Academic Senate Meeting Minutes

Queensborough Community College

The City University of New York

 

MINUTES

of the February 14, 2023 Academic Senate

 

Steering Committee Chairperson Dr. Steven Dahlke called the first regularly scheduled meeting of the Academic Senate to order at  3:13 PM. The meeting was held in a hybrid format, with attendees both in M136 and on Zoom. Chairperson Dahlke chaired the meeting from M136. 

 

I.  Attendance

42 votes were recorded at the time attendance was taken;  50 members of the Academic Senate were present during the meeting.

 

 

Absent: Adair, Arthur; Alai, Azadeh; Armendariz, Raul; Byfield, Carlene; Carter, Ronaldo; Diana, Emily; Georgilis, Shenaz; Kim, Mi-Seon; Kolios, Anthony; Li, Jeremy; Lieberman, David; Manzo, Christina; Matos, Amaris; Mayeli, Azita; McDonald, Alfred; Menendez, Anne Marie; Miller, Renaediaz; Nguyen, Andrew; Prince, Kezia; Rachiele, Laura; Tariq, Hafiz; Van Der Horn-Gibson, Jodi; Vasquez, Chenyl; Weber, Craig; Willis, Davia; Yao, Harshen;

 

II.  Approval of the Agenda

Chairperson Dahlke used unanimous consent to approve the agenda. There were no objections.

 

III.  Consideration of the Minutes from the Dec. 13 Meeting. 

Chairperson Dahlke used unanimous consent to approve the minutes. 

 

IV.  Communications from:

A.  President Christine Mangino

 

The Senate received President Mangino’s report 

 

President Mangino reminded faculty and staff to check in with students and offer reminders of on-campus support services including the Counseling Center in light of recent events in Turkey and around the world. It is important for us to make it clear that we support what they and their loved ones may be going through. 

Regarding the Chancellor’s budget cuts and hiring freeze, a deadline of March 3 has been set for QCC to identify an additional 3.5% cut in our operational budget, which amounts to slightly over $3 million. While decisions have not been finalized, the cuts will most likely come from OTPS and part-timers. There will be a meeting on Thursday with governance leaders to determine where to start in making these decisions. Colleagues in Financial have already begun strategizing after a recent cabinet meeting. 

Regarding the hiring freeze, faculty lines will not necessarily be replaced due to retirement. Only a handful of job searches have taken place in the last couple of years, and those were through ASAP and College Discovery programs that receive additional funding. Increasing enrollment and related efforts are some of our strategies to increase revenue at this time. 

After speaking with HR at NY Presbyterian, they have part-time positions open for students that will pay tuition reimbursement. There are lots of opportunities through them, and we will schedule for them to have a meeting on campus.  

Continuing Education is working with teaching education faculty to identify summer courses to certify teachers looking to complete additional credits, and we will work with various departments to identify courses that will best align with those efforts. Anyone who has additional ideas as we try to expand, please let us know. 

Continuing Education working with teaching education faculty to identify summer courses to certify teachers looking to complete additional credits. Will work with various departments to identify courses that will work. 

President Mangino reminded the Senate that the email system will change over to the Microsoft 365 platform at 5pm. There are workshops available that will help to back up your current calendar, though email should migrate automatically. There will be a new app needed to access email via mobile devices. 

Inside Higher Ed saw our 450k Robin Hood grant, and an article published mentioning our efforts will become available today. It is great publicity for our institution. 

Dr. Pecorino expressed gratitude to Dr. Mangino and her administration for the work they are doing during this difficult time with budget cuts. 

 

B.  UFS Report

 

Dr. Tai expressed that at the December 2022 UFS meeting there were several transactions discussed, and she offered to discuss it with anyone who had questions. 

The University is building a task force to recognize/reward effective teaching. They are looking for ways to create a rubric, particularly for new faculty in order to change the reward structure to integrate effective teaching. Some topics of interest for this new rubric are student failure and drop rates. 

Training is available for T-Rex Transfer System, and it is somewhat more user friendly than it used to be. Looking at the number of students who transfer to 4-year college but do not finish their bachelor degrees, we are searching for ways of having interventions for those students, including faculty engagement. One finding was that community college faculty tend to have more information on transferring then their 4-year institution colleagues. 

 

 

C.  Steering Committee Monthly Report

 

Dr. Dahlke began by reminding the Senate that election season is upon us. Emails will be sent between February 20-22 with instructions for those who wish to run for various positions and how faculty can serve our college community in various ways. Serving the college in this way is also crucial for reappointment and promotion, and it is part of maintaining the proactive atmosphere we all value. We want to thank all the people we work with and serving the institution the best we can. 

Those who wish to run or ru for re-election will have opportunity to get 7 colleagues to support them for candidacy. 

Dr. Pecorino will be stepping down as FEC chair. Nominations will be open from February 27 - March 6 for those interested in becoming a candidate.

 

V.  Annual Reports

There was no discussion during the meeting concerning newly-posted Annual Reports.

 

VI.  Monthly Reports

A.  Curriculum Committee Attachment B

 

Isabella Lizzul presented Actionable Item B for Senate vote. The measure passed unanimously without discussion.  50 - 0 - 0

 

VII.  Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business to report.

 

IX. New Business

A.  Akademos Presentation 

 

Jessica Miller, Chelsea Megie, and Weeli Ko of Akedemos led a presentation introducing the Senate to the Akedemos educational platform.  Below is a summary of the major points in their presentation: 

Students will log in using SSO credentials. They can view all their enrolled courses, with options to purchase a variety of new and used materials with access to financial aid funds related to book purchases. Student funds are also displayed. Students can opt in to see when materials are adopted by their professors. The system provides a consistent experience for students so they can understand in one location all necessary information about required materials and how to purchase them. 

Akedemos provides 24/7 support for faculty with email, chat, and phone support options. Akademos will be available for faculty during the summer, but the system goes live for students in Fall 2023. OER will be available through Akademos as well. An adoption timeline is available tracking course material adoption. We want students to know what books are required before they register for courses. Faculty are never forced to adopt a newer addition, but information is available on the Akademos site. Coursepacks are built into the system, and can be useful when portions of OER sources are used or for lab manuals, for example. It is a strategy that can help students save money. For example, a Pierson $200 lab manual was brought down to $20 in one case. 

Akademos can also support adoption of OER, Database, and other Non-Text materials for students within Akademos. It is not required to post all materials, but the option is there to use as faculty see appropriate and helpful to students. Additionally, low-cost items are flagged and can be filtered into results when searching for materials to adopt. Faculty can also search by title or ISBN and results will include costs for students, and they can also add course notes about materials for students to access. 

Book lists can also be exported, and the library will have access to Akademos as well. Faculty can prepare adoption acknowledgement messages for a single course or across multiple sections. Additionally, faculty can check whether students have purchased materials, with opportunity to stay in touch with students and make sure they can succeed. 

E-book analytics are available as well, which gathers information on student access of those materials. 

Akademos does not claim any ownership of course packs created or uploaded by faculty. 

 

B. THRIVE

Through a grant received by colleagues in the English Department, THRIVE training is designed for faculty, staff, and students, geared toward both academics and toward employers. Some trainings may be more pertinent than others, but overall is meant to help prepare students for success in the classroom as well as in the workforce. THRIVE is a series of four 2-hr training sessions working with populations who have been affected by incarceration, either themselves or their families. There are descriptions available for each training session. We will get clarification whether the trainings will be recorded and made available. At least 1 session directed to students to raise peer awareness, and is also an opportunity for faculty and students in criminal justice. Please email me (Dr. Tai) with any questions.

 

C. Counseling Center Workshop

Professor Urciuoli presented a reminder to faculty about Spring workshops for students, particularly about awareness of the Counseling Center and the services it offers. The best way for students to hear about opportunities on campus is through faculty. Please help us get the word out. Thank you to everyone who has been informing students about the Counseling Center. 

 

D. Ad-Hoc Committee

Dr. Rhodd presented the results of a Faculty HEO focus group last fall, which resulted in an initiate to form an ad-hoc committee. It was determined that there needs to be more communication between faculty and HEOs. In that spirit, any faculty and HEOs who are interested may join. The first meetings are scheduled for February 24 @ 2pm and March 3 @ 2pm, in H 309 and simultaneously broadcast on Zoom. Email Dr. Rhodd or Dr. Houlihan. 

Ad-hoc committee on Faculty and HEOs, came out of focus group FEC held last fall. Determined there needs to be more communication between Faculty and HEOs. Inviting all faculty and HEOs to join. Will pool together information to support our students. Feb. 24 @ 2pm  and March 3 @ 2pm. Both meetings virtually and in person. H 309 room for both meetings, will also send out a Zoom linking. For more information, please email Renee Rhodd. 

 

 

Meeting Adjourned at 3:45pm 

 

Scott Litroff, Secretary 

Academic Senate Steering Committee