May 2nd, 2001

Present: M. Ahmed, S. Barthelemy, S. Brauch, V. Bruno, L. Cardaio, D. Davidson, M. Del Solar, P. Dillon, J. Karlen, T. Julien, W. Kurzyna, T. Litvay-Sardou, J. Lynch, C. Macheski, J. Maldonado, S. Mettler, E. Murray, A. Pappas, M. Perez, G. Richmond, E. Rivas, M. Riggs, S. Sanchirico, L. Sardell

Absent: H. Ahmed, L. Desvigne, J. Devine K. Ferron, J, F. Hago, J . Jones, M. K. Khaleda, K. Islam, M. Shahid,

Excused: C. Baldonedo, L. Byk, J. G. Ianni, E. Johmann, J. Gao, R. Octaviano

Guests: John Wolovich, Sandra Dickinson, Joyce Rheuban

Chairperson Lynch called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.

Approval of Minutes
Minutes of March 28th, 2001, were approved as presented.

Chairperson's Report:
Chairperson Lynch spoke about the report of CUNY Trustees Committee on Community Colleges entitled: The Rising to the Challenge: Exemplary Community Colleges in a Revitalized City University of New York. The committee was charged as follows:

1. The Committee will review the missions of CUNY's six community colleges.
2. The Committee will consider the roles the respective colleges might play in a fully integrated University system.
3. The Committee will make recommendations regarding a desirable balance between liberal arts, professional and vocational programs in the community colleges.
4. The Committee will consider the position of community college in the context of a flagship environment.

The members of the committee included Nilda Soot Ruiz, Chairperson and Trustee; Kenneth F. Cook, Vice Chairperson and Trustee; John Morning, Trustee; Kathleen M. Pesile, Trustee; Mizanoor Biswas, Former Trustee; Antonio Perez, President, Borough of Manhattan Community College; Eva Richter, Professor, Kingsborough Community College; Nahma Sandrow, Professor, Bronx Community College.

Chairperson Lynch mentioned that for various reasons, there has been an increase in the population of students becoming involved in higher education. CUNY's community colleges have grown rapidly since they began as a handful of junior colleges offering two-year liberal arts programs. In today's high-tech, world economy a new set of challenges and expectations have presented themselves. They include:

Developing a range of traditional and non-traditional offerings to keep pace with rapidly developing technology and demographic shifts.
Creating new support services and alternative learning options to accommodate increasing numbers of non-traditional students
Revamping developmental education to accommodate a variety of learning styles
Creating targeted training
Building a system of accountability focused on student outcomes
Establishing a place in the flagship environment
Pursuing funding strategies.

Chairperson Lynch gave a summary of the University Faculty Senate meeting of 24 April. He spoke about the Chancellor's report dealing with the budget, the nominations for five members at-large of the Executive Committee and the panel, which discussed the report on the community colleges mentioned above. The panel had three members: President Gail O. Mellow, President Eduardo Marti and President Byron McClenney.

Chairperson Lynch invited Professor Mettler and Professor Davidson to share their insights about the panel discussion. After the discussion, he told the Senate that President Mellow wished to address the Senate about the recent summit and so far the May 23rd meeting looked promising. He also mentioned that we may have to hold a June 13th meeting because of curricula items.

There was a discussion about the apple logo for the school. P. Dillon mentioned that the logo was on the pins for the nursing graduates. Various senators discussed the pros and cons of the logo and someone mentioned that the new logo needed Senate approval. A. Pappas mentioned that the students did not like the idea of changing the logo. The Senate Executive Committee was asked to make inquiries about this topic.

Curriculum Committee Report:
Joyce Rheuban presented the Media Studies option curriculum to 80th Street to ensure that it will meet all requirements for transfer and articulation. This option is part of the Liberal Arts curriculum. This program provides for Cinema studies, TV productions, Video production and media studies and it will allow students to transfer to four-year programs. Brooklyn College has specific curricula with programs including film editing and there are internships available.

Campus Affairs Committee:
E. Murray discussed the postings of the flyers on the brick and painted surfaces of our buildings. Campus Affairs requested that the Senate vote on a proposal to have distribution centers where materials could be distributed and provide each of the five areas in all college buildings with a chair so students, faculty and staff could sit and read the materials. Also these sites would have a monitor with a web site display. There was a discussion with A. Pappas pointing out that some clubs use the brick walls to post literature and ignore the College policy against this practice.

A motion was made by D. Davidson to approve the proposal from Campus Affairs to create five distribution information centers where material could be made available. This motion was approved unanimously with one abstention.

Eileen informed the Senate that two proposals were discussed at the Campus Affairs Committee to alleviate the parking situation. The first proposal was that only faculty and staff would be able to purchase decals for the first four hours of the day and the second proposal was to sell only annual passes on a first come first serve basis until they are sold out, then the semester passes would be sold.

Academic Standing Committee:
John Wolovich - Chairperson of the Academic Standing Committee, gave a history of the committee and issued a call for Senators to volunteer to help the committee in its work.

Olga Vega Malloy, Chairperson of the Appeals Committee, discussed the procedures and responsibilities of this committee. She spoke about how students must first approach the instructor before going to the department Chairperson to appeal for a change of grade. L. Cardaio wanted to know if this committee ever actually changed grades. M. Perez explained that some times grades were changed before the question came to the committee. J. Wolovitch stated that the appeals process was a tool of last resort.

Report on the Visioning Summit:
A review and update of the Visioning Conference was conducted by some of the attendees. E. Rivas was impressed by the level of engagement by the college community; M. Perez felt that this would be an involved process and that we have a long road in front of us. S. Mettler discussed the "fish bowl" setup and how conducive it is with involving participants. L. Cardaio spoke about the enthusiasm of the students.

Report on the Web Page:
T. Litvay -Sardou shared the progress that they were making on creating the Senate's Web Page. She needs collaboration from the Senate including the following: an electronic list of members of the Senate as well as all standing committees of the Senate, meeting schedules, and additional minutes that were issued in the past. Unapproved minutes could be disseminated to Senate members only before releasing them to the College community. Events could also be announced such as the Senate sponsored Poetry Celebration.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,


Maria G. Riggs