Steering Committee Chairperson Dr. Steven Dahlke called the fifth regularly scheduled meeting of the Academic Senate to order at 3:11 PM. The meeting was held through the Zoom platform.

I.             Attendance

57 votes were recorded at the time attendance was taken; 71 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 December 8, 2020 meeting

Chairperson Dahlke used unanimous consent to approve the minutes with the amendment that Senator Laura Sabani was present (Attachment A). There were no objections.

IV.         Communications from:

A.           President Christine Mangino

The Senate received President Mangino’s February 2021 report.

President Mangino welcomed everyone back for the new semester. She shared that while spring enrollment numbers were not what she had hoped for, QCC did reach its self-imposed targets. We have 1,000 fewer students than last spring, but we did better than most community colleges as well as York College thanks to those who continue to call students and advisors helping students enroll. There is still $2.5 million in lost revenue and no budget from CUNY for the remainder of the year. The second stimulus package is good for higher education and community colleges. President Mangino acknowledged grants received on campus, QCC’s involvement in the USC Equity Institute, and her other work advocating for the college. She also noted Black History month events on campus and the continued work on strategic planning.

After thanking him for his 17 years of service on campus, President Mangino offered Vice President Kerr a few moments to speak before he leaves to pursue his new position as Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at John Jay. Vice President Kerr offered his thanks to the Queensborough Community for 17 very special years at QCC.

B.           University Faculty Senate

There were no new updates from the UFS.

C.           Steering Committee

The Senate received the Steering Committee’s report for February 2021.

Steering Committee reminded everyone that we are entering election season. There is a new Google form by which interested candidates can collect signatures to run for Senate and/or other elected committee positions. Steering Committee thanks Stephen Hammel for his work as the Chair of the Committee on Committees as well as Raj Vaswani for his work on the technology to assist in this process. Chairperson Dahlke called on everyone to be as involved as possible in shared governance and called on faculty to participate in the elections so that we may have faculty governance that is equitable and inclusive.

V.          Elections

Nomination for one Faculty-At-Large seat: Anthony Kolios (Business Department). This election was to fill Ben Murolo’s vacated faculty-at-large seat (term ending in 2023). Since Kolios ran unopposed, a motion was made and accepted to elect Anthony Kolios as a senator by a single vote cast by the Secretary of the Steering Committee on behalf of the Academic Senate

VI.         Annual Report of the Academic Senate

• Committee on Curriculum

VII.       Monthly Reports of the Committees of the Academic Senate

A.           Committee on Bylaws

There was one vote to take on the materials from the Committee on Bylaws (Attachment C). A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 63-0-1 to approve the revision of the charges to the Committee on the Library. 

B.           Committee on Curriculum

There was one vote taken on the materials from the Committee on Curriculum (Attachment D). A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 64-0-1 to approve one course revision (ENGL 99).

VIII.     Old Business

The Senate received an update on administration and department chair discussions on upper seat limits. Provost Lynch reported that he discussed with the Chairs upper seat limits in online courses (which hadn’t been lowered because of the budget crisis) at a special meeting in January and followed up just this past week with another conversation about how administration and Chairs can continue to work collaboratively to decide on limits for classes. Senator McGill supported Provost Lynch’s comments, noting that the discussions have been positive, collegial, and responsive to department needs. She suggested that these conversations, though imperfect, were better than establishing a firm rule about upper seat limits. Senator Gadura echoed Senator McGill’s sentiment.

IX.         New Business

The meeting was adjourned at 3:44 PM.

Zivah Perel Katz, Secretary

Academic Senate Steering Committee