SJSU ERFA Executive Board Minutes, February 5, 2018. Approved by Executive Board March 5, 2018

San Jose State University, Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association

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San Jose State UniversitySJSU ScholarWorksSJSU ERFA Minutes The SJSU Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association2-5-2018SJSU ERFA Board Minutes, February 5, 2018San Jose State University, Emeritus and Retired Faculty AssociationFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/erfa_minutesPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The SJSU Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in SJSU ERFA Minutes by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contactscholarworks@sjsu.edu.Recommended CitationSan Jose State University, Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association. "SJSU ERFA Board Minutes, February 5, 2018" SJSU ERFAMinutes (2018).Minutes:  SJSU ERFA Executive Board Monday, February 5, 2018  Members Present, Celia Bakke, Gene Bernardini,  Peter Buzanski, Ji-Mei Chang,Carol Christensen, Jill Cody,  Barbara Conry, Abdel El-Shaieb, Nancie Fimbel,  Dolores EscobarHamilton, Don Keesey, Bill McCraw, Joan Merdinger, Wayne Savage, Carmen Sigler, Lonna Smith, Jackie Snell, Jo Bell Whitlatch, Dennis Wilcox,  Bob Wilson, and Marian Yoder.  1. Call to order:  The meeting was called to order by President Ji-Mei at 10:01:10 Pacific Standard Time (PST).  2. The Minutes of the December 4 board meeting were amended by Dennis to correct a misspelling of Carmen’s last name and approved by voice vote  3.  President’s Remarks     A.  Celia has volunteered to monitor the speaker list during deliberations.  B.  The provost office made a query about continuing the president’s reception this year for fully retiring faculty and those starting FERP, and ERFA has responded with an affirmative answer.  The date is to be determined.  4.  Upcoming Events and Activities  A.  Spring Excursion. Carmen, on behalf of the program committee, distributed handouts via email before the meeting about five possible venues.  The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) as well as the Oakland Museum was seriously considered, but there was support for something “different” terms of a visit to Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and the Elkhorn Slough.  A spirited discussion followed about the pros and cons of each venue (including Dali17 Museum and the DeYoung Museum, but the consensus was for Moss Landing and the Elkhorn Slough.  Motion by Lonna, seconded by Joan, was approved with three abstains.  In further action, the second week of April was preferred, and that the program committee would work out the details and costs.  B.  Spring Luncheon and Business Meeting. Carmen, on behalf of the program committee, distributed a selection of possible speakers and performing groups for the May 11 meeting.  After a spirited discussion, the consensus was in favor of having “entertainment “instead of a speaker.  Bob moved, Nancie seconded, for having a singing group or something similar.  Motion was approved with l4 with one opposed and one abstain.  Lonna then moved, Jo Bell second that Larry Hancock and Opera San Jose be contacted to provide the program.  Motion passed unanimously    5.  Action Items  A.  Slate of Officers for 2018-19. The nominations committee submitted a slate of proposed officers for 2018-19.  The slate is Elba Maldonado-Colon, president; Christian Jochim, vice president; Dennis Wilcox, secretary (2nd year); Abdel El-Shaieb (1st year); Peter Buzanski, faculty senate (one-year-term); and members at large:  Carmen Sigler (1st year); Bill McCraw (2nd year); and Jo Bell Whitlatch (2nd year).  Ji-Mei Chang becomes past president.  Peter moved, Wayne seconded, that the committee’s report be accepted.  The motion was approved with one abstain.  There will also be a call for nominations in the newsletter and from the floor at the May 11 business meeting.  B.  Promoting CSU-ERFA membership.  Jo Bell distributed a draft of a statement encouraging SJSU-ERFA members to join CSU-ERFA that would be published in the May newsletter; the statement will also suggest that SJSU-ERFA members should consider payroll deduction in their pension checks for local membership.  Bob, in the discussion, said that the newsletter article should include – for full transparency – that there are monthly  CSU-ERFA dues for members.  Jo Bell moved, Peter seconded to encourage SJSU-ERFA members to join CSU-ERFA.  Motion passed with one abstain.  C.  Finalists for ERFA Faculty Research and Creativity Awards. Joan reported that the review committee recommends this year’s recipients be Dr. Ruma Chopra (Dept. of History) and Professor Alan Soldofsky (Dept. of English) whose research proposal summaries were distributed in a handout to the board.   They were chosen from 25 applications.  Joan moved, Nancie seconded, to accept the committee’s recommendation. The vote was unanimous.  The committee then recommended that Dr. Ninghun Wang, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry be given a third grant, which was a departure from just naming two awardees.  Abdel indicated that there would be sufficient funds this year to cover a third grant, but such action should not be considered a precedent for future years.    By voice vote, the board approved the third grant with one “no” from Bob who expressed the opinion that the committee should also consider applications from ERFA members.  Dolores expressed the opinion that the two awardees this year are full professors (the third is an assistant professor) and thought that assistant and associate professors should be given more consideration to fund their research for tenure and promotion.  The committee responded that it was a hard choice, but the two full professors had the best proposals in this year’s competition.  D.  Biographies Committee.  Joan made the motion that the biographies committee proceed with the biographies project in collaboration with the University library on Scholarworks.  Peter seconded.  Lonna expressed opposition to the motion saying that posting of personal faculty information would be an invasion of privacy.  Others expressed the thought that such information is already widely available on the Internet through Google and that participation in the Scholarworks project was voluntary.  Members of the biographies committee said they would work with the library to determine what information would be posted on Scholarworks.  The board voted, with three abstains, to proceed to work with the library on the project. The committee, in future meetings, will make further recommendations about implementation of the biographies project.  E.  Center for Faculty Development/ERFA Research Project.  Joan, on behalf of the Center for Faculty Development (CFD) proposed that SJSU-ERFA collaborate on a research study about retiring faculty and how they perceive the transformation from full-time teaching to retirement.  CFD already has a data set and a list of questions approved by the Institutional Research Board (IRB) and would like to use the current ERFA directory to identify members who FERPed between 2007 and 2012.  Joan said there are 62 members in that category and she would work with Amy Strage at CFD to send an email to these members asking if they would be willing to participate in a survey conducted via face-to-face, skype, or even by email.  The motion to allow CFD access to the SJSU-ERFA directory was made by Dennis and seconded by Jo Bell.  The motion passed with two members abstaining.    6.  Discussion Items  A.  Update on Fall Luncheon.  Lonna reported that Café Stritch on South First Street has submitted a bid for $30 per person that includes service charge and sales tax.  Lonna moved to accept the proposal, Nancie seconded, and the vote to approve was unanimous.  The lunch will be Friday, Oct. 26th. In addition, Lonna announced that the holiday party  will be Friday, December 7th. 7. Reports  A. Treasurer.  Abdel reported a balance of $10,098.76 and 202 paid members.  B. Membership.  Wayne reported receipt of a new member application and there were now 297 members on his roster, including individuals who had not yet paid their dues.  C. Newsletter Editor.  Gene reported that the newsletter would be done in mid-February. He also arranged for the printing of 250 more note cards, primarily used for consolations.  D. Webmaster. Carol reported “everything up to date.”    E. Consolations.  Jill reported consolations were sent to the family of Mary Bowman, Dimitri Thoro, and the son of Kate Sullivan, a current member of the faculty who died in January.  F. Film group.  Don reported that the group recently viewed “Molly’s Game.”  G. Faculty Senate.  Peter reported that the faculty and students are somewhat upset with the president’s decision to hold graduation ceremonies in May for each college at the Events Center or Avaya Stadium instead of having a general university commencement at Spartan Stadium, which apparently is unavailable.  There is also concern that the Office of Advancement is now in charge of commencement instead of the “academic” side of the house.   H.  CSU-ERFA. Bob reported that the state meeting will be in April.  Unofficial reports indicate that the CSU-ERFA proposal to include “staff” in state membership passed with a small number of CSU-ERFA members actually participating in the vote.   I.  AROHE.  Joan:  No report    J. Archivist.  Celia. No report  8. New Business.  A.  Multiple University Graduation Ceremonies. This item was postponed to the March meeting when the board will discuss how to represent ERFA at multiple  graduation ceremonies.  Also, see comments by Peter in the Faculty Senate Report.  9.  Adjournment.  The meeting was adjourned at 11:56:12 (PST).  Many thanks to Ji-Mei for snacks (substituting for Elba).  The next meeting will be Monday, March 5, at 10 a.m. in Duncan Hall 249.   Upcoming Refreshments:  March 5  --- Bill April 2    ---  Joan May 7 -----  Jo Bell  Dlw. Minutes approved at March 5, 2018 board meeting.    

SJSU ERFA Board Minutes, February 5, 2018

San Jose State University

San Jose State University
SJSU ScholarWorks
SJSU ERFA Minutes The SJSU Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association
2-5-2018
SJSU ERFA Board Minutes, February 5, 2018
San Jose State University, Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/erfa_minutes
Part of the Higher Education Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The SJSU Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been
accepted for inclusion in SJSU ERFA Minutes by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact
scholarworks@sjsu.edu.
Recommended Citation
San Jose State University, Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association. "SJSU ERFA Board Minutes, February 5, 2018" SJSU ERFA
Minutes (2018).
Minutes:  SJSU ERFA Executive Board Monday, February 
5, 2018  
Members Present, Celia Bakke, Gene Bernardini,  Peter Buzanski, Ji-Mei Chang,Carol 
Christensen, Jill Cody,  Barbara Conry, Abdel El-Shaieb, Nancie Fimbel,  Dolores 
EscobarHamilton, Don Keesey, Bill McCraw, Joan Merdinger, Wayne Savage, Carmen Sigler, 
Lonna Smith, Jackie Snell, Jo Bell Whitlatch, Dennis Wilcox,  Bob Wilson, and Marian Yoder.  
1. Call to order:  The meeting was called to order by President Ji-Mei at 10:01:10 Pacific 
Standard Time (PST).  
2. The Minutes of the December 4 board meeting were amended by Dennis to correct a 
misspelling of Carmen’s last name and approved by voice vote  
3.  President’s Remarks     
A.  Celia has volunteered to monitor the speaker list during deliberations.  
B.  The provost office made a query about continuing the president’s reception this year for 
fully retiring faculty and those starting FERP, and ERFA has responded with an affirmative 
answer.  The date is to be determined.  
4.  Upcoming Events and Activities  
A.  Spring Excursion. Carmen, on behalf of the program committee, distributed handouts via 
email before the meeting about five possible venues.  The San Francisco Museum of Modern 
Art (SFMOMA) as well as the Oakland Museum was seriously considered, but there was support 
for something “different” terms of a visit to Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and the Elkhorn 
Slough.  A spirited discussion followed about the pros and cons of each venue (including Dali17 
Museum and the DeYoung Museum, but the consensus was for Moss Landing and the Elkhorn 
Slough.  Motion by Lonna, seconded by Joan, was approved with three abstains.  In further 
action, the second week of April was preferred, and that the program committee would work 
out the details and costs.  
B.  Spring Luncheon and Business Meeting. Carmen, on behalf of the program committee, 
distributed a selection of possible speakers and performing groups for the May 11 meeting.  
After a spirited discussion, the consensus was in favor of having “entertainment “instead of a 
speaker.  Bob moved, Nancie seconded, for having a singing group or something similar.  
Motion was approved with l4 with one opposed and one abstain.  Lonna then moved, Jo Bell 
second that Larry Hancock and Opera San Jose be contacted to provide the program.  Motion 
passed unanimously  
 
 
5.  Action Items  
A.  Slate of Officers for 2018-19. The nominations committee submitted a slate of proposed 
officers for 2018-19.  The slate is Elba Maldonado-Colon, president; Christian Jochim, vice 
president; Dennis Wilcox, secretary (2nd year); Abdel El-Shaieb (1st year); Peter Buzanski, 
faculty senate (one-year-term); and members at large:  Carmen Sigler (1st year); Bill McCraw 
(2nd year); and Jo Bell Whitlatch (2nd year).  Ji-Mei Chang becomes past president.  Peter 
moved, Wayne seconded, that the committee’s report be accepted.  The motion was approved 
with one abstain.  There will also be a call for nominations in the newsletter and from the floor 
at the May 11 business meeting.  
B.  Promoting CSU-ERFA membership.  Jo Bell distributed a draft of a statement encouraging 
SJSU-ERFA members to join CSU-ERFA that would be published in the May newsletter; the 
statement will also suggest that SJSU-ERFA members should consider payroll deduction in their 
pension checks for local membership.  Bob, in the discussion, said that the newsletter article 
should include – for full transparency – that there are monthly  CSU-ERFA dues for members.  
Jo Bell moved, Peter seconded to encourage SJSU-ERFA members to join CSU-ERFA.  Motion 
passed with one abstain.  
C.  Finalists for ERFA Faculty Research and Creativity Awards. Joan reported that the review 
committee recommends this year’s recipients be Dr. Ruma Chopra (Dept. of History) and 
Professor Alan Soldofsky (Dept. of English) whose research proposal summaries were 
distributed in a handout to the board.   They were chosen from 25 applications.  Joan moved, 
Nancie seconded, to accept the committee’s recommendation. The vote was unanimous.  The 
committee then recommended that Dr. Ninghun Wang, assistant professor in the Department 
of Chemistry be given a third grant, which was a departure from just naming two awardees.  
Abdel indicated that there would be sufficient funds this year to cover a third grant, but such 
action should not be considered a precedent for future years.    
By voice vote, the board approved the third grant with one “no” from Bob who expressed the 
opinion that the committee should also consider applications from ERFA members.  Dolores 
expressed the opinion that the two awardees this year are full professors (the third is an 
assistant professor) and thought that assistant and associate professors should be given more 
consideration to fund their research for tenure and promotion.  The committee responded that 
it was a hard choice, but the two full professors had the best proposals in this year’s 
competition.  
D.  Biographies Committee.  Joan made the motion that the biographies committee proceed 
with the biographies project in collaboration with the University library on Scholarworks.  Peter 
seconded.  Lonna expressed opposition to the motion saying that posting of personal faculty 
information would be an invasion of privacy.  Others expressed the thought that such 
information is already widely available on the Internet through Google and that participation in 
the Scholarworks project was voluntary.  Members of the biographies committee said they 
would work with the library to determine what information would be posted on Scholarworks.  
The board voted, with three abstains, to proceed to work with the library on the project. The 
committee, in future meetings, will make further recommendations about implementation of 
the biographies project.  
E.  Center for Faculty Development/ERFA Research Project.  Joan, on behalf of the Center for 
Faculty Development (CFD) proposed that SJSU-ERFA collaborate on a research study about 
retiring faculty and how they perceive the transformation from full-time teaching to retirement.  
CFD already has a data set and a list of questions approved by the Institutional Research Board 
(IRB) and would like to use the current ERFA directory to identify members who FERPed 
between 2007 and 2012.  Joan said there are 62 members in that category and she would work 
with Amy Strage at CFD to send an email to these members asking if they would be willing to 
participate in a survey conducted via face-to-face, skype, or even by email.  The motion to allow 
CFD access to the SJSU-ERFA directory was made by Dennis and seconded by Jo Bell.  The 
motion passed with two members abstaining.    
6.  Discussion Items  
A.  Update on Fall Luncheon.  Lonna reported that Café Stritch on South First Street has 
submitted a bid for $30 per person that includes service charge and sales tax.  Lonna moved to 
accept the proposal, Nancie seconded, and the vote to approve was unanimous.  The lunch will 
be Friday, Oct. 26th. In addition, Lonna announced that the holiday party  will be Friday, 
December 7th. 
7. Reports  
A. Treasurer.  Abdel reported a balance of $10,098.76 and 202 paid members.  
B. Membership.  Wayne reported receipt of a new member application and there were now 
297 members on his roster, including individuals who had not yet paid their dues.  
C. Newsletter Editor.  Gene reported that the newsletter would be done in mid-February. He 
also arranged for the printing of 250 more note cards, primarily used for consolations.  
D. Webmaster. Carol reported “everything up to date.”    
E. Consolations.  Jill reported consolations were sent to the family of Mary Bowman, Dimitri 
Thoro, and the son of Kate Sullivan, a current member of the faculty who died in January.  
F. Film group.  Don reported that the group recently viewed “Molly’s Game.”  
G. Faculty Senate.  Peter reported that the faculty and students are somewhat upset with the 
president’s decision to hold graduation ceremonies in May for each college at the Events 
Center or Avaya Stadium instead of having a general university commencement at Spartan 
Stadium, which apparently is unavailable.  There is also concern that the Office of Advancement 
is now in charge of commencement instead of the “academic” side of the house.   
H.  CSU-ERFA. Bob reported that the state meeting will be in April.  Unofficial reports indicate 
that the CSU-ERFA proposal to include “staff” in state membership passed with a small number 
of CSU-ERFA members actually participating in the vote.   
I.  AROHE.  Joan:  No report    
J. Archivist.  Celia. No report  
8. New Business.  
A.  Multiple University Graduation Ceremonies. This item was postponed to the March 
meeting when the board will discuss how to represent ERFA at multiple  graduation 
ceremonies.  Also, see comments by Peter in the Faculty Senate Report.  
9.  Adjournment.  The meeting was adjourned at 11:56:12 (PST).  Many thanks to Ji-Mei for 
snacks (substituting for Elba).  
The next meeting will be Monday, March 5, at 10 a.m. in Duncan Hall 249.  
 Upcoming Refreshments:  
March 5  --- Bill 
April 2    ---  Joan 
May 7 -----  Jo Bell 
 
Dlw. Minutes approved at March 5, 2018 board meeting. 
 
 
 


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SJSU ERFA Board Minutes, February 5, 2018

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