Faculty Senate

Minutes - September 28, 2020 - 3:05pm - Online through WebEx

CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Present: Adair, S.; Al-Masoud, N.; Amaya, L.; Atkinson, S.; Austad, C.; Barr, B.; Benoit, D.; Bigelow, L.; Bishop, J.; Blitz, D.; Boscarino, N.; Bray, A.; Broulik, W.; Chakraborty, S.; Chen, S.; Cox, S.; DeCarlo, D.; Duquette, J.; Dumpson, N.; Flinn, B.; Foshay, J.; Foster, P.; French, J.; Gamache, J.; Garceau, T.; Garcia-Bowen, M.; Ghiloni-Wage, B.; Gichiru, W.; Gu, S.; Halkin, S.; Harris, D.; He, F.; Hernandez, J.; Holt, J.; Hou, X.; Hughes, H.; Jalil- Gutierrez, S. Jenkins, A.; Jones S.; Kean, K.; Langevin, K.; Lewis, M.; Mahony, M.A.; Martin, K.; Martin, V.; Matzke, B.; Mendez-Mendez, S.; Moreno-Fuentes, G.; Orange, M.; Paolino, J.; Rein, T.; Roark, E.; Ruhs, T.; Salama, T.; Salgado, E.; Schenck, S.; Scott, T.; Singhal, R.; Sikorski, J.; Skinner, L.; Smith, R.; Sohn, Y.M.; Spear, E.; Spillman, D.; Strickland, A.; Styrczula, S.; Sylvester, C.; Wang, W.; Watson, S.; Whittemore, L., Williams, L., Zadi, S.

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

 

Parliamentarian: Dimmick, C.

President of the Senate: Latour, F.

Guests: Casamento, C.; Fallon, M.; Higham, C.; Jasek, M.; Kirby, Y.; Magnan, C.; Maturo, C.; Palmer, J.; Peckham, K.; Phillips, E.; Rode, D.; Zering, J.

The meeting was called to order at 3:08 p.m.

1. Minutes

The minutes of August 24 and September 14, 2020 were approved unanimously.

2. Announcements:

a. AAUP President (L. Williams)

b. SUOAF-AFSCME Secretary (J. Gamache))

c. SGA

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

e. President of the Senate (F. Latour)

3. Elections

4. Committee Reports

a. Promotion and Tenure Committee (P. Foster/S. Bernstein) (postponed to October 19)

b. Constitution and Bylaws Committee (D. Blitz/S. Chen)

  • Motions made at the Senate on May 4 were referred to the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, which proposed modifications presented in four parts.
    • Proposal 1: breaks Article 3.4 into two parts, to become 3.4.1 and 3.4.2. A motion was made to amendment to 3.4.1 as follows: 3.4.1 All of the following administrators shall be non-voting members of the Faculty Senate ex-officio, without the power to make or second motions OR to become President, Vice President or Secretary or serve as officers on any Standing Committee of the Senate or of the Faculty: the President of the University, the Vice President of Academic Affairs, the academic and graduate Deans or their chosen representatives.
      • D. Harris made motion to amend 3.4.1/SMM seconded. Passed 52/3
      • Discussion on Proposal 1, as amended: None. Proposal 1 passed 55/1.
    • Proposal 2 – add 3.4.3 stating that the presidents of AAUP and SUOAF and the CCSU representative to the FAC cannot concurrently serve as an officer of the Senate or a chair of a committee of the Senate or of the Faculty. If approved, it would take effect immediately, but a proviso would allow those elected before approval to finish their terms.
      • Senator Adair suggested adding the next higher level of union administration (President of CSU-AAUP and Local President of SUOAF) to the titles included in the proposal. He also stated that he feels the FAC Representative should not be included.
      • C. Austad asked for the rationale for the change and the impact. F. Latour indicated that the rationale as presented in May was that too much power could be concentrated in the hands of one individual.
      • K. Martin said this is a very dangerous precedent to set and that the issue can be addressed through the elections process.
      • J. Duquette represented that the Political Science department is unanimous in its decision to oppose this proposal, citing it is not relevant. He moved to postpone it indefinitely. The motion was seconded by Senator Mendez-Mendez. F. Latour clarified what it means to postpone something indefinitely: if someone wants to bring it back, it must be brought back in a new form, not as unfinished business.
      • Motion to postpone Proposal 2 indefinitely approved, 33/20.
    • Proposal 3 – proposed modification of Article 3.6.6: 3.6.6.1: setting a term limit of no more than two consecutive terms for the President of the Senate. (Renumbered only) and adding: 3.6.6.2: setting a term limit of no more than two consecutive full terms as Vice President of the Senate. (New language.)
      • J. Duquette represented that the Political Science department opposes term limits in any form.
      • Motion to approved Proposal 3 passed 29/24.
    • Proposal 4 – setting a term limit of no more than two consecutive terms for the Secretary of the Senate.
    • S. Mendez-Mendez spoke in strong support of the proposal so that new faculty can get involved in the Senate. K. Martin asked if Senators had a three-term limit; F. Latour said yes.
    • The question was called and the motion to end discussion was approved 44/4.
    • Motion to approve Proposal 4 to add term limits to the Secretary of the Senate failed: 25/30.

c. CCSU Foundation Grant Advisory Committee (K. Moore) (postponed to October 19)

d. Community Engagement Committee (C. Crespi/C. Thomas) (postponed to October 19)

e. Student Affairs Committee (C. York) (postponed to October 19)

5. Unfinished Business

a. Request to bring back “University Hour”

  • S. Halkin and D. Blitz raised concerns and reflected on past experiences related to the University hour, citing many conflicting events leading to poor attendance at everything.
  • Senator Moreno-Fuentes spoke in favor of the University Hour citing higher student participation in programming when it was last in place.
  • Senator Adair suggested that an ad hoc committee of the Senate be formed to develop and advise on alternatives.
  • Senator Jones spoke in favor of formation of an ad hoc committee and spoke in favor of not having the University Hour on the same day/time of the week, but to scatter it.
  • Senator Chakraborty spoke against it, on behalf of his department, based on a scheduling conflict with the long labs in his department.
  • F. Latour presented two options: vote of the Senate to recommend or not recommend reinstituting the University Hour, or to form the ad hoc committee suggested by Senator Adair.
  • K. Martin moved that the Faculty Senate President create an ad hoc committee to explore a workable university hour proposal. Senator Adair seconded the motion.
  • Motion approved 37/8.

6. New Business

a. DEC exceptions for 2020-21 (part 2)

  • Senator Foster asked if there was any conflict with having C. Crespi serve on multiple DECs. F. Latour responded, saying there are no limitations.
  • Approved unanimously.

b. Update on Workgroups to prepare for Spring 2021 semester

  • F. Latour invited members of the administration to make any comments on the Spring2020 Work Groups on Academics, Student Activities/Services, and Logistics and Operations.
  • President Toro noted that the work of the work groups has just started, so there is not much to report. She said she learned last week that we need to submit a revised plan to the System Office and the State based on what we did this semester and adding to it what lessons we learned. The work of the workgroups will inform the adjustments to the reopening plan. She noted the workgroups are not starting from scratch, but from what is already in place – and then analyzing and determining what needs to be changed, improved, etc. The timeline is very tight. Dr. Toro expressed her appreciation to all members of the work groups. She then introduced Christina Robinson who addressed how the workgroup on Academics has been divided into multiple subgroups.
  • Dr. Robinson noted that the Academic workgroup has met twice as a full committee and convened multiple subcommittees to explore specific areas. As a group the work group has considered course scheduling and course select, and convened subcommittees to review: advising, pivot plans, as well as what faculty may wish to consider if there are outages or technological failures, access to research lab and specialty spaces, logistics between dean, chairs, and faculty, changes to the academic calendar, student academic support services and faculty development. C. Robinson noted that the workgroup also conducted two surveys: an ongoing survey of Hyflex faculty on technology – which was run twice. Findings so far include an increased familiarity with technology and fewer glitches. Since the second implementation we have added features including simultaneous communication with at-home students through Webex, Teams, and Collaborate. And the workgroup has run an Applause and Alert survey to gauge how students are doing and will share results with the faculty.
  • Senator Langevin reported that she is on the residence life subgroup of the Student Activities/Services Workgroup and that the subgroup just finished conducting interviews with stakeholders. A report was submitted to the main committee with recommendations on topics such as residence hall move in/out, shutdown, and Resident Directors’ responsibilities. She noted a lot of good work is in place and they are gathering input and identifying possible improvements. Basically, the subgroup is in the final stages of compiling their recommendations. The full committee is meeting later in the week. She further noted that work has been very fulfilling.
  • President Toro reported that the chair of this workgroup, George Claffey, was not able to attend the Senate meeting because he is with the COVID Steering Committee at this time. Senator V. Martin reported that the Logistics and Operations Workgroup has just begun its work and has a very tight, October 5th deadline. She noted that the scope of the Logistics and Operations Workgroup is huge, including IT, Health and Safety, the Bursar’s Office, Nursing, signage, communication, shutdown, and move-in logistics and also overlaps with other committees. She is co-chair with Lisa Washko of the subgroup working on computer services, including addressing the Zoom policy. She invited people to be in touch with her to raise issues. She underscored they are not beginning from the start; a lot has already been laid out. The committee is looking at ‘things that need to change’ – there are communication issues with faculty (not enough), how lab spaces are used, etc. The working document indicates the need to look more closely at those issues. Senator Martin noted she is very interested in transparency issues; she mentioned the Dashboard in particular. The subcommittee on Communications is working on several communication issues, including the Dashboard.
  • Following the updates from Work Group representatives several faculty asked questions and made suggestions for the representatives to answer and/or take back to the full Work Group or a sub-committee.
  • F. Latour asked about the Work Group timeline. Dr. Toro indicated that work of the WGs would be used to schedule spring classes, so that is why there is a tight timeline. In addition, if we need to order equipment, lead time is needed because the supply is difficult. Finally, she indicated that most people will not be working on campus after Thanksgiving. While all the details on that are not known, we will not be operating as we are now after Thanksgiving.
  • The recommendations of the Work Groups will be presented to the Executive Committee and depending on the recommendations, they may also be shared with the IPC if any investments are needed. There may also be a need for UPBC to be involved. As always, the deans will have to work with the department chairs on some issues. There is quite a bit of work to be done. If the faculty is affected, in a positive way is anticipated, to enhance the support of the teaching and learning process, a conversation with the Senate will ensue. Dr. Toro hopes there will not be any major things.

7. Adjournment