Faculty Senate

Minutes - September 12, 2022 - 3:05pm - Online through WebEx

CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Present: Acharya, K.; Al-Masoud, N.; Amaya, L.; Andreoletti, C.; Arena, J.; Benoit, D.; Best, F.; Bigelow, L.; Bishop, J. ; Boone, N.; Boscarino, N.; Bray, A.; Broulik, W.; Cole, E.; Donohue, P.; Duquette, J.; Elfant, A.; Emeagwali, G.; Fallon, M.; Farhat, J.; Farrish, K.; Foshay, J.; Foster, P.; French, J.; Garbovskiy, Y.; Gardner, P.; Ginter, V.; Hazan, S.; Heinen, E.; Hernandez, R.; Horrax, S.; Jackson, M.; Kapper, M.; Karas, R.; Kean, K.; King, A.; Langevin, K.; Love, K.; Lui, R.; Martin, K.; Matthews, S.; McCarthy, M.; Meng, P.; Mitchell, D.; Moriarty, M.; Nicastro, M.; Ning, W.; O'Connor, J.; Oguz, A.; Oyewumi, Y.; Paolina, J.; Patterson, Y.; Recoder-Nunez, L.; Rivera, T.; Rodgers-Tonge, D.; Salama, T.; Santilli, M.; Savatorova, V.; Schenck, S.; Schmidt, S.; Seamans-Frizzell, S.; Smith, R.; Spinelli, A.; Styrczula, S.; Sugg, K.; Telllier, A.; Vickrey, R.; Villanti, S.; Wang, W.; Zabihimayvan, M.; Zadi, S.; Zhao, S

Ex-Officio:Blitz, D.; Burkholder, T.; Frank, L.; Kostelis, K.; Mulrooney, J.; Toro, Z.; Wolff, R.

 

Parliamentarian: Dimmick, C.

President of the Senate: Latour, F.

Guests: Bantley, K.; Bucher, L.; Byrd Danso, K.; Cintorino, S.; Claffey, G.; Kirby, Y.; Larsen, K.; Merenstein, B.; Minkler, S.; Misra, K.; Moreland, D.; Olamuyiwa, O.; Palmer, J.; Phillips, E.; Pincince, T.; Robinson, C.; Thamma, R.; Thompson, T.; Tully, J.; Veloria, C.; Wright, C.

1. Minutes

• Minutes of May 2, 2022

The minutes of May 2, 2022 were approved.

2. Introduction of Senators

Each officer, senator, alternate, ex officio member, management representative and guest in attendance introduced themselves to the Senate.

3. Announcements:

a. AAUP President (T. Burkholder)

• There will be Chapter meeting next Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 12:15 p.m. An email will be forthcoming.
• Good news continues with the contract. The part-time pay raise will be in the first paycheck. For full-time faculty, the $1000 lump sum payment, in addition to the new pay raise, will be in the next paycheck. Thanks were extended to everyone who served on the negotiating team.
• There will be more information about these items at the Chapter meeting, but in short, the national AAUP has decided to affiliate with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) about these. The local impact will be a relationship with the Connecticut AFT and the local AFL-CIO; the details have not been worked out yet. More information will be forthcoming.
• Interfolio is being rolled out. Over the summer, a team worked on getting rid of the manila folder part of promotion and tenure files. This will be replaced by Interfolio. A series of trainings will be rolling out. Stay tuned, especially if you are a DEC member or coming up for renewal. Additional details will be coming soon. K. Kostelis shared that an email was sent out today with details about Interfolio and the training calendar. There will be three workshops: DEC members, new faculty who will be utilizing Interfolio from the start; and one for those who have already been using OneDrive. All trainings will be offered online and in person. There is a short document explaining how to push OneDrive materials into Interfolio; that is on the Senate website under Promotion and Tenure and was attached to the Provost’s email.

b. SUOAF-AFSCME President (S. Villanti)

• A welcome Happy Hour is scheduled for this Thursday, September 15, at Five Churches Brewing. The deadline for SUOAF members to respond is midnight tonight.
• The next Chapter meeting will be held on Thursday, October 13 at noon on Teams.
• The nomination meeting for the upcoming election of Chapter officers will be held at noon on Sept. 29 on Teams. If needed, the election is scheduled for October 27 at a date and time to be announced. Local Officer elections will take place in November.

c. SGA (O. Olamuyiwa)

• The SGA Executive Board for the 2022-2023 academic year is as follows: President Olanrewaju Olamuyiwa, Vice President Anaya Moore, Treasurer Madino Hassan.
• The SGA is excited to work with the University community to work tirelessly for the betterment of the entire University community.
• The first event of the year was a roller rink event. Because of SALD’s input, it was very successful. The CCSU community is bouncing back from COVID.
• The elected senators will sit in on Senate meetings to share ideas to foster more collaboration.
• Earlier today in a meeting with President Toro, I told her that we will be look for faculty willing to support students in any areas of the faculty experience. We would like to foster mentorships and work together with you to take CCSU to the next level.

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

• CCSU’s representatives to the Faculty Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents are David Blitz, representative, and Mark Jackson, alternate. For those new to the Senate, the FAC represents the four universities in the CSCU System and the 12 community colleges, which are undergoing consolidation into a single community college. There is also a representative from Charter Oak State College.
• At the level of the community colleges, the Students First consolidation process is expected to be completed by 2023. This has not been a pleasant experience for the faculty and staff at the community colleges. The interim executive of the one community college has sent a Final Interim Report to NECHE and that report is notable for its strategic plan which excludes any real decisional role for faculty in areas such as curriculum and pedagogy. It eliminates, at the community colleges, academic departments and department chairs and centralizes authority at the level of system-wide deans and provides no guarantee for the continued existence of the individual community colleges, or even what they will be called. There will be more information on this continuing struggle. The FAC will be sending comments to NECHE as well.
• At the level of the universities, there is a serious financial situation, indeed crisis, at WCSU. They have been operating at a deficit for another of years and have exhausted their reserves. A report from National Center for Higher Education Management Systems was issued over the summer. It was quite critical of top-heavy management, excessive costs relative to peer institutions, and more. The faculty voted no confidence in the president, who has resigned and was replaced by an interim president from outside the State. Austerity measures also have been taken and include the non-replacement for up to 70 positions, most of the faculty and staff.
• There may be some concern about whether the same consolidation process will happen at the four universities. D. Blitz has met with CSCU President Terrence Cheng, and the Chair of the Finance and Infrastructure committee Richard Balducci and to ask this question. President Cheng said he has no plan to consolidate the universities. The chair of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee said that he would oppose any move to consolidate the universities. We have many challenges and problems, but this does clarify the question and the imminence of any consolidation of the universities.
• There have been some improvements to the Board of Regents. The FAC has the daunting task of advising and assisting the BOR through our ex officio and non-voting membership. We cannot move motions or make amendments. Nonetheless, we do make our presence known and our voices are heard. A new president, Terrence Cheng, was appointed. He has considerable experience in the State of Connecticut and was chosen as a result of an affirmative action national search, which varies greatly from how Mark Ojakian was selected. There is a new Chair of the Board, Joann Ryan. She is well known in the northwestern section of the State. It is a definite pls that she has been named as Chair; it is the first tie a woman has been appointed in this role. There are four new members of the Board, including two with higher education experience and two with community organization experience. The changes that are happening at the System office and the Board of Regents.

e. Many Voices Initiative (J. Bishop)

• The Equity, Justice and Inclusion Committee has a subcommittee known as Many Voices Initiative. Its main mission is to create spaces for anyone to have a voice when it comes to EJI-related issues and topics. This semester, the MVI is sponsoring an artistic expression event funded by Next Generation of Student Success, Diversity, Innovation, and Community Engagement grant. From now through late in the semester, the MVI is accepting artistic expressions.
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• Operation Blue Devil Identity involves groups of people coming together to decorate a Blue Devil cut-out in a way that represents them. The cut-outs are available in the Physical Education and Human Performance (PEHP) Department in Kaiser Hall. Decorated cut-outs can be dropped off at PEHP or the Department of Sociology. The finished artwork will be displayed at Homecoming. A promotion video was shown.

f. President of the Senate (F. Latour)

• President Latour deferred his remarks to Item 7.

4. Elections

a. Elections Committee**

• The Senate held the nominations and election of the six-member Senate Elections Committee. The following Senators volunteered: S. Schenck, M. Kapper, E. Cole, T. Rivera, V. Savatorova and K. Love.
• MOTION: To close nominations and accept the slate of Senators who have volunteered to serve on the Senate Elections Committee. Motion passed.
• MOTION: To elect the slate of Senators who have volunteered to serve on the Senate Elections Committee. Motion passed.

b. Constitution and Bylaws Committee

• The Senate held the nominations and election of the three-member Senate Constitution and Bylaws Committee. The Parliamentarian is an ex officio member of the Committee. The following Senators volunteered: J. Duquette and M. Jackson.
• MOTION: To close nominations and accept the slate of Senators who have volunteered to serve on the Senate Constitution and Bylaws Committee. Motion passed.
• MOTION: To elect the slate of Senators who have volunteered to serve on the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. Motion passed.

c. Runoff Election (tiebreaker) from Spring 2022

• We need to break the following tie:
  • Academic Integrity Committee: James Austin versus Candace Barriteau Phaire

The Senate needs to hold a runoff election between J. Austin and C. Barriteau Phaire to break the tie for one seat on the Academic Integrity Committee. Election is normally done by secret ballot. Because that is not possible in a virtual meeting, a ballot will be sent electronically to all members of the Senate.

d. Call for Nominations: Standing Committees of the Faculty

• Last semester, there were a couple of SEPS seats that were not filled, and some seats have been vacated since the end of the semester due to retirement. The Elections Committee will be charged with holding these elections in addition to the Promotion and Tenure Committee and the Committee on Academic Advising (the election of the undergraduate advisors who will sit on the committee).

5. Committee Reports (reports marked with an asterisk are informational reports intended for consent agenda only; if you would like a report to be discussed, please inform the President and Secretary by Monday, noon)  

a. Community Engagement Committee (M. Martin)*

• The report of the Community Engagement Committee was accepted.

b. Task force on proposed College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (K. Bantley)

• The Task Force was established last November and began meeting in the Spring semester. It has a couple of objectives: to assist with the creation of three new academic programs: Doctor of Physical Therapy, Master’s of Social Work, and a Rehabilitation Engineering Certificate. Those are in the process of being developed. The task force is also charged with contributing to potential partnerships and collaborations with community organizations and the clinic. An advisory board for the clinic has already been established and it met over the summer. The task force also must develop a timeline regarding the establishment of the new college as well as the community clinic. In addition, the task force is to propose an initial community clinic to begin operating prior to the start of the new college. The last charged to the task force is to recommend a mix of academic programs to be housed in or associated with the new college.
• Over the summer, the task force met with the department of Biology and the DNAP program, both of which are to be housed in the college, to hear their concerns. Meetings were also held with Nursing, Exercise Science and Athletic Training, Counseling and Family Therapy, and Social Work to get an idea of what those chairs thought their department was interested in doing or not doing. This fall, the task force intends to make a recommendation to the Senate for the programs to be in or associated with the new college. Once the recommendations are made to the Senate seeking its advice, the recommendations will be forwarded to the President. There are a lot of moving parts involved in the new school and community clinic. The task force is meeting with all concerned, doing its due diligence, trying to meet with every department, not only the chairs, but the full department. Meetings are scheduled with the departments of Physical Education and Human Performance and Counseling and Family Therapy. The entire Nursing faculty will be meeting with the task force as well. A meeting with the Social Work faculty will also be added to the calendar. Everyone in every department will have a chance to voice their concerns and ask their questions about what it will mean to be housed in or associated with the new college. The recommendations to the Senate will have three components for each of the programs recommended: what the actual recommendation is; if against, a rationale and, lastly, the opinion of the faculty, as expressed in meetings with the task force. All will be laid out before seeking the Senate’s advice. The task force is also meeting with additional programs that are interested in being associated with the new college and/or community clinic. Two examples: the first is the department of Communication, which has a health communication course and may be interested in adding a track, but also, they are interested in helping to develop a strategy to reach the community members to get them to come to the clinic. Task force members also met with Gerontology, hearing their thoughts on association; a lot of good feedback was received. In addition, all department chairs will be contacted to make sure that all departments that wish to express interest in being housed in or associated or affiliated with the new college have the opportunity to do so, either with the full task force or multiple members of the task force. It is the intent of the task force to get the input of all parties before making the recommendations, not afterwards.
• The task force met through the summer. Most of the summer work was on the community clinic. There were meetings with the advisory board to discuss what needed to be done to establish a pilot clinic. Meetings were also held with the department chairs of the programs that thought they could offer basic screenings if a pilot were offered in January. The task force also met with the Office of Policy and Management ‘s (OPM) Health and Human Services Division, the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Office Health Strategy regarding what they see as needs in the community and how to get people in and what areas the clinic should focus on. They will also help network within the community to help bring in clients. The programs that have expressed to be part of the clinic come spring include Physical Education and Human Performance with their programs in Exercise Science and Athletic Training, Nursing, Counseling, Social Work, and the Department of Communication.
• D. Blitz asked when will this go to the Board of Regents? K. Bantley does not have a specific date. The original timeline can be accelerated because some programs appear to be ready to move forward (for example, programs already in existence.) The goal is to get input from all involved first.
• L. Bigelow: was a feasibility study done for the community clinic? Are we sure there is a population to be served? K. Bantley indicated that from all accounts from the DPH, etc. there is a need for the clinic.

6. New Business

a. DEC exceptions for 2022-23

• MOTION: to approve DEC exceptions for the departments of Anthropology, Finance, Journalism, Music, Social Work, and Student Wellness as presented with the agenda. Motion passed.

b. Approval of Faculty Senate Steering Committee

• F. Latour presented the following for membership on the Faculty senate Steering committee with the caveat that more people will be invited in order to expand the disciplines represented: F. Latour, K. Langevin, L. Bigelow, L. Amaya, K. Kean, R. Smith, T. Burkholder, D. Blitz. MOTION: to approve the members of Faculty Senate Steering Committee for the 2022-2023 academic year as presented. Motion passed.

c. In person vs. virtual meetings (F. Latour)

• Online Senate meetings took place for two full years, plus the end of the Spring 2020 semester. There was one in-person meeting at the end of Spring 2022. F. Latour asked what should be the modality of meetings in the future? There are pros and cons to both modalities. Online meetings are convenient, but there are some disadvantages (i.e., they need to be recorded, votes have to be recorded, and they tend to run longer due to technological issues.) Online meetings also present challenges with regards to making sure everyone has the opportunity to speak and all questions can be answered. The chat functionality also poses challenges, because chats happen simultaneous to oral participation. One advantage of in-person meetings is discussing more challenging topics, because they do not have to be recorded. The opinions of senators were sought. F. Latour proposed a combination of virtual and online meetings (i.e., have the final meeting in person). Feedback was sought to take back to the Senate Steering committee.
• F. Best spoke in favor of both modalities and supported the proposal to have a combination. He ultimately expressed a personal preference for on-ground meetings.
• J. Arena advocated for on-ground meetings in order to get back to normal.
• M. Jackson advocated for on-ground meetings, citing the importance of being able to see and communicate with colleagues in-person, particularly with regard to the Senate addressing some important issues.
• K. Sugg spoke in favor of the compromise.
• M. Nicastro stated he serves on several other boards, some of them large, and was in favor of giving some latitude to the Chair to make the determination based on the agenda.
• S. Villanti advocated for the virtual meetings citing the record of how people vote on issues as positive. He also stated that the videos were also helpful. He also indicated that some SUOAF senators and alternates are teleworking, and virtual meetings would work better for them.
• D. Blitz raised the possibility of hybrid meetings. It is a little more complicated than purely online but suggested that format be considered.
• L. Recorder expressed a preference for a majority of the meetings to be online.
• S. Zhao inquired about online meetings in the chat.
• S. Hazan and A. Bray advocated for on-ground meetings.
• S. Zadi, G. Emeagwali, and S. Zhao supported 2 on-ground and 5 online meetings.
• C. Dimmick said that the National Association of Parliamentarians generally prefers avoiding hybrid meetings wherever possible.
• F. Latour noted the next meeting will be online and that he will take this input to the Steering Committee.
• MOTION: to postpone the proposal until the next meeting. Motion passed.

7. President's Report (F. Latour)

• F. Latour presented the President’s Report.

8. Adjournment

• MOTION: to adjourn (F. Best/J. Arena). Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 5:17 p.m.