Faculty Senate

Minutes - March 25, 2019 - 3:05pm

CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Present: Adair, S.; Amaya, L.; Austad, C.; Best, F.; Bishop, J.; Blitz, D.; Boncoddo, R.; Boscarino, N.; Bray, A.; Broadus-Garcia, C.; Casiano, N.; Chakraborty, S.; Chen, S.; Cistulli, M.; Emiliani, B.; Farhat, J.; Foster, P.; Gamache, J.; Garcia-Bowen, M.; Givens, E.; Halkin, S.; Hughes, H.; Karpuk, P.; Kean, K.; Kim, Y.; Kriscenski, J.; Kullgren, A.; Kurkjian, C.; Langevin, K.; Latour, F.; Leonidas, E.; LoGiudice, S.; Mendez-Mendez, S.; Menoche, C.; Misbach, K.; Morales, A.; Moreno-Fuentes, G.; Ngazimbi, E.; Pancsofar, E.; Paolino, J.; Petras, S.; Phillips, E.; Ruhs, T.; Sakaki, H.; Schenck, S.; Singhal, R.; Siporin, R.; Sohn, Y.M.; Sommers, B.; Spear, E.; Spillman, D.; Stickland, A.; Sylvester, C.; Tafrate, L.; Tellier, A.; Vedeler, H.; Vickrey, R.; Williams, L.; York, C.

Ex-Officio: Dauwalder, D.; Fitzgerald, G.; Kremens, Z.

 

Parliamentarian: Dimmick, C.

President of the Senate: Jackson, M.

Guests: Carrie Andreoletti (P&T); Marianne Fallon (Academic Affairs); Kassandra Fruin (SGA); Beth Merenstein (Curriculum Committee); Mary Ann Nunn (English); Matthew Orange (Physical Education & Human Performance); Ivan Small (Anthropology)

1. Minutes

a. Minutes of February 25, 2019

• Approved unanimously
  

2. Announcements:

a. AAUP President (L. Williams)

• The Chapter Meeting will be tomorrow from 11:30am to 1:30pm, and will feature a light lunch and discussion of recent events.
• The Legislative Forum on the so-called "Students First" plan will be from 10:00am to 12:30pm tomorrow, in room 1E of the Legislative Office Building.
• There will be a press conference on Friday; the AAUP and other higher education unions are trying to encourage the legislature to pass bills that will help students.

b. SUOAF-AFSCME President (L. Bigelow)

• No announcements.

c. SGA (K. Fruin)

• The students have elected next year's executive board: Roshanay Tahir is President-Elect, Andrew Pilkons is Vice President-Elect, and Nicole Elsinger is Treasurer-Elect.
• The SGA would like an open dialogue between students and faculty unions to discuss how our contracts work.
• The SGA is organizing a "Take Back Our Campus" rally, tomorrow at 1:30pm. Students are encouraged to wear black and blue.
  

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

• Due to the new structure of the FAC, we will be electing two members to the FAC in the future (one regular member and one alternate).
• The FAC conference registration is now closed. A limited number of spots may be made available in the near future.
• Faculty members are encouraged to do whatever they can to support Senate Bill 749.
• The FAC has requested a special meeting of the BOR to discuss the so-called "Students First" plan. The BOR's opinion is that no such meeting is needed until the faculty can come up with a plan that would save 23 million dollars and "put students first".

e. Maria's Place community pantry (J. Bishop)

• Faculty members are encouraged to advertise Maria' Place in their syllabi. Sample statements were presented.

f. President of the Senate (M. Jackson)

• No announcements.

3. Committee Reports

a. Information Technology Committee (T. Burkholder) - Learning Management System survey

• Report
• Executive summary 
• Senators are encouraged to watch the following 15-minute video before the meeting: Executive Summary Video
• The senate will be asked to report general sentiment about the following four recommendations:
  • RECOMMENDATION 1. Blackboard contract be renewed for a 1-year term with conditions.
  • RECOMMENDATION 2. An RFP be established to explore the LMS market and determine if there is a product that can better meet faculty and students' needs.
  • RECOMMENDATION 3. Enhanced training and support for faculty and students.
  • RECOMMENDATION 4. The implementation of basic LMS Best Practices initiatives on campuses to promote consistent, student-friendly user experiences that will enhance ease of use for our students.
  • The Faculty Senate voted on whether or not to endorse each recommendation. All of them were endorsed; the first, with two senators opposed, and the other three, unanimously

b. Student Affairs Committee (C. York) - update on safety posters

• Draft safety posters were presented to the Senate. Senators requested that some of the pictures be changed to be less "scary". Senators are encouraged to send their feedback to Cassandra York.

c. Ad hoc committee on response to proposed Institutional Research consolidation

• Document on Institutional Research
• Proposed resolution
• Approved unanimously

d. Curriculum Committee (B. Merenstein)

• Geography TAP postponed to the next curriculum committee report; rest of report approved unanimously,

4. New Business

a. Promotion & Tenure discussion (C. Andreoletti, P. Foster)

• The co-chairs of the Promotion and Tenure Committee, Carrie Andreoletti and Patrick Foster, explained their decision to not use the "exceeds expectations" rating this year. Some senators argued that this decision violates the Promotion and Tenure policy. Some senators said that it might be time to revise the Promotion and Tenure guidelines. The discussion ended because of a lack of quorum.

b. External Program Review (M. Fallon)

• Proposed policy (version 25)
• Previous version (version 22)
• Summary of changes
• Timetable of program review
• Postponed to next meeting due to lack of quorum

c. University Athletics Board bylaws (Committee on Committees)

• Postponed to next meeting due to lack of quorum

5. Adjournment

• Meeting adjourned at 4:54pm due to lack of quorum.