Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Minutes
The Academic Senate Committee on Committee on Food Insecurity of the Academic Senate met on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 12:10 p.m., Pantry Area, Student Union
Committee Members in Attendance:
Business:
The meeting was called to order at 12:10 p.m.
Introduction. Dr. Bales expressed the Committee’s appreciation for the new and larger space, as well as for support from the Administration. He noted the Committee’s awareness of greater administrative responsibility, its receptivity to the Administration’s ideas, and its appreciation for the presence of Vice-Presidents Newcomb and Kerr.
Approval of Minutes. The Minutes from August 29, 2018 were approved with two revisions. The second paragraph was revised so that instead of stating that the food pantry will soon “operate” through the Queensborough Fund, it now states that the food pantry will soon “accept donations” through the Queensborough Fund. The last paragraph was amended to add that Vice-President Newcomb was also inadvertently left off the email list and did not receive notification of the Committee’s previous meeting.
Discussion of Policies, Procedures and Accountability. Vice-President Newcomb noted the need to have procedures in place that will ensure accountability, as donors have expectations as to how funds are used. She noted that the Queensborough Fund and Petrie Grant are intended exclusively for the purchase of food, and that items such as diapers and feminine hygiene products are available through the campus health center. They can also be purchased through private donations.
Discussion of various aspects of accountability included:
- Tracking inventory
- Tracking the number of students served
- Safeguarding students’ privacy so that data gathered through a card reader is not used for any purpose other than tracking general pantry usage and demographics
- Using a scanner to check out items so as to keep track of usage and inventory for reordering purposes, but not to identify individual students
- The possibility of having prepackaged food packages was discussed, but it was noted that the pantry has some prepackaged items that students won’t take
- Checking IDs is necessary as the pantry is intended for use by our students.
The question of whether the food pantry could serve staff and adjunct faculty was raised. Vice-President Newcomb noted that funds are raised for the Queensborough Fund for the benefit of students and that Petrie Fund money is restricted to students. Food drives or in-kind donations could be used to assist staff and adjunct faculty.
The Committee recommends moving forward with the scanner. The Committee will post privacy information so that students will be assured that the data gathered by the scanner and card reader will not be utilized in any way that would compromise their privacy. ID numbers will be used to gather demographic information, but will then be deidentified. Vice-President Newcomb said that the College has a scanner system and that she will speak to IT and David Wasserman’s group about providing them.
Vice-President Kerr inquired about the current practice regarding the number of items allowed per student per visit. Dr. Bales explained that, in the past, the person on duty has had discretion to allow more items if the student was collecting food that may also be consumed by family members. Vice-President Newcomb noted that we need to have a reasonable process in place for funders, that we cannot promote the food pantry as support for families, but that we can refer students with family need to outside food kitchens and pantries. The Committee will draft language regarding the number of items (ten to twelve) allowed per visit and the number of visits allowed per week.
Vice-President Kerr explained that pantries using food banks have specific requirements, such as requiring food to be organized and distributed according to nutritional formulas. He added that they multiply the distribution to account for the number of family members.
Vice-President Newcomb explained that there are ramifications for donors if donations go beyond the student, and that we need to have flexibility in refining as we go forward. In response to a question re the Single Stop office, Vice-President Newcomb noted that theoretically they can have a key, although they cannot drop everything in order to provide access to the pantry.
Vice-President Newcomb noted that help and advice from the Marketing and Communications Department would be beneficial and would result in organized campaigns with coordinated graphics and methods. David Moretti notes that this would avoid risks associated with photo releases and copyrights, and would maximize efficiency, compatibility and messaging across media, including social media. He explained that enthusiasm for supporting the food pantry can result in communications and events that are at cross-purposes. Vice-President Newcomb advises that the Committee should be the center for activities and the clearinghouse for publications, while working in conjunction with Marketing and Communications. She added that the Committee can have access to certain email privileges. She cautioned that a community dialog (even without an opt-out option), would not ensure that we are reaching those whom we intend to reach, and that it would be preferable to have known email lists.
Dr. Bales noted that virtually every CUNY food pantry is operated by Administration and inquired about the possibility of having a coordinator. Vice-President Newcomb reported that she doesn’t see a coordinator on the horizon.
Marketing and Communications. David Moretti noted that there are lots of avenues for messaging and that the food pantry can be included in CUNY Tuesday. He highly recommended going through Marketing as they are eager to help, and he explained that consistent branding, messaging, and voice are essential, as are copyright compliance, ADA compliance, and messaging in social media. He further advised connecting our messaging to student success. He noted the advantage of the Marketing Department’s connection with the print shop and said that Committee members can join Marketing Department meetings, which take place every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.
Questions arose as to whether to spend down the Queensborough Fund first as recommended by David Wasserman or to spend down the Petrie Fund first. Vice-President Kerr administers the Petrie Fund and has ordered food already. The challenge is to keep the pantry full. Data might help to achieve this. Dr. Jacobowitz noted that she has already developed a list of items that should be stocked.
Advice from Lehman College. Shovaine Singh, with QCC’s Center for International Student Affairs & Study Abroad and Coordinator of the Lehman College Food Pantry, spoke about the Fall Food Insecurity and Hunger Awareness event taking place the following day in the Oakland Dining Room. She noted that student speakers will share personal testimony at the event, discussing how access to a food pantry has helped them and their families. Dr. Bales will present at the event.
Ms. Singh discussed some of her responsibilities and the operating details of the Lehman College Food Pantry, including:
- Recruiting student volunteers
- Collaborating with nutrition students
- Creating monthly reports
- Providing an online process for students to schedule pantry visits
- Safeguarding students’ privacy
- Instituting a 10-item limit and a once-per-week visit
- Offering recipes-of-the-month each month
Benefits to the Lehman College Food Pantry of purchasing food through the Food Bank for New York City have included:
- High quality food at cost-effective prices
- Training for food pantry volunteers
- Free delivery of food
- Thanksgiving turkeys for students using the pantry
Ms. Singh explained that since they purchase the food, they are not required to register with 311 or to open their pantry to the community, although they do follow the Food Bank’s nutritional protocol. She noted that their Student Association funds their pantry, not student government and that funding of the pantry is overseen by Vice-President Magdaleno and another department at Lehman College. Ms. Singh noted that they now have a freezer.
General Discussion. General discussion established that:
- We can use Amazon Prime when ordering
- Vice-President Newcomb will follow up to ensure that the Student Union is open during pantry hours
- President Lynch is pleased to offer the new space and is interested to know how it is working.
- Marketing can provide a logo and signage. The Committee believes that the benefits of [1]signage outweighs the drawbacks.
- Plans for Starbucks to have the adjacent space will require us to make decisions about how students will access our space, how their privacy will be affected, and even what food choices we would offer. Vice-President Newcomb wishes to be kept abreast of how it’s working, and notes that there will be personnel on hand to monitor the Student Union.
- David Moretti reported that digital signage and social media are much better than flyers, and that we can have messaging on digital monitors throughout the campus.
Gail Lewis reported that she will be covering the Fall Food Insecurity and Hunger Awareness event for her public television program “Communication Corner, “ and that she would like to interview someone from the Committee. Dr. Bales noted that he will attend and would be willing to speak.
The Committee thanked Vice-Presidents Newcomb and Kerr. All plan to meet again soon.
These minutes were revised upon request of the those in attendance, but due to a lack of a quorum were not approved until late in the spring semester via an email request for approval sent on May 9, 2019.
Respectfully submitted,
Liz Di Giorgio
Committee on Committee on Food Insecurity of the Academic Senate, Secretary
Minutes typed on December 11, 2018
