Academic Senate Meeting Minutes

Steering Committee Chairperson Dr. Steven Dahlke called the seventh regularly scheduled meeting of the Academic Senate to order at 3:10 PM. The meeting was held through the Webex platform.

Due to technological issues related to the Webex platform, 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.

I. Attendance

56 votes were recorded at the time attendance was taken; 66 members of the Academic Senate were present during the meeting.

II. Approval of the agenda

A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 59-0-1 to approve the agenda.

III. Consideration of the minutes from the March 10, 2020 meeting

A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 60-0-1 to approve the March 10, 2020 minutes (Attachment A).

IV. Communications from:

A. Interim President Timothy Lynch

The Senate received Interim President Lynch's April 2020 report.

Interim President Lynch acknowledged the hard work that has gone into the transition towards distance learning from faculty and staff. Summer course offering will be fully online and it has yet to be determined about the fall. Interim President Lynch asked that faculty and staff redouble their efforts in terms of enrollment and remind students that registration is open, and advisors are ready for consultation.

Interim President Lynch reminded that although commencement is postponed, degree conferrals are not. He also warned that the college is facing a substantial deficit and needs increased enrollment to overcome it.

Vice President Kerr answered questions about online advisement: he assured various offices are reaching out to students in a variety of ways. Advisors continue to reach out to students on their caseloads.

B. University Faculty Senate

Senator Tai updated the Senate on three resolutions (including faculty political affiliations, the implementation of the recalibration period, and faculty involvement in the enrollment and budget challenges) that were discussed at the March 31, 2020 meeting of the University Faculty Senate. Senators are encouraged to reach out to her about the details of these resolutions.

C. Steering Committee

The Senate received the Steering Committee's report for April 2020.

Chairperson Dahlke thanked all those in attendance for their efforts in attending in a new modality. He also thanked Interim President Lynch for his kind and courageous leadership. The Steering Committee acknowledged the Faculty Executive Committee's elections and thanked the Curriculum Committee (specifically Michael Pullin and Todd Holden) for their hard work on prerequisites, Stephen Hammel and the Committee on Committees, Ben Murolo and the Bylaws Committee, and David Moretti for all his incredibly hard work as STO.

V. Monthly Reports of the Committees of the Academic Senate

A. Committee on Bylaws

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

1. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 56-0-3 to dissolve the Committee on Pre-College, Continuing Education and Workforce Development and create two new committees of the Academic Senate, The Committee on Pre-College, and The Committee on Continuing Education and Workforce Development.
2. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 61-0-2 to update the charges of the Committee on Pre-College.
3. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 58-0-3 to update the charges of The Committee on Continuing Education and Workforce Development.

B. Committee on Committees

There were 3 votes taken on the report from the Committee on Committees (Attachment C).

1. The Senate voted 43-16 to elect Joan Petersen from Biological Science & Geology in a runoff vote with Julian Stark also from Biological Science & Geology for a Faculty Members-At-Large seat in the Academic Senate.
2. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 62-0-1 to postpone the vote for the 14^th Faculty Members-at-Large seat in the Academic Senate for the May meeting of the Academic Senate.
3. A motion was made, seconded and adopted 58-0-2 to accept the committee slate as shown in the report.

C. Committee on Curriculum

There were 4 votes taken on the report from the Committee on Curriculum (Attachment D).

1. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 58-1-2 to approve the new courses from the report.
2. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 61-0-2 to approve the course revisions from the report.
3. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 59-0-3 to approve the program revisions from the report.
4. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 61-0-1 the course deletions from the report.

D. Committee on Food Insecurity

Senator Tai updated the Senate about the work of the committee: since the food pantry is not open, the committee posted a list to its website of resources for students.

VI. Old Business

The Faculty Executive Committee informed the Senate about the status of its elections.

VII. New Business

The Senate needed to vote on three members to serve on the Common Core Course Review Committee.

Results:

• Beth Counihan (English): 54 votes (elected)
• Urszula Golebiewska (Biology and Geological Sciences): 44 votes (elected)
• Shannon Kincaid (Social Sciences): 50 votes (elected)
• Reuvain Zahavy (Math and Computer Science): 25 votes (not elected)

The meeting was adjourned at 4:28 PM.