Annual Report 2021-2022

• Sanjay Koul, Biological Sciences and Geology (2022)
• Chris Leary, English (2022)
• Rommel Robertson, Social Sciences (2022)
• Carla McIntosh, Academy Advisement (2023)
• Christina Saindon, Communication, Theatre, & Media Production (2023) 
• Stefan Spezio, Center for Tutoring and Academic Support (2023)
• Raul Luiz Armendariz, Physics (2024)
• James Nichols, History (2024)
• Dimitrios Stroumbakis, Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (2024)

• Liaison to Office of Academic Affairs 
  • Arthur Corradetti, Dean for Institutional Effectiveness
• Steering Committee Designee
  • Philip Nelan, Nursing
• Student Representatives
  • N/A
• Writing Intensive HIP Co-Coordinators
  • Melissa Dennihy, English
  • Monica Rossi-Miller, Foreign Languages & Literature

• Carla McIntosh, Academy Advisement (2023)
• Christina Saindon, Communication, Theatre, & Media Production (2023) 
• Stefan Spezio, Center for Tutoring and Academic Support (2023)
• Raul Luiz Armendariz, Physics (2024)
• James Nichols, History (2024)
• Angela Ridinger-Dotterman, English (2024) *replacement member
• Svjetlana Bukvich-Nichols, Music (2025)
• Adam Luedtke, Social Sciences (2025)
• David Pham, Mathematics & Computer Science (2025)

• Chair: Christina Saindon
• Secretary: James Nichols
• Website Coordinator: Stefan Spezio

• Chair: Christina Saindon
• Secretary: Adam Luedtke
• Website Coordinator: Carla McIntosh

• The committee met three (3) times during the academic year.
• Fall:
  • Friday, September 10 at 10:00am
  • Wednesday, December 15 at 12:30pm
• Spring:
  • February 20, email check-in; no meeting needed
  • Friday, May 13 at 10:00am

• Oversee and make recommendations to the Academic Senate related to the WID/WAC Program 
  • No recommendations were discussed during this academic year.
• Review and recommend changes in the criteria for a writing intensive (WI) class to the Academic Senate for its approval 
  • No recommendations were discussed during this academic year.
• Oversee a continuing WID/WAC Faculty Professional Development Program with the Office of Academic Affairs 
  • Writing Intensive HIP Co-Coordinators Melissa Dennihy and Monica Rossi-Miller trained seven (7) faculty during the 2021-2022 academic year; five (5) faculty successfully completed the training. 
• Hear and decide student cases requesting a waiver from any WI degree requirements 
  • The committee considered three (3) requests for waivers of the WI requirement. After careful review of each petition, two (2) were approved, and one (1) was denied.
• Provide a list of current WI-certified classes and the instructors certified to teach WI classes to the department chairs who will make the final decision on the designation of a course or section as WI each semester.
  • The list of current WI-certified instructors will be provided to Dr. Sandra Palmer, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and the incoming WIDWAC Chair at the end of the Spring 2022 semester.
• Ensure through a certification and recertification process that all classes designated as WI meet the criteria for a WI class.
  • During the 2021-2022 Academic Year, the committee reviewed submissions from 13 faculty members wishing to participate in the committee’s ongoing recertification initiative.
    • 2021-2022 recertification update:
      • Requests: 70 active faculty
      • Recertified: 10 faculty
      • Denied/Requested revisions: 3 faculty
      • Not submitted/responded: 57 faculty
  • Faculty recertification numbers TO-DATE are:
    • Total active certified at QCC: 408
    • Recertification requests sent: 179
    • Approved recertified faculty: 62
    • Denied/Requested revisions: 15
    • Still need to request recertification: 229 faculty
  • Chair of the Music Department, Prof. Bjorn Berkhout, contacted the chair in February 2022 to discuss a potential challenge with the new registration system (Course Dog). 
    • A music course (MUS 101) was identified as WI and also not as WI in various course listings on the QCC website, but in CUNYFirst, the course was identified as WI. The faculty member was not planning for the course to be listed as WI, but agreed to convert the course materials to WI for the semester since the students would earn WI credit based on the CUNYFirst listing. 
    • Prof. Berkhout alerted the WIDWAC Committee in the event that other courses and professors had similar issues this semester; department chairs were alerted to this situation by Prof. Berkhout.
• Provide the Committee on Committees with a list of faculty members who are participating in the WID/WAC program.
  • Names added to the Excel spreadsheet, which is provided to OAA.

• Adjust language in WI Recertification document (completed)
• Create a complete document (Excel) containing the names of all WI certified employees, indicating when members have been invited to participate in recertification along with the outcomes. (completed)
• Find undergraduate representation to serve on the committee (not completed)
  • The committee agrees that it is increasingly challenging to locate students who have the time and desire to serve.
• Designate committee member for website updates (completed)
• Update the Academic Senate Steering Committee’s Committee Guide for the WIDWAC (not completed)
  • The 2022-2023 Academic Year Committee Chair should work on this document. 
• Coordinate efforts of the Committee on WID-WAC, the WI coordinators, CTAS, and the Composition Committee (ongoing)
  • This should be an ongoing conversation, as needed, to ensure the WIDWAC and other writing task forces on campus are meeting the goals of the college.
• Adjust language on the recertification form (ongoing)
  
  • Some language adjusted for 2021-2022 academic year.
  • Committee recognizes that additional adjustment needed for the 22-23 AY

• Unresolved question regarding recertification: 
  • Once a faculty member is approved for recertification, how much time should pass before they are once again asked to participate? 
    • The committee has hesitated to make this decision until all current faculty are recertified; the committee charge should continue to be updated to include this information until such a decision has been reached.

• Continue requesting WI recertifications from QCC WI-certified employees
  • The committee charge should discuss who (i.e., the committee chair or the campus academic administration) sends this request, given the low response rate of our colleagues when the committee chair sends it..

• During the 2021-2022 Academic Year, the committee considered submissions from 13 faculty members wishing to participate in the committee’s ongoing recertification initiative. The committee wishes to thank the following committee members for reviewing employee recertification submissions: 
  • Raul Luiz Armendariz
  • Sanjay Koul
  • Chris Leary 
  • Carla McIntosh
  • Philip Nelan
  • Rommel Robertson
  • Christina Saindon
  • Dimitrios Stroumbakis
• In the September 2021 meeting, the committee voted to elect Stefan Spezio to serve as website coordinator for the committee. The committee is grateful for his labor keeping the WIDWAC website up-to-date.
• The committee recognizes the labor of our Writing Intensive HIP Co-Coordinators, Melissa Dennihy and Monica Rossi-Miller. 
  • The committee is especially grateful to Melissa Dennihy who, in particular, attended every committee meeting during the academic year, responded to calls for WIDWAC assistance, and coordinated a conversation among the writing facilitators (Committee on WID-WAC, the WI co-coordinators, CTAS, and the Composition Committee) on our campus.
• The committee also recognizes the service of Dimitrios Stroumbakis, who passed away during his tenure on the WIDWAC Committee.
• The committee recognizes the service of Committee Secretary James Nichols for his input and diligent note-taking.
• The committee is thankful to Drs. Sandra Palmer and Arthur Corradetti for their discussion and guidance during the WI recertification process.
  • During the academic year, the committee noted that very few faculty members had responded to the invitation to participate in recertification, and these supportive administrators helped to encourage our colleagues to participate.

Christina Saindon, PhD
WIDWAC Committee Chair
Assistant Professor
Communication, Theatre, & Media Production

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