THE SENATE STANDARD – ISSUE 7
Dear Faculty Colleagues,
There are lots of possible changes on the horizon after last week’s ASAC meeting. Please review the action items below, and catch up on news of the week!
Senate Meetings / Minutes / Agendas
10/11/19 Senate Meeting – noon to 2pm HBC 301 – Agenda is posted on senate website
Combined Association Meetings
New Registration Process – “Pay as you Go” – APTE collected questions from their constituents, and administration has responded with answers. Faculty Senate suggested that when considering sharing information about possible initiatives, procedural changes, and other things that affect students, staff, and faculty the cabinet should in the future “default” to transparency early to ensure better communication.
New Action Items [please check due dates below!]
FROM ASAC (Academic and Student Affairs Council) – DUE – Sunday, October 27, 2019
MANY new policy changes were discussed and approved at the 10/4 meeting. This means that the items are now open for COMMENT. If you care about any of the issues below, please take some time before the deadline to learn more and comment. All of the below can be investigated more fully by going to the ASAC page. Scroll down and open the “items under review” menu, then click on “submit comment” to add your comments.
- 2020 – 2021 Academic Calendar
- Administrative Rule 4.02.006 Copyright Ownership
- Proposed Administrative Rule on D Grade – The college plans to stop accepting D grades for credit.
- Proposed Testing Center Usage Criteria (summary) – The college plans to strictly limit the use of testing centers. If you use testing centers in your teaching PLEASE review this and comment!
- Proposed AR Guideline on Non-Grade Related Student Complaints
Faculty Input Opportunity – Website and Faculty & Staff Portal (Friday, October 11, 10am – Noon, HLC 2104) What online information and services matter most to you? How would you like them to be organized? Provide input on the organization and availability of online resources during this card sort activity with ACC’s web manager, Edward Terry. Card sorting is used to help design or evaluate the architecture of a site. In a card sorting session, participants organize topics into categories that make sense to them and they may also help label these groups. This exercise for Faculty and Staff-related content will have a direct impact on how ACC organizes and uses our website (public facing page) and online resources (MyACC: Faculty & Staff portal). Register for Professional Development Credit.
Current Action Items (These are reminders for things I’ve already sent out):
Interview Opportunity! [October 8, 2019] – Austin Community College Guided Pathways Technology Assessment – Austin Community College is looking to evaluate how its software tools and related processes can best support strong and equitable student outcomes. The College is also in the midst of guided pathways reform, the early stages of an ERP upgrade, and decisions regarding IT governance. As a result of this evolving environment, The Ada Center has been asked to conduct a Guided Pathways Technology Assessment in partnership with Sova across October – November 2019. The goal of this assessment is to help prepare Austin Community College to strategically leverage technology in support of its guided pathways goals. Interviews will be conducted on Monday, November 4 from 11:45am to 12:30pm. If you’d like to be interviewed for this project and are free at that time, please submit your name on our volunteer form. FINAL REMINDER
PLEASE HELP us raise money for student scholarships! Boots and Bats Donations [deadline October 11] – Any money earned will go to supporting ACC Student Scholarships. PLEASE donate an item for our basket! To learn more about Boots and Bats, including how to donate, please read THIS LETTER from Beth Frye, Senate Treasurer. FINAL REMINDER
Questions for Presenters at our next Meeting – [deadline October 8 @ 11pm] – If you have questions about anything to do with space allocations on our various campuses to ask Mike Midgley, OR if you have questions about grievances and the ombuds office, please submit them HERE by tonight, October 8 at 11pm. This will ensure that our guests have time to research them and address them at our meeting on the 11th. – FINAL REMINDER
Newsworthy
Pinnacle Campus Update – In response to a faculty request, Neil Vickers shared an update. Please read it over if you are interested.
Campus Conversations – The live stream of the Campus Conversations at Eastview is posted to the website (also see link below). Each conversation will be lived streamed and posted to the web for those unable to attend. Some of the topics raised in the Q&A discussion at Eastview Campus included:
- New “pay-as-you-go” tuition payment deadlines
- ERP and IT system improvements
- Collegewide Campus Master Planning
- Deferred maintenance needs at Eastview and other older campuses
- Parking challenges
- Culinary move-out and what’s next for Eastview space
Parking Enforcement – Dr. Molly Beth Malcolm let me know that parking will soon be enforced more aggressively. Be sure you have a current parking permit and that you park in spots that match to avoid getting ticketed.
Have a great week, and I hope to see you this Friday at our Senate meeting!
Best,
++missi patterson