THE SENATE STANDARD – ISSUE 2.7
ACC Full-Time Faculty Senate Website
ACC Coronavirus page
Dear Faculty Colleagues,
8 weeks done, 8 to go! Below find a call for 11/13/20 FTF Senate meeting agenda items, reports on the highlights of the 10/9/20 FTF Senate and Shared Governance Review Council meetings, and ongoing calls for FTF volunteers for various committees and task forces. As noted in earlier Standards, the FTFS is committed to working in partnership with ACC leadership to accomplish the goals of both the college and the FTFS via shared governance and a joint effort to improve collaboration, connection, and caring while addressing the Climate Survey results focused on communications among various college constituencies. Be sure to share with your senator or me your thoughts on how the FTFS might do a better job to foster collaboration, connection, and caring, as well as improving communications.
Senate Meetings / Minutes / Agendas
11/13/20 Senate Meeting noon – 2pm – This is the first call for agenda items for our next monthly Senate meeting. Please send items for consideration to me at [email protected] or to your campus senator by Friday, October 30. Details for how to join this meeting online can be found on the Senate Calendar. You can also add the event (and online joining details) to your own calendar by clicking on the 11/13/20 Senate Meeting link above.
The 10/9/20 minutes are drafted and under review by FTF Senators, pending release upon revisions and approvals.
Newsworthy
Full-Time Faculty Senate Meeting (10/9/20)
- Safe Return to Campus Update (Dr. Samantha Croft, FTFS President-Elect)
- COVID Infections: A few positive cases on campuses, but no evidence of on-campus transmission
- Plan for starting spring is to be the same as fall semester, with the HLC and RRC ACCelerators and HYS Library (for computer use) available to students by appointment. No broad re-openings; they will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
- Decisions regarding staff who will return to campus handled at the AVP level, based on college needs.
- Communications Officer Update (Julz Decker)
- After resolving some tech issues, Decker has updated the FTF Senate website (senate roster; archived previous years’ information.)
- The rest of the site will be updated as the content becomes available
- Faculty Development & Evaluation Committee update (Theresa Glenn)
- Glenn briefed the Senate on the history, goals, and activities of the committee
- 2018: Founding and faculty survey
- 2019: Setting agenda from survey, committee designed a tool for ongoing faculty observation & development
- 2020: Four working groups on next steps for Counselors, Librarians, Teaching Faculty, and Student Evaluations just established
Shared Governance Review Council (10/9/20): Below find highlights of the SGRC meeting. Official minutes forthcoming.
- Dr. Missi Patterson elected as Vice-Chair
- Draft of virtual meeting guidelines for Shared Governance councils and committees discussed and revised. Official policy forthcoming.
- SGRC guidelines draft shared. Revisions include language about expectations for how and when SG councils and committees will share committee/council information. To be continued, and official policy forthcoming.
Campus Conversation with the Chancellor Rescheduled: The 10/12 event was postponed due to an unexpected conflict for our guest speaker, Dr. Mark Escott. The Office of Communications & Marketing is working with Dr. Molly Beth Malcolm and the Chancellor’s Office to find a new day and time. We are very much looking forward to Dr. Escott providing the ACC community with an update on the COVID-19 pandemic in our region and sharing any new information regarding plans for returning to campus. Visit Campus Conversations webpage for updates about the next Campus Conversation.
New Action Items [please check due dates below!]
ACC Service Learning Academy [Due Oct. 20 – Need ONE Faculty Member] – San Gabriel Head Librarian Philip Roche is heading up a TLED project to launch an ACC Service Learning Academy. Roche is forming a project team to coordinate and develop a service-learning curriculum and to implement the Academy. The team will function as a sounding board in addition to providing a diversity of perspectives to ensure the Service Learning Academy becomes a full, robust entity. Once development of the project and curriculum is complete, Roche envisions ACC beginning an active program that encourages greater participation of our faculty, staff, and students in internal and external service opportunities, service learning projects, and familiarity with the practices and benefits of adopting a servant leader mindset. Project team members can expect to spend 5-10 hours between now and the end of the semester. Please complete the Senate Volunteer Form if interested.
Current Action Items (These are reminders for things I’ve already sent out):
Institutional Transformation Assessment Survey [need TWO full-time faculty members ASAP] — ACC is participating in a survey instrument called the Institutional Transformation Assessment. The themes of the survey are Guided Pathways, Success Supports, and Operational Capacity. This survey should take about 15-30 minutes. If you are interested representing the full-time faculty in this survey, please submit your name to the Senate Volunteer Form.
Riverbats Bravo Award Committee [need TWO full-time faculty reps— ASAP] — If interested, please complete the Senate Volunteer Form ASAP. Since we use this form for all our volunteer opportunities, be sure to designate which opportunity interests you.
ACC Equity Council recruiting TWO full-time faculty members. [No deadline stated, assume ASAP] Austin Community College District’s Equity Council collaborates with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as well as the Campus Center for Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) to fulfill the district’s mission of building capacity to achieve equity in student enrollment, persistence, and completion as well as equity in the hiring and staffing of ACC employees. The Equity Council will work collaboratively with the ACC Employee Associations and serve as an advisory group to the Chancellor and the Chancellor’s Cabinet. Visit https://www.austincc.edu/facstaff/acc-equity-council for the details and the online application form.
Submit your CSAA Nominations [October 16, 2020] The deadline to nominate your graduating students for the Chancellor’s Student Achievement Award (CSAA, formerly known as the PSAA) is just two weeks away! As a reminder, the CSAA is the most prestigious student award given by ACC. The recipient must demonstrate academic excellence, service to the college and community, and commitment to ACC values and vision. Does this sound like one of your students? Submit a nomination to acknowledge their hard work and dedication during their time at ACC.
Best,
Wayne