Academic Senate Committee on WID/WAC 05/12/2021

The Academic Senate Committee on Committee on WID/WAC met on 05/12/2021, 12:30 pm, via Zoom

Committee Members in Attendance:

1. Raul Armendariz (Physics)
2. Robert Donley (WID/WAC, Mathematics and Computer Science)
3. Jeff Hall (Committee Chairperson, History)
4. Sanjay Koul (Biological Sciences and Geology)
5. Christopher Leary (English)
6. Carla McIntosh (Academy Advisement)
7. James Nichols (History)
8. Rommel Robertson (Social Sciences)
9. Christi Saindon (Committee Secretary, Speech Communication & Theatre Arts)
10. Ian Schanning (Physics)
11. Stefan Spezio (Director, CTAS)

Liaisons in Attendance:

Arthur Corradetti, Dean for Institutional Effectiveness (Liaison to OAA)

Business:

The meeting was called to order at 12:30 pm

Minutes:

1. Approval of minutes from February 17, 2021, meeting.
   • Approved by unanimous consent
2. Approval of meeting agenda.
   • Approved by unanimous consent
3. Welcome to new members
   • Raul Armendariz, Physics
   • James Nichols, History
   • Dimitrios Stroumbakis, Engineering Technology
4. Farewell to departing members
   • Clarence (Jeff) Hall, History
   • Linda Meltzer, Business
   • Ian Schanning, Physics
5. Activity since last meeting

• WI recertifications (“Round 2,” March 19-April 19, 2021)
  • Rommel Robertson reviewed three recertifications
  • Thank you, Prof. Robertson
• Discussion of amending two items in WI checklist (per email from Dr. Philip Pecorino, Professor, Department of Social Sciences)
  • Explanation, from agenda: The criteria used to evaluate documents submitted by faculty for WI recertification (contained in the checklist) were promulgated before the shift to fully remote instruction in March 2020. As such, the criteria as currently written make no exceptions for the variety of teaching modalities (hybrid, fully online, synchronous, asynchronous) under which faculty are teaching their WI courses. 
  • Checklist items:
    • Required: “Does it appear that some in class time is dedicated to writing”
    • Recommended: “Is it clear that directions for writing assignments are provided in writing and discussed in class?”
  • Discussion ideas:
    • Adding writing topics to course schedule and/or course syllabus; Elaborating writing plans on first class day; Creating discussion board topics on writing; change language, for instance to “course” rather than “class time” or “in class”
    • Agreed to adjust language

4. Old business
   • none
5. New business
   • Leary discussed the current committee charges, especially 3 & 6
     • Charge 3: Faculty Development
       • Assertion: Faculty development Includes training for teaching WI courses.
       • Might need to be adjusted since WI training happens via CETL HIPS rather than from the WIDWAC Committee itself.
     • Charge 6: Recertification
       • Assertion: Historically, hard to get faculty to agree to recertification; not enough credibility.
         1. 2017-2018: 0
         2. 2019-2020: 30-ish
         3. 2020-2021: only 3
       • Discussion
         • WI is a graduation requirement, approved by the senate
         • This year might have been especially challenging for faculty to recertify, so we shouldn’t use it as a marker.
         • Suggest: Try to get back on track next year; perhaps email 2020/2021 requests and add names to next year’s request.
       • Discussion: Structure of overall writing program is ad hoc
         • Writing center—strong bonds with Eng 101 and Developmental writing
         • Composition committee—strong bonds with English 102—WI courses
         • Then, there’s
           1. WI certification
           2. WIDWAC committee
         • Comparison to Queens College: Writing at QC integrates all the threads of writing instruction on campus…
         • Suggestion: Create a Director of Writing position at QBCC
           1. Perhaps someone already employed with strong connection to writing programs and also to CETL/OAA
           2. To connect all the different writing programs

6. Election of chair and secretary for 2021-22 academic year
   • Please vote for one person for chair and one person for secretary. Email your votes to AcademicSenateSteeringCommittee@qcc.cuny.edu.  The steering committee will notify Jeff of the result, which will be promptly communicated to the entire committee.
   • Nominations:
     • Chair: Christi Saindon or Stefan Spezio
     • Secretary: Bob Donley or Christi Saindon

7. Notes for next chair:
   • Need to create “master list” of faculty who are WI certified, recertified, non-approved, etc.
     • Need to filter through documentation to verify all on the list are still employed at the college
   • Undergraduate student service on the committee
     • Think about how to get undergraduate students involved
     • Steering committee will assign students
     • Adding meeting information on the website should help
   • Summer obligations of the WID-WAC Committee activity
     • WIDWAC suspends operations during annual leave
     • Chair might receive emails throughout the summer; chair can choose to work on recertifications, but not required
     • Rommel willing to do a few recertification reviews in the summer, if needed.
   • Need to work on General Committee Guide: https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/governance/academicSenate/gcg.html
     • The Guide template already exists, but the committee should write an addendum to the Guide with information relevant for this committee (general work of the committee, meeting frequency / dates, etc.).
     • Perhaps new chair & secretary will be able to begin development and then bring to committee in the fall for edits and contributions

8. Wrapping up this year…
   • Committee chair only will complete the
     • Committee Assessment Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScc85PnflGAv-cM95y_eVnIXZQDJ8IqVHqKhoYSrN5IQL9pkw/viewform
   • BUT, the assessment needs committee input, so please
     • click the link,
     • write up your answers in an email or Word document, and
     • send an email to Jeff will compile all the notes and submit the assessment.
     • Due by: May 28^th

9. Adjournment

• Adjourned at 1:45pm

 

Respectfully submitted,

Christi Saindon
Committee on Committee on WID/WAC, Secretary

Minutes typed on May 12, 2021