Academic Senate Meeting Minutes

September 8, 2020

Steering Committee Chairperson Dr. Steven Dahlke called the first regularly scheduled meeting of the Academic Senate to order at 3:18 PM. The meeting was held through the Zoom platform.

Senators and other attendees of the meeting had problems accessing the senate meeting through Zoom. Many senators had to call in and therefore did not have access to the polls for voting and instead emailed the Steering Committee or Zivah Perel Katz with their votes.

Due to these technological issues, there may be inconsistencies in the numbers from vote to vote. These inconsistencies involve the numbers of Senators who did not vote-- all votes for, against, and to abstain are accurate. If they are not, please contact the Steering Committee directly. Practice sessions on Zoom will be offered to senators prior to the October 2020 Academic Senate meeting.

I. Attendance

39 votes were recorded at the time attendance was taken; 55 members of the Academic Senate were present during the meeting.

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 May 12, 2020 meeting

Because of the technological difficulties, Chairperson Dahlke opted not to use unanimous consent to approve the minutes, and instead offered a vote. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 50-0-1 to approve the minutes from the May 12, 2020 meeting (Attachment A).

IV. Communications from:

A. President Christine Mangino

The Senate received President Mangino’s September 2020 report.

President Mangino began her remarks by thanking the Steering Committee for welcoming her to the Senate. President Mangino noted that she was enjoying all that she is learning from the Queensborough community. She reminded the senate about the President’s book club that will be taking place throughout the fall semester. She is still waiting on the budget (both from the city and state) as well as the CARES funding and is hopeful about receiving a Title V grant. To mitigate deficiencies, President Mangino is also actively pursuing grant opportunities. The good news was that enrollment was better than anticipated at only a five percent decrease from last year. President Mangino encouraged faculty to use Starfish and engage with students inside and outside of the classroom. She also alerted the Senate of the following: the food pantry is open thanks to funders, the college’s reopening plan is posted on the website, and the daycare center is on her radar but there is no new information on it since last spring.

B. University Faculty Senate

Senator Tai updated the Senate generally about the UFS. In May the UFS reelected the incumbent Chair Martin Burke. Dr. Pecorino was reelected to the Executive Committee and is one of the three people from a community college serving on it. The UFS does not usually meet during the annual leave period but did this year because of the budget emergency. The UFS discussed the implications of the budget shortfalls and the shift to online education in terms of academic freedom and faculty control over curriculum.

C. Steering Committee

The Senate received the Steering Committee’s report for September 2020.

Chairperson Dahlke started by thanking senators for attending and acknowledging their patience as we navigate new technologies. He offered student government leaders a chance to introduce themselves to the senate including Asia Khan, Arnab Sharma, Nigelle Thomas, Tyrone Kalu, and Shamiah Walker. He also welcomed the new department chairs serving on the senate. Chairperson Dahlke thanked outgoing senators Barbara Blake-Campbell, Wilma Fletcher-Anthony, Kelly Ford, Kenneth Pearl, Jodi Van Der Horn-Gibson, Julian Stark, and Jeffrey Stark as well as Sandra Palmer (Timothy Lynch is now filling her seat in the senate) as well as outgoing chairs Joe Culkin, Maria Mercedes Franco, and Laura Sabani.

Chairperson Dahlke thanked the BFSA for their work on campus diversity: he recognized the work we all have to do for inclusion and diversity and welcomed anyone who wants to serve in the senate to run to fill the vacant seat and asked chairs to reach out to faculty members of color who may want to run.

Lastly, Chairperson Dahlke noted the annual reports that were submitted and acknowledged a couple more that were submitted but still need revisions.

V. List of Graduates

The Senate received the list of May graduates (informational item).

VI. Annual Reports of the Committees of the Academic Senate

VII. Monthly Reports of the Committees of the Academic Senate

A. Committee on Curriculum

There were three votes taken on the report from the Committee on Curriculum (Attachment B).

1. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 53-0-0 to approve three

course revisions (HE101, HE102, and PE841).

2. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 53-0-0 to approve a

program revision to the Health Sciences A.S. Degree.

3. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 52-0-2 to approve three

new courses (PH160, PH451, and PH510).

4. Two new CS courses were presented to the senate (102 and 103). After

discussion of the courses and the ongoing disagreement between the Math

and Business Departments regarding the potential overlap between these courses

and courses offered by the Business Department, a motion was made, seconded, and

adopted 49-6-0 to postpone voting on the courses until the November Senate

meeting with the provision that the two departments try to find consensus.

VIII. Old Business

A. Update on the Academic Master Plan

Dean Corradetti updated the senate about the Academic Master Plan: this semester will see a thorough review of the draft by the campus community including through invited groups and open forums. Anyone who has any questions or feedback about the draft may reach out to Dean Corradetti.

B. Update on Faculty Access to College Email Lists (Attachment C)

The policy regarding faculty access to college email lists was passed by the senate in October 2019. Following the end of the trial period, the senate must decide if it should be continued permanently. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 42-10-3 to continue to allow faculty permanent access to the email lists.

IX. New Business

A. Amendment to WU Grade Appeal Policy Change from the Committee on Course and Standing (Attachment D)

A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 48-0-1 to approve the Amendment to the WU Grade Appeal Policy.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:40 PM.