Academic Senate Meeting Minutes
March 12, 2024
Steering Committee Chairperson Dr. Steven Dahlke called the sixth regularly scheduled meeting of the Academic Senate to order at 3:17 PM. The meeting was held in hybrid format, with attendees both in M136 and ZOOM. Chairperson Dahlke chaired the meeting from M-136.
1. Attendance
60 votes were recorded at the time attendance was taken, and 71 members of the Academic Senate were present during the meeting.
Absent: Alfaro Andrea, Ronaldo Carter, Daniel Garbin, Shenaz Georgilis, Yusuf Gurtas, Amaris Matos, Azita Mayeli, and Celia Sporer
II. Approval of the Agenda
Chairperson Dahlke used unanimous consent to approve the agenda. There were no objections.
III. Consideration of the Minutes from February 13. 2024
Chairperson Dahlke used unanimous consent to approve the minutes. Correction: Gil Visoni was present the February Academic Senate Meeting. There were no other objections.
IV. Communications from:
- President Christine Mangino
The Senate received President Mangino’s Report
President Mangino thanked everyone who was in the Administration Building today as there was an issue to which NYPD responded.
Cafeteria construction was going to start in March but will now start in April. This Wednesday, the concession stand will open in the Huminites Building (QPAC), and the Starbucks in the library will be opened. The cafeteria will move to the Oakland Building.
Members attended the Town Hall Meeting. There was also a Town Hall meeting for alumni, which showed that alumni who are currently working in New York State and graduated from CUNY pay an estimated 4.2 billion dollars in state taxes alone, which is good leverage for advocating for our budget with the city and state.
President Mangino thanked Phil Pecorino, as chair of the PSC, who has been joining President Mangino in lobbying with elected officials to advocate for a budget. There was also a Question-and-Answer session to explain the need for the QCC budget. President Mangino, Steven Di Dio, and some QCC students went to Albany to advocate for the budget.
QCC will celebrate Earth Day on April 16. President Mangino asked for volunteers for Earth Day to help with planting plants around the campus. A tree will also be planted in honor of Joe Cartolano, who had a degree in horticulture.
Loida Lewis wrote one of the books for this semester President's Book Club, Why Should Guys Have All the Fun? has agreed to come to the QCC campus on March 26 from 2 PM to 3 PM to talk about her book and sign her books. Ms. Lewis will also do a fireside chat with President Mangino and two students.
Regarding retention rates focusing on closing the equity gaps, the fall to spring retention rates for first-time, full-time freshmen increased by 2.7% points, which has not been that high since 2017. There was an increase of 8.4% for Black males, which means we have closed the equity gap for the fall to spring semester. By gender, the male retention was 78.9, and women were 79. The gap for men by race, namely Hispanic, White, Black, and Asian, is less than 1% compared to 2020, when the strategic plan was started.
2. Communication from the Liaison to the University Faculty Senate
There was a Plenary Session Meeting on February 20. William Thompson, the chair of the CUNY Board of Trustees, is cautiously optimistic about the support that CUNY can expect from Governor Hochul’s Office, the State Assembly, and the Senate.
There have been concerns regarding communications from the CUNY administration, originating from Vice Chancellor Wendy Hensel, who sent out a memo making several recommendations, some of which were perceived to be an imposition on CUNY, particularly the prerogative of department chairs. Vice Chancellor Hensel agreed to meet with members of the UFS over ZOOM, where concerns were expressed and placed in a memo sent by all the faculty governance leaders across CUNY in response to her memo. Dr. Tai asked the members to read the statements shared by Dr. Beth Counihan and share any comments or concerns before the next University Faculty Senate meeting on April 4th.
Dr. Srivastava, the co-chair of the Standing Committee on Community Colleges, and Dr. Cynthia Wiseman from Borough of Manhattan Community College discussed UFS's committee on community colleges. The Standing Committee on Community Colleges aims to facilitate in-depth deliberations and provide senators with informed reports on critical policy issues in community colleges. Dr. Srivastava asked if anyone had issues of concern to please let her know. The charges of the committee can be found at https://www1.cuny.edu/sites/cunyufs/committees/senate/
3. Steering Committee Monthly Report
The Steering Committee thanked Dr. Phyllis Curtis Tweed for events from the past weeks about faculty supporting each other.
Julian Stark sent out email reminders about the senate elections and will send out the committee preference forms in the next few days. Individuals will have two weeks to submit their preferences. The Committee on Committees will examine the most equitable way of placing people on committees. At the next senate meeting, the senate will vote for the slate of committee memberships. Dr. Dahlke thanked all the members of the Committee on Committees.
V. Monthly Reports
Three new course proposals
The vote was: 62-0-0.
1 Certificate Program
The vote was:
Yes: 62
No: 0
Abstain: 2 - Joshua Tony-Alabi and Katherine Chen
Two program revisions
The vote was:
Yes: 61
No: 0
Abstain: 1 - Katherine Chen
Two course revisions
The vote was: 61-0-0.
VI. Unfinished Business
- Dahlke thanked the subcommittee of the Library Committee for creating awareness for the OER (Open Educational Resources), which helps diminish textbook costs to students. Dr. Dahlke thanked the Assessment Committee for their work analyzing the COACHE survey results and making recommendations to the Senate.
VII. New Business
- Renee Rhodd, the Director of the Transfer Resource Center, spoke about the services offered to students as they plan their transfer to a four-year college after earning their degree. Further information can be found at https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/transfer/scholarships/all.html. One service is the Kaplan Leadership Program. Kandace Henry, the Program Manager for the Kaplan Education Foundation, shared information about the program. Ten to twenty students are helped each year to determine the best schools for these student. Students must have a 3.5 GPA or higher, be eligible for financial aid, be a permanent resident or a United States citizen, and attend a community college working towards an associate degree. Students should be graduating in December 2024 or Spring 2025. Further information can be found on the website: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSceruOQUxasoOhZ5Ic2VGVRoVkT6FeOtlVvP1QXMU8F1G83DQ/viewform
Kandace Henry's email address is Kandace.henry@kaplanedfoundation.org.
- Scott Litroff encouraged everyone to attend a Jazz Concert on Thursday, March 14, 2024, at 7 PM. The concert is free and open to the public.
- There are several events scheduled for the LGBTQIA+ consortium. A link was provided for the events: https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/cuny-lgbtqia/
- The Student Art Exhibition will be Wednesday, April 10, 4 PM to 6 PM.
Meeting Adjourned at 4:15 PM
Philip Nelan, Secretary
