Author: Joseph Ugoretz

Macaulay College Council Meeting
December 6, 2022, 3 pm
Macaulay Honors College Lecture Hall

MINUTES

DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION AND REVIEW ONLY. NOT YET APPROVED BY COUNCIL.

Attendance: Dara Byrne (Dean and Chair), Joseph Ugoretz, Karen Shelby, Susan Tenneriello, Lizzie Reis, Lisa Brundage, Kelly O’Donnell, Lavelle Porter, Logan McBride, Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson, Iliana Garcia, Zobia Jamal, Fawzia Shameen, Richard White, Douglas Cohen, Lynda Klich, Owen Gutfreund, Carmen Boullosa

1. Introductions
All present introduced themselves to the group.

2. Approval of Minutes from Spring 2022 Meeting
Approved (unanimous) with the provision that the minutes would be amended to include attendance.

3. Dean’s Welcome and Report–Dean Dara Byrne

The Dean presented a discussion of the state of the college based on the Landscape of Higher Education, the College’s Strategic Plan, and Current Priorities and Opportunities.  She discussed current attitudes towards and challenges to higher education’s role and relevance, announced that as recruitment season was ending, Macaulay has a robust pool of applicants, and will be working to provide more resources at a time when the University has less.  She discussed the Strategic Plan’s pillars (Student Success, Academic Innovation/Excellence, Community, and Institutional Longevity) and how to make sure our documentary records and data accurately reflect what we do and achieve. She answered questions about how to balance when to look to campuses for resources as opposed to Macaulay Central, making seminars more consistent, travel time and safety issues for students, and ways to make the Macaulay consortial community a true sharing community, where resources and ideas travel in both directions, “both/and” rather than a zero-sum “either/or.”

4. Updates—Senior Associate Dean Joseph Ugoretz

1. Open Meetings Law–due to the BoT’s resolution that meetings subject to the NY State Open Meetings Law must be held in-person (not virtually), this, and all future meetings of the Council (and its committees) must held in person.  At the next meeting the Council will need to discuss and vote on a resolution affirming this.

2. Bridge Scholars–With the current pilot of the Macaulay Bridge Scholars community college transfer program underway at the College of Staten Island, we have finalized plans for two more cohorts.  The first, starting in summer 2023, will be with BMCC and Macaulay at John Jay College, and the next, starting in summer 2024 (provisionally–planning is still underway), will be with BMCC, Guttman, and Macaulay at Baruch College.  We plan to make this program a sustainable and permanent part of the Macaulay ecosystem, open to all CUNY Community Colleges.

3. JEHN (Justice and Equity Honors Network)–Two new Honors Colleges have agreed to join JEHN for the 2023-2024 cohort: the University of Pittsburgh’s David C. Frederick Honors College, and the University of Central Arkansas’ Norbert O. Schedler Honors College.  The Summer Gathering in June was very successful and we showed a video of students’ responses:

5. Council Committee Memberships–The current committee members were listed and committee memberships are open for all the committees.  The Governance Committee and Elections Committee were merged together since their purviews overlap.  A form soliciting interested Council members’ participation in all the Committees will be circulated to all members by email.

1. Curriculum Committee
2. Ad hoc Governance/Elections Committee
3. Appointments Committee
4. Admissions Committee

6. New Business

No new business.

The meeting adjourned at 5 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Joseph Ugoretz (for Amanda Hick).

Macaulay College Council Meeting
March 17, 2022 on Zoom

MINUTES

Attendance: Joseph Ugoretz, Vanessa Valdés, Karen Shelby, Ira Bloom, Bettina Zolkower, Lisa Brundage, Susan Tenneriello, Owen Gutfreund, Cheryl Smith, Zobia Jamal, Logan McBride, Steve Monte, Lizzie Reis, Kelly O’Donnell, Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson, Carmen Boullosa, Zohra Saed

Zoom Recording

1.  Approval of Minutes from Fall 2021 Meeting ( https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/collegecouncil/2021/11/02/october-28-2021/ )  Approved.
2. Dean’s Report (Interim Dean Valdés)
   1. 7,997 applications this year for Macaulay’s 520 spots.  Thanks and congratulations to directors and advisors.  Almost doubled from last year.
   2. Some elected officials will be visiting
   3. Macaulay Day, May 10, will honor and remember the late Bill Macaulay
   4. College governance structure–interested in writing bylaws and revising governance.
3. Updates:
   1. Dean Search–applications are closed, April 7,11,12,13,25 will be finalist meetings with Council members (faculty).  Finalists not yet announced, and final schedule not yet announced.  Pool is very encouragingly strong.
   2. Bridge Scholars (transfer from community college to Macaulay)-cohort 1 graduated, cohort 2 currently in place at CSI, received funding from Petrie Foundation for cohorts 3 and 4, to come.
   3. JEHN (Justice and Equity Honors Network)–cohort 1 is meeting with Barrett at ASU students as a co-taught class.  Washington DC summer gathering will be 6/21-6/28.  Cohort 2 has been recruited and will begin in fall.  Next step will be to welcome other honors colleges.
   4. SPH 4 + 1–all applicants were accepted by School of Public Health and will begin taking SPH graduate courses while they’re still Macaulay undergrads.
   5. Fall classes/reopening schedule–fall Macaulay classes are posted.  Most are listed as hybrid.  University expects to move to endemic rather than pandemic orientation. Building is open and available for students.
   6.  Commencement–Commencement will be in-person June 7 at United Palace.  Classes of 2020 and 2021 will be invited to share the celebration, even though they’ve already graduated.
4. Proposed honorary degree for Jessica Ware (see ware-statement-of-merits). Approved.
5.  Degrees for graduates who meet all requirements–Approved
6.  Council Committees–volunteers to contact Amanda Hick.  Curriculum Committee is the most active and important.
7. New Business

Motion to adjourn

Respectfully submitted, Joseph Ugoretz

MHC College Council Meeting
Thursday October 28, 2021, 4-6pm
Zoom

(Zoom Recording)

Minutes

1. Approval of Minutes of last meeting: approved
2. Introductions
   1. New Faculty / Distinguished Lecturers
      1. Carmen Boullosa
      2. Logan McBride
      3. Zohra Saed
      4. Norrell Edwards
3. New Post-Docs
   1. Joe Pentangelo
   2. Andre Fludd
   3. Jean Park
4. New Interim Dean:
   1. Dr. Vanessa K. Valdés
5. Dean’s Updates
   1. Meeting 1:1 with each staff/faculty member
   2. What is the Macaulay Honors College experience?
      1. Academic Affairs
      2. Student Services
      3. Student Support Team
      4. Wellness
      5. Bridge Scholars Programs
   3. Heightening the program to the rest of CUNY
6. Spring Central courses and Curriculum Committee Report
   1. November 15^th, syllabi are due (new course proposal)
7. JEHN Update
   1. Students were given the book “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson
   2. Projects, with presentations at a summer 2022 gathering
   3. Cultural events, social activities, and community service (during their summer trip)
   4. Spring virtual info session for other honors colleges
8. Bridge Scholars Program(s)
   1. current cohort at CSI
   2. Invited to apply by Petrie Foundation for two new cohorts
9. Council Membership/Elections
   1. Asking for faculty self-nominations for College Council
   2. Lisa Brundage is working with the Dean Search Committee (contact Lisa for any search questions)
   3. College Council
10. New Business
    1. How is the consortial piece working out with MHC Central (new faculty) to the campuses?
    2. Hybrid/online (limited space in Macaulay classrooms)

Motion to Adjourn

 

Respectfully submitted by Amanda Hick, 10/28/21

Minutes from the  Macaulay College Council Meeting
Friday May 7^th, 2021 from 3-5pm

• Approval of last meeting’s minutes – Approved
• Dean’s Updates:
  • Increasing vaccinations, with some ambiguity.
  • Directive from Chancellor that classes in fall should be 60% hybrid and 40% online.
  • All MHC courses will be considered hybrid.
  • 3 ft / 6 ft distancing plans will need to be created.
  • Will have engineers check our HVAC system.
  • Local campuses will be responsible for pay raises plus fringe.
  • Commencement June 2nd: will be online with commencement speaker: Baratunde Thurston (approved by Council vote online 3/24/21).
  • We do not yet have a date or further information to share regarding opening of the Macaulay building. There are several moving parts and we are actively preparing for opening.
• Approval of Macaulay degrees for graduating seniors: Approved!
• Update on faculty searches.
• Revised Seminar course descriptions: Approved!
• Discussion/New business
  • • Discussion of building use protocols
    • Discussion of incentives for seminar faculty
    • Discussion of class activities and social distancing
    • Discussion of outdoor student social events during summer
    • Discussion of faculty/TLC/post-doc models and consortial structure
    • Request to Survey seminar faculty

Respectfully submitted by Amanda Hick on 5/10/21.

In these challenging times, and in concert with CUNY’s Grade Flexibility Policy, we need to have a policy for the specific Macaulay requirements and how they will be handled.  Students have been asking, and we want to have clear answers for them.  To provide those answers, we have developed the Macaulay Continuity and Completion Policy (The document was also emailed to all Council members.)

This policy was developed by Macaulay’s Academic Affairs Team and reviewed by Dean Pearl and by the Student Services team, and has been circulated to the campus advisors and directors.  The Council’s Curriculum Committee reviewed and approved the policy.  The Council as a whole was asked to vote on the policy by electronic voting.  Due to the emergency situation preventing face-to-face meetings and the urgency of this policy for the interests of Macaulay students, the vote was conducted electronically between without an in-person meeting.  Comments and discussion were invited.

At the conclusion of the voting period, the votes were tallied and the results are below.  No public discussion or comments were submitted. The policy was approved by the majority and is now in effect for the spring 2020 semester.

Council Membership=21 members (quorum=11 members)

16 Members voted “Yes, I vote to approve the Macaulay Continuity and Completion Policy”

3 Members voted “No, I vote not to approve the Macaulay Continuity and Completion Policy”

0 Members voted “I abstain”

2 Members absent (did not vote)

The policy is approved.

To approve an Honorary Degree for Ayana Elizabeth Johnson.

Council Membership=15 members (only faculty members may vote for honorary degrees. Quorum=8 members)

10 Members voted “Yes, I vote to approve an Honorary Degree for Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

0 Members voted “No, I vote not to approve an Honorary Degree for Ayana Elizabeth Johnson”

0 Members voted “I abstain”

5 Members absent (did not vote)

The honorary degree is approved.

Minutes from the meeting of the Macaulay College Council
October 23, 2019, 6-8pm Lecture Hall Macaulay Honors College

Members Present: Mary Pearl, Joseph Ugoretz, David Rosenberg, Elizabeth Reis, Karen Shelby, Ira Bloom, Ted Widmer, Regina Bernard, Roni Natov, Lynda Klich, Owen Gutfreund, Sylvia Tomasch.
Members Absent: Mike Owen Benediktsson, Richard Ocejo, Steven Monte, Douglas Cohen, Susan Tenneriello, Betina Zolkower.
Others/Guests Present: Steven Rudolf, Amanda Hick, Lisa Brundage

Introductions and Attendance:
Welcome from Dean Pearl. An update was given on the PSC contract.

Approval of Minutes:
Minutes from the last meeting (2/27/19) were unanimously approved.

Dean’s Report:
Dean Pearl provided an update on the CUNY Hackathon and a presentation about the strategic plan for Macaulay Honors College. The entire presentation is included here: (PowerPoint file) .

One of the Associate Directors of Macaulay’s new Wellness Program, Steve Rudolf, gave a presentation, which is available here: (PowerPoint file).  He also distributed as a handout an excerpt from the book The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor (Currency, 2010). The Wellness Center has also developed a protocol for helping students in crisis or distress.  It will be emailed to all Macaulay faculty in the coming days and is available here: (PDF file)

Curriculum Committee Report and Upper-Level Class Discussion:
The Curriculum Committee approved 3 new courses to be taught by Professor Karel Rose (spring 2020), Prof. Jack Zevin (spring 2020), and Prof. Sylvia Tomasch (fall 2020). There was a discussion about how important the titles of a class are, to increase students’ interest and class enrollment.

Ideas for Curriculum Committee to discuss:

• Putting out a broader and more attention-getting (targeted) call for courses.
• Perhaps listing all courses that have been offered in the past on the website, and long-term plans for future courses.
• Surveying students to get their ideas and to make it more clear to them what offerings are available to them.
• Investigating co-listing other campus-based honors courses and enlisting campus honors offices to help with further listing Macaulay’s.
• Asking faculty to commit to teaching these courses more than once to help build up following and word-of-mouth.

New Faculty Initiatives:

Astrophysicist Emily Rice, formerly of the College of Staten Island, has joined Macaulay Honors College.  She will teach and mentor students, as well as strengthening connections with the American Museum of Natural History.  Macaulay Distinguished Lecturer Carmen Boullosa has been awarded the XIX Premio Casa de América de Poesía Americana, a prestigious award for the best volume of Spanish poetry in the Americas.

Committee Elections:

• Curriculum Committee elected: Ted Widmer, Owen Gutfreund, Sylvia Tomasch, Karen Shelby.  (Elizabeth Reis will continue as chair)
• Appointments Committee: No new members elected.  Only anticipated business for this academic year will be to recommend an honorary degree recipient.
• Admissions Committee: No new members elected.  No anticipated business.
• Adhoc Committe on Governance: will  invite Lori Fox (Macaulay’s  Legal Counsel) to join the committee.

New Business:
No new business at this time.

Respectfully Submitted:
Amanda Hick, Assistant to the Chief Academic Officer (MHC)