Academic Assembly Update

Vice President for Academic Affairs Update

Dr. Paul Beaudin has been appointed as our Vice President for Academic Affairs. Having the privilege of serving on the search committee for this vacancy, and having the pleasure of collaborating with Dr. Beaudin in my faculty and governance roles, I am completely convinced that our President could not have made a better choice. Paul is a reliable ally of faculty and a relentless advocate of students. He did not grow estranged from classroom while progressing in his administrative career. Last semester he taught a Quantway course at the Grant Campus Mathematics Department, and currently he is providing instruction to Education 201 class on the Eastern Campus. While we did not always end up on the same side of every issue, our collaboration was always positive, fruitful and enjoyable. On behalf of Grant Campus Assembly, I would like to congratulate Dr. Paul Beaudin with his new leadership position, and wish him great success in his new role.

Upcoming Visit of the Middle States Team

Schedule of the visit:

The Visiting Team will provide the College with the precise meeting schedule 10 days prior to the visit. You may be selected to meet with the team. Please:

• Keep Monday and Tuesday open in case Visiting Team members decide to meet with you.
• Assemble reference documents pertaining to your area to have them handy.
• Come to the Faculty Forum and encourage your students to attend the Student Forum.
• Read the Self-Study Report http://depthome.sunysuffolk.edu/middlestates/self-study.pdf available at the Middle States Reaccreditation web page: https://www.sunysuffolk.edu/about-suffolk/middle-states-reaccreditation/self-study.jsp (Note that you will need to enter your SCCC login credentials to download the Self-Study Report from the above link.)
• Consider becoming a peer-reviewer for the Middle States Commission

Syllabus Statement on Accommodating Students with Disabilities

The college is crafting a statement on accommodating students with disabilities, to be included in syllabi. This is an ADA compliance issue. The most recent version customized for the Grant Campus reads:

WWW2 Server Update

Following the plan that resulted from fruitful collaboration of governance and administraion, the WWW2 pages have been taken down on January 31 for most faculty. The content of WWW2 pages has been archived. If you had any content on WWW2 server, and you would like to move it elsewhere, please contact the Center for Innovative Pedagogy at extension 4804. A group of 12 faculty is being trained to use the new content management system OmniUpdate, which will serve as the platform for new sites. Their new web sites can be seen at https://www.sunysuffolk.edu/explore-academics/faculty-and-staff/faculty-websites/ The next group will be formed in April, and if you want to be considered for selection, please e-mail Christina Johnston johnstc@sunysuffolk.edu.

As a participant of the 12-member pilot group, I had a chance to try the new platform. My sense so far is that the OmniUpdate content management system is easy to use. It considerably lowers the threshold for entering the field of web publishing, compared to the old WWW2 setup. With OmniUpdate, creating a web page is not much different from writing a MS Word document. Please consider joining the next pilot group!

Micro-credentials

There is a renewed interest at the college in exploring the possibility of developing micro-credentials. It is a SUNY initiative, but with local control. Vice President Beaudin is heading the effort of determining if and how this idea may benefit our students, programs and institution as a whole. Please see this binder for further details on micro-credentials. The binder contains a Memorandum and SUNY Micro-Credentialing Task Force Report and Recommendations.

Governance Survey

The Executive Committee, in collaboration with the College Middle states team, is working on a survey to assess faculty governance. Our campus has been ahead of the other two in terms of governance assessment. Now the three campuses are collaborating more than before and will be using, for the first time, a unified instrument.

The Executive Committee is reviewing the changing situation with DACA students, faculty authored textbook policy, and the survey that will be used as assessment instrument for faculty governance.

The Technology Committee met on November 21, 2017 3:45-5:00PM. The chairs shared information about the postponement of www2 shutdown and availability of Office 365 for home computers only as well as new wireless upgrades. The areas reported of various requests for improvements such as IPhone Blackboard access, classroom technology training for new projectors and boards, and the need for new computer lab in English department. We were sharing information and discussing OER initiative from NY State as well as state funds shared by SUNY and CUNY.

The Technology Committee met on January 31, 2018 3:45-5:00PM. The chair shared information about the imminent shutdown of www2 and about upcoming workshop on OER. The update of banner was announced as well. Steve Evans informed the committee about the schedule of the desktop installation of Windows 10 OS which will be done by the Fall 2018 semester. Johanna Boutcher informed committee about upcoming training schedule for the new classroom projectors to be announced in a separate communication.

Notes from November 15 meeting of the Committee, 11:00AM – 12:00PM

PRESENT : Jessica Joyce, Suzanne Smoller, Diversability student members: Caroline Koons, Mike Smagala. PRESIDING: Michele Gentile

Next Meeting 12/6 at 11:00. Location Asharoken

The committee is working on Take Back the Night event. The mission of this event is to end sexual, relationship, and domestic violence in all forms.

We are looking for faculty and student volunteers for the event. To participate in the march or volunteer please sign up at http://signup.com/login/entry/6130686120127. Every student that volunteers at this event will receive a Certificate of Appreciation as well as a Thank You letter.

The next Take Back the Night planning meeting is February 26 at 3:15 in Captree 114.

All three campuses are collaborating for this event. Erikka Mendez is the representative for the Eastern Campus and Sarah Boles is the representative for the Ammerman campus.

The first Take Back the Night event is scheduled to take place on April 13 from 6-10 p.m. at the Grant campus. It is a march to raise awareness of domestic violence and sexual misconduct. It will include stations at timed intervals across campus that provide a host of educational resources, including prevention strategies and counseling options. Below is the timetable for the stations during the march:

• Location 1: Sagtikos Building Time: 5:00-6:30 Theme: Introduction to TBTN/ Registration Point Person: Dawn Tracy-Hanley tracyd@sunysuffolk.edu
• Location 2: HSEC Time: 6:45-:7:00 Theme: Dispelling the Myths/ Intersectionality/ Diversity/Statistics Point Person: Danielle DiMauro-Brooks dimaurd@sunysuffolk.edu
• Location 3: LRC Time: 7:15-7:30 Theme: Presentation of Local Resources/Education on Prevention Point Person: Bruce Seger at segerb@sunysuffolk.edu
• Final Location: Captree Time: 7:45-8:30 Theme: Mental Health/ Reflection/ Tabling/Food Point Person: Nicole Borzelleca borzeln@sunysuffolk.edu

Spring 2018 recipients for Grant campus continuing student scholarships were selected on January 25. A total of 16 individual campus scholarships (all distinct) were awarded with award amounts totaling to $5,025.

The Grant campus scholarship committee was unable to award over $8000 in scholarships because either no students applied or there were no qualified applicants.

Attached is a list of the scholarships that were unawarded along with the scholarship application form. We are trying to find qualified applicants so that the scholarships can be given out this current semester. Please announce this information in your classes and forward to your students via email/post on Blackboard the scholarship application and list of scholarships and/or tell your students in your offices if you know of a student that would be a good fit for any particular scholarship.

Please note that students can still apply for scholarships online at AcademicWorks, but the ones advertised there right now, they would get the money for Fall 2018. These attached scholarships are ones whose original deadlines have already passed and we're trying to give the money out to any qualified students.

Turnaround time is tight, deadline to submit is Friday 2/23 by 5 PM sharp to Terri Donnell, Caumsett 30 (Financial Aid office).

If you have any questions or if any students have questions, don't hesitate to let myself or Terri know.

For anyone interested in contributing towards SCCC scholarships: the Foundation right now is having a fleece jacket promotion if you contribute at least $100 or if you were already contributing to scholarships, contribute at least $100 more. https://sunysuffolk.thankyou4caring.org/donate

If you don't want to go to the link directly, you can go to the main SCCC Home Page and click on "Alumni and Giving" at the very top of the page, then click through to "Alumni Giving Site", then "Scholarships" and scroll down all the way to bottom and that's where you click to "Donate."

The College Governance Task Force has been meeting regularly and at length over the 2017-2018 year to collectively develop a proposal to create a new college-wide faculty governance body.

Our processes were guided by our collectively agreed upon criteria for solutions that would:

• Adhere to the mission of college-wide shared governance and respect individual campus autonomy and the one-college concept;
• Embody a sustainable, long-term vision;
• Demonstrate equitable representation among campuses, faculty, and governance leadership; and
• Limit power and adhere to a system of internal and external checks and balances.

We plan to share our draft proposal with the college community in early March.

We have agreed not to discuss details of this document in advance of the meeting. We will be subsequently available to answer questions or explain our rationales in planned fora, as campus governance bodies request, to facilitate and encourage college-wide faculty discussion.

We appreciate the trust you have placed in us.

College Governance Task Force

An issue regarding the creation and approval of certificate programs with fewer than 30 credits has come to the attention of the College Academic Standards Committee. Certificate programs at the college have historically consisted of a minimum of 30 credits. Catalog language referencing graduation requirements (p. 69 and 92) indicate a 30 credit minimum. In practice, curriculum committees and campus governance bodies have recently approved a number of certificate programs that fall below that threshold. Apparently we are not adhering to our policy.

Across SUNY, there are numerous certificate programs with fewer than 30 credits, it is a common practice. There are no State Education or SUNY minimum or maximum credit limits. An argument could be made that altering our policy enhances academic program design and development. A quick survey revealed ranges from 9 cr. – 42 cr. with many community college campuses offering a large percentage of sub 30 credit programs. Maintaining our current perspective seems restrictive. And there's the fact that we have already gone beyond (or below) the established parameter.

The CASC will initiate discussion regarding this concern at our next meeting on March 1, 2018. My thought is that we should rectify this dilemma before the publication of the next 2018-2020 catalog. Any catalog language change appears substantive and should receive governance approval. I'm hoping this email starts a conversation among those of us who will be responsible for any resolution action. Please share this information with your constituencies and forward any thoughts or concerns that may arise.

Considerable portion of that meeting was devoted to Middle States update, provided by Dean Lauren Tacke-Cushing and Professor Daniel Linker. For details on the Middle States update, please see the respective section of Chair's Report. A presentation for the whole College is forthcoming at the Professional Development Day in March.

Banner User Group Meeting December 4, 2017 notes:

• Banner 9 Implementation: Banner 8 is being desupported as of December 2018, therefore we must go to Banner 9. Banner self service will be unchanged, but will offer enhancements that you can use if you wish.
  • Project Plan: Committee is getting ready technically and functionally.
  • Differences in functionality between Banner 8 and Banner 9—Video. There are some differences with regard to location of items and navigation of Banner 9 "pages." Testers have not had problems so far.
  • Time line: going live June 2018
• Other Projects Underway
  • Degree Works
    • Go live planned for the start of fall 2018 priority registration
    • Counselors currently testing degree audits
    • Send audits to Chairs for review
    • Test Student Outcome Tracking: (this is a financial aid compliance piece)
    • SOT is being desupported in CAPP as of December 2017
    • Move all substitutions and waivers into DW (won't automatically migrate)
    • Arrange for broader testing by other users
  • Re-write of SQR Reports: SQR is used for head counts, dematriculation, faculty dues and other functions.
    • SQR is being desupported as of early 2018; reports must be written in another format or recreated in Argos
  • Excelsior Scholarship
    • Programming and support are ongoing, based on the requirements of this initiative
• Projects Completed
  • E-Transcripts: went live last week. No problems reported.
  • Purple Briefcase: Went live 11/27. This is Career Services for current students.
  • Shark Alert, part 1: this is up and running. It provides text messages to current students for enrollment related things such as billing and registration reminders.
• Proposed Projects
  • SARS Anywhere enhancement: allows students to make and cancel appointments online
  • RSVP system for open houses
  • Shark Alert, part 2 (forced survey to update address and phone)
  • Clockwork: used to track info on students with disabilities e.g. specialty textbooks needed
  • Fully online application and fee payment
• Other Business/Concerns

In the fall 2017 semester, the Committee elected our representative Jaclyn Labozzetta to serve as the secretary. (Our other representative Hope Sasway the continuing as the Committee chair.)

The Developmental Studies Advisory Committee met on February 8, in room 205 at the Ammerman Building.

The Committee is organizing the Annual Workshop on Developmental Studies called "Improving and Learning" that will take place on Saturday, March 3rd, 8 am–1:30 pm, at the Eaton's Neck Room in the Babylon Student Center. All faculty are encouraged to attend. Attendance guarantees some credit towards promotion (I believe 1/30 of a credit).

A new Accuplacer test is coming to determine placement. Departments should be looking at it to determine cut off scores. The new test will be implemented in the Spring of 2019. You can check this new test at the following links:

• https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/next-generation-sample-questions-reading.pdf
• https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/next-generation-sample-questions-writing.pdf
• https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/accuplacer-writeplacer-sample-essays.pdf
• https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/next-generation-sample-questions-arithmetic.pdf
• https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/next-generation-sample-questions-quantitative-reasoning.pdf

The New York College Learning Skills Association (NYCLSA) is looking for new members and faculty willing to take leadership positions.

Here are a few things that happened at the DEC meeting since the DEC did not meet in December:

1. Updated the Distance Education Course Assignment form and the Distance Education Course Development Form.
2. Discussed what departmental consent meant when a department wants to create a new course offering online. Came to the agreement that it would go to a departmental vote, not just the chair's signature.
3. Talked about credentials of teaching courses and how they should be assigned to full-time/adjunct faculty (which is an issue in English).
4. Discussed running developmental classes online/hybrid. Unanimously voted no.
5. Committee to continue voting on the approval of courses for Fall 2018 via email and in person next meeting.
6. Discussed the process for when a faculty member fails to submit revisions in a timely manner while going through the CIP Academy.
7. Discussed the www2 update. (All faculty web pages have been brought down except a few who are part of an OmniUpdate pilot group.)

Next DEC Meeting is March 1st.

The committee has not met since the last Assembly meeting.

Spring 2018 recipients for college-wide continuing student scholarships were selected on January 26. A total of 8 individual scholarships (7 distinct) were awarded with award amounts totaling to $3,350.

Joint Planning and Assessment Council met on February 8. Considerable portion of that meeting was devoted to Middle States update, provided by Dean Lauren Tacke-Cushing and Professor Daniel Linker. For details on the Middle States update, please see the respective section of Chair's Report. A presentation for the whole College is forthcoming at the Professional Development Day in March.

Executive Director Kaliah Greene gave an update on the meeting of Assessment Advisory Council. The reports are coming in, the Council will wait for Middle States visit to inform us on the next steps. So far, there are 47 reports from academic and 20 reports from administrative units.

Executive Director Kaliah Greene announced that Data Standards Committee has been established, with her as the Chair. It is charged with determining structure, ownership and handling standards for the college data. Committee has representatives from many areas of the College. It will start meeting bi-weekly.

Vice President Pedersen provided update for the Strategic Planning Council. The Council is starting 27 month process to formulate next strategic plan. The College is on a 7 year cycle with the current one ending in 2020. He clarified distinction between assessment and evaluation. Assessmnent is an ongoing process, it focuses on outcomes and improving them. It is a formative activity. Each time, at least one learing or service outcome is assessed. Evaluation is periodic, delivers judement (7 year cycle) about whether the program is effective. It is a summative activity.

March is designated as the month for STEM and for Women! The College-wide STEM Chairs, faculty, and Librarians organized College-wide STEM-related events to promote Suffolk County Community College commitment to STEM excellence. March 7th is the college-wide STEM awareness/Share-O-Thon day.

• At the Eastern Campus, many activities such as providing scientific instruments, movies, math puzzles, DNA model, sexton, solar panels, posters, and many more will be hosted at the library on March 7th.
• At the Ammerman, two days are designated: March 7th for posters and clubs and March 14th for Student scholars appreciation day with administration speaking.
• At the Grant Campus, the Share-O-Thon activities will start at 11 a.m. at the entrance of the LRC building. Students will present club project and poster demonstrations. Faculty will be awailable to speak with the students and to share their knowledge.

More details are coming soon...

Campus Activates and Student Leadership is sponsoring a women's leadership development day for the students:
Date: Tuesday, March 27 please note this is during SCCC spring recess
Time: 10am - 3:30pm
Location: Captree Commons Cafeteria

St. Baldrick's Foundation is hosting Fatty McGees on March 10th @ 5:00 pm at 138 Connetquot Avenue in East Islip. Please see the flyer for details.