Minutes - April 2, 2018 - 3:05pm
CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING
Present: Adair, S.; Anton, M.; Austad, C.; Bailesteanu, M.; Baratta, C.; Bell, T.; Bernstein, S.; Best, F. ; Bishop, J.; Bishop, R.; Blitz, D.; Boncoddo, R.; Cistulli, M.; Dhar, P.; Foster, P.; French, J.; Gamache, J.; Garcia-Bowen, M.; Garcia, V.; Ghodsi, R.; Givens, E.; Jackson, M.; Jarvis, K.; Kapper, M.; Karas, R.; Kean, K.; Kim, Y.; Koulidobrova, H.; Langevin, K.; Lapuerta, P.; Latour, F.; Leonidas, E.; LoGiudice, S.; Martin-Troy, K.; McGuire, M.; Mendez-Mendez, S.; Minor, L.; Moreno-Fuentes, G.; Nelson, W.; Ngazimbi, E.; Oliva, K.; Oyewumi, O.; Paolino, J.; Phillips, E.; Ruhs, T.; Sadanand, N.; Sakaki, H.; Sohn, Y.; Spear, E.; Spillman, D.; Stickland, A.; Styrczula, S.; Thornton, E.; Vedeler, H.; Williams, C.; Williams, L.; York, C.; Zering, J.
Ex-Officio: Bigelow, L.; Dauwalder, D.
Parliamentarian: Dimmick, C.
President of the Senate: Cohen, S.
Guests: Tom Burkholder (CCSU-AAUP VP); Brendan Kruh (SGA)
1. Minutes
- Approved unanimously
2. Announcements:
a. AAUP President (L. Williams)
- AAUP will participate in the events commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Wednesday, April 4.
- Lobby Day is Wednesday, April 11, from 9am to 12noon, at the Legislative Office Building.
- The event that was scheduled on April 23 has been postponed to avoid interfering with the SGA event on the same day.
b. SUOAF-AFSCME President (L. Bigelow)
- No announcements
c. SGA (B. Kruh)
- SGA, Student Wellness Services, and Phi Delta Theta have invited Dennis Gillan to speak about suicide awareness. The event will be in Alumni Hall, tonight at 7pm.
- SGA invited candidates for Faculty Senate office to their Wednesday, March 28 meeting. SGA has endorsed the three incumbents for the three offices.
- A forum of gubenatorial candidates and other politicians will be held on Monday, April 23.
d. FAC to the Board of Regents (S. Adair)
- Neither the BOR nor the FAC have met recently.
- Senator Blitz distributed a pamphlet called The Truth about "Students First".
e. President of the Senate (S. Cohen)
- Former CCSU President Jack Miller died today. A moment of silence was observed in rememberance.
- The next two Faculty Senate meetings will be very busy (April 16 and 30).
3. Elections
a. Election of President, Vice President, and Secretary of the Faculty Senate
- The election was conducted by the Elections Committee and its co-chair, Senator York.
- Six nominations were received through e-mail: three for President, two for Vice President, and one for Secretary.
- The Elections Committee called for further nominations from the floor; nominations were closed (motion: Martin-Troy/Foster).
- The five candidates who were present (the three candidates for President, Senator Bishop and Senator Latour) were given up to 5 minutes to address the Senate.
- The election for President was conducted by secret ballot.
- On the first ballot, the Elections Committee reported that: 61 votes were cast, 31 votes were required for a majority; Senator Blitz received 19 votes, President Cohen received 22 votes, and Senator Jackson received 20 votes. No candidate had a majority; thus, a second ballot was conducted.
- On the second ballot, the Elections Committee reported that: 59 votes were cast, 30 votes were required for a majority; Senator Blitz received 14 votes, President Cohen received 23 votes, and Senator Jackson received 22 votes. No candidate had a majority; thus, a third ballot was conducted.
- Senator Blitz withdrew his candidacy before the third ballot was conducted.
- On the third ballot, the Elections Committee reported that: 59 votes were cast, 30 votes were required for a majority; President Cohen received 24 votes, and Senator Jackson received 35 votes. Senator Jackson was elected President of the Faculty Senate for the 2018-20 term.
- The election for Vice President was conducted by secret ballot.
- On the first ballot, the Elections Committee reported that: 61 votes were cast, 31 votes were required for a majority; Senator Bishop received 49 votes, Senator Crundwell received 11 votes, and there was one write-in vote for Senator Latour. Senator Bishop was elected Vice President of the Faculty Senate for the 2018-20 term.
- The election for Secretary was conducted by voice vote accroding to the Bylaws of the Faculty Senate, Article 3.5. Senator Latour was elected Secretary of the Faculty Senate for the 2018-20 term.
4. Committee Reports
a. Elections Committee (Election of Standing Committees of the Faculty)
- Proposal: One member of the UPBC (Carlos Soler) was appointed by the President of the University to a 3-year term ending in 2020. We propose that the member be allowed to complete his term; to make room for him, we will elect only three SUOAF-AFSCME members to the committee this semester: two for a 3-year term, one for a 1-year term.
- Approved unanimously
b. Graduate Studies Committee (E. Leonidas)
- Some senators expressed concerns about the effects of the proposal on graduate students in the Fine Arts, who may have to participate in an exhibit that is normally held in September.
- Approved with two senators opposed
5. New Business
a. Academic Standards Committee (R. Boncoddo for J. Schnobrich-Davis)
- Commencement Policy
- Senator Martin-Troy asked if students would be forced to participate in the December ceremony if they graduate in December. Answer: No.
- Senator Phillips expressed concerns about students who might participate in commencement exercises but not return to complete their program.
- Policy approved with three senators opposed
b. Discussion of recent actions of the Board of Regents and of "Students First"
- Letter from Norwalk CC to NEASC (for possible endorsement)
- At least 8 documents were submitted to NEASC in the public comment period; this one was submitted after March 16, and was returned to the sender as being submitted "too late".
- Senator Mendez-Mendez said that the faculty at Norwalk Community College should submit their letter to the Chronicle of Higher Education. He also encouraged faculty to expose gubenatorial candidates to the problems with the so-called Students First plan.
- President-Elect Jackson expressed concerns that the "new General Education" at the merged Community College might be imposed on the universities.
- Motion: The CCSU Faculty Senate endorses the letter from Norwalk Community College to NEASC.
- Approved unanimously
6. Adjournment
- The meeting adjourned at 4:28pm.