Bristol
Community College
Faculty
& Professional Staff Senate Meeting
Minutes
of Monday, February 13, 2017
Room
J211 3:15 pm
Senators in attendance: K. Plante, J. Emond, J.
Bjornson, L. Delano-Botelho, M. Geary, J. Corven, K. Woldegiorgis, D. Behuniak,
J. Barry, J. Boulay, H. Tinberg, D. Avedekian, M. Hyde, L. Neubert, G. Hamel,
T. Worthington, J. Jodion_Krauzyk, D. St. George, K. Fassbender, C. Almeida
Absences: J. Dekkers-Mitchell, A. Marden, J.
Pelletier, D. Quenga, M. Roberts, S. Ferreira, R. Rebelo
Excused Absences: J. Constantine, K. Hiller
Six guests attended this meeting.
Meeting
called to order: 3:02
pm
Minutes: Minutes from January 23 were reviewed and
approved with one abstention.
President Tinberg attended the most recent Student
Senate meeting and invited Student Senate President Johanna Morales and Jane
Warren, Student Senate Advisor, to attend this meeting.
Division
Reports
·
Division 1: There is confusion over
whether the LEAP rubric is for use in institutional assessment or for
assignment grading. For example, LEAP rubrics are accessible via Blackboard as
assignment rubrics. Questions were also raised about the professor emeritus
distinction—why is the college limited to only 2 per year? Given the contract
limitations for becoming a full professor with a master’s degree, will this
pose a problem in the future?
·
Division 4: Dean Pat Dent is retiring at
end of semester; a job description has been posted.
·
Advising: Additional full-time and
part-time advising positions are in the process of being filled in New Bedford,
Attleboro and at the Connections Center.
·
Lash: The Writing Center completed a
campus-wide survey which yielded over 100 responses. Senator Geary’s interim
position as Writing Center will end this semester and a job description is in
process. The Writing Center Committee decided that the director would be drawn
from internal faculty, either full-time or adjuncts. The position would be for
24 hours per week (or a four-course reassignment).
Update
on Strategic Goals
A. Sustainability
Nominations
& Term Limits
·
Deans have been asked to email division
members for nominees and to send names to Robyn. Constituents may self-nominate
or nominate others. The nominations committee will confirm that nominated
individuals are interested in running. The deadline is March 1, 2017.
·
Within this process, it is unclear as to
the role of the committee if deans are soliciting names. It is recommended that
any proposed changes be added to the By-Laws to ensure consistent
implementation.
·
A number of Senators have met their term
limits (i.e., two consecutive terms). However, if there are no nominations from
divisions with open seats, the by-laws allow the Executive Committee to decide
whether to permit a Senator facing a term-limit to run for another term.
·
Senators were asked to encourage
colleagues to run. Senator Worthington indicated there are open seats in
Divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Lash, and Student Services.
B. Academic Support and Retention
Update
on Retention and Support Summit
·
President Tinberg updated Senators on
the Retention Summit. The format will be an “unconference;” however, some
divisions are not clear on how this day will be different from other
professional days. Secretary Boulay provided an update on the goals and structure
of the day. She is working with College Communications on a marketing plan.
Students’ Textbook Choices: The
Book Store’s Matching Program
·
At the last meeting, the Senate
discussed a new price matching policy at the bookstore. President Tinberg contacted
the co-chairs of the Auxiliary Services Committee and was informed that
students could match prices from any source, but the difference in the amount
paid would be refunded on a gift card redeemable at the bookstore. When this
initiative started, students who paid using financial aid were not refunded the
difference; however, this has since been rectified.
·
It was proposed to have the Senate form
a joint ad hoc group with the Student Senate to explore textbook policies and
the college’s contract with Follett. Items for consideration include:
o
At present, online sites such as Amazon
are not part of the school’s contract, although other institutions use Amazon.
o
Can students use financial aid directly
through book publishers?
o
When will the contract with Follett
expire and what types of contracts do other institutions have with book stores?
o
Could the college increase incentives
for adopting/adapting open education resources (OER)?
·
Senators who are interested in joining
this committee should contact Secretary Boulay.
Student
Senate Book Exchange
·
The Student Senate developed an app to
access their book inventory online. Last semester, they exchanged 250 textbooks
between students free of charge. Details about this program are located on the
Student Senate’s Facebook page. They may explore advertising the program on
campus monitors prior to course registration.
B.
Curricular Alignment and Integration
Update
on Curriculum Policy Committee
·
This joint task force will explore
course offerings across campuses and by division to ensure there is equity and a
consistent process. Senator Bjornson and Shelly Murphy (co-chair) are both
members of the committee. Other committee members include Janelle Arruda, Donna
Davis, Rodney Clark, Eileen Shea, Sarmad Saman, and Associate Vice President
Ucci (co-chair).
·
The charge of the committee is to
gather, organize, and review existing process for curriculum development. The
goal is to develop a coherent college-wide curriculum development process,
across campuses (and online), and via various modalities. This will follow
NEASC requirements and the process will be consistent with the principles of
AI. At present, CWCC and BHE forms do not match, so they hope to streamline
processes.
·
The committee has met once (February 1)
and is researching best practices in higher education curriculum development
and collecting information about current practices. They aim to finalize their
work around April or May of this year. They hope to draft a document and revise
the CWCC/OATSS handbook.
·
Senators may contact e.jon.bornson@bristolcc.edu
or shelly.murphy@bristolcc.edu for more
information.
Meeting
Adjourned: 4:16 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Boulay, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Secretary
