Minutes - September 10, 2018 - 3:05pm
CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING
Present: Adair, S.; Amaya-Bower, L.; Austad, C.; Ayeni, T.; Bailesteanu, M.; Baratta, C.; Best, F.; Bishop, J.; Bishop, R.; Blitz, D.; Bonnici, J.; Boscarino, N.; Casiano, N.; Chen, S.; Christensen, S.; Dobbs-McAuliffe, B.; Emiliani, B.; Fafunwa-Ndibe, S.; Farhat, J.; Foster, P.; Gagnon, A.; Garcia-Bowen, M.; Gardner, P.; Givens, E.; Halkin, S.; Karpuk, P.; Kean, K.; Kullgren, A.; Latour, F.; Leonidas, E.; Mendez-Mendez, S.; Menoche, C.; Minor, L.; Misbach, K.; Morales, A.; Moreno-Fuentes, G.; Ngazimbi, E.; Pancsofar, E.; Paolino, J.; Pesca, C.; Petras, S.; Phillips, E.; Pope, C.; Ragusett, J.; Ruhs, T.; Sakaki, H.; Sikorski, J.; Singhal, R.; Sohn, Y.M.; Spear, E.; Spillman, D.; Stickland, A.; Styrczula, S.; Tellier, A.; Vickrey, R.; Williams, L.
Ex-Officio: Dauwalder, D.; Kremens, Z.; Toro, Z.; Wolff, R.
Parliamentarian: absent
President of the Senate: Jackson, M.
Guests: Brian Barrio (Athletic Director); Kassandra Fruin (SGA); Yvonne Kirby (OIRA); Paul Resetarits (UAB); Peter Troiano (Interim VP Student Affairs)
Meeting in Founders Hall; Reception to Follow
1. Minutes
- Approved unanimously
2. Introduction of Senators
3. Announcements:
a. AAUP President (L. Williams)
- AAUP will be visiting departments this Fall.
- Faculty members are encouraged to sign up as members of AAUP.
- Departments are reminded that they need to have part-time faculty representation at their meetings.
- There will be a work-life balance conference.
- AAUP is working with SGA to encourage students to register to vote.
- The chapter meeting is on Thursday, September 20.
- The new contract (2016-21) is being printed.
b. SUOAF-AFSCME President (L. Bigelow)
- No announcements.
c. SGA (K. Fruin)
- The SGA President is interested in getting students involved on Faculty Senate committees.
- The SGA will be holding its Fall election for freshmen and transfer student senators.
- The next Good Neighbor Campaign event is on Saturday, September 29.
d. FAC to the Board of Regents (S. Adair)
- The Board is still going ahead with the plans to consolidate the community colleges (and "back-office" functions such as institutional research), but more slowly.
- The BOR got a grant from "Social Venture Partners" to pay faculty to work over the summer on plans such as guided pathways and a common general education.
e. President of the Senate (M. Jackson)
- No announcements.
4. Elections
a. Elections Committee*
- Senators Foster, Latour, Menoche, Sakaki, Spear, and Spillman were elected to the committee, unanimously
5. Committee Reports
a. University Planning and Budget Committee (R. Wolff)
- Discussion of the report focused on the role of the UPBC in the creation of the academic strategic plan.
- Report received by the Faculty Senate
- Report received by the Faculty Senate
b. Academic Assessment Committee (C. Broadus-Garcia)
d. Committee on Academic Advising (M. P. Bigley and C. Labedz)
g. University Athletics Board (P. Resetarits)
6. Unfinished Business
a. Proposal for a General Education Committee
- The Committee on Committees presented its interim report, stating that the proposal for a General Education Committee presents problems, especially in the area of clear delineation of responsibilities between the Curriculum, Assessment and (proposed) General Education Committees. The Committee on Committees recommended that it work with 2 members of the Curriculum Committee and 2 members of the Assessment Committee to resolve these issues (thus creating an "ad hoc" committee of 7 members.
- Faculty members argued that this proposal would create an unnecessary bureaucratic layer, and the proposal should simply be returned to the Curriculum Committee with feedback.
- Motion (Mendez-Mendez): To discharge the Committee on Committees and charge the Curriculum Committee to revise the plan, specifically with respect to committee membership and purpose (requires two-thirds vote or majority of the entire senate)
- Approved (four senators opposed)
7. New Business:
- President Jackson proposed a Steering Committee consisting of the three Senate officers, plus Senators Blitz, Farhat, Ngazimbi, Amaya-Bower, and Kean.
- Approved unanimously
a. Approval of Steering Committee
- Approved unanimously
c. Spring 2019 Senate schedule
- President Jackson proposed changing the date of the fourth meeting in the Spring semester from March 4 to March 25.
- Approved unanimously
d. Discussion of the impending NEASC visit
- President Toro spoke of the importance of the NEASC visit; they will be there on Monday, September 24 and Tuesday, September 25. We do not know what they will be asking, but it is important for us to be honest. There will be an open forum on Thursday, September 20 from 12 to 2 to prepare for the visit. Faculty members should read the self-study in order to be prepared.
8. Adjournment
- The meeting adjourned at 4:26pm.