with a
minimum of ten students. Not-for-credit rate would be determined based on
program type (residential, lab, etc.) and length. Courses for credit should be
offered primarily in the month of June and not-for-credit courses July or
August.
Additional costs should be identified in the budget development process and
approved by the Pine Lake Director.”
Provost Anderson Attends Council of Independent
College (CIC) Chief Academic Officer Conference
I was fortunate to be able to attend my first CIC conference held in San
Antonio, Texas. It was a pleasure to network with 322 of my colleagues at
primarily small private independent colleges. Featured key note speakers
included Richard Chait from Harvard, one of my former Harvard Institute
professors. His talk was titled “When the Next Generation of Faculty Members
Meets the Current Generation of Academic Officers.” Dick shared outcomes of
his recent research about the “emergent” generation of faculty and what they
desire in a career. As he puts it, “…the quality of the work place may trump
salary and tenure track needs...” of the “emergent” faculty. It was comforting
to know that at Hartwick we are working toward providing what many faculty
are seeking in a professorship such as, joint appointments, new
course/curriculum development opportunities, small and personal learning
environments, and increasing transparent administrative cultures.
Stan Katz’s talk, “Does the Curriculum Really Matter?” was very apropos
considering our current discussions about the general education curriculum.
Stan is an advocate of the liberal arts education as a strong and necessary
foundation for the undergraduate experience, but recognizes that the liberal
arts core has been and will continue to evolve as society does and we need to
continually rethink the curriculum…sound familiar? He supports the notion of
integrated learning as outlined in a recent Peer Review issue.

Ad Hoc Task Force Formed to Discuss Disaster
Planning
Due to a concern raised by Professor Bob Gann, I have formed an ad hoc Task
Force to study the impact a natural disaster would have on the College if we
were forced to close for any period of time. This concern was prompted by the
recent tragedies due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and their impact on the
many Colleges in that region as well as the potential for a pandemic brought
about possibly by an avian flu. If you have been keeping up with news from
the south, you may have heard of colleges retrenching significant numbers of
their faculty due to closures. I think it is wise to consider how we might avoid
such a situation at Hartwick. To date the Task Force members are: Betsey
Ayer, Sharon Dettenrieder, Mark Erickson, Ellen Falduto, Bob Gann, Greg
Krikorian, Larry Malone and Liz Morley.
VP Wood Explains Budget Reports to Department
Chairs and Dean’s Council
Bill Wood and Nancy Lehtonen explained to department chairs and Dean’s
Council representatives how the new budget reporting system works.
Highlights of the conversation also indicate other issues raised. Taken from
the department chairs meeting minutes are the following summaries:
• Bill Wood distributed an example of a report of year-to-date expenses
for departments that included current budget amounts and comparisons
to YTD for last year and last year’s total expenses. These actual reports
will be sent to all budget managers on Friday of this week (November
18). He provided an overview of the report details.
• Budget managers will be able to see current year data on Web Advisor.
If budget managers have not been able to access their accounts on web
advisor, please contact Nancy Lehtonen.
• Restricted gifts to departments may be “budget relieving” if they are
lightly restricted – e.g. gift for “Nursing Department” would not add to
budget. Highly restricted gifts are not budget relieving.
• Institutional Advancement must raise enough unrestricted gifts to cover
college requirements for operating expenses, otherwise funded by net
tuition (~80%) and endowment draw.
• Planning of large operational expenses that are not annual in nature will
be needed. Equipment & service contracts are examples of
expenditures that would fall into this category. A process for budget
managers to indicate those kinds of expenses and their timing to aid in
the long term planning process will be forthcoming.
• A question was raised about the possibility of allowing a department to
roll over unused budget allocations from one fiscal year to the next so
that large expenses could be budgeted for more evenly. With current
auditing requirements, this is very difficult to do.

Education Commissioner, Richard Mills, was the
Les Rude Lecturer for this Year
Hartwick College and the greater Oneonta
community were treated to a Les Rude
lecture delivered by Richard Mills,
Commissioner of Education and President
of the University of the State of New York.
Commissioner Mills recently returned from
a trip to China where he compared the
educational standards there to those in
New York. He advocated that we have to
continue to raise the quality of our public
system of education in this country. After
the lecture, the Commissioner joined a
number of students and faculty at a
dinner where he engaged Hartwick
students in often lively debates as he
moved from table to table.
Photo Gallery
Nick Lambros enjoys a moment with Board
members Harold Nelson and Ginny Elwell at
the Yager Museum reception in October.
At right, Susan Young joins George
and Gesella Stephan at the
dedication ceremony for the
Graphics Imaging Laboratory in
Johnstone Science Center last
October.

Your Provost off to work the ticket table at the
Gallery of Ghouls hosted by the Upper Catskill
Community Council for the Arts (UCCCA) last
Halloween. There is something magical that
happens to one’s personality when in costume.
By the way, it was a great event and I encourage
you to bring your family next year!
Program Assessment:
Keep it Simple
As Faculty begin to engage in student learning outcomes assessment at the
programmatic level, I have one bit of advice. If this is the first time your
department is conducting formal assessment, start with learning outcomes that
appear to be the easiest to measure. Decide early on the best way to collect your
samples of student work, decide when you will actually collect the data (work),
who will actually conduct the assessment, and when will be the best time to do
the assessment. A little planning up front will make life a lot easier down the
road.
If you have questions as you progress in your planning, please don’t hesitate to
contact me. I have had a number of faculty come to me with questions already.
John M. Anderson
If you have assessment tips you would like to share with you colleagues, please
forward them to me and I will include them in the next newsletter!