MCC Daily Tribune

Responses to Unanswered Questions from January 22nd MCC Town Hall

QUESTION: Enrollment is far down and many adjunct faculty have either no classes or smaller numbers than in the past. Many are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. Will the college pledge not to oppose benefits for them?

ANSWER: Eligibility for unemployment insurance is determined by New York State, not MCC, and eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis. Individuals employed by educational institutions are generally not eligible for unemployment insurance during breaks in the academic term or in between academic years if they have reasonable assurance of rehire for similar services the following semester or year. Adjuncts, however, who did not receive spring 2021 assignments or received fewer assignments may be eligible for unemployment benefits and are encouraged to learn more on the NYS Department of Labor website: here are links to FAQs and additional information. Although the College pledges not to contest these claims, eligibility determinations are ultimately made by the State.

QUESTION: Aren't the vaccines only for face-to-face teaching faculty/student instructors now? Not administrative staff.

ANSWER: Eligibility for the vaccine depends on the functions an employee performs. For example, if administrative staff are volunteering to staff our campus-based pool testing, they are eligible now for vaccination.

QUESTION: What about Building services you keep on forgetting them all the time talk???

ANSWER: Fair feedback. Building Services are and have been an absolutely integral aspect of MCC’s ability to open and remain open safely. Thanks for the reminder to keep them front and center along with other departments who are also on the front lines.

QUESTION: Has MCC reached out to students that are going to take on campus classes about the new mandate of being tested weekly?

ANSWER: Yes, continued communication via email and the Student Tribune provide students with COVID related updates, in addition to general information on the Web and the COVID response page(s), as well as MCC social media channels. The “What Students Should Know” about the spring semester communication started in December and a reminder “nudge” went out on Friday, January 22.

QUESTION: As faculty, do I have to be part of the testing pool or can I be tested off campus at a different site? I just don’t know what I would do if I was a false positive in the testing pool

ANSWER: Any employee may test at any site that is convenient and works for them. If you choose not to test at MCC’s surveillance pool testing, simply follow up by providing proof of a negative test result with HR.

QUESTION: As a part of the College's DEI endeavors/processes, currently what practices is the College implementing to assist students in addressing their accommodation needs (i.e. additional time to take exams within courses, etc.) in our current online instructional environment? This issue is a barrier to currently enrolled students' persistence/retention.

ANSWER: Similar to pre-COVID, Disability Services initially meets one-on-one with every new student that is requesting accommodations at the College. Our current delivery of service is consistent to when we were on-campus except our conversations now include how the accommodations are applicable in the remote learning environment. Also, our primary meeting mode is now via zoom. We continue to engage with our students and faculty regularly and we offer drop-in zoom sessions that focus on different topics (i.e., assistive technology trainings, academic success related workshops, etc.).

When a student is approved extended test time, faculty have the ability to adjust the student’s allotted time on their end when the assessment is being delivered electronically/remotely. If a professor is not sure on how to do so we refer them to Virtual Campus for assistance. For face-to-face instruction students are required to work with Testing Services and their instructor if student chooses to utilize their testing accommodations.

As a reminder, Disability Services no longer oversees accommodated testing for our students. Testing Services oversees and manages all accommodated testing requests. We refer faculty and students to the Testing Services for next steps on accessing their testing needs.

Another accessibility-related challenge that has been brought to our recent attention is faculty/departments are using various platforms (i.e., Connect, etc.) in their assigned courses. In this remote world, we are finding that faculty are placing a great emphasis on using software that ensures test integrity and many times the software is inaccessible with the student’s approved accommodations. Faculty often contact Disability Services and we will attempt to troubleshoot any situation; however, often times we refer them to Virtual Campus and/or Testing Services for additional guidance when necessary.

QUESTION: For someone working on campus, once they receive both doses of the vaccine, is there any need to continue to do the weekly pooled testing? Should they send proof of the vaccine to HR? How will this be managed?

ANSWER: This is an important and often asked question. Once vaccinated, people continue to need to test, wear face masks, and practice social distancing until herd immunity is reached in the population at large.

QUESTION: Would faculty have to be vaccinated in order to teach F2F?

ANSWER: At this time neither NYS, SUNY nor the College require any individual to be vaccinated. Face to face instruction does require weekly testing.

QUESTION: What is the status of the summer sessions in 2021? How does the earlier end date in spring affect summer start dates? When will the schedule be available and when will registration open?

ANSWER: The summer 2021 sessions dates are unchanged. Please see the website for the start and end times for all 3 sessions. Instruction will be largely held online or remotely, however, similar to last fall and this spring, there will be some labs or other activities in-person. Registration for summer opens on February 8, 2021.

QUESTION: Some faculty members have to take salary cuts of anywhere from $8,000 to over $16,000 for the rest of this year through August 2021. Most others in the college have NOT had to do this. This seems to be unfair to teaching faculty. This is permanently lost salary. How is this fair?

ANSWER: Although the decline in enrollment has clearly had an impact on teaching faculty, at this point no teaching faculty member at the college has directly been mandated a salary cut. MCC was able to achieve savings over the past 10 months through voluntary furloughs, voluntary separations, buy downs, utility savings, and other budget measures in order to avoid salary cuts for any person working at the college. However, due to decreased enrollments, there are fewer sections of courses being offered overall; this impacted the number of available overloads and adjunct assignments offered. Overloads are not contractually guaranteed and are not a part of a faculty member’s regular salary.

QUESTION: Director of Registration and Records and Director of Student Leadership and Development search updates?

ANSWER: We expect both the Director of Registration and Records and Director of Student Leadership and Development searches to be completed within the next week or so.

QUESTION: Will Building Services employees be eligible for vaccination?

ANSWER: Again, vaccine eligibility depends on what the employees' job responsibilities are. Monitor the MCC COVID information web page for regular updates for NYS and Monroe County vaccination eligibility.

Clayton Jones
Government and Community Relations
01/27/2021