Bristol
Community College
Faculty
& Professional Staff Senate Meeting
Minutes
of Monday, May 5, 2017
Room
J211 3:15 pm
Senators
in attendance: L. Delano-Botelho, R. Worthington, D.
St. George, K. Plante, K. Hiller, M. Hyde, J. Boulay, H. Tinberg, D. Behuniak,
M. Geary, K. Woldegiorgis, C. Almeida, D. Quenga, J. Jodoin-Krauzyk, J.
Pelletier, J. Barry, C. Kenney, J. Bjornson, D. Avedikian, J. Corven
Absences:
A. Marden, S. Ferreira, M. K. Roberts, J. Dekkers, G. Hamel, R. Rebelo, L.
Neubert, J. Constantine
Excused
Absences: J. Emond
Eight guests attended this meeting.
Meeting
called to order:
3:16 pm
Minutes: Minutes from March 6, 2017 were reviewed and
approved with 2 abstentions due to absences.
Division
Reports
●
1: Luso Centro’s Portuguese Language
Day yielded almost 400 students from local high schools and BCC.
●
4: graduating nursing students
delivering presentation from 10-1 in G building poster presentation from
service learning projects; 2 pinning ceremonies.
●
5: Seeds of Sustainability had a
successful plant sale; some plants were donated to a local art gallery.
●
Student Services: Several students
participated on the Autists Speaking panel and the event received large turnout
from campus; ODS is hiring a full-time C-printer to start on Monday.
●
Lash: The Writing Center’s free
reading/writing refresher workshops are beginning in May and will be held at
the New Bedford, Fall River, and Taunton campuses; the dates are located on the
college’s website.
Grandchamp
Lecture Follow-up
1. Contribution toward Grandchamp Event
a.
President Tinberg thanked incoming
Senator Rak for delivering the 2017 Grandchamp Lecture. There is a modest bill
for food items and Senators are asked to submit monetary contributions.
Update
on Strategic Goals
1. Sustainability
a. Results of Officers’ Election: President
Tinberg announced the incoming Executive Committee for the Senate: Jennifer
Boulay, president; Kelli Hiller, vice president; Lisa Delano-Botelho,
secretary. Their terms will begin after commencement.
2. Governance:
a. NEASC Letter:
i.
President Tinberg asked BCC President
Sbrega to share the NEASC letter and interim report as submitted by the college
for greater transparency. Many senators were involved in the 4 working
groups--shared governance, outcomes assessment, advising, and dual enrollment.
The AI form/process was reported in the interim report by the college; this
document creates a transparent consultative process for collegewide academic
initiatives.
b.
Update
on Gen Ed Revision
i.
Secretary Boulay provided an update on
the General Education Revision AI. The work group submitted a draft report with
recommendations for revised competencies to Academic Affairs in December. They
received an extension until May so they may further explore the humanities
competency and submit a final report at that time. They will also submit a
final AI form in May.
c. Update on Title III
i.
A proposal has been submitted to the
federal government for the next round of Title III funding. President Tinberg
requested a final version of the application, but has not yet received a response.
Some senators were involved on the writing and design teams for the grant
proposal. Awardees will be notified in August and implementation would begin in
October.
3. Curriculum and Alignment
a. Draft report on curriculum development
guidelines
i.
President Tinberg forwarded the draft
report submitted by Associate VP Ucci to the Senate for feedback. Senator
Bjornson provided an update on the project. Draft language includes themes of
AI (i.e., inclusiveness and consultation). The document will make clear processes/policies
for making curriculum changes. If a curriculum proposal is not approved, the
submitter will be provided a rationale. A fast-track approval process is
proposed for “non-controversial” changes (e.g., changing course offerings from
fall to spring) in an effort to remove red tape in the CWCC process. Senators
are encouraged to share feedback with President Tinberg.
4. Academic Support and the Whole Student
Initiative
a. Next Steps
i.
The Joint Task Force on Academic
Support and Retention met and reviewed Retention Summit evaluations from
participants, scribes, and facilitators. The scribe notes will be converted
into proposed action items after the group reviews this data. The final report
will be available in September.
b. Joint Task Force on Basic Student Need
i.
President Tinberg discussed the need
for creating a joint task force with a focus on meeting basic student needs.
This was a session at the Retention Summit and a Senate goal for the past
academic year.
5. Collaboration
a. Report to Board of Trustees
i.
President Tinberg provided a report on
Senate matters to the BCC Board of Trustees. He hopes that this will set a
precedent to routinely talk about academic matters with the Board.
b. The New President’s Transition Team
i.
President Tinberg was asked to serve on
the presidential transition team by the chair of the Board of Trustees.
Incoming President Douglas requested several Senate documents including the AI
form.
New
Business
Vice President Garganta approached the
Senate to discuss the College’s revised withdrawal and preferred name policies.
●
Withdrawal
Policy
○
Beginning Fall 2017, faculty will no
longer have the ability to withdraw students from their classes. Instead, they
must assign students a grade for their performance. Students may still
self-withdraw up to the 10th week of the semester. The college is now a
non-attendance taking institution; however, faculty can individually take
attendance in the classroom for other purposes (e.g., missing too many classes
may result in an “F” grade). Faculty may want to remind students of this change
around week 8 of the semester.
○
This policy was changed because late
reporting negatively impacts financial aid. Similarly, withdrawals can
negatively affect financial aid.
○
Draft language for syllabi was shared
at the meeting. A communication plan is being developed and faculty should
receive additional information about these changes.
○
Enrollment verifications will remain in
effect.
●
Preferred
Name Policy
○
Vice President Garganta met with campus
constituencies to discuss the proposed policy. This will create a common policy
across all communities in Massachusetts and is geared to benefit LGBTQ and
international students. By Fall 2017, preferred names may be on class rosters. Students
will be able to get IDs with their preferred first name. Preferred names will
also be included in accessBCC and Degreeworks for consistency. Folks who wish to use nicknames will also be
considered in an effort to become a more welcoming and inclusive campus. Last
names will not be changed unless they are legally changed. Transcripts will
remain in a student’s legal name. Student ID numbers will not change.
○
The nursing program will need to
explore how this relates to hospital rules.
Other
●
The Student Senate is writing a letter
to Follet and is looking to have other schools sign on so the bookstore may
change their book matching policies to include refund instead of credit.
Providence College uses Barnes and Noble and receives a monetary refund for their
price match. Faculty are encouraged to place their course books on loan in the
library and to add information about the Student Senate book swap to their
syllabi.
●
The Affirmative Action Committee is
looking to incorporate the Retention Summit findings in their goals and mission
planning.
●
Vice President Brennan is looking at
rebranding the College’s website over the summer and requested to be added to
the first Senate meeting in the Fall. The Bristol Buzz will be discontinued and
a new communication tool will be launched for incoming President Douglas.
Senators should consider joining a focus group on the website if one is formed.
●
A constituent requested that current
Senate leadership be included on the president’s transition team. President
Tinberg indicated he would make that request.
●
President Tinberg expressed his
pleasure in serving the Senate, particularly as an original Senator. He
discussed how the Senate is a vital part of the College and he wished the new
slate of Senators success in the coming year.
Meeting Adjourned: 4:19 pm
Respectfully
submitted, Jennifer Boulay, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Secretary
