Steering Committee

Annual Report of the Steering Committee of the Academic Senate

Academic Year 2021-2022

Membership 2021-2022

Chair, Dr. Steven Dahlke

Vice Chair, Dr. Jannette Urciuoli

Secretary, Dr. Zivah Perel Katz

Membership 2022 – 2023 – all members ran unopposed

Chair, Dr. Steven Dahlke

Vice Chair, Dr. Zivah Perel Katz

Secretary, Dr. Scott Litroff

The Academic Senate took the following actions in academic year 2021-2022:

• In October, the Senate voted to change the PNET Evaluation Form of Faculty
• In October, the Senate voted to approve strategic and operational plans.
• In October, the Senate voted to permanently name the Lucille A. Bova Food Pantry, in honor of former President Diane Call's mother
• In February, the Senate voted to adopt a resolution Defending Academic Freedom to Teach About Race and Gender Justice and Critical Race Theory. 
• In April, the Senate voted to approve the Proposal for a College Policy on Student Evaluations of Faculty. 
• In April, by Unanimous Consent, the Senate agreed to be signatory to a Faculty Governance Leaders Retraction Request regarding recent grade policy changes made by CUNY Central.
• In May, the Senate voted to approve the Proposal of a College Policy Regarding Credit for Prior Learning.

The following actions by Standing Committees of the Academic Senate were undertaken:

• Pre-College and Continuing Education Committees reported to Senate on new initiatives
• Budget Committee advised Senate on Budget Crisis

Steering Committee undertook the following actions:

• Steering Committee presented the Request for Reassigned time to President Mangino, which she        approved. The request for 24 hours was the same as the request for 2020-2021
• Continued, in accordance with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion needs, recruitment efforts to senators who are Black for membership in Steering Committee. Efforts continued to recruit Senate nominees from diverse backgrounds
• Undertook assessment of Senate Effectiveness, per Middle States feedback. Assessement of Senate Effectiveness is second part of three year cycle, to conclude in 2022-2023 with assessment of college governance webpages
• In response to pandemic issues SC officers participated all year in moderating recurring town halls, and in Emergency Management Group meetings
• Concluded year-long work on the Five-Year Strategic Plan
• Worked with Raj Vaswani to conduct BigPulse Senate Faculty Member at Large election, assuming duties of Marketing and Communications staff
• Launched Senate Committee Preferences Google Form to match interested Student Government Association representatives with appropriate Senate Standing Committee
• Created committee-specific guidebook templates to streamline new member training process
• Updated Annual Report templates to organize and clarify report information
• Digitized and posted Committee Charges forms to maximize transparency 
• Posted all Senate actions to Senate webpage to maximize transparency
• Worked all year with Committee on Committees to standardize operations
• Conducted trainings with committee officers on online Information Management System (Cascade)
• Digitized all Senate nomination processes

Steering Committee acknowledges the outstanding work of all Senate Standing Committee chairs and secretaries in 2021-2022.

Steering Committee gratefully acknowledges the superior work of Vice Chair Jannette Urciuoli who stepped down from the committee after four years of meritorious service.

Steering Committee thanks Rezan Akpinar for bravely stepping up to serve as Senate Technology Officer. 

Steering Committee thanks Scott Litroff for stepping into the role of Steering Committee Secretary.

Respectfully submitted,

Steven Dahlke, Chair

August 29, 2022