Academic Assembly Update

This is the last Assembly meeting in my term as chair, and I would like to use this opportunity to thank everybody who helped me in my job over the last four years.

I came to this position in a difficult moment in the history of shared governance at our institution. Vice President Beaudin was instrumental in bringing the three campuses together. He created a space where regular conversations between governance and administrators, as well as among the governance leaders themselves, could take place, and maintained courteous and welcoming atmosphere that enabled effective and honest communication that is so crucial for shared governance. I hope these regular meetings becomes an institutional tradition.

I would also like to thank my counterparts from the other two campuses: Nina Acquavita, Paul Basileo, Laurey Buckley, and Daniel Linker never ceased to impress me with their professionalism and dedication to Faculty Governance. I would not be able to do my job without their council and support.

Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to all of you -- the fellow members of the Grant Campus Academic Assembly -- for your support and principled position throughout these years. Your commitment to our common mission and your integrity sustain a genuine faculty governance system at the Grant Campus. Thank you for the privilege and opportunity to serve the Assembly as Chair!

Grant Academic Standards met on 4/20/21.

• Academic Integrity Subcommittee met with VPAA Beaudin on 4/19/21 to discuss the revised Academic Integrity Code of Conduct.
• Absences and Attendance Policy Subcommittee received feedback from the Legal Department. Suggestions were mostly editorial in nature; however, one suggestion required follow-up before CASC was ready to vote.
• Probation and Dismissal Subcommittee is continuing to review data from OPIE. The resolution to include one- and two-credit PED courses to count toward unrestricted electives passed at both Assembly and Senate; Eastern Congress tabled the resolution at their last meeting. The resolution to remove the PED waiver passed on all three campuses and will be put into effect Fall 2021.

The deadline to apply for continuing student scholarships is Friday, May 28. There are still several scholarships that have no applications. It would be very helpful if the following information and attached document can be shared with students (Blackboard announcement, mention in real-time online classes, mention when assisting students, emailed to students, etc.). Thank you in advance!!

Information to share with students:

College Wide Academic Standards met on 4/1/21. The resolution to include one- and two-credit PED courses to count toward unrestricted electives passed at both Assembly and Senate; Eastern Congress tabled the resolution at their last meeting. The resolution to remove the PED waiver was passed by all three governance bodies and will be put into effect Fall 2021.

• Academic Integrity Subcommittee will look into policy revision in cases when a student attempts to withdraw after instances of academic integrity violations.
• Absences and Attendance Policy Subcommittee received feedback from the Legal Department which was reviewed during the meeting. Discussed and made editorial changes, but did not vote on the revised policy, as there was a suggestion that required clarification.
• Probation and Dismissal Subcommittee is reviewing data from OPIE. One notable statistic to share: about 40.5% of all probation and dismissal cases are from rate of completion alone.

The deadline for submitting Summer textbook orders was April 12 and the deadline for submitting Fall textbook order is May 24. Please see the attached document or refer to Campus Brief #53 (dated 3/19/21).

Developmental Studies Advisory Committee has not met since my last update. Nothing has been scheduled.

• The committee met on Friday, April 2.
• Kristie David provided updates from the SCC Foundation.
• The committee reviewed and discussed a draft of the Scholarship Policies and Procedures Manual.
• The committee discussed some details and technical issues regarding the Blackbaud Online Scholarship system.
• The New Student Scholarship deadline has been pushed back to May 14, 2021.

Around the end of March the Council affirmed the current 2013-2020 Strategic Plan until December 2021. (This is an extension of a similar decision, taken in April 2020, which affirmed the original Plan until August 2021.)

The Council met on April 22, 2021. It elected Kaliah Greene as the Co-Chair of the Council, replacing Vice President Jeffrey Pedersen, who recently retired.

In the meeting, the Council deliberated on its plans of restarting 2020-2027 Strategic Planning process in April 2021, with the target completion date in December 2021. The issue of adopting the plan ahead of the new College President hiring was discussed. Members stressed the need to build the new Strategic Plan with the possibility of its future adjustment by the incoming President, and the necessity of incorporating the new post-COVID realities in it.

The Council also discussed the possibility of shortening the time scope of our Strategic Planning Process. Currently our plans cover 7 year spans, but many institutions opt for a shorter 3 or 5 year period.