Minutes of the Faculty Senate Plenary

April 15, 2010

Shepard Hall 250

The City College

Present: Provost Dagan, VP Lloyd, VP Metz, VP Santos, VP Shields

Deans: D. Cintron, P. Gillespie, M. Hoskin, J. Mercado, P. Occhiogrosso, G. Ranalli,

Faculty Senators: L. Callahan, H. Carter, W. Crain, E. Donati, S. Epstein, B. Fu, J. Gallagher,

S. Goyert, D. Greenberger, J. Hamilton, L. Hoffman, R. Kalia, C. Lascar, T. Lazaridis, J. Lee,

I. Mano, R. Raj, S. Rings, D. Sank, G. Thompson, C. Watkins, D. Weissman, G. Wilgus,

J. Wilner, M. Woessner, Y. Wyner

Excused: J. Birman, VP Edmonson, M. Gutman, R. Laurich

Guests: A. Alting, E. Camp, S. Ellis, I. Matthew, G. Murphy, V. Rutstein, E.Torres.

1.  The meeting was called to order at 2:09 p.m.

2.  The minutes of the March 18, 2010 meeting were approved.

3.  Remarks of the Chair—Professor Raj

·  Expressed concern about lack of follow-up on several past Senate recommendations (the conflict of interest in the position of dean of faculty relations also serving as counsel to the president, appointing a committee to act on the resolution re: an evening session, etc.)

·  On March 23, 2010 the Executive Committee met with the president to express concern about Faculty Experience Survey and other matters. (Key pages of the survey were distributed at this Senate meeting.) The Senate Executive Committee seeks your suggestions and recommendations for actions we need to take regarding this matter.

·  At a subsequent meeting, the Executive Committee further discussed the UFS Faculty Experience Survey, revisions to the release time policy, and the Course and Teacher Survey.

·  The Samuel Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture, delivered Mario Cuomo last week, emphasized the new standards set up in New York State during his administration re: diversity in excellence. The Faculty Senate also has recognized the importance of diversity initiatives

·  The College commencement will take place on May 28th; the keynote speaker will be Dr. Leon Lederman, a 1988 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics. Lt. Governor Ravitch will be receiving the President’s Medal and Dr. Jack Geiger will be conferred the Honorary Degree, as recommended by the Honorary Degree Committee.

·  At the present, the Committee on Valedictorian and Salutatorian is interviewing almost 20 candidates

·  The four final candidates for the presidential search have been interviewed. Faculty can express their opinion re: the best candidate.

4.  Remarks of the Interim President—Dr. Paaswell

Dr. Paaswell was not in attendance.

5.  Resolutions—Professor Wilner

The Course & Teacher Survey resolution passed (20 yes, 0 no, 1 abstain)

The release time policy resolution passed (22 yes, 1 no, 0 abstain), with the understanding that the Executive Committee will report back to the Senate in the fall regarding this issue.

6.  Campus Parking and Facilities—Vice President Santos

There are more people trying to find parking and fewer spaces available. Future plans include increasing parking.

The future site of the third science building will be a temporary parking lot.

Because it is expensive, there is no more rental parking on 145th St.

Faculty also asked about other facilities issues such as fixing chairs in Shepard 250, fixing clocks to reflect correct times, fixing problems in NAC, the amount of time it takes to change from heat to A/C, etc.

7.  HR Report—Sabrina Brown and Erica Torres

PowerPoint presentation re: the Office of On-campus Student Employment, the goal of which is to increase student retention and mentorship.

Students also get health and tuition benefits.

Over 140 students have been placed since August. One student shared his experience regarding the Office of On-Campus Student Employment.

8.  Report of the Ombudsperson—Professor Sank

Educators can get a 60% discount on a 7-days-a-week subscription to the NY Times by calling 1-800-698-4637.

She is continuing to follow up on concerns raised by faculty, staff, and students.

Encouraged faculty to look at the results of the Faculty Experience Survey and send comments to Professor Raj.

Professor Bill Crain reinforced Professor Sank’s comments re: how to improve the Faculty Experience Survey.

9.  Professor Crain commended Professor Raj for providing bold and decisive leadership

to the Senate and for ideas leading to enrichment.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:22 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sherri Rings

Secretary

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