February 2, 2021

 

ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING

MINUTES

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

ZOOM MEETING 

2:00 – 4:30 p.m.

 

Attendance:

Absences: 

Guests: 

 

OPEN FLOOR PERIOD:  2:00 - 2:05 p.m.

The Open Floor Period provides an informal opportunity for campus community members to raise questions or make comments directed to Senate officers or to university administrators.  Please arrive promptly at 2:00 p.m.

·       Andrew Roderick reminded that all faculty will be moving to 2FA (Two Factor Authentication) by March 3^rd. 

CALL TO ORDER: 2:05 p.m.

1.    Approval of the Agenda for February 2, 2020

·       Vice Chair Wilson – move to remove item #13 (#14 after agenda addition). The presenter will not be able to attend today.

o   Second – Sen. Yee-Melichar 

o   VOTE: amendment passes @ 2:06pm

·       Sen. Ramirez – move to add an item to the agenda as item #11: “Resolution in support of Staff During the Pandemic”

o   Second – Sen. Pierce

§  Sen. Gerber – curious why this did not go through a standing committee.

·       Sen. Ramirez – was not sure what standing committee it would go through. 

·       Sen. Robinson – in support of adding this to the agenda

o   VOTE: item passes @ 2:12pm

·       Approved at 2:12pm with amendments @ 12:13

2.    Approval of the Minutes for December 8, 2020

·       Approved as submitted @ 2:13pm

3.    Announcements from the Floor

·       Sen. Pierce – AS is recruiting volunteers for the vaccine roll-out. Please share the flyer with colleagues and classes. 

o   Sen. Hines – Can students who volunteer get vaccinated?

§  Sen. Pierce – not sure yet. 

4.    Reports

4.1. Chair Report

·       Chair Albiniak delivered an inspirational welcome back speech highlighting the challenges that we are facing as a campus and a country. 

4.2. President’s Report

·       President Mahoney addressed the plenary sessions of Academic Senate. Thank you to all faculty and staff who got spring semester off the ground. Great news that SF State will be a vaccination site but roll-out has been slow. Hopefully, we will be able to ramp up the rate of vaccination. 

o   Regarding Fall 2021 – we are still learning and planning for the Fall, but there are a lot of unanswerable questions. The goal is to get 50% of the classes face to face.

o   Legislative advocacy has begun already. Asking for a lot of one-time funds that the state has and would really help us.

o   Still looking at a $12M structural deficit but hopefully we can address it with one-time funds and other 

o   Promise that as answer are available, they will be brought to everyone’s attention

§  Sen. Yee-Melichar – wish to thank President Mahoney for the report and the presentation of the new building naming announcement. 

§  Sen. Riggs – has the university reached out to students to find out what they want when they return? Or if they want to return? Do we know where our students lie in terms of readiness to return?

·       President Mahoney – that is in process. Email will go out and there will also be a town hall/open forum available to students to register their thoughts and ideas. We will share the information with Senate. 

§  Sen. Hulik – when we poll the students, can we make it mandatory that they indicate what department they are in?

·       President Mahoney – will share this idea will Student Affairs 

4.3. Provost Report

·       Provost Summit mentioned that a faculty survey went out and should be completed by the end of this week. It will be followed up with small group conversations. 

·       Also thank you to all who planned and attended the faculty retreat. 

o   Sen. Stowers – this will be a difficult situation because faculty will not know whether they want to comeback until we know more about the safety of coming back. So, in many cases, people cannot yet make that determination.

4.4. Standing Committees

4.4.1.   Faculty Affairs Committee

o   Sen. Rubin – continuing work on reviewing the review process for leave with pay and Sabbatical. Looking to make it more efficient and looking into the possibility of including an appeal process. Also beginning to consider the role of the President in the RTP process. 

4.4.2.   Student Affairs Committee

o   Sen. Olsher – continuing to work on a resolution on the need to hire more BIPOC people in counseling. Also working on the policy of dropping students for unpaid fees. New projects include the issue of extending incomplete deadlines that were assigned during the pandemic and a long-overdue revision of the academic advising policy.

4.4.3.   Strategic Issues Committee

o   Sen. Goldman – continuing work on issues regarding internationalization, safety, budget priorities and transparencies, equity programs, RSCA, among other topics. 

4.4.4.   Academic Policies Committee

o   Sen. Stowers – two items on today’s agenda. Working on graduate admissions policy, course/curriculum process policy, online education policy, workgroup on the calendar continues to meet, and two other graduate policies are coming up after these other items.

4.4.5.   Curriculum Review and Approval Committee

o   Sen. Hines – four items on today’s agenda. Will be exploring further conversations about the directive memo with the Provost visiting committee next week. The committee is considering the role of CRAC in this climate and with the directive memo. 

§  Sen. Stowers – concerned about proposing new programs in this climate. Worried about the symbolism of new programs being created when courses are being cut and lecturers not rehired. 

·       Sen. Hines – Agree to some extent. However, our fields don’t stop growing and changing. But we do need to be careful.

§  Sen. Steward – we all want to be innovative. Everyone should be allowed to grow. Just because it is not popular does not necessarily mean it is not valuable. 

§  Sen. K. Nielsen – if we contract, we cannot simply retract into our existing curriculum. We need the ability to change. 

Old Business

5.    Recommendation from the Academic Policies Committee (APC): Proposed Revision to F18-277: Standardized Time Blocks for use in Course Scheduling—second reading

·       Sen. Stowers moved the item to the floor and spoke to the item.

·       No Discussion

·       VOTE: item passed @ 2:58pm

New Business

6.    Recommendation from the Academic Policies Committee (APC): Proposed Revision to #S20-275 Academic Probation and Disqualification—first reading

·       Sen. Stowers moved the item to the floor and spoke to the item.

·       Discussion

o   Sen. Ramirez – students must maintain a 2.0 to maintain eligibility for financial aid. We should discuss how that plays into the timeline.

§  Sen. Stowers – this is in first reading and the committee will consider this concern into the revisions. 

o   Sen. Gerber – the rationale for not having mandatory advising was that students where simply choosing to leave instead of participating in extra steps. 

o   Sen. Hulik – this might be too specific, but can we set alerts for majors? In particular, if we could set some sort of alert system. Maybe EAV Navigate can help?

·       Returned to committee @ 3:56pm

7.    Recommendation from the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee (CRAC): Revision of the Graduate Certificate in Business Principles—first reading

·       Sen. Hines moved the item to the floor and ceded time to Professor Sengupta who spoke to the item.

·       Discussion

o   Sen. Banks – of the courses that students take, can they count any of those courses toward an MBA if they decide to pursue that course of study?

§  Professor Sengupta – yes. The idea is that the curriculum is “unbundled” which will allow them to try out things or jump to the MBA or another MBA.

o   Sen. Wilczak – these all look to be online courses. Is that the plan?

§  Professor Sengupta – they are only online now, they are intended to be face to face after the pandemic. 

·       Returned to committee @ 4:01pm

8.    Recommendation from the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee (CRAC): New Graduate Certificate in Data Science for Biology & Chemistry—first reading

·       Sen. Hines moved the item to the floor and ceded time to Professor Chu who spoke to the item.

·       Discussion

o   Sen. Stowers – interesting proposal – concerned about the addition of new courses. We need to be clear about what new resources are needed. We are no longer in an environment where we can gloss over that. 

o   Sen. K. Nielsen – support but also have constructive suggestions. Having pathways to data science is great for other majors too. Wondering about the pre-req listed. Is it only open to certain majors? Could there be greater flexibility?

§  Professor Chu – one course with a pre-req is meant to be an intro course. These courses are not only for bio and chem students. 

o   Sen. Gerber – in support – perhaps a bit more clarity is needed but Chem has been working hard to hire the right folks to support this and shouldn’t need any new resources. 

o   Sen. Riggs – this program is necessary during the pandemic. We are shifting their focus so that they can get training that they can use immediately. 

·       Returned to committee @ 4:09pm

9.    Recommendation from the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee (CRAC): New Bachelor of Arts in Bilingual Spanish Journalism—first reading

·       Sen. Hines moved the item to the floor and ceded time to Professor Azocar who spoke to the item.

·       Discussion

o   Sen. Bloom – support program – wondering about the choices that went into determining the core courses. Perhaps language learning could be electives instead. Or could they test out of a writing course?

§  Professor Azocar – that question was brought up with the Spanish program. It was determined that even the Spanish speaking students need courses in writing in Spanish. 

o   Sen. Hines – CRAC was excited about this program and received many letters of support.

o   Sen. Drennan – on behalf of BECA, who is supportive, Spanish Journalism experience will double students job opportunities. 

·       Returned to committee @ 4:18pm

10. Recommendation from the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee (CRAC): New Bachelor of Arts in Race, Ethnicity, and Health—first reading

·       Sen. Hines moved the item to the floor and ceded time to Senator Le who spoke to the item.

·       Discussion

o   Sen. Wilczak – in support of this program, in particular the fact that it uses existing resources and could capture students in health fields.

o   Sen. Hines – in support. CRAC was on the fence at first, but after some discussion and support from other constituents convinced CRAC that it really aligns well with the 

o   Sen. Daus-Magbual – this is very important to focus on the BIPOC lived experiences and moves toward racial justice. 

o   Sen. Woo – in support and echo others. Timely, but also have been important for many years. Also, many students who are interested in public health will have another avenue to pursue. 

o   Sen. Harvey – DUEAP helped enormously in CRAC’s understanding 

·       Returned to committee @ 

 

Presentations

11. NEW AGENDA ITEM – from Sen. Ramirez - Resolution in Support of Staff during Pandemic – first reading

·       Sen. Ramirez moved the item to the floor

o   Second – unknown

o   Discussion 

§  Sen. Goldman – it is impossible to thank anyone on campus too much, but we did have a resolution thanking staff in November. This would be a complementary resolution. 

o   VOTE to move item to the floor – passed @ 4:29pm

·       Sen. Ramirez spoke to the item. 

·       Discussion

o   Sen. Gerber – would recommend that this item be returned to SIC to finalize. In particular, SIC can consult with the staff unions

o   Sen. Pierce – If we value everyone on campus a resolution like this is necessary in terms of equity. 

·       Returned to SIC @ 4:31pm

12. Presentation by Provost Jennifer Summit, “Discussion of Provost’s Directive Memo on Academic Affairs Budget Realignment,” time approximate—3:00-3:30pm

·       Provost Summit delivered a presentation that was a follow-up to last semester’s presentation about the budget deficit that the campus is addressing. 

·       Overview Items:

o   Every cabinet area was asked to cut by 10%

o   AA used one-time carryforwards and limited cut, but now must find long term solutions

o   Enrollment trends are part of the issue, but there already existed a structural deficit before the enrollment trended down.

o   Governor’s budget is good, but all additional monies are only enough to cover mandated areas of the budget, such as insurance. 

·       Timeline

o   Summer 2020 – Portfolio of Imperfect Options was developed in consultation with Academic Affairs council and Senate ExComm.

o   Fall 2020 – Chair Albiniak and Provost Summit gathered feedback.

o   End of Fall 2020 – AAC and ExComm worked with Provost to develop an implementation plan

o   End of Fall 2020/Beginning of Spring 2021 – Provost issued a directive memo with guidelines, goals and benchmarks, as well as assessment measures.

·       Provost Summit walked the senators through the goals included in the directive memo and clarified some points.

o   Sen. Drennan – having trouble reconciling a lot of the memo with the quality of instruction and how we deliver our curriculum. No. 9 in particular seems to be very data driven and workforce driven, but it raises the question about where the arts and humanities fit into this idea. Does this mean that majors don’t feed into the workforce is less valuable?

§  Provost Summit – budget planning should always be within the academic mission. By taking into account regional workforce needs, are we at risk of losing our commitment to the liberal arts?....Strongly I think the answer is NO. The humanities are important for a strong democracy. They are as important to humanities majors as they are to non-humanities majors. Our cultural industry in SF is important. 

o   Sen. Hulik – faculty work assignments do not mention service and we know for a fact that university service falls on women and especially women of color. By not mentioning it in the memo, it kind of gives a pass to people who already think service has no value. We must honor service.

o   Sen. Stillman – We are talking about transforming into an anti-racist university but also navigating budget challenges. How do those two things interact?

o   Sen. Woo – increased class size is a great concern. It is already a concern during the remote learning semesters. In Goal 1, lecturer faculty are not mentioned. And are only mentioned in terms of “minimizing” their numbers. Does seem like a lecturer purge.

o   Sen. Steward – what do you want individual departments to do to keep themselves intact? If the point is to create job seekers, how does that align with allowing students to pursue their interests?

·       Provost Summit wrapped up by thanking everyone for the questions and promising to include these questions in the FAQ. Also, she encouraged everyone to continue to add their questions in the public forums that are available. 

13. Presentation by Lori Beth Way, Dean of Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning, and Jane Dewitt, Associate Dean of Academic Planning, “WASC Kick-Off,” time certain 3:30-3:50pm

·       Dean Way delivered a presentation regarding the WASC accreditation. She highlighted the last WASC review, what came out of that review and what is needed for the upcoming review. 

o   Upcoming steps include (during 2021-22) forming writing groups to write the institutional report, gather feedback, revise, and prepare supporting documents. 2022-23 offsite review will occur in Fall 2022 and the onsite review will occur in Spring 2023. 

o   Writing group topics were introduced.

o   Campus Memo on February 9^th that will include a call for nominations for faculty and staff to participate in the initial planning and drafting of sections of the Institutional report. 

o   There will be a webpage live soon: wasc.sfsu.edu

o   More info can also be found on the ueap.sfsu.edu website.

§  Sen. Pierce – is it possible to have student representatives sitting on the committees? Can we share the links in the chat?

·       Dean Way – Ideally, yes. Particularly on certain committees. Yes, please share those links!

14. Presentation by Christian Lozano, Director, Office of Diversity, Student Equity & Interfaith Programs, time certain 3:50-4:00pm

15. Adjourned @ 4:32pm