Bristol
Community College
Faculty
& Professional Staff Senate Meeting
Minutes
of Thursday, September 1, 2016
Room
H129 3:00 pm
Senators in attendance: Robyn Worthington, Mary Hyde, Carlos Almeida,
Livia Neubert, Jim Pelletier, Sil Ferreira, Geraldine Hamel, Dan Avedikian, Deb
St. George, Mike Geary, Jacci Barry, Jim Constantine, Julie Jodoin-Krauzyk,
Jenn Boulay, Howard Tinberg
Absences: Jon Bjornson, Jim Corven, Jennifer
Dekkers-Mitchell, Amy Marden, Marie Roberts, Kelemu Woldegiorgis
Excused Absences: Lisa Delano-Botelho, Kelli Hiller,
Dana Behuniak, Ric Rebello
Three guests attended this meeting.
Meeting
called to order: 3:12
pm
Announcements
Sharon Pero resigned from her position as Senate
vice president due to health reasons; the Executive Committee will appoint a
Senator to serve out her term, per the by-laws.
Robyn Worthington is now a new full-time faculty
member and Mike Geary is now the coordinator for the Writing Center.
Welcome
and Introductions:
President Tinberg welcomed new and returning
Senators.
Minutes: Minutes from May were approved with abstentions
due to absences.
Draft
Senate Strategic Goals 2016-17 (see draft language)
·
Senators were provided with draft
strategic goals for the Senate; they will be voted on at next meeting.
·
The draft goals were constructed as a
result of the annual summer retreat and considered the past, present, and
future.
·
Proposed Goals are as follows:
1. Curricular Alignment and
Integration: Determine
the extent to which curricular offerings are consistent across all campuses. If
such alignment is not present, offer recommendations to provide curricular
consistency.
a.
With administration constitute a Joint Task Force on Curricular Alignment
across Campuses whose charge will be to assess the consistency of current
offerings and, if appropriate, offer recommendation to correct alignment.
b.
Invite the chairs of Division Curriculum
and the All-College Curriculum Committees to share with the Senate their
observations regarding curriculum alignment across campuses
c.
Responsibility: Senate President; Reports: All Senate Meetings
i. Discussion: How will physical space
relate to curricular support? Is there equity among campuses? What role does
transportation play (e.g., CATCH casino only at Taunton, astronomy equipment outside
of Fall River)?
2. A Culture of Collaboration: Take steps to improve
collaboration regarding academic matters across all relevant sectors across the
college.
a. Follow
through on a current proposal offered that the Senate have a permanent
representative on the Vice-President’s Council.
The Senate will recommend that it designates the colleague who will
serve in this position.
b. The
Senate EC will continue to meet monthly with the President and Vice-President
of Academic Affairs to promote further exchange of information and
collaboration
c.
Propose that the Senate provide input on
the agendas for All-Academic Meetings
d.
Responsibility: Senate Vice-President; Reports:
All Senate Meetings
i. Discussion about new appointment on
academic vice president’s council: Will Senate be involved in the selection
process? Will new representative have an ad hoc seat on the Senate? Will Senate
by-laws need to be changed?
ii. Discussion about Executive
Committee’s monthly meetings with President Sbrega and Vice President Sethares:
Should this also include Vice President Ozug and Vice President Garganta?
iii. Discussion regarding all academic
meeting agendas: Will Senate provide significant input or have time allotted at
each meeting?
3. The Whole Student Initiative: Work
to acquire, and aggregate current, data on the economic challenges facing our
students that affect academic performance.
a. Create
and constitute a Joint Task Force on
Student Need whose charge will
include the following:
i. design
and distribute a survey of students on their economic needs as those needs
affect academic work
ii. conduct
focus groups on students’ economic well-being
iii. consolidate
current data on student needs
iv. distribute
data acquired to ALL instructional staff, full and part-time
v. offer
data-driven recommendations that will enhance students’ opportunity to succeed
academically
vi. Responsibility:
Chair(s) of Joint Task Force/Senate Secretary; Reports:
October, April, May
1. Discussion: Would the proposed
joint task force on student need be able to merge with the existing hunger
committee or the no-name committee that is working on a student survey? When
the Commonwealth Honors Students explored student needs as a research topic, VP
Gabbovitch indicated that some Pell-eligible students do not apply—why not?
Should the Faculty and Professional Staff Senate include a student member? In
an effort to avoid duplication of committees, are there existing committees
exploring these topics? How do the different student needs at various campuses
impact their academic success (e.g., taking BIO 111 without a sufficient math
background)?
On-going Goals and
Activities:
4.
Governance:
Work toward the implementation of the joint Senate/Administration goal: Establish
a clear, inclusive, closed-loop process for academic decision-making, including
timelines, identification of stakeholders, clear roles & responsibilities,
broad input, and verification that stakeholder input was heard.
a.
Implement new “Senate Protocol for
Responding to Academic Initiatives”
b.
Monitor college use of the Academic
Initiatives guidelines and process
c.
Monitor, and report on, the work of the
various NEASC “Working Groups”
d.
Responsibility: Senate President; Reports: All Senate Meetings
a.
Opportunities:
inclusive closed-loop process via AI form; Title III grant (meet with
consultants); look at general education and civic learning initiatives
5.
Academic
Support and Student Retention: Drawing upon the
report of the Senate Task Force on Academic Support and Student Retention, work
to convene a full, frank, and productive college-wide discussion of academic
support and student retention.
a.
With administration, Plan a “Summit on
Retention,” to which all stakeholders are invited to participate and from which
clear and actionable recommendations, with timeline, follow
b.
Responsibility: Senate President/Former Task Force Chair;
Reports: September, November, February, April, May
i. Possible opportunities: retention
summit; joint task force on student retention and academic support
·
Follow
up: Task Force Report on Student Retention/Academic Support and Meeting with
Administration
·
President Sbrega emailed a response
praising the Senate committee’s work and then convened a group of
administrators, Senate members and Senate task force members
·
A discussion followed as to whether the
Senate should participate in a formal task force. If so, there should be a
clear charge, timeline, and outcomes.
·
A motion was passed to have the
Secretary contact Senate members to participate in an electronic vote to decide whether or not the Senate should
participate in the proposed joint task force
·
The following motion was passed:
o
The Secretary will contact Senate
members to electronically vote on whether or not the Senate will join the
proposed joint task force
·
Senate members were invited to join the
College-wide Retention Council.
Other
·
A date will soon be set for the Grandchamp
Lecture.
Meeting Adjourned:
4:01 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Boulay, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Secretary
