Minutes of October 5, 2015

Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Monday, October 5, 2015

Room B101 3:15pm

Senators in attendance:  M. Geary, J. Pelletier, R. Benya-Soderbom, D. St. George, S. Pero, R. Worthington, S. McCourt, J. Boulay, J. Flanigan, L. Neubert, H. Tinberg, R. Amarasingham, T. Grady, L. Delano-Botelho, J. Corven, B. French, J. Constantine, D. Phillips, J. Jodoin

Absences: C. Leonard, J. Mbugua, S. Ferreira

Excused Absences: G. Leeman, K. Hiller

Four guests attended this meeting.

Meeting called to order:  3:19 pm

Minutes:  Minutes from September 21^st were reviewed and approved with no abstentions, with correction to date of meeting.

Division Reports

·         Division 1: An English department initiative is looking at incoming students’ PARCC results for reading and writing placement instead of relying on Accuplacer with an expected decision in December 2015. Questions were raised over how the creation of metamajors would impact the Commonwealth Honors Program and other similar programs and how Division I might be involved in the process of creating an English major.

·         Division 2: No updates

·         Division 3: No updates

·         Division 4: No updates

·         Division 5: No updates

·         Division 6: No updates

·         Other Divisions: The Disability Concerns Committee is looking how to reshape its mission to become a beacon for awareness. They will explore policies and funding and are looking at accessibility as a shared responsibility.

Discussion and Vote on By-Laws

Revisions to the Senate By-Laws were passed with one amendment to include Advising as a separate academic division, without abstention. Senators Boulay, Leeman, and Worthington were thanked for their work on this subcommittee. The adopted By-Laws will be posted on the Senate blog and changes are as follows:

·         In light of the College’s reorganization of academic areas and after conducting a census of constituents, “Division VII” (which previously consisted of any representation outside of Divisions I-VI) has been retired. Academic divisions now include divisions I, II, III, IV, V, VI, Lash, Advising, Enrollment Services, and Student Services.

·         Electronic voting has been approved for Senate meetings in the event that “a quorum of senators is not present, or if a quorum approves, an electronic vote may be conducted.”

·         A Nominations Committee has been added as a standing committee for the Senate.

Rolling Out the New Academic Initiative Implementation Guidelines: General Education Competency Review

Task force co-chairs, Secretary Boulay and Holly Pappas, provided an update on the status of the new academic initiative implementation guideline for the general education competency review. After reading the description of the project, the following discussions and questions arose:

·         There was confusion over the terms and charge of the initiative (e.g., competencies vs. requirements).

·         There was an expressed interest in the broader timeline of the project, especially if this initiative is a smaller piece of outcomes assessment in response to NEASC.

·         What is the correlation between competencies and course offerings? How will this impact courses?

·         What impact will outcomes assessment measures and results have on faculty evaluations? How will they be used?

Senate recommendations are as follows:

·         Further define intended audience (e.g., faculty, students, both), purpose, charge, and include glossary of terms.

·         Diagram overall timeline for next committee meeting (e.g., how this relates to NEASC response).

·         Bring revised language with additional clarification of charge and timeline to next Senate meeting for signature.

·         Share document with constituents and include Student Services as part of “academic area.”

Update on Academic Support and Retention Task Force
Charge

The committee will gather data on the funding and utilization of academic support (academic tutoring and advisement) across campuses and will explore the impact these resources have on student retention. The committee will submit a written report with findings and clear recommendations.

·         April 11: Preliminary report submitted to Senate at its April meeting

·         May1: Final report submitted to the Senate President

President Tinberg discussed the need for Senators and constituents to serve on this group. Interested Senators should contact President Tinberg to join the committee.

·         Senators discussed additional considerations:

o    possible impact work-to-rule might have on this initiative

o    delivering academic support despite physical space limitations at different campuses

o    defining terms of academic support vs. keeping it broadly defined for the committee

o    allocation of resources vs. funding

o    collection of valid data (e.g., are numbers truly captured by overburdened areas given reporting time constraints)

Meeting Adjourned:  4:18 pm

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