At Thursday’s faculty meeting, University President Frederick Lawrence announced the adoption of two new policies—one stating the University’s minimum wage and one opposing  conflict minerals—and thanked his colleagues for all their help and support during his four years at the University. 

Chairman of the Presidential Search Committee Larry Kanarek ’76 also announced that the committee will likely be naming the new president in the early fall, and this new University president will be starting in the summer of 2016.

Lawrence began the meeting by acknowledging the professors who will be retiring this year, of whom Profs. Sarita Bhalotra (Heller), Barry Friedman (Heller) and Edward Kaplan (COML, ROMS) were in attendance. 

Lawrence then called up University Registrar Mark Hewitt for the awarding of degrees and honors. According to Hewitt, there are 956 undergraduate degrees in total for the 2015 commencement. 161 students are graduating with departmental honors, 7 are graduating with joint master’s and bachelor’s degrees, 776 master’s degrees are being awarded and 100 doctorates are being awarded, Hewitt told the audience. Additionally, Latin honors—which require a grade point average of 3.5 or higher—have gone up five percent. Departmental honors—though on the steady decline—have stayed roughly the same, and roughly 52 percent of the class will be graduating with a double major or triple major.  

Hewitt then made a motion to award honors to a handful of students due to last-minute grade changes. The motion to award the degrees passed unanimously. 

Lawrence then gave a brief president’s report, first noting the Board of Trustees members in attendance, including Chairman Perry Traquina ’78, Presidential Search Committee Chair Larry Kanarek ’76, Lisa Kranc ’75, Adam Rifkin ’97 and Cynthia Shapira. 

Lawrence then announced that he had approved two new policies that morning, including the employee minimum wage policy and a new policy regarding conflict minerals. 

The minimum wage policy stipulates that all University employees will be paid a minimum of $15.05 per hour, which Lawrence said is in the top tier of minimum wage rates at universities across the country. 

He noted that the policy is “an affirmation of what we have been trying to do” and involves “taking what has been a practice and making it a policy.” 

The policy on conflict minerals requires University administrators to ask electronics suppliers to share reports on potential use of conflict minerals. Conflict minerals are minerals from areas where the proceeds from mineral sales are used to fund violent conflict, most notably in the  Democratic Republic of the Congo. The new conflict mineral policy, Lawrence said, “allows us to now put ourselves on the record in due diligence.” Both policies will take effect on July 1.

Lawrence also announced that Jamaica Kincaid would be speaking at the School of Humanities diploma ceremony, while Yotam Ottolenghi would be at the Board of Trustees dinner. 

Lawrence then addressed the faculty to thank them and say goodbye. 

“It has been my great, great honor to serve as your president,” he said. “A president should never forget that first and foremost, a president should be a member of his faculty. … Professor is the highest title you can have at this institution. It has been an honor to be your president, and it has been an even greater honor to be your colleague.”

Lawrence then presented the Wellington prize, which was created in 1993 by an anonymous donor. The donor stipulated that the money must be used for something non-scholarly, and thus the award is something of a “digression prize,” Lawrence said at the meeting. The award recipient’s name is chosen randomly from a paper bag, and Lawrence pulled out and read the name of Prof. Greg Childs (AAAS, LALS), who was not present.

Provost Lisa Lynch then took the podium for her provost’s report. She began by acknowledging Prof. Irving Epstein’s (CHEM) agreement to take over as interim provost while she works as interim president. She also told the faculty that there will be “some stability on the academy side,” as Prof. Marty Krauss (Heller) will continue on as the Dean of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management for another year.

Additionally, Lynch noted, she will be posting and emailing the final list of teaching and research innovation awards in the coming week. There will also be reports from faculty who have received those awards. 

According to Lynch, the administration hopes to move quickly to a conclusion in the search for dean of research, and they will also be setting up a website for emeriti faculty and creating an emeriti counsel that will select a representative for the University Advisory Committee. 

The University has also been working with Vice Provost, Chief Information Officer and University Librarian John Unsworth to set up some extra space in the Library for emeriti faculty who may not have offices. All these efforts, Lynch said, are in the interest of including emeriti faculty more. 

Lynch also talked about meeting with representatives from the diversity committee to discuss recent issues of race at the University. She briefly mentioned the possibility of creating a new position that would be somehow linked to the current Title IX position.

To end her provost’s report, Lynch thanked Lawrence for his time and efforts while at the University.

“Brandeis will always be part of you, and you will always be part of us,” she told Lawrence.

Faculty Senate Chair Prof. Tom Pochapsky (CHEM) then took the podium to deliver the Faculty Senate report. Pochapsky congratulated newly elected Faculty Senate members and thanked those who recently completed their terms on the Senate. Pochapsky noted that this would be his last time addressing the faculty as the Faculty Senate Chair, as he will be on sabbatical in the fall and will be succeeded by Prof. Susan Curnan (Heller).

Kanarek then updated the faculty on the presidential search process. He briefly reiterated the updates he had given at last month’s faculty meeting, mentioning the members of the presidential search committee and the recent hiring of search firm Spencer Stuart. Kanarek also discussed the committee’s desire to be transparent throughout the selection process. 

“Our plan is to be really transparent about this,” he said, “except [for]the names of candidates. You cannot breathe a word of that, or everyone will flee. The search committee has signed confidentiality agreements and we must stick to that.”

Kanarek then opened the floor up to discussion. Some faculty members said they felt the past two University presidents have aligned themselves too greatly with Israel, citing the University’s mission statement, which says the University owes loyalty to no country. Kanarek responded that the religious and cultural identities of the University have been in a state of change recently, yet he added there are “healthy paradoxes that make Brandeis unique and … keep things in balance.” 

Kanarek noted the University’s largely Jewish sponsorship, and that it conflicts with the policy of having no religious alignment and celebrating differences. 

Finally, Kanarek told the faculty that the committee is looking for a candidate who has previous experience running an institution and who “resonates with” the University’s values, including free speech. “If you don’t tolerate really bad speech, then that’s not free speech,” he said.

Prof. Carol Osler (IBS) then addressed the faculty to summarize what the University Budget Committee has been doing recently. Osler noted that the committee has “actively reviewed” University budget matters and has been involved the last two years in employee minimum wage research and preliminary recommendations. The committee has also been investigating presidential compensation, and gave recommendations to the board, she said.

Lynch then discussed the issue of the University’s carbon footprint, noting that she wants to move “much more aggressively with respect to lowering our carbon footprint.”

She said there will be a new University employee who will embed sustainability into “everything we do on this campus,” and one of this employee’s first tasks will be completing an audit to measure the University’s carbon footprint.

“We must make progress with respect to reducing our carbon footprint,” Lynch said. “This is something I’m very committed to doing and I hope you hold me to [this commitment.]”

Prof. John Ballantine (IBS) then took the podium to discuss the Brandeis University Exploratory Committee on Fossil Fuel Divestment’s recently-released 175-page report. The report advocates for socially-responsible investing practices, and strongly suggests that the University divest as much as possible from fossil fuels. 

The faculty heavily debated whether divestment—complete or incomplete—was the right way to approach climate change, and spent a great amount of time weighing the pros and cons of divestment. 

Pochapsky argued that the University and its faculty members should act as “active shareholders, activists,” and should attend shareholder meetings to get a better understanding of where the University is investing its money. Other professors argued that attending shareholder meetings wouldn’t be possible, due to federal regulations. 

After the debate had died down, Lynch addressed the remaining faculty members and dismissed the meeting, telling everyone to enjoy the sunshine and good weather.