May 12, 2021

The Academic Senate Committee on Committee on the Environment, Quality of Life, and Disability Issues met on Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 Via Zoom, 12:30 pm-1:30 pm

Committee Members in Attendance:

 

Present: M. Chantale Damas (Chair),

Noelia Diaz (Secretary),

Mel Rodriguez, Clara Wajngurt,

Janet Franzese,

Mohammad Javdan,

Neeraj Mehta,

Stephanie Rost,

Yusuf Gurtas,

Anthony Monahan,

John Triolo,

Isabel Hocevar,

Andrew Muller (in lieu of Benami Frier).

Liaisons in Attendance:

William Faulkner

Business:

The meeting was called to order at 12:30 PM

1. 1. The minutes from the previous meeting (April 14, 2021) were reviewed and approved with minor corrections.
   2. The election for next academic year was conducted. Chantale Damas and Noelia Diaz remain as Chair and Secretary respectively.
   3. William Faulkner provided the latest Reopening planning update.
   • The chancellery issued recommendations to increase the number of students on campus from 25 percent of the student     body, to up 2/3 of the student body with the caveat that contingency plans must be in place to pivot to virtual teaching if necessary. Virtual teaching might be supplemented with in person workshops to accommodate the new guidelines.
   • QCC is consulting with a management company that it’s evaluating that all ventilation remains adequate. For classes held in the basement that lack windows additional supplementary equipment to ensure proper air might be purchased. Additionally, QCC is evaluating what supplemental student services will offer virtual versus in person assistance. Financial aid and advisement have experienced higher student engagement virtually so partial online services could remain as an option going forward.
   • The final contract for a new cafeteria vendor has been delayed until next year but an expansion of vending machines and grab and go options of pre-packaged food will be available. Perhaps by Spring 2022 the new cafeteria vendor will be set up. All eating should take place in the Atrium, not in the classrooms or hallways, except for snacks. John Triolo mentioned that added signage to avoid congregation on some areas of the building might be feasible.
   • Custodial cleaning will be added to ensure adequate cleaning but given the new increased on campus presence custodians won’t be able to clean surfaces in between classes. However, cleaning wipes will be made available in the classrooms for faculty and student’s usage. Prior to the pandemic a budget crisis resulted in custodian layoffs that coincided with a large number of retirements, but there is enough money now to hire new custodians and a night shift to ensure proper cleaning, particularly in the bathrooms, is under consideration. Its’s unclear yet how many people will be allowed to be in the bathrooms and common areas. As of now masks will be required but the PSC will also help make this decision.
   • QCC is a very porous campus and different concerns on how to manage it safely were raised. As of now those attending campus will continue to use the Everbridge App at checkpoints since Excelsior only services NY. It’s unclear if COVID vaccine immunizations records will be submitted to health services or not, but in the absence of vaccine immunization evidence of negative COVID testing would be used. There aren’t enough security personnel to have check points at every single building so daily colored arm or wrist bands might be used to indicate safe clearance and avoid multiple checks.
   • Concerns were also raised if students refuse to wear masks in the classrooms or remove them. John Triolo and Student Affairs are in dialogue to develop a policy. In the meantime security should be contacted if any issues arise. Noelia Diaz suggested adding a COVID statement policy to the syllabus across campus to ensure consistency and prevent conflicts. William Faulkner will bring up this suggestion to the Administration. Chantale Damas also suggested having a designated liaison with the individual departments to report issues.
   • The proposed Day Care Center for students is on hold but the Administration is considering conducting a survey to evaluate the demand for it. A shift to increase remote learning might place less demand for space on campus easing one of the hurdles towards establishing it.
   • The final reopening plan revision developed by the Emergency Management Advisory, the Union and Department’s Chairs is due by June 15^th.
   • A walk through campus with the PSC, Chairs and the Emergency Advisory committee will be conducted in August prior to reopening.

    

   4. Clara Wajngurt provided an update from the PSC. The PSC has developed nine standards for the

        safe and healthy reopening plan:

   • Union and student representatives shall participate as full members of Reopening Committees.
   • Faculty and staff should not be required to commit to on-site activities until CUNY releases its updated COVID-19 Reopening Plan.
   • CUNY shall take measures that minimize the likelihood that people infected with COVID-19 or still recovering from Covid-19 illness are able to come onto CUNY campuses and sites.
   • CUNY shall permit vulnerable workers to work off site.
   • CUNY shall seek to assure that all occupied spaces in CUNY buildings follow AIHA/ACGIH/ASHRAE ventilation guidelines intended to minimize the transmission of COVID19.
   • CUNY shall take measures to minimize the transmission of COVID-19 infections among those who are on campus.
   • CUNY shall adopt work measures which facilitate vaccination of the entire CUNY community.
   • Union members or their PSC representatives shall have the right to observe working conditions.
   • CUNY Campus Reopening Plans shall incorporate the content of the above standards and be available for inspection by CUNY faculty, staff and students.

    

   5. Angela Ridinger-Dotterman, the chair of the subcommittee on Accessibility could not be in attendance but provided the following update:

    

   • During the Spring 2021 semester, the Accessibility Committee discussed the feedback we received from our December two-part workshop series on UDL.  In collaboration with CETL and the ADC and eLearning Committee, two of our members led a one-hour session on using UDL approaches in online classes (April).  

    

   • We began collaborating with the Perkins Grant Student-Centered IDT, to discuss ways that our committee can support the team working on the grant, which is focusing on student-centered supports for students with disabilities.   This collaboration remains ongoing.  Most of our committee members have also joined the IDT, and our committee has agreed that we can offer faculty support for this initiative, as its home is in Continuing Education, a program that can sometimes be marginalized within the college. Given the work and Zoom fatigue, we decided to wait until late summer to advertise a working group for faculty interested in issues of disability and pedagogy, which we'd like to see meet throughout next year.  We are still determining whether or not it is ideal to collaborate with another committee/campus entity (e.g., CETL) to launch that group.

    

    

    

    

    

   6. Chantale Damas would work over the summer on the yearly report for the committee. The EQLD guide update will be discussed in the Fall and new members will be assigned since previous members tasked with finalizing the update are no longer part of the committee. Chantale Damas also suggested, and it was generally agreed upon that future meetings will be held remotely, even if we return to campus, to facilitate attendance. She also shared with the new members the Dropbox that archives all the documents for the EQULD committee. Additionally, she thought it might be a good idea to have an additional co-chair to the committee but due to lack of time it will be discussed in the Fall. William Faulkner offered to respond to emails over the summer and commended Isabel Hocevar’s extensive work through the pandemic.

            

Respectfully submitted,

Noelia Diaz
Committee on Committee on the Environment, Quality of Life, and Disability Issues, Secretary

Minutes typed on May 13th, 2021