FAEC Minutes October 21, 2020

FAEC MINUTES 10/21/2020

Present: Naseem Choudhury (President), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11), Scott Frees (TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotbe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS), Bonnie Blake (Councilor-at-Large over 11)

Guests: Sarah Carberry (GECCo Chair), Virginia Galdieri (HR), Janet Faber (ER)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:03am.

Minutes Approval: The 10/14/20 minutes were approved.

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Spring Schedule: Naseem met with the Provost. Corrections to the schedule are being made. Confusion around terminology, course descriptions and meeting dates persist.

Graduate Council Rep: Faculty voted and Ashwani Vasishth (SSHS) has been elected to this position.

Survey Voting Feedback: Anonymous feedback has been received asking why it seems the same faculty members serve in so many capacities while others do not. The concern here can be read as a worry that some have too much input. Efforts for equity should be made.

SARAH CARBERRY (GECCo)

A discussion regarding assessment and participation in the assessment process ensued. Questions regarding the role of GECCo, administration, and what is acceptable as part of the assessment process is being discussed. For instance, in the past, GECCo had been told syllabus audits were not acceptable for assessment. The current administration has reversed this policy. Different categories find more or less assessment information provided by adjuncts. It is hoped working remotely might make this more possible for them. The Provost has some funds to help adjuncts who wish to be on the assessment committee (not for submitting their requested course information).

Connect Integration with Canvas: Issues with Connect persist. Gradebook data has been open to staff outside the classroom. This leads to confusion and misinformation, as well as privacy issues

Canvas Notifications: If Canvas modifications are made, some students are receiving emails for each. They should be informed to modify their notifications to no longer receive them.

Tech Support: If the system involving urgent requests to the dean to contact Robert .

Access Program:  Proposed bookstore subscription system. Students would pay a set amount for a subscription and get their textbooks for that price. Current plans are for an “opt out” model. This could lead to inequity. Some courses have few if any textbooks. This also goes against the campus goal, with the State’s encouragement, to provide open access/free texts. This did not work well with healthcare; many paid because they did not know how to opt out. We strongly recommend an “opt in” model if this goes forward.

Financial Aid: Students have reported the requirement to buy their textbooks from the bookstore which is more expensive than many other online book distributors.

BoT Fiscal Responsibility: FAEC engaged in a conversation about the BoT and their fiscal responsibilities to the college.

COPLAC: Some of our courses will be open to other COPLAC schools.

Service:  How do new faculty members find suitable committees to serve on towards their tenure applications and after?

Convener Roles: This was originally about scheduling but now there are more and more expectations of free labor. ASB has a wonderful mentoring process.

Guests: Virginia Galdieri and Janet Faber

Faculty Handbook:  The taskforce needs to be re-energized. HR/ER committed to submitting a rough draft by  February.

-FAEC asked if there can be a road map. This is a collaborative process; faculty has a wealth of knowledge about this process going back decades.

-Virginia stated it is likely revisions can be ready for review by March and April. Naseem noted prioritizing and releasing sections across the semester would be helpful as it will take 2-3 Faculty Assembly meetings for everyone to vote.

Personnel Committees: How can faculty mirror their hard copy binders and submit everything digitally for promotions, etc. Promotions is coming up mid-November. Guidance is needed prior to submission.

Electronic Submissions: The sections did not break down when more recently tried. Many submissions did mirror a binder. The committee consensus said it was ok from the outside but it was not broken down. This was a problem with scanning.

-FAEC is requesting that the personnel procedures be announced, so faculty can prepare their digital application packages.  Concerns about who has access to digital applications was also relayed?  Typically, faculty may see their colleague’s applications, and typically changes can be applied while the applications are still within the Unit.  These access issues must be clarified quickly.

Several FAEC members listed software applications that are commonly used for similar document tracking activities:

• Sedona
• Interfolio
• Weave

Meeting adjourned at 12:19pm

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