Academic Senate Meeting Minutes

Steering Committee Chairperson Dr. Steven Dahlke called the third regularly scheduled meeting of the Academic Senate to order at 3:10 PM.

I. Attendance:

41 votes were recorded at the time attendance was taken; 60 members of the Academic Senate were present during the meeting.

II. Approval of the Agenda:

A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 52-0-1 to approve the agenda with the Draft of Campus Access for Non-Commercial Expressive Activities Guidelines (Attachment B) (Item VII, New Business) withdrawn.

III. Consideration of minutes of the October 15, 2019 meeting of the Academic Senate (Attachment A):

A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 54-0-0 to approve the October 15, 2019 minutes (Attachment A).

IV. Communications from:

1. Interim President Lynch

   The Senate received Interim President Lynch's November 2019 Report.

   Interim President Lynch acknowledged the hard work of Vice President Brian Kerr and his team on their enrollment management efforts. Enrollment looks good for the winter and spring, but Interim President Lynch would still like faculty to remind students to register for their courses as the college's budget is enrollment dependent. He welcomed the new Registrar Emiko Sanchez and announced that CUNY is moving forward with the new proficiency index, which relies on students' high school GPA's along with some other determinants for placement in college level courses. The college will have to plan for students who do not have the data points needed to calculate their index score.

   Interim President Lynch also offered the following updates: Dean Arthur Corradetti is spearheading efforts to build the Academic Master Plan (AMP), which will serve as a blueprint for the new President. There is no formal news about the search for a permanent president, but there is some chatter that things are in motion and Interim President Lynch will continue to advocate for transparency of and inclusivity in the search. He also informed the Senate that faculty will receive an email from the Interim President's office about the results of the COACHE survey and how the college plans to move forward, including a COACHE taskforce and town halls. QCC's participation rate was lower than at sister institutions and the results highlight faculty satisfaction with the possibilities for interdisciplinary conversations on our campus and note the challenges of student preparedness. The Interim President asks faculty to review the results and work through the taskforce to make recommendations for improvement.

   Chairperson Dahlke then offered the floor to Dean Corradetti to add to the discussion of AMP. Dean Corradetti announced the members of the AMP Steering Committee: Marc Carpentier, Georgina Colalillo, Arthur Corradetti, Steve Hammel, Brian Kerr, Scott Litroff, Jennifer Maloy, Georgia McGill, Sandra Palmer, and Mangala Tawde. The AMP Steering Committee will meet to finalize the charges and deliverables then form working groups for each of the three themes identified in the AMP. The timeline is to have the final draft of the AMP completed by the end of the academic year to be distributed to the campus and to hold open forums in the fall 2020 semester. It would come before the Senate for a vote this time next year.

2. University Faculty Senate Liaison to the College

   Dr. Emily Tai shared that the UFS welcomed the Vice Chancellor of Finance, who updated them about the current CUNY Budget for the fiscal year and how it would affect the contract. Professor Tai also described the work of the Budget Advisory Committee, which is hoping to encourage greater parity between budgets for CUNY and SUNY. One way to do this might be a greater contribution from the State to cover “the TAP gap:” monies CUNY contributes to cover the cost of CUNY tuition that exceeds New York State's TAP allocation.

3. Senate Steering Committee Report

   The Senate received the Steering Committee Report.

   Chairperson Dahlke welcomed senators and student representatives to the third meeting of the academic year and thanked Interim President Lynch and the Cabinet for moving forward thinking through childcare on campus. They have visited other institutions for information gathering and while there are hurdles (for example finding the square footage on campus and insurance costs), the facilities master plan is a good place to prioritize this goal. He also thanked the administration for moving quickly to implement the campus email policy. Chairperson Dahlke announced that the Office of Development wanted to advertise a basketball game on campus to raise money for campus hunger and the Music Society's concert for CUNY's Giving Tuesday. He also announced the Steering Committee's intention to put to a vote sending an anti-bullying statement/policy to a committee that would include representation from the Steering Committee, FEC, OAA, QCC's legal counsel, and the union.

V. Monthly Reports of the Committees of the Academic Senate

The Committee on Curriculum updated the Senate about an experimental course in the Math Department.

VI. Old Business

1. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 54-2-4 to refer an “Anti-Bullying Statement” to committee.

   Discussion of the proposal clarified that whether the Anti-Bullying would be a statement or policy would depend on the recommendations of the committee, which will report back to the Senate in May.

VII. New Business

1. Interim President Lynch withdrew the Draft of Campus Access for Non-Commercial Expressive Activities Guidelines (Attachment B) and clarified that the policy still needs considerable review from CUNY legal and other entities on campus. If any senators have any concerns, they may direct them to Interim President Lynch.

2. Senator Murolo announced that QCC Fed Challenge team competed in the Finals of the Fed Challenge competition (an academic competition designed to bring real-world economics into the classroom) and earned third place for the second year in a row.

3. Senator McGill announced that there are tickets available at the box office for the production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Zivah Perel Katz, Secretary
Academic Senate Steering Committee