Academic Senate Meeting Minutes
November 9, 2021
Steering Committee Chairperson Dr. Steven Dahlke called the third regularly scheduled meeting of the Academic Senate to order at 3:11 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
44 votes were recorded at the time attendance was taken; 56 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 October 12, 2021 meeting
Chairperson Dahlke used unanimous consent to approve the minutes (Attachment A). There were no objections.
IV. Communications from:
A. President Christine Mangino
The Senate received President Mangino’s November 2021 report.
President Mangino alerted the senate that the college was working on a climate survey for faculty as well as making progress on the Truth, Healing, and Transformation Center. Twenty colleagues will return from the Equity Institute to make recommendations to the college. Registration is open and challenging: faculty and staff should remind students to register. All students who are registered for in-person classes and did not submit vaccination verification received a WA. The college is working with students in hybrid classes to see if they can be vaccinated before they receive a WA.
Professor Lum and his wife donated $600,000 to the college, $500,000 for an endowment for the Nursing Program and the remainder for Chinese language. The Cabinet will offer a State of the College address on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. There was a pep rally on campus for the women’s volleyball and men’s soccer teams, which both made it to CUNY athletic championships and the women’s team made it to nationals.
President Mangino addressed the hiring freeze at CUNY, which was lifted. The college has other structures in place to make sure it stays within its budget, including a position management team that meets every Tuesday to go through job openings and figure out what positions the college can’t do without and how to fill any holes. There are many positions open in B&G and Public Safety. The elevator in the Humanities Building remains a concern: there are delays on every level and the college is doing all that it can to get it fixed.
B. University Faculty Senate
Senator Tai offered a brief report from the UFS: there is continued discussion of the budget request CUNY is making for the next fiscal year, including funding 1175 new faculty, 500 of which would be lecturers with the hope that some adjuncts could move into full time positions. There are budget needs across campuses and Senator Tai can send links to any specifics if senators are interested. The UFS is also aware of the disparity between SUNY and CUNY. Senator Pecorino added that President Fritz from the College of Staten Island retired after a vote of no confidence and reminded the senate of the important of faculty governance.
C. Steering Committee
The Senate received the Steering Committee’s report for November 2021.
Chairperson Dahlke thanked the administration for its continued support of shared governance and referred the senate to his published report. He gave the rest of his time to the three faculty fellows to present their work.
Dr. Arthur Adair, Associate Professor in Communication, Theatre, & Media Production, is the Faculty Fellow for Student Success. He shared his work on how students move through QCC including credit accumulation and degree completion. He is concerned with closing equity gaps and whether the college is fulfilling its mission and goals. He spends much of his time meeting and listening to students.
Dr. Kerri-Ann Smith, Associate Professor in English, is the Faculty Fellow for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She has developed and maintained an opt-in list serv for junior faculty of color, planned enrichments activities, hosted scholars of color, and created a monthly newsletter, among many other things. She is also working on the college curriculum from an anti-racist, culturally responsive perspective. Dr. Smith urged senators to look for those who are missing from conversations, consider our own power and positionality, and give thought to the language we use to describe our students: we should see them and each other for their worth rather than their deficits.
Dr. Sharon Lall-Ramnarine, Professor in Chemistry, is the Faculty Fellow for Research. She handles many aspects of research on campus including serving as the Research Integrity Officer and liaising with the CUNY Office of Research, which has a new strategic plan to “develop a compliance culture with structures that elevate research integrity.” Dr. Lall-Ramnarine also monitors RCR training status, all aspects of undergraduate research, and many other aspects of research on campus.
V. Annual Reports of the Committees of the Academic Senate
Chairperson Dahlke offered the annual reports from the Committee on Admissions, Committee on Course and Standing, and the Committee on Cultural and Archival Resources to the senate as informational items.
VI. Monthly Reports of the Committees of the Academic Senate
There were two votes for the Committee on Curriculum from the November report.
A. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted 51-0-0 to approve one program revision (Biological Sciences and Geology).
B. A motion was made, seconded, and adopted to approve 52-0-0 three program (name change) revisions [Nursing (Dual/Joint with Hunter College), Nursing Change to Nursing (Dual/Joint with York College), Nursing (Dual/Joint with the CUNY School of Professional Studies)].
VII. Old Business
There was no unfinished business.
VIII. New Business
A. Dean Pullin reminded faculty of the CUNY Transfer Survey deadline of November 17th.
B. Senator McGill announced that theater is returning to QCC. The show will also stream over the weekend.
C. Senator Gayle asked about streamlining access to campus through the Medical Arts Gate and Vice President Faulkner offered that the college is working on getting a long-range reader installed before the spring semester.
D. Senator Weber asked about whether students would get free tuition from Washington, D.C. but it seems like that support was taken out of the bill.
E. Faculty Fellow Smith re-invited faculty to attend her lecture series on FridayNovember 12th.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:18 PM.
Zivah Perel Katz, Secretary
Academic Senate Steering Committee
