Bristol Community
College
Faculty &
Professional Staff Senate Meeting
Minutes of Monday October
6, 2014
B101 3:15 p.m.
Senators
in attendance: E. French, R. Worthington, G. Heaney, S. Pero, D. St. George, J.
Duponte, J. Constantine, J. Corven, S. McCourt, J. Pelletier, J. Boulay, G.
Leeman, R. Benya-Soderbom, L. Delano-Botelho, R. Amarasingham, J. Mbugua, S.
Ferreira C. Poore-Pariseau, M. Geary, T Grady
Excused
Absences: H. Tinberg, S. Gabb, C. Leonard, M. Williams, K. Hiller
Absences:
R. Santos, D. Warr
Four
guests attended this meeting.
Special
Guests: TASC Director Ron Weisberger and Writing Center Director Genie Giaimo
Meeting called to order 3:18
pm.
Minutes: Minutes from September 14, 2014 were reviewed and
passed with amendments for small editing items and the addition of Senators R.
Worthington and T. Grady to the “attending” roster.
Writing Center &
TASC:
§ Ron Weisberger
provided an overview of the formation of the Learning Commons, where TASC and
the Writing Center share a physical space. He also highlighted how these areas are
also sharing the TutorTrac data management system despite maintaining separate
identities.
§ Genie Giaimo fielded
questions and provided clarifications regarding changes to the Writing Center.
o
She
indicated that drop-in students will not be turned away, but they will only be
served if accommodations are available at the time. The Center is shifting
toward scheduling appointments to increase usage rates for budgetary reasons,
but may create a waiting list for cancellations.
o
She
also indicated that there were no plans to phase out faculty tutors despite
adding peer tutors; she is also exploring adding tutor bios to the website. Her
hope is to expand services in the area of faculty research.
o
Her
goal is to work collaboratively to meet needs of faculty from different
disciplines and to better integrate Writing Center services in assignments. This
may include workshops on writing in disciplines and coordination with library
as a team for citations and research, argumentation and development.
§ A discussion followed
about the potential of implementing a joint document for assignments using the
Writing Center; this could include a brief student post-survey regarding goals
and outcomes, thereby allowing the student to internalize why he/she is using
the Center. She underscored the importance of using the Writing Center in a
manner that is meaningful for students. Director Giaimo offered to meet with
the Senate at a future date.
Division Updates:
· Division 1: Two Senators from Division 1 and one from
Division 4 attended the first PLA meeting;
now one coordinator will assess student portfolios, although there will be
options for individual departments; instructional student portfolio workshops
will be offered. Additionally, English portfolio assessments will incorporate
MapWorks for students who failed portfolio assessment; faculty are encouraged
to contact Dana Behuniak for training in MapWorks.
· Division 2: Search committee for new dean is meeting next
week to begin the new interviews.
· Division 3: No updates.
· Division 4: No updates.
· Division 5: New Associate Dean of STEM Meghan Abella-Bowen
met with Division 5 faculty regarding the new TAACCCT 4 grant.
· Division 6: No updates.
· Division 7:
o
Office of Disability Services: Each building will have demonstrations of the evacuation
chairs and ODS received approval for a full-time deaf/hard of hearing
coordinator.
o
Lash Division: The college was
awarded a Department of Labor TAACCCT 4 grant for STEM GPS in General Studies
in the amount of $525,000 over 4 years and Lash CTL is piloting a year-long hybrid
Adjunct Certificate Program.
o
Enrollment &
Student Services:
Enrollment is down 1.6% but student retention and graduation rates increased; the
call center made 6,000 phone calls to students and applicants; Marianne
LeGuyader is the new Assistant Director of Student Life; Vice President Leeman
and Athletic Director Derek Viveiros worked on a new CSS course for student
athletes.
Division/Area Grant
Wish List
President
McCourt proposed a new grant wish list form that any group on campus may
initiate. The proposed form would include name of the contact person and
acknowledgement that he/she is willing to participate in writing and/or
assessment of the grant. President McCourt will provide a draft to Senators for
next meeting.
Bylaws and
Reorganization:
Due
to the reorganization of divisions 6 and 7, Senate bylaws will need to be
revised; President McCourt will meet with Senators Leeman, Boulay and
Worthington to explore.
Annual Goals and
Calendar:
President
McCourt distributed tentative topics and goals for the current academic year; further
discussion regarding additions/revisions is scheduled for later meeting.
Subsequent meetings will incorporate updates on:
1.
Shared
governance
2.
Communication
and representation
3.
Excellence,
equity and inclusion
The
green schedule will also be revisited and may be added to the annual goals.
Joint
Senate/Administration Closed-Loop Governance Initiative:
President
McCourt received notification from AVP of Academic Affairs Ucci that President
Sbrega signed the joint initiative; however, upon comparison with the latest
iteration sent in the spring, it was determined that there were significant differences
from said document. While the Senate would receive notification of new
initiatives, concerns were raised regarding the feedback and evaluation process
for pilot initiatives. The Senate unanimously agreed to have a full discussion
before providing official comment.
Meeting adjourned 4:16 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Jennifer Boulay, BCC
Faculty & Professional Staff Secretary
