Minutes of Monday, February 13, 2017

Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Monday, February 13, 2017

Room J211 3:15 pm

Senators in attendance: K. Plante, J. Emond, J. Bjornson, L. Delano-Botelho, M. Geary, J. Corven, K. Woldegiorgis, D. Behuniak, J. Barry, J. Boulay, H. Tinberg, D. Avedekian, M. Hyde, L. Neubert, G. Hamel, T. Worthington, J. Jodion_Krauzyk, D. St. George, K. Fassbender, C. Almeida

Absences: J. Dekkers-Mitchell, A. Marden, J. Pelletier, D. Quenga, M. Roberts, S. Ferreira, R. Rebelo

Excused Absences: J. Constantine, K. Hiller

Six guests attended this meeting.

Meeting called to order:  3:02 pm

Minutes:  Minutes from January 23 were reviewed and approved with one abstention.

President Tinberg attended the most recent Student Senate meeting and invited Student Senate President Johanna Morales and Jane Warren, Student Senate Advisor, to attend this meeting.

Division Reports

·         Division 1: There is confusion over whether the LEAP rubric is for use in institutional assessment or for assignment grading. For example, LEAP rubrics are accessible via Blackboard as assignment rubrics. Questions were also raised about the professor emeritus distinction—why is the college limited to only 2 per year? Given the contract limitations for becoming a full professor with a master’s degree, will this pose a problem in the future?

·         Division 4: Dean Pat Dent is retiring at end of semester; a job description has been posted.

·         Advising: Additional full-time and part-time advising positions are in the process of being filled in New Bedford, Attleboro and at the Connections Center.

·         Lash: The Writing Center completed a campus-wide survey which yielded over 100 responses. Senator Geary’s interim position as Writing Center will end this semester and a job description is in process. The Writing Center Committee decided that the director would be drawn from internal faculty, either full-time or adjuncts. The position would be for 24 hours per week (or a four-course reassignment).

Update on Strategic Goals

A.    Sustainability

Nominations & Term Limits

·         Deans have been asked to email division members for nominees and to send names to Robyn. Constituents may self-nominate or nominate others. The nominations committee will confirm that nominated individuals are interested in running. The deadline is March 1, 2017.

·         Within this process, it is unclear as to the role of the committee if deans are soliciting names. It is recommended that any proposed changes be added to the By-Laws to ensure consistent implementation.

·         A number of Senators have met their term limits (i.e., two consecutive terms). However, if there are no nominations from divisions with open seats, the by-laws allow the Executive Committee to decide whether to permit a Senator facing a term-limit to run for another term.

·         Senators were asked to encourage colleagues to run. Senator Worthington indicated there are open seats in Divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Lash, and Student Services.

B.    Academic Support and Retention

Update on Retention and Support Summit

·         President Tinberg updated Senators on the Retention Summit. The format will be an “unconference;” however, some divisions are not clear on how this day will be different from other professional days. Secretary Boulay provided an update on the goals and structure of the day. She is working with College Communications on a marketing plan.

Students’ Textbook Choices: The Book Store’s Matching Program

·         At the last meeting, the Senate discussed a new price matching policy at the bookstore. President Tinberg contacted the co-chairs of the Auxiliary Services Committee and was informed that students could match prices from any source, but the difference in the amount paid would be refunded on a gift card redeemable at the bookstore. When this initiative started, students who paid using financial aid were not refunded the difference; however, this has since been rectified.

·         It was proposed to have the Senate form a joint ad hoc group with the Student Senate to explore textbook policies and the college’s contract with Follett. Items for consideration include:

o    At present, online sites such as Amazon are not part of the school’s contract, although other institutions use Amazon.

o    Can students use financial aid directly through book publishers?

o    When will the contract with Follett expire and what types of contracts do other institutions have with book stores?

o    Could the college increase incentives for adopting/adapting open education resources (OER)?

·         Senators who are interested in joining this committee should contact Secretary Boulay.

Student Senate Book Exchange

·         The Student Senate developed an app to access their book inventory online. Last semester, they exchanged 250 textbooks between students free of charge. Details about this program are located on the Student Senate’s Facebook page. They may explore advertising the program on campus monitors prior to course registration.

B. Curricular Alignment and Integration

Update on Curriculum Policy Committee

·         This joint task force will explore course offerings across campuses and by division to ensure there is equity and a consistent process. Senator Bjornson and Shelly Murphy (co-chair) are both members of the committee. Other committee members include Janelle Arruda, Donna Davis, Rodney Clark, Eileen Shea, Sarmad Saman, and Associate Vice President Ucci (co-chair).

·         The charge of the committee is to gather, organize, and review existing process for curriculum development. The goal is to develop a coherent college-wide curriculum development process, across campuses (and online), and via various modalities. This will follow NEASC requirements and the process will be consistent with the principles of AI. At present, CWCC and BHE forms do not match, so they hope to streamline processes.

·         The committee has met once (February 1) and is researching best practices in higher education curriculum development and collecting information about current practices. They aim to finalize their work around April or May of this year. They hope to draft a document and revise the CWCC/OATSS handbook.

·         Senators may contact e.jon.bornson@bristolcc.edu or shelly.murphy@bristolcc.edu for more information.

Meeting Adjourned:  4:16 pm

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