Faculty Senate

Minutes - December 8, 2014 - 3:05pm

CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Present: Anderson, C.; Artamoshin, S.; Baratta, C.; Barr, B.; Bilisoly, R.; Callery, T.; Dharavath, N.; Emeagwali, G.; Flinn, B.; Foster, P.; Fothergill, W.; Gamache, J.; Garcia-Bowen, M.; Ghodsi, R.; Givens, E.; Hazan, S.; Hermes, K.; Horan, M.; Jackson, M.; Johnson, D.; Jones, C.; Kapper, M.; Karpuk, P.; Kean, K.; Kim, Y.; King, A.; Koplowitz, B.; Kovel, J.; Kullgren, A.; Kurkjian, C.; Larsen, K.; Mamed, O.; McGuire, M.; Melnyk, J.; Meng, P.; Menoche, C.; Moffo Simpson, T.; Mongillo, M.; Nelson, W.; Paolino, J.; Passaro, M.; Pearson, F.; Phillips, E.; Pozorski, A.; Ragusett, J.; Rosenberg, J.; Sadanand, N.; Santoro, K.; Sarisley, E.; Schlickmann, P.; Solomon, P.; Sweeney, D.; Thomas, C.; White, C.; Williams, C.; Wolff, R.; Wood, R.; Zummer, T.

Ex-Officio: Adair, S.; Alfano, M.; Fitzgerald, G.; Mahony, M. A.; Malhas, F.; Root, P.

Parliamentarian: Dimmick, C.

President of the Senate: Cohen, S.

Guests: Aram Ayalon (Teacher Education); Simms Sonet (SGA)

1. Minutes

Minutes of November 24, 2014

• Approved unanimously
  

2. Announcements:

a. AAUP President (M. A. Mahony)

• AAUP officer elections will be held in the Spring. Watch for a call for nominations at the beginning of the semester.
• There will be a chapter meeting and social tomorrow at 3pm.
• Many CCSU faculty members have signed the "Academic Imperative" document, and the Faculty Senate at ECSU has endorsed it.

b. SUOAF-AFSCME President (M. Ansarra)

• No report.

c. SGA (S. Sonet)

• Please contact Simms Sonet if you still have a "Competition for a Cause" box, so that it can be picked up.
• There is a new group on campus; it is called CHANGE (caring humanity as new generations emerge). Also, a rally was organized on campus in response to the lack of an indictment in Ferguson, Missouri. The SGA is opposed to white privilege and racism.
• There is a campaign to make the CCSU campus a "campus of compassion".

d. FAC to the Board of Regents (S. Adair)

• The FAC will meet on Friday.
• The Dreamer resolution has been passed at most of the campuses in the system (about 14 out of 17).

e. Ad Hoc committee to select food service provider (D. Johnson)

• The committee of 14 people has been working to select the company that will be awarded the 10-year food service contract. The evaluation system is extremely fair an comprehensive. The competition is between three national vendors, and the winner will be selected later this academic year.

f. President of the Senate (S. Cohen)

• The December Presidential Open Forum has been canceled because of a conflict witht the AAUP chapter meeting.
• The Ad Hoc Committee on Friday classes has been formed, and will deliberate in the Spring.
• The Ad Hoc Committee to revise the Faculty Handbook is being formed.
• The main topic for the January 26, 2015 Faculty Senate meeting will be general education. A resolution from the Philosophy department will be included, as well as the report from the General Education Implementation Committee.

3. Committee Reports

a. Curriculum Committee (M. Jackson)

• Items 1 through 67 were approved unanimously.
• For item 68, Senator Anderson asked whether the TAP would supersede the existing College of Technology Pathways. FAC representative Stephen Adair answered in the negative, stating that on December 5, the BOR's Academic and Student Affairs Committee had approved a resolution stating that the College of Technology Pathways are exempt from meeting the specific requirements of the TAP, and that they represent the idea of seamless and transparent transfer. The expectation is that this will be on the BOR's consent agenda at its next meeting.
• Senator Wood asked why Study Area III (Behavioral Sciences) is being used as a catch-all for an extra course that is part of the TAP but does not match any of our specific General Education requirements. The answer that was given was that 1) the extra course needs to be put somewhere; 2) the first 8 TAP requirements contain at least one course in every General Education area, except Study Area III and Skill Area IV; 3) the course that counts towards Study Area II (out of the first 8 requirements) could be one that could fit in Study Area III.
• Item 68 approved; 6 senators opposed.

b. Academic Standards Committee (R. Schwell)

• School of Business admission requirements
• Postponed by unanimous consent, pending approval of related items by Curriculum Committee

c. Graduate Studies Committee (Dean Fitzgerald, for S. Seider)

• The thesis completion deadline option was discussed; it is intended as an advising tool rather than a punitive mechanism.
• Approved unanimously

d. Committee on Committees (B. Barr)

• Graduate Studies Committee bylaws
• Curriculum Committee bylaws
• Approved unanimously

4. Unfinished Business:

a. Additional resolution on Friday classes (from Psychological Science department)

• This resolution is in the same vein as the one that we approved at our last meeting; however, it does have a stronger emphasis on shared governance.
• Some faculty members said that the true cause of the problem of having fewer Friday classes than we used to have is block scheduling, and the administration should review that policy and its consequences.
• Some senators said that the second bullet of the resolution is not needed, given that we already have an ad hoc committee on Friday classes.
• Motion (Barr/Karpuk): to strike the second bullet entirely.
  • Approved unanimously
• Motion (Wood/Karpuk): to approve the resolution as amended.
  • Approved unanimously

b. Transform CSCU 2020

• The Leadership group will meet during the break to discuss the initiatives of Transform CSCU 2020, to categorize the 36 initiatives as they see fit.
• The results will be presented to the Faculty Senate in the Spring.

5. New Business:

a. Approval of December 2014 candidates for graduation

• Undergraduate (Deans Pease, Root, Alfano, Malhas)
• Graduate (Dean Fitzgerald)
• Approved unanimously

6. Adjournment

• The meeting adjourned at 4:50pm.