Steering Committee Chairperson Dr. Steven Dahlke called the seventh regularly scheduled meeting of the Academic Senate to order at 3:14 PM. The meeting was held in a hybrid format, with attendees both in M136 and on Zoom. Chairperson Dahlke chaired the meeting from M136.

I.              Attendance

57 votes were recorded at the time attendance was taken; 58 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 March 8, 2022 meeting

Chairperson Dahlke used unanimous consent to approve the minutes as amended to correct that Senator Van Cleef was in fact in attendance in March (Attachment A).

IV.        Communications from:

A.            President Mangino

The Senate received President Mangino’s April report.

President Mangino began her remarks by asking for a moment of silence for the victims of the subway shooting in Brooklyn.

President Mangino reminded the Senate that the State of the Budget presentation was the next day, and it would address plans for the $18 million dollar deficit. She announced some savings from this year ($5.7 million) that could reduce the deficit to $12.5 million. She thanked the campus community for the year of penny-pinching, which included savings in supplies and personnel. The State of the Budget presentation will address recommendations from the various subcommittees tasked with addressing the budget deficit. The State finally approved its budget on Saturday morning, and it includes a $1.2 billion dollar increase for CUNY including part time TAP, 540 faculty lines, childcare centers, and mental health services. The funding will help support a childcare center at QCC and money for capital projects will help with campus projects that have been stalled.

Chancellor Matos Rodríguez visited campus, including Chairperson Dahlke’s class and the Kupferberg Center. The campus also hosted Linda Lee’s inauguration. QCC will postpone having a gala until the time is right. Lastly, faculty and staff should remind students to register for fall classes.

B.            University Faculty Senate

Senator Tai shared that at the last meeting the budget was discussed. She also amended the notes from her last announcement, updating that the vote to give faculty more jurisdiction over teaching modalities was in the pipeline but the vote was completed in the March meeting, passing with 98% of the votes in favor and 2% abstaining. Another vote approved a resolution affirming academic freedom for all faculty.

C.           Steering Committee

The Senate received the April report from the Steering Committee.

Chairperson Dahlke thanked David Moretti (who helped even though he is no longer at the college), Jeffrey Schwartz, and the Committee on Committees who worked hard to organize the various databases required to complete committee assignments and senate elections. He also noted the 75% participation rate in the Senate election. Chairperson Dahlke called for nominations to the Steering Committee, which will have a vacancy because Senator Urciuoli will be stepping off. In addition, he reminded that all positions are elected and open; interested parties can be nominated from the floor for these positions as well as for the open positions on the Committee on Committees.

V.           Monthly Reports of the Committees of the Academic Senate

A.            The Committee on Committees

Christine Mooney, Chair of the Committee on Committees, presented the membership ballot (Attachment C) for the standing committees of the Academic Senate. She noted that there remain vacancies on the ballot because of a lack of volunteers to serve. The Committee on Committees will fill those vacancies as appropriate. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 56-0-0 to approve the slate of committee members from the Committee on Committees.

B.            The Committee on Curriculum

Senator Wallach, Chair of the Committee on Curriculum, shared the report (Attachment B). There were four votes.

1.             A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 56-0-0 to approve 5 new courses (SP217, ET582, ET721, TECH931, and TECH 932).

2.             A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 54-0-0 to approve 5 course revisions (ET710, ET712, ET718, BI522, PH440).

3.             A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 53-1-0 to approve 7 program revisions [Health, Physical Education, and Dance, Liberal Arts and Sciences – Associate in Arts (A.A.) Degree; Biological Sciences and Geology, A.S. in Public Health; Social Sciences, Psychology- Associate in Science (A.S.) Degree; Communication, Theatre and Media Production, Liberal Arts and Sciences- Associates in Arts (A.A.) Degree; Engineering Technology, Internet and Information Technology- A.A.S. Degree Program; Foreign Languages and Literatures, Liberal Arts and Sciences- Associate in Arts (A.A.) Degree; Biological Sciences and Geology, A.S. in Health Sciences). 

4.             A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 53-0-0 to approve 1 course deletion (CH115).

VI.        Old Business

Senator Pecorino presented the Proposal for a College Policy on Student Evaluations of Faculty on behalf of the FEC. Senator Tai asked Senator Pecorino to clarify what the proposal changes. He answered that the policy addressed an automated process that faculty were not informed about. The policy also addresses disparities among departments in how evaluations were conducted. The policy aims to create a uniform practice across departments. Senator McGill offered a friendly amendment that faculty communicate their choice to opt out of student evaluations in writing. A motion made, seconded, and adopted 53-0-3 to approve the Proposal for a College Policy on Student Evaluations of Faculty (including the friendly amendment).   

VII.      New Business

A.            Chairperson Dahlke presented the new CUNY Grade Policies Retraction Request that, if there are no objections, the Steering Committee will sign. There were no objections.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:04 PM.

Zivah Perel Katz, Secretary

Academic Senate Steering Committee