Minutes of January 20, 2015

Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Monday, January 20, 2015

Ryckenbush Faculty/Staff Lounge 3:00 p.m.

Senators in attendance: J. Pelletier, M. Geary, J. Mbugua, S. McCourt, J. Boulay, D. St. George, R. Amarasingham, S. Ferreira, R. Worthington, J. Constantine, H. Tinberg, S. Pero, G. Leeman

Excused Absences: R. Benya-Soderbom, E. Kemper-French, C. Poore-Pariseau, T. Grady, J. Corven, K. Hiller

Absences:  R. Santos, D. Warr, J. Duponte, G. Heaney, M. Williams, L Delano-Botelho, C. Leonard, S. Gabb

Guests: 4

Meeting called to order 3:06 pm.

Welcome, Introductions, Thanks:

Senator Tinberg thanked Senator McCourt for her outstanding service as president and he announced that she would be stepping down as president for the Senate, now that she has assumed a new role as director to the Honors Program. Senator Tinberg will serve the remainder of his term as president and Senator McCourt will continue to represent Division V.

Minutes: Minutes from November 17, 2014 were reviewed, but not voted on because quorum was not met.

Reviewing Senate’s Mission & Strategic Goals for AY 2014-2015

·       Shared governance: The joint shared governance initiative with administration will be implemented this semester; need to identify project to pilot and assessment plan.

·       Communication and representation: The Senate is exploring ways for enhancing communication with constituents (including other campuses); Vice President Jo-Ann Pelletier to communicate regarding using Office 365 to enhance asynchronous and synchronous communication (other factors include time constraints, etc.)

·       Excellence, equity & inclusion: The college has embarked on a campus-wide diversity initiative; an ad-hoc committee was formed to identify how the Senate can promote awareness of diversity

o   Some considerations include: unity of campuses (e.g., new student orientation at other campuses), areas largely funded by outside sources (e.g., tutoring)

NEASC Report

·       Sent to college community by President Sbrega in December.

·       A status report will be due in Spring 2017, with 4 items to be addressed (shared governance, systemic approach to assessment, advising, dual enrollment alignment with Commonwealth policy).

·       A discussion followed regarding whether the NEASC group included the Gateway to College Program in its assessment. President Tinberg will invite Dean Sarah Morrell to a subsequent Senate meeting for a clarification on these findings.

Reviewing, Implementing, and Assessing Shared Governance Process

·       While there is no official start date, a decision will need to be made regarding what initiative to pilot.

·       The Senate will convene on a task force with administration.

·       A timeline will need to be agreed upon (who does what, central repository, start date, evaluation).

·       The document will be publicly published and the process will be transparent.

·       A discussion followed regarding how grant proposals would fit in this shared governance process and what possible initiatives could be piloted (e.g., changes to Supplemental Instruction program, metamajors, the maximum number of transfer credits accepted by the college, 3-week course withdrawals) and the importance of involving student stakeholders.

·       President Tinberg will invite deans to Senate meetings as appropriate.

By-Laws Update

·       Updates are aimed to address:

o   Representation of other campuses (e.g., faculty teaching at New Bedford)

o   Representation of other divisions (e.g., Division 6, Enrollment Services, Student Services, Lash Division) with 5% representation constituency of each area

·       When organizational structure is in state of flux, an opportunity for a broad mechanism to resolve is needed.

Other Items and Reminders:

Meeting adjourned 4:01 p.m.

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