Minutes of April 13, 2015

Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Monday April 13, 2015

B101 3:15 p.m.

Senators in attendance: J. Pelletier M. Geary, J. Corven, J. Mbugua, S. McCourt, J. Boulay, D. St. George, R. Amarasingham, C. Poore-Pariseau, S. Gabb, R. Benya-Soderbom, E. Kemper-French, S. Ferreira, R. Worthington, H. Tinberg, G. Leeman, J. Constantine

Excused Absences: K. Hiller, T. Grady

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

Guests: 6

Meeting called to order 3:21 pm.

Minutes: Minutes from March 9, 2015 were reviewed, but not voted on because quorum was not met.

Division Updates:

·       Division 1: The search for division dean is about to be finalized.

·       Division 2: Finalist interviews for division dean are being finalized; one candidate withdrew.

·       Division 3: No updates.

·       Division 4: No update. 4/22 bone marrow drive.

·       Division 5: No update. Eighteen Honors Scholars are going to UMass Amherst; the Honors Showcase is scheduled for 4/29.

·       Division 6: No update.

·       Division 7: One Dean of Advising candidate withdrew.

Senate Elections

Title III Updates

§  Nominations for the Writing in the Disciplines Drafting Group: Greg Sethares solicited nominations. Participants were asked to commit to 100 hours of work. While the committee is not fully formed yet, concerns were raised about the composition of the group—direct reports may feel unable to speak freely with their supervisors present.  Multidisciplinary representation and more full-time faculty are needed on the committee.

§  Thinking About Process: At the Professional Staff meeting, Greg Sethares and Jennifer Menard discussed scope range, purpose, suggestions for activities, synthesizing constituent emails. A discussion followed about the importance of ongoing consultations with stakeholders and documentation of findings. This initiative presents a strong opportunity to utilize the joint initiative document.

Update on Governance

§  Report from the NEASC Working Groups:

§  The governance group will look at self-study findings. Unclear charge.

§  The advising group convened once; the task is to identify a comprehensive and effective system of advising. There was some disagreement among the chairs about whether the past task force on advising’s recommendations were met. Only two faculty members serve on this group. Most issues raised were academic in nature (e.g., problems with courses).

·       Latest on Advisement Reorganization: Research finds that most advising centers in country reside in Academic Affairs. A discussion followed about the purpose of advising (enrollment vs. as an extension of the curriculum). Synergy between advisors and faculty will allow for better student support. Steve Viveiros suggested a division liaison approach. When asked to generate pros and cons of moving from Enrollment, advisors indicated that they wanted to move to Academic Affairs. Some faculty and professional staff felt they didn’t have sufficient expertise to respond to this projected move.

Meeting adjourned 4:10 p.m.

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