Minutes of October 26, 2015

Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Monday, October 26, 2015

Room B101 3:15pm

Senators in attendance:  M. Geary, J. Flanigan, S. Pero, H. Tinberg, R. Worthington, R. Benya-Soderbom, J. Boulay, K. Hiller, B. French, L. Neubert, S. McCourt, J. Corven, J. Jodoin, L. Delano-Botelho, J. Pelletier, S. Ferreira, R. Amarasingham

Absences: T. Grady, J. Constantine, D. Phillips, C. Leonard

Excused Absences: G. Leeman, D. St. George, J. Mbugua

Special Guest: Deb Cohen

Six guests attended this meeting.

Meeting called to order:  3:20 pm, quorum 3:39

Minutes:  Minutes from October 5^th were reviewed and approved with no abstentions.

Advisement Matters

Dean of Advising, Deb Cohen, discussed what Advising is currently implementing:

·         The dissemination of the Mapworks survey through CSS courses

·         Academic advisors are now connected to each of the academic divisions (including Lash and Workforce)

o    Goal: Gain a better understanding of student needs within division

·         Advising 101, 102, 103 sessions focus—how to be a successful student (ongoing)

·         Appointment Plus program (online software package; started last year), with a possibility of extending to faculty in the future

o    Will assess how things work this semester

·         Assembling advising task force to explore online advising

·         Updating website for academic advising

·         Weekly submissions to Bristol Buzz by advisors

·         Orientation has now moved to Advising; drawing from some aspects from Division 3 boot camp

·         First annual majors fair to be held February 2^nd

Division Reports

·         There were no updates from any of the divisions.

Rolling Out the New Academic Initiative Implementation Guidelines: General Education Competency Review

Task force co-chairs, Secretary Boulay and Holly Pappas, provided an update on the status of the new academic initiative implementation guideline for the general education competency review. They offered a recap of the revisions to the Academic Initiative document (e.g., timeline, communication plan, relevant NEASC standard). President Tinberg will sign this document after minor changes are made (i.e., moving timeline and communication plan to the appendix).

Update on Academic Support and Retention Task Force Charge

President Sbrega sent an email calling for joint task force on student retention. Originally, this task force was to be Senate-run, with a focus on the allocation of resources for academic support to students. The Senate then discussed the benefits and challenges of collaborating with the administration during the initial stages of this initiative. The Senate’s goal is to focus on retention at the intersection of academics across campuses. The following questions were raised by Senate members:

·         How is academic support being defined? Allow committee to decide working definition

·         Could this be part of a larger joint effort?

·         Who is on the existing retention council? Is the process transparent?

·         How willing are students to use academic support?

·         What will be the methodology for work?

·         What do we know? What do we need to know?

·         What do students need that we are not providing?

·         Are there existing services that a student needs beyond academic support?

A motion was passed by the Senate to accept the offer to begin collaborative work with the administration in spring 2016; however, they reserve the right to gather data that it hopes will inform the Senate’s efforts as a serious partner in such collaboration.

General Studies and the Meta-Major

Tabled for next Senate meeting.

Other

Meeting Adjourned:  4:16 pm

Respectfully submitted, Jennifer Boulay, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Secretary

Minutes of October 5, 2015

Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Monday, October 5, 2015

Room B101 3:15pm

Senators in attendance:  M. Geary, J. Pelletier, R. Benya-Soderbom, D. St. George, S. Pero, R. Worthington, S. McCourt, J. Boulay, J. Flanigan, L. Neubert, H. Tinberg, R. Amarasingham, T. Grady, L. Delano-Botelho, J. Corven, B. French, J. Constantine, D. Phillips, J. Jodoin

Absences: C. Leonard, J. Mbugua, S. Ferreira

Excused Absences: G. Leeman, K. Hiller

Four guests attended this meeting.

Meeting called to order:  3:19 pm

Minutes:  Minutes from September 21^st were reviewed and approved with no abstentions, with correction to date of meeting.

Division Reports

·         Division 1: An English department initiative is looking at incoming students’ PARCC results for reading and writing placement instead of relying on Accuplacer with an expected decision in December 2015. Questions were raised over how the creation of metamajors would impact the Commonwealth Honors Program and other similar programs and how Division I might be involved in the process of creating an English major.

·         Division 2: No updates

·         Division 3: No updates

·         Division 4: No updates

·         Division 5: No updates

·         Division 6: No updates

·         Other Divisions: The Disability Concerns Committee is looking how to reshape its mission to become a beacon for awareness. They will explore policies and funding and are looking at accessibility as a shared responsibility.

Discussion and Vote on By-Laws

Revisions to the Senate By-Laws were passed with one amendment to include Advising as a separate academic division, without abstention. Senators Boulay, Leeman, and Worthington were thanked for their work on this subcommittee. The adopted By-Laws will be posted on the Senate blog and changes are as follows:

·         In light of the College’s reorganization of academic areas and after conducting a census of constituents, “Division VII” (which previously consisted of any representation outside of Divisions I-VI) has been retired. Academic divisions now include divisions I, II, III, IV, V, VI, Lash, Advising, Enrollment Services, and Student Services.

·         Electronic voting has been approved for Senate meetings in the event that “a quorum of senators is not present, or if a quorum approves, an electronic vote may be conducted.”

·         A Nominations Committee has been added as a standing committee for the Senate.

Rolling Out the New Academic Initiative Implementation Guidelines: General Education Competency Review

Task force co-chairs, Secretary Boulay and Holly Pappas, provided an update on the status of the new academic initiative implementation guideline for the general education competency review. After reading the description of the project, the following discussions and questions arose:

·         There was confusion over the terms and charge of the initiative (e.g., competencies vs. requirements).

·         There was an expressed interest in the broader timeline of the project, especially if this initiative is a smaller piece of outcomes assessment in response to NEASC.

·         What is the correlation between competencies and course offerings? How will this impact courses?

·         What impact will outcomes assessment measures and results have on faculty evaluations? How will they be used?

Senate recommendations are as follows:

·         Further define intended audience (e.g., faculty, students, both), purpose, charge, and include glossary of terms.

·         Diagram overall timeline for next committee meeting (e.g., how this relates to NEASC response).

·         Bring revised language with additional clarification of charge and timeline to next Senate meeting for signature.

·         Share document with constituents and include Student Services as part of “academic area.”

Update on Academic Support and Retention Task Force
Charge

The committee will gather data on the funding and utilization of academic support (academic tutoring and advisement) across campuses and will explore the impact these resources have on student retention. The committee will submit a written report with findings and clear recommendations.

·         April 11: Preliminary report submitted to Senate at its April meeting

·         May1: Final report submitted to the Senate President

President Tinberg discussed the need for Senators and constituents to serve on this group. Interested Senators should contact President Tinberg to join the committee.

·         Senators discussed additional considerations:

o    possible impact work-to-rule might have on this initiative

o    delivering academic support despite physical space limitations at different campuses

o    defining terms of academic support vs. keeping it broadly defined for the committee

o    allocation of resources vs. funding

o    collection of valid data (e.g., are numbers truly captured by overburdened areas given reporting time constraints)

Meeting Adjourned:  4:18 pm

Respectfully submitted, Jennifer Boulay, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Secretary