Minutes of Monday, September 18, 2017

Bristol Community College
Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting
Minutes of Monday, September 18, 2017
Room L 101 3:10 pm

Senators in attendance:   C. Almeida, M. Geary,  L. Delano-Botelho, R.  Weisberger, J. Bjornson,  G. Hamel, K. Hiller,  K. Plante,  S. Alves, D. Avedikian, R. Rak, J. Barry,  D. Behuniak,  J. Boulay, J. Emond,  J. Corven, M. Sipala, K. Woldegiorgis, D. Quenga, L. Neubert,  J. Jodoin-Krauzyk, K. Fassbender

Absences: R. Rebelo, P. Robillard, M. Roberts
Excused Absences: M. Hyde, A. Marden, J. Dekkers
Guests: 8 Guests attended this meeting
Meeting called to order:  3:15 pm  
Minutes:  Minutes from May, 2017 were reviewed, suggested change was to add “academic” to the title of VPC and approved unanimously with aforementioned correction.

Welcome:
J. Boulay welcomed Senators, Guests and BCC President Douglas. 

President Douglas Announcements:

·         At this time, college is seeking to hire new Executive Director of Human Resources

·         President Douglas has identified her 2017 – 2018 goals for the college and shared with the Board of Trustees

·         President Douglas will prioritize the goals for the next Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for October and will then share with the BCC community

·         Identified goals include, but not limited to:  Support teaching and learning; Define shared governance and transparency in such a manner that will facilitate agreement when we have attained that goal; Information sharing and closing the feedback loop

·         BCC has a robust strategic plan. Need is to align strategic Goals with our identified strategic plan

Update on Senate Strategic Goals: These Strategic Goals were unanimously approved.

1.      Student Retention and Success

·         Monitor implementation of recommendations from the Retention Summit

·         Work with College Communications providing input on website design and campus event calendar

·         Work with Outcomes Assessment Fellow, convene a faculty team to create institutional assessment plan of student learning outcomes

·         Work with Academic VPC for input with course cancellation policy and the financial purge

2.      Professional Development and Recognition of Employees

·         Propose greater transparency in the recognition and leadership development of employees of BCC

·         Work toward getting the programs available listed on the BCC website

·         Encourage the publishing of names of employees that have won awards and the reason(s) they have received that particular award

·         Encourage BCC to consider including faculty bios in web redesign

3.      Senate Sustainability 

·         Develop a marketing plan to increase interest and attendance at future Senate meetings

·         Develop ad-hoc Census Committee charge with completing census to occur in 2017 – 2018 academic year

·         Revision of Senate by-laws to meet needs of grooming Senate Leadership

·         Develop the use of technology to meet needs of Senators and constituents on other campuses.

Upcoming PACE (Personal Assessment of the College Environment) Study

·         To occur November 2017

·         Divided into 4 climate factors:  Institutional structure; Supervisory relationships; Teamwork; Student Focus

Academic VPC meeting updates

·         The Financial Purge

o   The challenge this year was the FASFA change.  Need to submit tax documents

o   One strategy for improving; advertising to students to fill out paperwork early for financial aid

o   Senators who would like to have input on this topic should contact Kelli Hiller (faculty liaison to academic VPC) through Microsoft Teams)

·         The Bristol Weekly

o   All campus events will be through BCC Weekly (name change from Bristol Buzz)

o   Looking at possibility of discontinuing the use of @ everybody in BCC email

o   AVPC also looking for feedback on the Bristol Weekly.  Again, contact Kelli Hiller through Microsoft Teams

·         Cancellation of Classes

o   For Spring 2018, BCC will NOT populate those courses that did not running Spring 2017

o   BCC looking to decrease the number of courses by 10%

o   Those classes that will not run are ultimately the decision of the Dean of each Division

o   Senate concerns are that classes necessary for the completion of a degree may be cut

·         Late Grade Policy

o   Some faculty are not submitting their final course grades in a timely manner

o   Questioning the possibility to take punitive actions
(i.e. a letter will be placed in faculty file)

Text Books:

·         Concerns regarding text book orders continue

·         Senate would like to create a text book task force

·         More discussion and information to follow

 By Law Revisions:  Tabled until 10/10 meeting
Senate must vote on by-law revisions in Fall 2017.  Vote scheduled for 11/20/2017.  Revisions may include following areas:

·         Sustainability of the Senate and grooming future leaders of the Senate

·         Changing document language that appears unclear. 

·         Send ideas for potential changes/amendments to Senate Secretary, Lisa Delano-Botelho.

Meeting Adjourned: 4:15 pm
Respectfully Submitted:  Lisa Delano-Botelho, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Secretary

Senate Strategic Goals (AY 2017-18)

SENATE STRATEGIC GOALS (AY 2017-18)

Mission The name of the organization is the Bristol Community College Faculty and Professional Staff Senate.  Its purpose will be to provide a deliberative body designed to promote shared governance, transparency, collegiality, and mutual trust among faculty and staff and administration.  Further, the Faculty and Professional Staff Senate will provide a forum to enhance academic values and opportunities.

Vision: The Senate will be committed to academic improvement, sustainability, and collaboration. Its work will be connected to the college’s mission and this entity will be fully integrated in academic decision-making and shared governance.

1.       Student Retention and Success

a.       Monitor the implementation of recommendations from the Retention Summit (e.g., process for implementation, timeline and goals, assessment)

b.      Work with College Communications to provide input on the website redesign and campus event calendar

c.       Working with the Outcomes Assessment Fellow, convene a faculty team to create an institutional assessment plan of student learning outcomes

d.      Work with the academic Vice Presidents Council (VPC), and VPC representative to provide input in the course cancellation policy and financial purge.

Responsibility: President and Vice President                       Report: Monthly

2.       Professional Development and Recognition of Employees

a.       Propose greater transparency in the recognition and leadership development of employees

                                                   i.      List leadership programs the college participates in on the website along with criteria, application process, and awardees (e.g., Leadership Southcoast, CCLA, CONNECT Key Talent Leadership, Chair Academy)

                                                 ii.      Publish names of employee award recipients and reason they received award (e.g., Silver Shield, Sceptre and Scroll, NISOD, Pride and Performance, presidential fellowship, sabbaticals)

                                                iii.      Include faculty bios as part of the website redesign

b.      Explore internal opportunities such as mentoring or other opportunities to prepare internal leaders to advance

c.       Propose the Senate’s input on classroom-based strategies for All Academic meetings

Responsibility: President and Vice President               Report: November, February, May

3.       Senate Sustainability

a.       Develop marketing plan for the Senate to increase awareness (e.g., blog, other communication, Senate social, listening sessions)

b.      Establish an ad-hoc Census Committee to construct a census for the next Senate election and provide recommendations

c.       Revise bylaws to provide for better succession planning and internal leadership development

d.      Explore technology for meetings to better include other campuses

Responsibility: President and Secretary             Report: October, January, March, April

Minutes of Thursday, August 31, 2017

Bristol Community College
Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting
Minutes of Thursday, August 31, 2017
Room H 129  3:30 pm

Senators in attendance:   C. Almeida, M. Geary,  R. Rebelo, L. Delano-Botelho, R.  Weisberger, J. Bjornson, P. Robillard, G. Hamel, K. Hiller,  K. Plante,  S. Alves, D. Avedikian, R. Rak, K. Fassbender, D. Behuniak,  J. Boulay, J. Emond, J. Barry, J. Corven

Absences: M. Roberts, J. Dekkers-Mitchell, J. Corven, M. Sipala, K. Woldegiorgis, A. Marden, D. Quenga

Excused Absences: M. Hyde, J. Jodoin, L. Neubert

Guests: 11 guests attended this meeting. 

Meeting called to order:  3:40 pm   ****Note:  The meeting started tardily as many Department Meetings ran late

Minutes:  Minutes from May, 2017 were reviewed and approved unanimously.

Welcome:
President Boulay welcomed the new and returning Senators.  Introduced the new Executive Board.

Update on Strategic Goals:
Discussed the outcome of the Senate Retreat.  Draft of the strategic goals identified at the retreat are available online for Senators to review.  Asked that Senate members review and vote on the goals at the next Senate meeting that is scheduled for 9/18.
Discussed the importance of working toward closing the loop and need to define shared governance in the Senate.

New Senator Orientation:
President Boulay will reach out to the new Senators regarding a “New Senator Orientation”. 

·         Help newly elected Senators to become familiar with the Senate Process.

By Law Revisions: 
Several by-law amendments are being considered:

·         Sustainability of the Senate and grooming future leaders of the Senate;

·         Committees will need to be created in order to best address changes;

·         Changing any language that appears unclear. 

·         Senators were asked to review by-laws. 

·         Send ideas for potential changes/amendments to Senate Secretary, Lisa Delano-Botelho.             

·         Vote on changes to occur on 10/23/2017.

Vice President’s Council: 
Vice President Hiller is new Faculty representative to the academic VPC and has begun attending meetings.  She has invited the Senators to Microsoft Team in order to share information from those meetings.  In addition, Kelli will continue to provide updates at regularly scheduled Senate meetings. Discussed progress of VPC retreat:

·         Topics included class cancellation criteria,

·         Spring 2018 schedule

·         Criteria for pro-rated classes to run.   

 
College Website:
BCC currently in process of developing a more student/user friendly website.  Several Senators attended an informational meeting over the summer.  Shared following info from that meeting:        

·         Goal is to have the website running by the end of the 2017 calendar year;

·         BCC  to consider audience and use the website as a marketing tool;

·         Internal audience will be directed to intranet.

·         Senate would like to schedule a time for group to attend Senate meeting and share progress on the project.

Transition Team to the new President:
Discussed the progress that has occurred over the summer (meetings held on 6/28, 7/19, 8/1, and 8/15) with the transition team to the new College President.  Items that have developed from these meetings include: 

·         BCC CONNECT tour;

·         Key goals and objectives;

·         Spirit Day;

·         Welcome Week;

·         College Climate Survey

·         Need for more professional development at both opening day and adjunct faculty day. 

Jenn Boulay met with President Douglas separately over summer months representing the Senate.  Reports that she informed President Douglas of the results from Senate retreat, discussed campus culture, lack of policies, and expressed concern over the lack of Senate representation on the Transition team.


Retention Summit:
The group met and has created an action plan.  This was shared with group, the academic VPC and President Douglas.   

Identified 9 focus areas for the college: 

·         Academic advising;

·         Access to student services;

·         Communication strategies;

·         Cost of attendance;

·         Course scheduling;

·         Curriculum and pedagogy;

·         Enrollment and registration processes;

·         First Year Experiences;

·         Meeting basic needs of our students.

The recommendations made are as follows:

·         Identify structure for oversight, implementation and assessment

·         Ensure key stakeholders are involved

·         Prioritize plan based on college goals

·         Identify key goals, outcomes, party responsibility and timeline for implementation

·         Regularly communicate with college community

  

Meeting Adjourned:  4:00 pm  (Followed by a wine and cheese social)
Respectfully submitted, Lisa Delano-Botelho, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Secretary