Minutes of March 9, 2015

Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Monday, March 9, 2015

Room B101 3:15pm

Senators in attendance:  M. Geary, J. Pelletier, R. Benya-Soderbom, J. Mbugua, R. Amarasingham, C. Poore-Pariseau, B. French, L. Delano-Botelho, D. St. George, K. Hiller, S. Pero and G. Leeman

Excused absences: Robyn Worthington, Susan McCourt, Jenn Boulay and Tom Grady

Absences:  J. Constantine, D. Warr, S. Gabb, M. Williams, C. Leonard, J. Corvin, R. Santos, J. Duponte,  G. Heaney, S. Gabb

Special Guest:  Sarah Morrell

Guests:  7

Meeting called to order:  3:17 pm

Minutes:  Minutes from February 23, 2015 were reviewed, but not voted on because quorum was not met.

Reporting from the Divisions:   Division 2 is getting closer to having a new dean with no firm timeline.  Division 1 interviews for a new dean will be held after spring break.  Division 4’s accreditation is up for renewal.  They are working with administration to finalize the process.  Division 5 reported possible instructional issues/academic support with labs moving from E bldg. to the new science building. No input from the remaining divisions. 

Nominations:  a call was made to notify the Senate of any new nominations for the upcoming elections.

Dual Enrollment & Early College:  Much discussion took place regarding age criteria. As defined by the State, Dual Enrollment students are typically 16 yrs of age and still in high school.  Below 16 is underage.  The numbers provided (by Sarah Morell)  for students registered in the Fall and Spring are as follows:

 Fall 2014 

 49 students were registered under the age of 16 at the start of the term

15 students of the 49 were homeschooled students

Spring 2015

 93 students were registered under the age of 16 at the start of the term

11 students of the 93 were homeschooled students

Other points made:

-Discussion regarding some students take BCC courses for free, but homeschool and underage do not necessarily take courses for free-

-focus to strengthen the attendance for meetings between Durfee and BCC as Durfee has had less attendance

-Mandate needed from the Superintendent to enhance Dual Enrollment to BCC standards and that Durfee put in more effort with the Dual Enrollment process and not rely on faculty to drive the agenda.

-The possibility of BCC/Durfee sharing a google drive for information.

-Develop a common language between the two schools regarding definition of what our courses are.

-Strengthen the eligibility process for students

-Updates to the Senate regarding changes in policy

-A question came up about why some faculty are not getting letters regarding underage enrollment.  There is a glitch in the system which is not capturing students who turn 16 and no longer underage.

-Recruiting more first generation students/underrepresented groups who meet criteria.

Title III:  A concern was raised regarding the process of how ideas of how to use funds.  There seems to be a “tag” on certain ideas that seem to be permanent ideas.  Perhaps more open forums before final decisions are made.  The timeline seems to have gone by so fast.

NEASC working groups:  Outcomes has met.  Advisement will hold their first meeting on April 8^th.  NEASC seems to be vague on the criteria that Governance should have.

Advising and Orientation move to Academic Affairs:  Senate will send a response to constituents regarding more input needed to this initiative. This is a transparency/governance issue and the Senate’s pilot for our agreement with Administration regarding transparency and shared governance.  Questions were raised as to what the rationale and clear benefits are for this transition.

-Although this initiative was on the All-College Meeting Agenda, it was not discussed as the meeting went into overtime.

-Previous to this new initiative, the Leaning Commons stakeholders were not involved

-A question was raised – does Advising adhere to the College’s mission?

-Advising is an academic issue and belongs in Academic Affairs. 

-There is a need to get students optimistic about advising and not just course selection.

-First year advising experience needs to be revised.  After 2 hours of testing, students were exposed to 2 hours of a PowerPoint presentation regarding advising without a break.

-How is advising defined across the disciplines?

-The possibility of faculty pitching in at the Advising Center in G217.

Other:  April 8^th is the date for the Grandchamp lecture TBA.

Meeting Adjourned:  4:21 pm

Respectfully submitted, Ginny Leeman, BCC Faculty and Professional Staff Active VP

Minutes of February 23, 2015

Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Monday February 23, 2015

Room B101 3:15 p.m.

Senators in attendance: J. Pelletier, M. Geary, S. McCourt, J. Boulay, D. St. George, R. Worthington, J. Constantine, H. Tinberg, L. McDonald for G. Leeman, R. Benya-Soderbom, E. Kemper-French, C. Poore-Pariseau, K. Hiller, J. Mbugua, C. Leonard

Excused Absences: T. Grady, J. Corven, S. Pero

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

Special Guests: Sarah Morrell, Rebecca Clark, and Erin Smith

Guests: 3

Meeting called to order 3:18 pm.

Minutes: Minutes from November 17, 2014 and January 20, 2015 were reviewed and passed with an amendment to the January minutes adding K. Hiller to the “excused absence” roster.

Election Update

Senators are asked to send Senate nominations for the 2015 election to President Tinberg by March 2^nd. President Tinberg will contact Senators with terms ending during Spring 2015 to find out if they will plan to run again.

Civic Engagement and Leadership Training Workshops

Rebecca Clark (Civic Engagement Faculty Fellow) and Erin Smith (Coordinator of Civic Engagement) informed the Senate about a new student leadership initiative offered by the Center for Civic Engagement. Students were notified via email with a call for applications. Selected students will meet once per month to cover a different leadership topic while leading 5 BCC students on a service project that meets a community need. The program will be offered at 3 locations (Fall River cohort consists of 7 students; 4 in New Bedford; 3 in Attleboro). The Civic Engagement Advisory Board will be updated about this initiative at their next meeting.

NEASC Response to Dual Enrollment

Sarah Morrell, Dean of Access and Transition, updated the Senate on NEASC feedback as related to dual enrollment.

·       NEASC has a new official policy on dual enrollment programs, with limited available information at the time of the College’s self-study.

·       The College is tasked with illustrating an affirmative commitment in order to comply with said dual enrollment policy.

·       All dual enrollment courses offered at the college should have the same academic rigor as other BCC courses (e.g., not developmental education).

·       A NEASC Task Force on Dual Enrollment has been formed and will meet on February 24^th. Senators were invited to participate.

·       Students participating in the Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Program must have a 3.0 high school GPA and be recommended by their guidance counselors; they are eligible to take one free non-developmental course per semester. If these students are under 16 years of age, faculty are notified after enrollment, generally 1 week prior to the start of classes.

·       Underage students who are homeschooled don’t participate in the Commonwealth Program and are not vetted in the same way; however, they pay for the courses and must take placement tests. These students are able to take developmental coursework.

Update on Governance Initiative

·       The March 2^nd All Academic Meeting will focus on this matter.

·       The VP of Academic Affairs is interested in identifying the topic for the pilot study by the end of February.

·       Possible topics suggested by VP of Academic Affairs Sethares or President Tinberg include:

o   upcoming Title III grant, a proposed Veteran’s Center, the Supplemental Instruction Program, a proposal to move Advisement to Academic Affairs

·       Senators are asked to send additional ideas to President Tinberg.

·       Assessment of the joint governance initiative will be an important part of the pilot.

·       Additional discussions followed regarding the equity of academic support at various campuses, changes to the Writing Center, the budget for academic student support, learning communities not automatically being rolled over on course schedule, and the need for ongoing communication between academic and student support areas.

NEASC Working Groups

VP of Academic Affairs Sethares sent out a call for volunteers, but response was fairly low. Four task groups are being formed according to the NEASC recommendations (shared governance, assessing student learning outcomes, student advising systems, dual enrollment). The following Senators have requested to serve on the respective task groups:

·       Governance: H. Tinberg, S. McCourt, J. Boulay

·       Assessing Student Learning Outcomes: R. Worthington, M. Geary, G. Leeman

·       Student Advising Systems: C. Poore-Pariseau, E. Kemper-French

Feedback on By-Laws Changes

Senators Leeman, Boulay, and Worthington obtained a census of constituents from Human Resources and have drafted a proposed amendment to Article II (Governance) of the Senate By Laws. They recommend that a) Division 7 be separated into 3 separate groups to reflect the college reorganization—Lash Division, Enrollment Services, and Student Services; and b) to change the per division Senate composition from 5% of the full-time faculty and professional staff from each area to 15%. The latter recommendation stems from the approved 2013 by laws revision not adjusting the percentage when shifting from full-and part-time faculty and professional staff to just full-time faculty and professional staff for these calculations. Secretary Boulay will send recommendations electronically to Senators for a later vote.

General Studies Meta-Majors

Senator Hiller discussed her role in the planning of the newly proposed meta-majors. They are designed to provide students with a direction and experiential education within their field of interest. Students declare a concentration earlier, but can change their program at any time. In order to enroll in General Studies, students will have to opt out of the offered meta-majors. She explained how health students who may not be eligible to enroll in the nursing program benefited from the Guided Pathways to Success Program. Department chairs have been involved in the planning of these academic foci.

Grandchamp Lecture

Every spring, the Senate sponsors a lecture delivered by a fellow faculty/staff member. The committee has invited JP Nadeau to discuss his research on April 8^th. The Senate will need to establish a new committee and process. Senators are asked to send nominations President Tinberg. He will invite past winners to form an informal advisory group to help with the direction of this program.

Other Items and Reminders:

Senators Tinberg, Leeman, and Boulay met with VP of Technology, Jo-Ann Pelletier, to discuss a Senate pilot study using Office 365 to improve communication channels to constituents. The goal is to transition toward electronic voting if quorum is not met at face-to-face meetings.

Meeting adjourned 4:20 p.m.

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

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