Faculty Senate

Minutes - April 6, 2020 - 3:05pm - Online through WebEx

CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Present: Adair, S.; 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.; Dharavath, N.; Donohue, P.; Duquette, J.; Fafunwa-Ndibe, S.; Foster, P.; 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.; Morales, A.; Moreno-Fuentes, G.; Nicoletti, J.; Oyewumi, O.; Pancsofar, E.; Paolino, J.; Phillips, E.; Ruhs, T.; Sakaki, H.; Salama, T.; Schenck, S.; Singhal, R.; 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.; Robinson, C.; Toro, Z; Wolff, R.

 

Parliamentarian: Dimmick, C.

President of the Senate: Jackson, M.

Guests: Isabella Chan (The Recorder); Jill Espelin (Nursing); Marianne Fallon (Associate VP, Planning & Resources); Yvonne Kirby (Associate VP, Planning & Institutional Effectiveness); Andrew Pilkons (SGA); Erick Ramos (SGA); Roshanay Tahir (SGA); Patrick Tucker (Registrar)

1. Minutes

a. Minutes of March 9, 2020 meeting

• Approved 57-0

2. Announcements:

a. AAUP President (L. Williams)

• CSU-AAUP President Patty O'Neill has been in contact with the BOR, who have agreed that Pass-Fail cannot be unilaterally imposed by the BOR. AAUP's position is that this is a Faculty Senate issue. She also interprets the contract as stating that, while Student Opinion Surveys should be done, they do not have to be done for every section of every class. The issue of Student Opinion Surveys for this semester is either a department or Faculty Senate issue. (Senator Austad: Can departments participate in the online Student Opinion Surveys at this time if they opted out earlier? Senator Kullgren: There is a way if the Senate decides so.)
• AAUP has been working on agreements with the BOR regarding the evaluation process for faculty. The key part is that no one should be harmed by circumstances surrounding COVID-19, so not including Spring 2020 student opinion surveys in faculty portfolios will not harm the faculty member. The renewal deadline for pre-tenure faculty has been extended, and hard copy materials can be submitted later, with no negative consequences. AAUP has been working on an agreement with the BOR on tenure and promotion applications for next year.
• AAUP asserts that faculty members have academic freedom regarding how to teach courses online.
• Funds for AAUP grants for this year: there is a one year extension for spending the funds (until June 2021 instead of 2020) (Senator Amaya: Does this include non-AAUP grants such as diversity grants and student-faculty research grants; Answer: Not yet. More details available later.)
• AAUP is trying to make it easier for part-time faculty to get unemployment benefits.
• The sick leave bank committee is ready to work if it is needed.

b. SUOAF-AFSCME President (L. Bigelow)

• President Bigelow expressed gratitude towards the IT, ITDRC, and Student Services staff for their hard work in recent weeks.
• There is an agreement with the BOR that SUOAF will forego the June 1 evaluations for members.
• SUOAF is asking the BOR that professional development funds expiring this fiscal year be given a one-year extension.
• The size of the sick leave committee has been doubled.
• SUOAF elections for Faculty Senate and SUOAF committees will begin by April 15.
• Next chapter meeting April 16 via WebEx.

c. SGA (R. Tahir)

• SGA has a lot going on, but also a lot of canceled or postponed events. They are trying to move some Spring events online (autism awareness, climate change).
• SGA has moved online. They want students to know that SGA is there for them.
• SGA has been working with VP Jasek to address student complaints (on commencement, dorms, etc.)
• SGA has three proposals regarding grading for the Spring 2020 semester.

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

• The BOR Executive Committee originally wanted to cancel the FAC March meeting. The FAC Chair and Vice Chair objected, so the BOR decided to postpone the meeting to Friday, April 3 instead.
• The FAC approved a resolution stating that the Pass/Fail policy adopted by community colleges was developed with no faculty and staff input or consultation, and recommending that the BOR respect the institutional authority of the individual colleges and their Senate.
• The BOR is supposed to send a progress report to NECHE on the planned consolidation, but this has been delayed until June by NECHE. The FAC will send a letter to NECHE on this issue.
• The System Office has set up two task forces (one on remote learning, and one on enrollment management). No consultation with Senates or FAC happened regarding the creation of these task forces, and the remote learning task force has 2 faculty (who also work at the system office) out of 17.
• SUOAF-AFSCME President Bigelow: The BOR has approved new job descriptions of future SUOAF positions regarding shared services.

e. President of the Senate (M. Jackson)

• Wow! People have been working like crazy. We do need to keep working on teaching and university business. Talk to your colleagues about faculty committee elections.

3. Election

• Election of President, Vice President, and Secretary of the Faculty Senate for 2020-22 term
  • Senator Latour reiterated that the call for nominations for faculty committees is open until tomorrow.
  • Senator Foster conducted the election of the officers of the Faculty Senate for the 2020-22 term
    • For President, Senator Latour had been nominated before the meeting. There being no other candidates, Senator Latour was elected.
    • For Vice President, Senator Bishop had been nominated before the meeting. There being no other candidates, Senator Bishop was elected.
    • For Secretary, no nominations had been received before the meeting. Senator Bigelow nominated herself (and Senator Holt seconded). There being no other candidates, Senator Bigelow was elected.

4. Committee Reports

a. Academic Standards Committee (E. Leonidas)

• Admission Policy for Undergraduate Detective Certificate program
  • Approved 55-1
• Policy Revisions related to adoption of an undergraduate certificate program
  • Approved 59-0

5. Unfinished Business

a. Policy on Department Bylaws

• The discussion resumed, with the amendment on the floor being the addition of "(if available, for bylaws approved before adoption of this policy)" after the word "Dean" in item 3.
• A motion to amend the amendment was made (Mendez-Mendez/Casiano): to add a fourth item, stating "The Senate will collect all bylaws. Those last approved by departments and Deans will be part of this repository.
  • Some Senators expressed concerns that this is unnecessary because that is the default policy.
  • Amendment to the amendment approved, 28-17
• Amendment approved as amended, 46-3
• Policy approved, 49-2

6. New Business

a. Pass/Fail policy for Spring 2020

• Proposed Motion on Pass/Fail for Spring 2020
• Student e-mails regarding Pass/Fail
• Spring 2020 Pass/Fail Form
• Things to Consider regarding Pass/Fail for Spring 2020
  • President Jackson presented the history behind this proposal, discussed the possible pitfalls, discussed the current policy and the proposal, which was moved (Jackson/Bishop)
  • SGA President Tahir presented three of the SGA's proposals. One of them is an extended optional Pass/Fail proposal, which would be available for all courses, would be available until the last week of the semester, would include a footnote on transcripts, and would allow flexbility for students who are on academic probation. The other two are a mandatory increase of 10 out of 100 points applied to all student grades, and an A/B/C grading scale with no failing grades.
  • Senators said that the two proposals (other than the Pass/Fail one) are not compatible with academic standards, or academic freedom, or Article 4.2.2.2 of the CSU-AAUP contract.
  • Senator Blitz said that the current proposal is optimal (with a possible extension of the deadline); expanding it would lead to problems for students, some of which we cannot even foresee. We should make the minimum changes required to help the students, in a way that is consistent with academic standards. Senators Foster, Anton, Austad and Chakraborty agreed.
  • Senators Ghiloni-Wage and Pancsofar said that students electing P/F should sign a statement that they understand the risks. Senator Jackson said that such students should be required to talk with their advisor. He also encouraged interested parties to look at SCSU's website on the P/F option. Several Senators expressed concerns about the acceptance of P/F in their field, for program acceptance and/or licensure (nursing, marriage & family therapy, counseling, social work)
  • President Jackson and Senator Bray said that most of their students do not want P/F at all.
  • SGA VP Pilkons asked whether it would be possible for faculty offering majors/minors/etc. to allow P/F in their courses on a major by major basis.
  • Senator Donohue asked whether this would apply to graduate students. Currently they are not eligible to P/F. Would they require a C for Pass? And would a C-Pass be excluded from the number of allowed Cs in a graduate program?
  • Senator Foster asked if faculty are asked to submit a regular grade which is then saved in the system even though the grade shows up as a P (Registrar: Yes.)
  • President Jackson mentioned the existence of Grade Appeals for students who feel they have received an unjust grade.
  • Some Senators mentioned the possibility of extending the withdrawal deadline, encouraging more flexibility with incompletes (perhaps with a longer completion deadline), and retroactive Pass/Fail.
  • Senator Salama suggested the possibility of Pass/No Record instead of Pass/Fail.
  • Senators Spear expressed concerns that this is a retention issue, that we need to encourage our students to continue their studies in an unprecendented situation, and that we might be grading based on priviledge rather than effort or ability. Senators Matzke and Schneck echoed those concerns, while Senator Foster argued that we might be grading based on priviledge even when extraordinary circumstances are not present.
  • Senator Anton expressed concerns about whether or not a Pass will be enough to meet a prerequisite where a C- (or something higher) is needed in order to take the next course in the sequence. (Registrar: Pass is equivalent to a D, so a Pass would not meet the prerequisite in that case. But the original grade is still available, so it is possible to give a manual override.)
  • Motion to amend (Blitz/Latour): by extending the deadline for electing Pass/Fail to May 1.
    • Approved, 32-15
  • Motion to amend (Halkin/Schneck): by extending the deadline for electing Pass/Fail to May 10.
    • Approved, 35-10
  • Motion to amend (Foster/Latour): by adding the statement "Courses taken on a Pass/Fail basis during the Spring 2020 semester will not be considered when calculating a student's total number of Pass/Fail elections." before the last paragraph.
    • Approved, 43-1
  • Senator Blitz called the question (failed, 21-21 - did not meet the two-thirds requirement)
  • Motion to postpone to Monday, April 13 at 3:05pm (Mendez-Mendez/Adair)
    • Approved, 34-6

b. Student Opinion Survey Policy for Spring 2020

• Postponed to the next meeting

7. Adjournment

• The meeting adjourned at 6:16pm.