Faculty Senate

Minutes - February 13, 2017 - 3:05pm

CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Present: Andreoletti, C.; Anton, M.; Baratta, C.; Bigelow, L.; Bishop, J.; Bishop, R.; Boncoddo, R.; Boscarino, N.; Button, C.; Callery, T.; Cistulli, M.; Clapp, S.; Clark, B.; Collins, M.; Criscola, J.; Dhar, P.; Dorfman, K.; Emiliani, B.; Fothergill, W.; Gamache, J.; Garcia-Bowen, M.; Ghodsi, R.; Givens, E.; Grasso, L.; Harris, D.; He, F.; Jarvis, K.; Karpuk, P.; Kim, Y.; King, A.; Koulidobrova, H.; Kullgren, A.; Latour, F.; Lewis, J.; LoGiudice, S.; Mahony, M. A.; McGuire, M.; Mejia, G.; Menoche, C.; Nelson, W.; Ngazimbi, E.; Oliva, K.; Paolino, J.; Petterson, P.; Sadanand, N.; Sohn, Y.; Spear, E.; Strickland, A.; Sweeney, D.; Tellier, A.; Thomas, C.; Thornton, E.; Watson, S.; Williams, C.; Zering, J.

Ex-Officio: Fitzgerald, G; Lovitt, C.; Malhas, F.; Toro, Z.

Parliamentarian: Dimmick, C.

President of the Senate: Cohen, S.

Guests: Beth Merenstein (Curriculum Committee), Paul Resetarits (Sabbatical Leave Committee), Talat Salama (Manufacturing and Construction Management), Ed Sarisley (Manufacturing and Construction Management)

1. Minutes

Minutes of January 30, 2017

• Approved unanimously

2. Announcements:

a. AAUP President (M. A. Mahony)

• Elections for CSU-AAUP and CCSU-AAUP are happening this semester; nominations are open until March 2. CCSU-AAUP President Mary Ann Mahony is not running for reelection.
• No progress has been made regarding contract negotiations.
• Faculty members need to go to the legislature to testify in favor of or against various bills. The public hearing for the Higher Education committee will start at 7:30pm on Wednesday. Each person will have 3 minutes to address the legislators.
• A bill that is on the agenda for Tuesday would prohibit collective bargaining for pension and health benefits.

b. SUOAF-AFSCME President (L. Bigelow)

• SUOAF-AFSCME agrees with AAUP that members should get involved in the fight for higher education.
• Administrative faculty are encouraged to participate in Admitted Students Day on Saturday, February 18.
  

c. SGA (J. Effend)

• 3 members of SGA plan to testify at the legislature.

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

• No report because the items that appear later on the agenda cover what would be on the report.

e. President of the Senate (S. Cohen)

• Ebenezer D. Bassett Student Achievement Award
• Budget-related information is posted on the UPBC website. Feedback should be sent to the UPBC Chair by February 14 if possible.
• Senators are encouraged to participate in Admitted Students Day on Saturday, February 18.
• An ad hoc Recruitment and Retention Committee will be created; all interested faculty should contact Senate President Cohen.

3. Committee Reports

a. Sabbatical Leave Committee (AAUP) (P. Resetarits)

• Committee co-chair Paul Resetarits said that the approximate statistics for each school's applicants are: CLASS, 12 leaves out of 20 applicants; SEPS, 5 out of 6; SEST, 7 out of 8; Business, 0 out of 2; Library, 0 out of 1.
• Professor Broadus-Garcia thanked all members of the committee for their hard work.

b. Curriculum Committee (B. Merenstein)

• The report was divided into three parts: (1) FYE 100; (2) Construction Management program changes; (3) everything else.
• (1) was discussed; the proposal is to expand the pilot beyond the First in the World program, with 4 extra sections. It was pointed out that no proposal has been made to replace any existing requirement with a new FYE requirement. Some senators spoke of the importance of retaining the existing PE 144 requirement, and of gathering more data about FYE 100 before making any decision regarding its future, since the feedback that came out of the pilot was mixed. After discussion was concluded, the proposal to expand the pilot was approved, with 2 senators opposed.
• (2) was discussed; the Department of Manufacturing and Construction Management argued that there were three motivating factors behind the proposal: the BOR's request to reduce the number of credits in each program to 120, the accrediting body's recent preference for a 120-credit program, and the desire to help students graduate faster. Some senators expressed concerns about making exceptions to what is supposed to be a university-wide general education program. After discussion was concluded, the program changes were approved, with 37 senators in favor and 10 opposed.
• (3) was approved unanimously.

4. Unfinished Business

a. Board of Regents Code of Conduct
• Proposed Resolution
• FAC response
• Motion: to endorse the FAC response to the BOR Code of Conduct
  • Approved unanimously
• Motion: to approve the proposed resolution on the BOR Code of Conduct
  • Approved unanimously

5. New Business

a. Proposed Resolution on CSCU Workgroups Report

• Approved unanimously

6. Adjournment

• The meeting adjourned at 4:43pm.