By CIAN MCKEOWN
The October meeting of Beloit College’s Academic Senate commenced in its typical location at Richardson Auditorium on Oct. 22, 2025. It provided a forum for faculty members and the eight student senators to address the academic program of Beloit on the heels of fall break and the first quarter of the new academic year.
Proceedings began with Provost Donna Oliver calling the meeting to order and motioning that the minutes from the previous meeting be approved. Oliver then introduced Associate Professor of Japanese Susan Furukawa to present the findings of the Academic Strategic Planning Committee, or ASP. Furukawa expressed the work of the committee succinctly, saying, “We’re working on reviews, and that’s pretty much it at this point.” This was in reference to reviewing faculty tenure track candidates. Furukawa also announced that Assistant Professor of Economics and Business Kevin S. Smith and Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jason Alley have both been approved for tenure-track positions.
The always buoyant associate professor of Modern Language & Literatures, Amy Tibbitts, presented on behalf of her Curriculum and Oversight Administration Committee. Tibbitts kept her remarks brief, announcing the new set of course offerings for the next term to be approved by the voting body. Additionally, Tibbetts unveiled two new majors in Finance and Marketing that the college will now be offering.
Professor and Chair of Cognitive Science Robin Zebrowski then stepped up to the podium to briefly outline the findings of the Professional and Program Development Committee. Zebrowski stressed the hard deadline of Oct. 27 to request funds from the committee, saying, “We can’t fund retroactively.” Zebrowski added that “we’re pretty comfortable with our budget right now,” indicating that the committee has used up less of its budget than at this time last year.
After a human resources presentation by Chief Human Resources Officer Hope Ballentine on faculty benefits, Chief Information Officer Ted Wilder was called down to the center stage for an update on Library and Information Technology Services, or LITS. Wilder formally notified faculty and attendees that the Col. Robert H. Morse Library will be open to students, staff, and faculty with an ID badge granting them access after 6 p.m. After questions and concerns from faculty about how stifling public access may be an issue, Wilder clarified that “This is for security reasons.” He also added that “It was always a design feature in the plan three years ago to do this.”
Following a spirited discussion among faculty about the accessibility of the library, Vice President for Enrollment, Marketing, and Athletics Karen Schedin addressed the senate for an update on enrollment. Schedin touted the open house for prospective students scheduled for Oct. 25, informing those in attendance that 91 prospective students would be present on campus that day. Schedin also discussed ways that admissions is getting different demographics of prospective students to participate in events. Schedin expressed it thusly: “It is often hard to get athletes to come to an open house, but you know what they will go to? An athletic recruitment event.”
After her presentation concluded, Schedin fielded questions from the audience, one of which came from Assistant Professor of Economics and Business Kevin S. Smith, who wondered, “What happened to get us to 906?” Smith referred to the current number of students at Beloit, and what might have led the college to a similar student body despite supposed growth going into this academic year. Schedin responded by saying, “We didn’t recruit enough non-athletes, period.” Schedin added that this can be rectified by pursuing higher-income non-athletes from within a 300-mile radius of the college. Registrar Yaffa Grossman also clarified that a possible reason for this discrepancy is that the roughly 40 tuition-free fifth-year students at the college last year have now graduated and the tuition-free program has now ended.
Vice President for Finance, Operations and Strategy Tim Leslie then provided a presentation updating faculty on the college’s finances and new changes for the current academic year. Before beginning his remarks, Leslie called to the back of the tightly arranged auditorium and asked Beloit College’s new athletic director, Patrick Miller, to introduce himself. Miller was met with a smattering of applause and thanked those at the college for their hospitality in his first week, remarking wittily, “I had about 30 really good meetings.”
In his remarks, Leslie explained that, “This year is another investment year,” detailing that Beloit College has budgeted for an operating deficit of $5 million. Leslie also noted that this is in line with a three year plan to break even by the 2027-28 academic year. This increase in cost can be attributed to a 3% increase in salaries and supplies and services across the college, as well as the 57 new students brought to campus as a result of hockey, which also incurs significant costs.
Beloit College President Eric Boynton then emerged from a seat in front row near the podium and began his brief speech much like he did in the previous academic senate meeting by championing the recent successes of the college. Boynton lauded the recent Athletic Day of Giving, in which the college’s athletic teams encouraged donations to the athletic department from friends, family, alumni, and even staff and faculty. Over 1,400 donors participated and the day of giving raised $136,000, far surpassing the previous year’s mark. When discussing how many student athletes had solicited him for donations and featured him in their social media videos, Boynton jokingly remarked, “I’m going to ply my wares on the big screen.” This prompted laughter and refrains of “don’t quit your day job” from attendees. Boynton also announced changes to the administrative layout of the college, most notably that Impact Beloit is now under the jurisdiction of the Provost’s Office.
Provost Donna Oliver concluded the official proceedings by announcing that Susan Furukawa was approved for promotion from associate to full professor of Japanese at the May board of trustees meeting. Oliver also confirmed the news that structural difficulties were found in South College and the TRIO staff would be moving to 717 Chapin Street for the time being. TRIO is a government funded program at the college that assists first generation or disadvantaged students with advising, tutoring, and financial aid.
After an announcements period, the meeting was adjourned, but not without impactful conversations about the ever-changing future of campus, in terms of both student life and faculty experience.
Featured image: Cian McKeown’27
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