Steering Committee Report December 2023
It’s the end of the semester – a time to hold on tight and keep the faith and momentum.
The end of the semester means that it’s both Registration and Student Evaluation of Faculty season. Consider taking time during class to encourage students to both register for Spring 2024 and go to their student email and open a message from Office of Academic Affairs, subject line Student Evaluation of Faculty – encourage them to assess the work of those who work most closely with them.
We thank Denis Bejar and his Education Technology team for their massive effort in giving information on the Brightspace transition. Faculty may begin to experience and experiment on the platform. Log in using your CUNYfirst credentials at https://brightspace.cuny.edu/. Spring 2023 courses from Blackboard are already being migrated to Brightspace. Summer 2023 courses will migrate on December 15th. Fall 2023 courses will migrate early January. Faculty will start to deliver courses using Brightspace in Summer 2024.
To make the transition and migration simpler, streamline one section of each of your Blackboard courses – remove hidden columns in the Grade Center, and delete unused material. Consolidate course material into as few menu items as feasible. Email questions to [email protected].
The final component of the three-year Assessment of Governance cycle is complete. We thank Victor Fichera of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment for his work in preparing and implementing a recent Senate Webpages Effectiveness survey. There were 74 respondents, 59 of whom completed the short survey. We thank all respondents and remind everyone that data such as this is helpful in improving Senate procedures. Results and analysis may be seen here.
During the November Senate meeting, Senator Alisa Cercone raised the issue of the desirability of an additional set of Club Hours each week. She cited too many worthy offerings each week to meaningfully digest. We will take up this issue in the December meeting, and senators are encouraged to prepare any questions, or arguments for or against.
Thank you to Beth Counihan for co-leading the Shared Governance Giving Tuesday team “And…Action,” and thank you to team members Deon Gibson, Zivah Perel-Katz, and Barbara Rome. We had fourteen donors and raised $1,580. Thank you to everyone who donated and/or shared the fundraiser to their contacts.
We thank the Academic Development (Rezan Akpinar, Chair) and Student Activities (Tikola Russell, Chair) Committees for their 2022-2023 Annual Reports. Annual Reports from Admissions Committee, Computer Resources Committee, Committee on Course and Standing, and Curriculum Committee have not yet been submitted.
Our financial future is uncertain. When we continue to work bravely together to improve our work and brighten the outlook of our students, we better the parts of the future that we can control. This work is evident in the operations of Shared Governance here at home. Thank you to everyone who shows up and helps to make progress happen.
Academic Senate Steering Committee ([email protected])
Dr. Steven Dahlke, Chair [email protected]
Dr. Scott Litroff, Vice Chair [email protected]
Prof. Philip Nelan, Secretary [email protected]
