Faculty Senate

Minutes - April 20, 2020 - 3:05pm - Online through WebEx

CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Present: Al-Masoud, N.; Amaya, L.; Anton, M.; Austad, C.; Baratta, C.; Best, F.; Bigelow, L.; Bishop, J.; Blitz, D.; Boscarino, N.; Bray, A.; Broulik, W. Casiano, N.; Chakraborty, S.; Chen, S.; Duquette, J.; Fafunwa-Ndibe, S.; Foster, P.; Gamache, J.; Garceau, T.; Garcia-Bowen, M.; Gardner, P.; Ghiloni-Wage, B.; Gichiru, W.; Givens, E.; Gutierrez, S.; Halkin, S.; Holt, J.; Hou, X.; Hughes, H.; Jarmoszko, T.; Kapper, M.; Karas, R.; Kean, K.; Kriscenski, J.; Kullgren, A.; Kurkjian, C.; Langevin, K.; Latour, F.; Leonidas, E.; Mann, B.; Martin, V.; Matzke, B.; Mendez-Mendez, S.; Menoche, C.; Mongillo, M.; Moreno-Fuentes, G.; Nicoletti, J.; Oyewumi, O.; Pancsofar, E.; Phillips, E.; Ruhs, T.; Sakaki, H.; Salama, T.; Schenck, S.; Sikorski, J.; Skinner, L.; Sohn, Y.M.; Spear, E.; Stickland, A.; Sylvester, C.; Tafrate, L.; Wang, W.; Williams, L.; York, C.

Ex-Officio: Dauwalder, D.; Farhat, J; Kim, J.; Kostelis, K.; Toro, Z; Wolff, R.

 

Parliamentarian: Dimmick, C.

President of the Senate: Jackson, M.

Guests: Rusty Barceló (VP Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity); Michael Jasek (VP Student Affairs); Yvonne Kirby (Associate VP, Planning & Institutional Effectiveness); Matthew Martin (Academic Integrity Committee)

1. Minutes

a. Minutes of April 13, 2020 meeting

• Approved by unanimous consent

2. Announcements:

a. AAUP President (L. Williams)

• The AAUP will have a virtual chapter meeting (via Zoom) on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, from 3 to 5pm. The link is included in the e-mail from President Williams from this morning.

b. SUOAF-AFSCME President (L. Bigelow)

• Last week's SUOAF-AFSCME virtual chapter meeting (via WebEx) has been postponed to Thursday, April 23, 2020, from 3:30 to 5pm.

c. SGA (R. Tahir)

• No announcements.

d. FAC to the Board of Regents (D. Blitz)

• The BOR met on Thursday, April 16; FAC Chair Blitz, and FAC Vice Chair Sesanker (of Gateway Community College), both attended. The FAC presented the resolution in support of faculty who have withdrawn from consolidation committees, and the one expressing concern from community college faculty about the community college Pass/Fail policy, which was developed without faculty consultation and e-mailed to the students before faculty were told about it. The BOR had no questions for the FAC about these resolutions.
• The naming of the campus CEOs for community colleges is under way; it is not clear what the current role of the regional presidents is.
• The system office plans to hire 60 advisors for the community colleges; the stated reason is their concern about the 15% 3-year graduation rate, racial disparities in graduation statistics, and a desire to reduce the number of students per advisor from 750 to 250. The qualifications are unclear; the FAC is concerned about the lack of insider knowledge of recent hires. The estimated cost is $3,000,000. FAC members pointed out that faculty advisors have a 30 to 1 ratio, not 250 to 1 or 750 to 1.
• The NECHE status report and 2-year implementation plan for Students First will be presented at the June meeting of NECHE.
• The system office created two crisis task forces (enrollment management and remote learning). The enrollment management task force chair asked to attend the FAC meeting and consult with the FAC. They wrote a letter encouraging students to enrol again at the community colleges in the Fall. Community college students who owe at most $1,200 will be allowed to register for courses. There is no information from the remote learning task force, but out of the 17 people on the task force, only 2 are faculty, and both are currently assigned to the system office.
• A working group of the so-called "Students First" took a vote on a common General Education curriculum. The results: 2 community colleges in favor, 1 opposed, 9 refusals to vote on the basis of illegitimacy of the working group. The system office considers this to be an approval.
• FAC Chair Blitz is a member of a systemwide working group on e-learning. He recently attended a meeting where a PowerPoint from a consultant was presented, comparing CSCU online programs with the region (including New York). The list of programs omitted several existing CSU programs, and one of the proposals was an online nursing program, which was met with opposition.
• Our strategy should be three-pronged: defend the autonomy and integrity of CCSU versus the so-called "Students First", reiterate the distinctiveness of the missions of the CSUs and community colleges, and oppose the BOR's consolidation plans, including consolidation of "back-office" functions.

e. President of the Senate (M. Jackson)

• The Faculty Senate Steering Committee and University President are considering ways of celebrating our graduating class in the absence of a May commencement. The current December date for commencement is not set in stone at this point; we hope that it may be earlier. Students will be able to get their regalia soon, and when they graduate, they will get a special medallion to commemorate the "class of COVID-19". The university is considering organizing a gala in addition to the commencement.
• President Jackson hopes to record the part of next meeting where the Deans request a motion to approve the graduation lists, and play the video at commencement. Vice President Bishop suggests that faculty and Deans should wear regalia at the next Senate meeting.
• Senator Mendez-Mendez asks whether we have the technical capacity to hold an e-commencement (President Jackson: I have no idea).
• Senators who have ideas should share them with President Jackson.

3. Election of Standing Committees of the Faculty elected by the Senate

• The election of Standing Committees was conducted by electronic ballot. A total of 65 ballots were cast. The following candidates were elected:
  • Academic Integrity Committee
    • Bartone, Michael
    • Hansen, Joy
    • Smith, Jessica
    • Weinberger, Andrew
  • CCSU Foundation Board of Directors
    • Foster, Patrick
  • CCSU Foundation Grant Advisory Committee
    • Christensen, Stacy
    • Kim, Youngseon
    • Kling, Eben
  • Distinguished Service Award Committee
    • York, Cassandra
  • Excellence in Teaching Committee
    • Bragg, Caleb
    • Lee, Namhun
  • Grade Appeals Committee
    • Bartone, Michael
    • Block, Steven
    • Holt, Reginald W.
  • Library Committee
    • Hughes, Heidi
    • Menoche, Charles
    • Visone, Jeremy
    • Wizevich, Michael
  • Student Affairs Committee
    • Allen, Trevor
    • Hansen, Joy
  • University Athletics Board
    • Cistulli, Mark
    • Gagnon, Amy
    • Tellier, Amanda
  • University Planning and Budget Committee
    • Harris, Drew
    • Pana, Elisabeta
    • Pearson, A. Fiona
    • Petras, Sarah
    • Walter, Laurie

4. Unfinished Business

a. Academic Integrity Policy (M. Mongillo)

• Academic Misconduct Policy
• Academic Integrity Guide
  • The committee has been working on this revision for over two years. Senator Mongillo thanked the Office of Student Conduct and former Academic Integrity Committee Chair Matthew Martin for their work on this revision.
  • Legal counsel was consulted, other schools' policies were looked at, and there was an effort to achieve alignment with the BOR policy.
  • The goal of the revision is to improve the transparency and consistency of the process, to make sure that policy and process are aligned, to encourage faculty to use reporting process, and to help the students learn and grow rather than just punish them.
  • Future plans of the committee include disseminating the policy, creating online training for faculty and students, update the committee's website, and address the issue of academic dishonesty in an online setting.
  • Senator Halkin asked why section 8b mentions 4 grounds but only lists 3 (answer: it's an error that needs to be fixed, the 4 should be changed to a 3).
  • Senator Halkin asked why if a student does not contest the charges then the process does not automatically end (answer: because of repeat offenders, or students who have other disciplinary issues).
  • Senator Bigelow asked about the last word of the second paragraph: is it the Senate President or University President (answer: University).
  • Senator Jarmoszko asked if it is true that department chairs can adjudicate a case in favor of a student with no possibility for an instructor to appeal (answer: that is Senator Mongillo and former committee chair Martin's understanding of current practice; the process is described in section 2b of the policy).
  • This led senators to ask what is new in the policy proposal.
  • Senator Mongillo answered that the main changes are in the numbers of days, and the membership of the faculty hearing boards in section 5. In the past, there was supposed to be a faculty pool used to select members of faculty hearing boards, but it has been difficult to keep this pool filled. Faculty Hearing Boards are rarely needed, and Academic Integrity Committee members are well versed in the process, which can be useful.
  • Senator Jarmoszko asked if department chairs need to know about previous reports when making a determination.
  • Motion (Mendez-Mendez/Jarmoszko): to postpone this proposal to the next Senate meeting, with a request that the Committee prepare a comparison of the previous and proposed policies.
    • Motion to postpone approved, 43-3

5. Adjournment

• The meeting adjourned at 4:21pm.