September 30, 2022
Minutes
The Academic Senate Committee on Committee on the Environment, Quality of Life, and Disability Issues met on Friday, September 30, 2022 via Zoom
Committee Members in Attendance:
Dorith Brodbar, Noelia Diaz, Kelly Ford, Crystal Moscat, Yusuf Gurtas, Tanya Zhelezcheva
Liaisons in Attendance:
Angela Dotterman-Ridinger, Andrew Muller, John Triolo, Anthony Monahan, Mel Rodriguez, Clara Wajngurt, and Steven Dahlke
Business:
The meeting was called to order at 12:15 PM
1. Election for new Chair.
- Tanya Zhelezcheva and Noelia Diaz volunteered to serve as Co-Chairs and Changiz Alizadeh was appointed as Secretary.
2. Approval of Minutes for Wednesday, April 27, 2022 meeting
- The minutes were approved with minor corrections.
3. Updates:
- William Faulkner was absent but provided the following update in advance of the meeting.
Childcare Center: QCC has received a $1.2M allocation for NY State to support the addition of a Childcare Center. These funds are already available to the College and with President Mangino's support and a task force headed by David Wasserman, we have engaged an outside architectural firm to design a compliant facility in the Y-Building space formerly used for testing. Our biggest challenge is that the $1.2 million is likely not enough to complete the facility and therefore we will need additional CUNY or legislative support. We will have a cost estimate from the Architect in the next couple of weeks.
ADA Restrooms: The Library project cost estimates are now significantly over the available budget. This is primarily due to the location of these bathrooms which are adjacent to a building 'riser' (interior space in which our communication data lines and other infrastructure resides) and the original plan to make space compliant with ADA requirements includes significant costs of relocating the riser. We are currently looking at a different design that may allow us to use the available funding to start renovating bathrooms to ADA standards on every other floor (as is allowed under the ADA) with the funds already available. Alternatively, the college will need to raise significantly more capital or legislative support to complete all the bathrooms at one time per the existing design. This capital 'fundraising', of course, will take at least two or three additional years to accomplish. We should be able to provide an update at the next EQLD meeting.
Humanities: I’d like to emphasis that there has been no confirmation of mold in the Humanities Building, or any other building for that matter, this semester. When we do get a report of ‘mold’, Mel Rodriguez, our Environmental Health and Safety Officer, immediately investigates and we would take immediate action to remediate any confirmed situation.
4. John Triolo: Campus
- Everyone entering campus is being screened for compliance through the CLEAR app. The officers are only able to view if the person status is cleared. Wait times have been kept to a minimum.
- Lot 2 is in the process of being opened; the safety of pedestrians is taken into consideration
- The Annual Security Report has been published. Staff should receive a link and a .pdf file to the report as well.
5.Clara Wajngurt: PSC Health & Safety
- Science Building 414: water leaks from the ceiling were reported
- LB 8: tiles a falling down and the light not being optimal were reported
- The availability of wipes for sanitizing bathroom surfaces was discussed as one safety measure against the spread of monkeypox. Buildings and Grounds should be contacted
- Ventilation and the use of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide readers was discussed
6. Angela Dotterman-Ridinger: Accessibility Committee
- The EQLD will seek reapproval of the subcommittee after having a discussion on the work the Accessibility Committee focuses on. Professor Dotterman-Ridinger discussed how the subcommittee focuses specifically on the issue of accessibility, working to raise awareness of accessibility issues among the faculty, particularly with regard to pedagogy, which is different from the broader focus of the EQLD
7. Other Business
- EQLD Guide Addendum. To be discussed on our next meeting due to lack of time.
- Elevator update Humanities. Joe Cartolano was absent so the committee will follow up.
- Mosquito screens Humanities.
- Concerns have been raised regarding the increased presence of mosquitoes in the Humanities building when the windows are open given the rise of West Nile Virus cases in New York City and the expectation that is a pattern that will continue to accelerate with expected rainier summers. Mel Rodriguez had been unaware of this issue but will follow up. The committee will also reach out to Joe Cartolano.
- Comprehensive Learning Support Program (CLSP). CLSP programs for students with learning disabilities available in our schools but absent in CUNY were briefly discussed. Professor Noelia Diaz met with Carrie Shockley (Director of Disability Programs in CUNY) over the summer to inquire about offering CLSP in CUNY. Carrie Shockley expressed interest but funding is an issue. Hostos is finalizing a model for the program and agreed to share it once complete it. Professor Diaz will follow up.
Respectfully submitted,
Noelia Diaz and Tanya Zhelezcheva
Committee on Committee on the Environment, Quality of Life, and Disability Issues, Secretary
Minutes typed on October 5, 2022
