September 22, 2020

 

ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING

MINUTES

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

ZOOM MEETING 

2:00 – 4:00 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.

CALL TO ORDER: 2:05 p.m.

1.     Approval of the Agenda for September 22, 2020

·       Sen. Wilson proposed removing 4.2. President Mahoney

o   Second - Sen. Gerber 

o   No objections - Approved by consensus

·       Approved with one above change @ 2:06pm

2.     Approval of the Minutes for September 8, 2020

·       Approved as submitted @ 2:07pm

3.     Announcements from the Floor

·       Sen. Yee-Melichar – 3 announcements:

o   AB 1460 was signed into law by the governor. ASCSU is working on implementation.

o   Chancellor White postposed his retirement in order to lead the CSU system through a difficult time, during COVID-19. Chancellor White’s successor will be announced today or tomorrow. (9/22/2020 or 9/23/2020)

o   2020 CSU Trustees Award for Outstanding Achievement recipient will be recognized today in a virtual ceremony. As the CSU's highest recognition of student achievement, the awards provide donor-funded scholarships to students who demonstrate superior academic performance, personal accomplishments, community service and financial need. Students receiving the awards have demonstrated inspirational resolve along the path to college success and many are the first in their families to attend college. Our campus awardee is Yuri Madenokoji. The Schools First Federal Credit Union Scholarship funds her award.  Yuri is an aspiring educator with a passion for social justice. With an extensive background in women’s and ethnic studies, Yuri is continuing her graduate studies in education and maintains a 3.96 GPA. She volunteers with Hospice East Bay and sings with the Living Room Choir.

4.     Reports

4.1.   Chair Report

·       Thank you to everyone for the continued engagement. Please remember to take items back to your academic units. 

·       Please register for the Provost’s Forum, September 25th

4.2.   President Mahoney

·       Removed from agenda – President Mahoney was attending Board of Trustees meetings at the same time.

4.3.   Provost Summit

·       Provost Summit shared with senators the developing situation surrounding Ms. Leila Khaled’s visit to an open classroom via Zoom. The university stands by academic freedom and is working with Zoom and the professors who are organizing the event. Maintaining legal compliance and academic freedom are of utmost importance to us. 

o   Sen. Stillman – Why is the university supportive of this, if it could completely derail our remote teaching.

§  Provost Summit – Academic Freedom needs to allow for controversial content to be investigated. There is no support for the content, 

o   Sen. Pierce – SF Hillel is hosting an event on the same day. Students are concerned that the Hillel is supporting the SF Hillel event but not this academic event. 

§  Provost Summit – did not know about the co-sponsorship of the event. The university was not asked to support or co-sponsor the academic event.

o   Sen. Harvey – is there any concern that the event would be publicly 

§  Provost Summit – this is part of an open classroom event and will likely be streamed as well.  We must ensure that the support is for academic freedom, which must be content-neutral. 

o   Sen. Drennan – can someone send more information about this event and issue, either in chat or via email?

·       Provost Summit – please join us in the first open forum of the year. The link in in the chat and should have been sent to everyone via email. One of the issues that we will address is the budget now and going forward.

o   No discussion

4.4.   Standing Committees

4.4.1.Curriculum Review and Approval Committee

·       Sen. Hines – five items on the floor today. 

4.4.2.Faculty Affairs Committee

·       Sen. Rubin – working on refinements on the RTP policy responding to COVID. When complete, will move on to the partner policy regarding lecturers. 

4.4.3.Student Affairs Committee

·       Sen. Olsher – one item on the floor today. Working on a resolution regarding hiring counselors of color to reflect our campus demographic and a few other items previously mentioned.

o   No discussion

4.4.4.Strategic Issues Committee

·       Sen. Goldman – last week heard reports on enrollment, on University finances, and on Academic Affairs finances. Further reports will include Advancement and HR. Two resolutions will come to the senate floor in the next session.

o   No discussion

4.4.5.Academic Policies Committee/Educational Policies Council

·       Sen. Stowers – working on several issues, such as raising the number of transfer units allowed for graduate degrees, online education, remote proctoring, video, course proposal, and GRE requirement.

o   No discussion

Consent Item

5.     Recommendation from the Executive Committee: Resolution Commending and Honoring Dr. Ann Hallum – consent item

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

o   Sen. Gerber ceded time to Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Noah Price to read the resolution into the record.

§  Dean Clavier – Dr. Hallum’s generosity in mentoring was boundless. She left a wealth of documentation

§  Sen. Yee-Melichar – Dr. Hallum and I started in the same year and had offices in the same building. A very hard worker and she will be missed.

Presentation Item 

6.     Presentation by Wei Ming Dariotis, Faculty Director of Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning on CEETL report (2:30 pm time approximate) 

·       Dr. Maggie Beers introduced Teggin Summers and then began a presentation about the mission of CEETL. In particular she shared a great deal of data about the number of faculty who have been utilizing the CEETL offerings and how quickly the CEETL team has worked to put so many opportunities into place.

·       Dr. Dariotis continued the presentation to discuss the ways in which CEETL has interacted with the incoming faculty, the PIE certificates, and other items about community involvement in CEETL.

Old Business

7.     Recommendation from the Executive Committee: Proposed Resolution in Support of Voter Registration Efforts—second reading

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

·       No Discussion

o   VOTE: Passed with a majority @ 3:04pm

8.     Recommendation from the Executive Committee: Proposed Resolution on Third Party Proctoring—second reading 

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

·       No Discussion

o   VOTE: Passed with a majority @ 3:06pm

9.     Recommendation from the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee: Proposed Master of Fine Arts in Broadcast & Electronic Communication Arts—second reading

·       Sen. Hines moved the item to the floor and spoke to the item. Sen. Hines ceded time to Dr. Melissa Camacho to give more details.

·       Discussion

o   Sen. Hulik – in support of the proposal. Terminal degrees in these fields are very important for our students and this degree will help other graduate programs as well. 

o   VOTE: Passed with a majority @ 3:10pm

New Business

10.  Recommendation from the Student Affairs Committee: Proposed resolution in continued support of SF State Students During the COVID-19 Crisis—first reading

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

·       Discussion

o   Sen. Way – Has anyone had a chance to check with the registrar about the deadline?

§  Sen. Olsher – we can do that before it returns to the senate floor.

o   Sen. Gerber – resolved #7 – reservations about offering all classes the option for CR/NC. This could be a concern going forward with some units that do not accept non-letter grades for certain or all courses in the major. Concerned that students do not understand the ramifications. Resolved #8 and #10 – in support of moving it later in the semester and encouraging the faculty to make grading more transparent is a move in the right direction. 

o   Sen. Wilson – agree with students not always acting in their best interest when making the choice CR/NC. Wondering: Will the SETEs will be affected like it was last semester?

o   Sen. Wong – Resolved #13 question: seems to be dictating how instructors organize their course. We need to make sure that any one thing we choose doesn’t really work for everyone. This resolved clause is more about organizing a course.

§  Sen. Olsher – will go back and look at the language on that clause.

o   Sen. Hulik – concerned about #13 and high stakes assignments and how we manage those assignments. Regarding CR/NC: can there be some more information or language that helps students understand the ramifications of their decisions.

§  Sen. Olsher – the committee will consider that.

o   Sen. Pesci – RE: high stakes assignments – conditions we are in now are different than previously and those should be considered. 

o   Sen. Wilczak –support most of it. Concerned about #11 resolve and suggest striking the language that suggests that “ALL” be removed, as it is not necessarily applicable to all students equally. 

o   Sen. Carillo – flexibility and student choice is a priority and ensuring that students understand the ramifications of their choices. Would like to see the data of how many chose that option in the Spring 2020 semester. 

o   Sen. Grutzik – resolved #8 could reference checking with an advisor to ensure that students are making the best choice.

11.  Recommendation from the Executive Committee: Proposed Resolution in Opposition to Title V Restructuring of General Education—first reading

·       Sen. Wilson moved the item to the floor and spoke to the item and then gave the floor to Sen. Gerber. 

o   Sen. Gerber – please look at the supplemental materials provided on our iLearn site. The law and the CO order differ in a few important ways. Sen. Gerber summarized some of those materials for the senators and encouraged us to all reach out to constituents.

·       Discussion

o   Chair Albiniak shared CO is turning a simple law into GE re-structuring, the is the worst time, the timeline is impossible. It is bad for Ethnic Studies, and there is a lack of campus flexibility that runs afoul of a general understanding that faculty should determine the curriculum. 

o   Sen. Woo – This has been surprising and contradictory for those in CoES. This was supposed to be a collaborative effort. There has been no consultation with the CO Council of Ethnic Studies. Please discuss with your colleagues, it impacts all of us.

o   Sen. Le – right now it is a difficult time to navigate this. What does the law mean to us? What is the role of the College of Ethnic Studies? Our CoES should be consulted. The governor should not tell us what to do. This affects all of us. Let’s work together.

o   Returned to committee @ 4:02pm

12.  Recommendation from Curriculum Review and Approval Committee: Proposed Revision to the MA in Psychology Concentration in Developmental Psychology—first reading

·       Tabled due to lack of time. Will return at next plenary session.

13.  Recommendation from Curriculum Review and Approval Committee: Proposed Revision to the MA in Psychology Concentration in Mind, Brain, and Behavior—first reading

·       Tabled due to lack time. Will return at next plenary session.

14.  Recommendation from Curriculum Review and Approval Committee: Proposed Revision to the MA in Psychology Concentration in Social, Personality, and Affective Science—first reading

·       Tabled due to lack of time. Will return at next plenary session.

15.  Recommendation from Curriculum Review and Approval Committee: Proposed Revision to the Minor in Athletic Coaching—first reading

·       Tabled due to lack of time. Will return at next plenary session.

Presentation Item 

16.  Presentation by Jeff Wilson, CFO and Interim VP of Administration and Finance on Budget (3:30 time certain)

·       Interim VP Wilson shared information about planning for the future including the economic impact of COVID on top of the enrollment reductions that were already anticipated. 

o   Sen. Wilson – thank you, this is an incredibly awful situation. Wondering why we are seeing an increase in the Risk Management?

§  VP Wilson – currently it is referencing historical claims. It may change as we move through this time. 

o   Sen. Drennan – Is there a way for us to see how the CARES money is spent?

§  VP Wilson – on Thursday at UBC there will be details available. That information will be posted publicly after the meeting. 

o   Sen. Gerber – has the “golden handshake” option been considered?

§  VP Wilson – usually golden handshake is a retirement option, which needs more involvement than campus constituents. Early Exit programs can be dealt with on our campus. There are some risks to consider when utilizing those programs. 

o   Discussion was concluded @3:52pm

17.  Adjourned @ 4:03pm