Faculty Senate

Minutes - November 24, 2014 - 3:05pm

CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Present: Anderson, C.; Antonucci, C.; Artamoshin, S.; Bantley, K.; Barr, B.; Bilisoly, R.; Boncoddo, R.; Braverman, S.; Callery, T.; Cistulli, M.; D'Amato, K.; Dhar, P.; Dharavath, N.; Dukes, C.; Duquette, J.; Emeagwali, G.; Flinn, B.; Foster, P.; Fothergill, W.; Gamache, J.; Garcia-Bowen, M.; Ghodsi, R.; Hazan, S.; Hermes, K.; Horan, M.; Jackson, M.; Johnson, D.; Jones, C.; Kapper, M.; Karpuk, P.; Kean, K.; Kim, Y.; King, A.; Kostelis, K.; Kovel, J.; Kullgren, A.; Larsen, K.; Martin-Troy, K.; Martin, M.; Melnyk, J.; Meng, P.; Menoche, C.; Moffo Simpson, T.; Nelson, W.; Paolino, J.; Passaro, M.; Pearson, F.; Phillips, E.; Pozorski, A.; Reasco, A.; Sarisley, E.; Schlickmann, P.; Solomon, P.; Spear, E.; Sweeney, D.; White, C.; Wolff, R.; Wood, R.; Zlatareva, N.; Zummer, T.

Ex-Officio: Fitzgerald, G.; Lovitt, C.

Parliamentarian: Dimmick, C.

President of the Senate: Cohen, S.

Guests: Nidal Al-Masoud (Engineering); David Blitz (Philosophy); Khaled Hammad (Engineering); James Mulrooney (Assistant to the Dean, SEST - Biomolecular Sciences); Eduardo Sebastiao (Student); Simms Sonet (SGA); Patrick Tucker (Registrar)

1. Minutes

Minutes of November 10, 2014

• Approved unanimously

2. Announcements:

a. AAUP President (M. A. Mahony)

• Report included in discussion of Transform CSCU 2020.

b. SUOAF-AFSCME President (M. Ansarra)

• No report.

c. SGA (S. Sonet)

• The SGA is paying close attention to Transform CSCU 2020.

d. einStudy - Academic Network for CCSU students (E. Sebastiao)

• A short presentation was given about einStudy. It is an academic network that allows college students to create and join study sessions with students taking the same classes as them. It was launched about 2 weeks ago, and over 60 students have signed up.

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

• Report included in discussion of Transform CSCU 2020.

f. President of the Senate (S. Cohen)

• Report included in discussion of Transform CSCU 2020.

3. Unfinished Business:

a. Transform CSCU 2020

• FAC statement on Transform CSCU 2020
  • FAC Chair Stephen Adair said that the FAC wrote the resolution at its last meeting as a response to Transform CSCU 2020. The goal was to deal with Transform CSCU 2020 as a whole, rather than piece by piece.
  • Transform is very large - 35 initiatives, 743 milestones. Nevertheless, it would not be appropriate for the BOR to vote on it as a package rather than item by item.
  • There are fundamental problems with Transform CSCU 2020. It does not respect the individual missions of the parts of the system, it is not clear that some parts of the plan correspond to problems that need to be solved. It has a "one size fits all" philosophy, looks like a business plan, is vague in some places and scary in others. It contains problematic individual elements, especially concerning online courses, andconsolidation of administrative services.
  • The FAC statement has been endorsed by the 4 C's, AAUP, and faculty governance bodies at SCSU and WCSU. It has not been endorsed yet at ECSU. The rumors of a vote of no confidence being organized at ECSU are not accurate.
  • CCSU-AAUP President Mahony reminded senators that the Executive Committee endorsed the "Academic Imperative for Transform CSCU 2020 at its October meeting. She encouraged individual faculty members to endorse it as well.
  • There is a Facebook group for Concerned CSU faculty; to join it, one must be approved by Mary Ann Mahony. So far, there is much support for the FAC statement, and some support for a vote of no confidence. There is also support for the dissolution of ConnSCU and a return to the former system.
  • At a recent meeting with faculty, President Gray has expressed support for respecting the distinct missions of the parts of ConnSCU, and for faculty control over curricular matters. He also said that items relating to "alignment with the business community" have nothing to do with the universities; they are for the community colleges. But, Transform does not make it clear which parts relate to universities, which ones relate to community colleges, and which ones relate to both.
  • Senators are urged to communicate with legislators, to express our feelings towards the BOR and Transform.
  • Professor Blitz restated many of the problems with Transform, and urged the Senate to vote "no confidence in Transform". He added that the BOR's job should be to act as a liaison with the government, and to coordinate efforts such as the TAP. They do not need 161 employees at the system office to do these things.
  • Motion (Karpuk/White): "The CCSU Faculty Senate endorses the FAC's statement on Transform CSCU 2020."
    • Approved unanimously
  • Motion (Karpuk/Phillips): "The CCSU Faculty Senate votes 'no confidence' in Transform CSCU 2020."
    • Withdrawn by unanimous consent, with the understanding that Senator Karpuk would sent it in writing to the Secretary of the Faculty Senate for inclusion on the next meeting's agenda.

4. New Business:

a. Resolution opposing mandate to increase the number of Friday classes

• Provost Lovitt spoke about the reasons to increase the number of Friday classes.
• Senator Hermes mentioned that some departments don't want to offer Friday classes because they are unpopular with students, and therefore are often canceled.
• Senator Jones said that many natural science departments offer laboratories on Friday, since there are fewer lectures.
• Senator Wood asked if the administration would make a commitment to support low-enrolled classes on Friday. Provost Lovitt did not make such a commitment. He said he would discuss with the Deans.
• Professor Mulrooney stated that his department (Biomolecular Science) runs major courses on MWF and all are overenrolled. He also stated that he understands that many students often cannot find faculty support on Tuesdays and Thursdays because both students and faculty tend to be overbooked on those days and available hours outside of the classroom are scarce.
• Senator Dukes stated that a key deterrent for "thirsty Thursdays" may be the presence of more Friday classes. Adding Friday classes could be a wellness, health, and safety issue.
• Senator Anderson wondered if the actual block to consider is Wednesday. Will the inclusion of more Wednesday/Friday classes actually impact the log jam of scheduling?
• The question was called.
  • Resolution approved unanimously
• Provost Lovitt stated that he has no objection to further study of this issue.
• Motion: To create an ad hoc committee to further study this issue.
  • Approved (2 senators opposed)

5. Adjournment

• The meeting adjourned at 4:45pm.