Minutes of October 11, 2016

Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Room B102 3:15 pm

Senators in attendance: J. Pelletier, D. St. George, R. Worthington, J. Boulay, L. Neubert, L. Delano-Botelho, J. Corven, B. French, J. Constantine, J. Jodoin-Krauzyk, J. Bjornson, M. Geary, G. Hamel, D. Quenga, K.  Plante, C. Almeida, M. Hyde, D. Avedikian, S. Ferreira, K. Fassbender, J. Emond, J. Barry

Absences: R. Rebelo, M. Roberts, K. Woldegiorgis, J. Dekkers-Mitchel, A. Marden, M. Roberts

Excused Absences: H. Tinberg, K. Hiller, D. Behuniak

Special Guest: Anthony Ucci

One guest attended this meeting.

Meeting called to order:  3:15 pm

Minutes:  Minutes from September were reviewed and approved without abstention.
Note: Jenn Boulay facilitated the meeting and Debra St. George took minutes.

Welcome and Introductions

Secretary Boulay announced that all 29 Senate slots have been filled. She also welcomed Debra St. George as Vice President.  

Division Reports

·         Division 1: Representatives from the Writing Center have been offering workshops to provide students with a general overview of what the Writing Center is, where it can be found and why students should  seek their assistance. It is presented either as a 15 minute talk or a 50 minute simulated tutoring session that is conducted in the classroom. Thus far 40 presentations have taken place over 4 campuses.

The BCC Holocaust Center and LusoCentro have partnered to present The Consul of Bordeaux - a new film about Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Portuguese consul in Bordeaux who saved over 30,000 lives from Nazi persecution. Additional collaborative endeavors are scheduled will be presented over the fall semester.

·         Division 2: Newly acquired space in E Building will be converted to house the Psychology Club, a Pathway for Psychology Program and a criminalist lab.

·         Division 5: Most laboratories have moved to J Building. Two Chemistry labs remain in E205.

Whole Student Initiative

Subcommittees addressing barriers for students at BCC in addition to academics were discussed:

·         The Retention council which includes the Hunger Committee is looking into expanding the Food Pantry to campuses other than Fall River. Transportation among campuses is another topic to be explored. Parking in New Bedford was also identified as a hardship for students. Suggestions were made to offer reduced fee or free parking for students as parking is free in specific garages for faculty.

·         The Expanding Student Engagement is co-chaired by Kathy Burns and Cheryl Sclar; no report available

·         The “No Name Committee” is looking into academic support and student retention but quantitative data is not yet available.

It is difficult to identify the at risk student unless they self identify. Map-Works can be as a means of gathering data on students in need if utilized more extensively. Faculty and Staff were encouraged to promote students’ taking the Map-Works survey by October 31, 2016.

NEASC Working Groups

Four subgroups are working to complete a draft report due in November. The groups include:

·         Advising

·         Dual Enrollment

·         Shared Governance

·         Outcomes assessment

Feedback from Shared Governance indicated that illustrating communication and transparency were goals. Monthly reports will be posted to the all share drive as monthly report feedback varies among divisions.  

Invited Speaker

 Associate Vic President for Academic Affairs Anthony Ucci presented two Academic Initiatives:

·         Coordinated Guided Pathway to Success

Many BCC students encounter problems with progression through their course of study due to a lack of college readiness. For example, 45% of students need developmental Math before they can move on and graduate. This scenario leads to students becoming discouraged and leaving school. AVP Ucci recommended that the College schedule classes, realign resources more successfully and build teams to work together to better meet student needs. Extended discussion ensued, but more work is needed.

·         Curriculum Development

AVP Ucci asked for volunteers to participate in a task force to review the curriculum development process. There is a need for correlation between the Board of higher Education and the College Wide Curriculum Committee.

Title III

Constituents provided feedback on why so few proposals were submitted from faculty and professional staff. Comments included:

·         The need for a longer window of time

·         Clarification on difference between a Title III proposal and Strategic Plan proposals

·         Recovery from work to rule required

·         A team initiative rather than individual input was needed to address the scope of Title III

Meeting Adjourned:  4:20 pm

Respectfully submitted, Debra St. George, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Vice President

Minutes of September 19, 2016

Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Monday, September 19, 2016

Room H129 3:15 pm

Senators in attendance:  Robyn Worthington, Carlos Almeida, Livia Neubert, Jim Pelletier, Sil Ferreira, Geraldine Hamel, Dan Avedikian, Deb St. George, Mike Geary, Jacci Barry, Jenn Boulay, Howard Tinberg, Debra Quenga, Marie Roberts, Mary Hyde, Jon Bjornson, Jim Corven Dana Behuniak, Ric Rebelo, Kelly Fassbender, Julie Jodoin-Krauzyk, Lisa Delano-Botelho, James Emond, Debra Quenga,

Absences:, Jennifer Dekkers-Mitchell, Kelemu Woldegiorgis, Jim Constantine

Excused Absences: Kelli Hiller, Amy Marden

Nine guests attended this meeting.

Special guests included Joyce Brennan and Holly Pappas.

Meeting called to order:  3:12 pm

Welcome and Introductions:

President Tinberg welcomed new and returning Senators.

Minutes:  Minutes from September 1 meeting were approved with abstentions due to absences.

Division Reports

·         Division 1: ESL students could benefit from additional supports— ESL is not currently offered in Taunton or Attleboro; letters from Enrollment can be confusing and are not translated to other languages. A discussion followed regarding access to bilingual forms during admissions and whether the Portuguese and Spanish Interpreting Programs can help.

·         Division 4: Faculty members obtained doctoral degrees

·         Lash: The K building is closed after hours and students don’t have access to the computer lab as a result. A discussion followed regarding equitable distribution of resources across campuses.

·         Advising: Some college policies create red tape that can impair student success (e.g., purge for nonpayment or missing financial aid paperwork).

Vote on Senate Strategic Goals 2016-17

·         A motion was made and passed unanimously to approve the proposed strategic goals for AY 2016-17. They include curricular alignment and integration, culture of collaboration, and a whole student initiative (ongoing goals from last year: governance, student support and retention).

Invited Speaker: Joyce Brennan, Vice President, College Communications

·         Vice President Brennan introduced herself to the Senate, provided her personal background, and offered some updates and goals for College Communications.

·         Background: Started at BCC on August 1, 2016, she knows the local community and has worked in a similar capacity at Southcoast Health (team structure that supports external entities)

·         Update: She has begun working on a strategic plan with her department and has begun auditing their social media strategy (e.g., what are they promoting and who are they targeting).

·         Goals:

o    Finding and sharing faculty stories

o    Soliciting feedback from Senate

o    Tapping into new audiences (adult learners, veterans)

o    Plans to come back to share communication plan, once assembled

·         Website: Contract was on her desk upon hire, but she just left a website revamp at Southcoast Health and felt further exploration was needed before paying for a revision. Overall, she finds the website needs work, is confusing and is not student-friendly. RFP will be put out and the company that did the groundwork could be rehired. She plans to come back to the Senate with a concept for the website first. She hopes to become a strategic partner with the Senate on this work.

Follow up: Task Force Report on Student Retention/Academic Support and Meeting with Administration

·         The Senate conducted an electronic vote on whether the Senate should join the proposed task force and it was approved.

·         President Tinberg will follow up with the administration to discuss a timeline and charge for the group. He will propose a plan for a college-wide conversation such as a retention summit for the spring.

Update on General Education Review

·         Holly presented draft competencies to the Senate. They are critical reading and analysis, scientific reading and discovery, quantitative and symbolic reasoning, global and historical awareness, multicultural and social perspectives, ethical dimensions, and information and technical literacy. Additional work is needed for written and oral communication, and humanities.

·         Some competencies were previously approved, but not implemented.

·         Bloom’s Taxonomy was used for draft competencies in an effort to make them more assessable.

·         She proposed a possible assessment day for assessing the proposed competencies.

·         Next, members of the group will attend the monthly division and program chairs meetings to solicit feedback from faculty.

·         Draft competencies will be shared with the Senate in a Google Doc and Senators are encouraged to join the taskforce.

·         President Tinberg commended the group for using the AI process as it was intended.

Update on NEASC Working Groups

·         Update was provided at professional staff meeting prior to the Senate meeting.

o    Governance: They are looking at models of shared governance and are composing draft language for NEASC. They are referencing the Central Committee’s findings on the committee structure at the college. New AI proposals have been submitted to President Tinberg and Secretary Boulay, which will be shared with Senators at the next meeting. A discussion followed regarding who is initiating, who is signing off on initiatives, and what are the implications for doing so. Constituent access to college monthly reports was also discussed. There should be a central repository so all college members have access to this information.

Other

·         ODS is identifying testing space. They proctored almost 800 exams in Fall River last year; however, the existing ODS space is not conducive. They are looking for low-cost proposal for a classroom near ODS. The question was raised as to whether the Senate can assist with this and if the Academic Initiative (AIE form should be used.

·         A question was raised as to whether the college would reduce costs by having certifications done internally.

Meeting Adjourned:  4:19 pm

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