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MCC Daily Tribune

Dear Senators: Shared Governance at MCC

Dear Senators,

This message is a summary of last week’s (November) senate meeting and a clarification of the process of shared governance, and the role we have as faculty and professional staff representatives at MCC.

Each month, you as senators fulfill an important role at the College. You represent your constituents to the best of your ability. You learn what future action items are from attending the meetings, and if you miss a meeting, you can find them on Blackboard (moving to Brightspace in January).  Each monthly folder contains information and if we need a discussion forum, we post them in the content area. You present information to your constituents and you ask them clearly, how you should vote on any given issue. We use a general framework of Robert’s Rules which includes motioning, seconding motions, and then discussing items before we vote. The votes are public and tallied. Any vote we take is communicated to the President and the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), made up of our VPs. Our votes are recommendations. We are not responsible for implementing or making final decisions on policy. Nevertheless, our role is very influential if we have an administration that values our expertise, commitment, and collective voice.

At our October meeting, the Academic Policies Committee (APC) presented a future action item for November. The item was the Provisional (temporary) Placement Policy that we adopted back in Spring 2020 due to COVID. We extended that policy periodically  (not last year), because a permanent policy has not been presented to senate for a vote. There is a Multiple Measures for English Placement Committee (MMEPC) that has been working on placement, I believe, since spring of 2017. You shared the provisional policy with your constituents and came to the November meeting ready to vote whether to continue with the policy or not. During the discussion of that vote, a motion was made to discuss an amendment to the provisional policy.  The process went as follows:

  1. A motion was made and seconded, to hear an amendment to the policy. It passed with 79% yes, 12% no, 9% abstain.
  2. The amendment was presented . You may find it in our Blackboard site. In sum, the amendment is to include Writeplacer in addition to GPA for placement.
  3. Discussion took place. Anyone wanting to speak was recognized by me and was given approximately two minutes to speak. More time was given to respond to questions and statements. Faculty, professional staff and administration all had the opportunity to share their perspectives. You can find a draft of the minutes in Blackboard.
  4. A motion to include the amendment in the provisional policy was made and seconded. It passed with 42% yes. 21% no, 36% abstain.
  5. A motion was made to vote separately on math placement. It was seconded and the math placement passed with 81% yes, 6% no, 13% abstain.
  6. A motion to table the vote on the amended English provisional placement policy was made. It passed with 81% yes, 6% no, 13% abstain.

You will share the information on the amended English provisional policy with your constituents for a vote in December. There is another discussion thread posted in Blackboard if you need or want to contribute information.

Everything I just outlined is the way shared governance is supposed to happen at MCC. As a shared governance body, the Faculty Senate meetings are the very place we can discuss and deliberate matters on the agenda and new business. My role as President is to preside over these meetings, and to make sure people are heard in an organized manner. You have every right to bring up concerns, and to amend any policy that we are voting on. Senate will decide how to move forward. No one, especially administration, should tell you or imply, that you do not have the right to exercise your role as senator. I believe that the senate space is ours to do our job, and MY job is to make sure that is done with process and clarity.

There has been much discussion about the amendment that was introduced. You may agree or disagree with the amendment. However, your job is to present the information, and collect your constituents’ wishes. That is how you will vote. If you have any questions, you may reach out to me or any member of EC and we can clarify the issue.

A few notes on this process:

  1. Whatever we vote on will be a recommendation.
  2. The amendment is not a repudiation of the work the Multiple Measures Committee has worked on. They have yet to introduce any public information. I asked Dean Jacobs to use the next semester to present information at future senate meetings, but no formal recommendations have been presented to Senate to date. He is of course welcome to speak at our meeting next month.
  3. If the amended policy fails, then we will vote on the original provisional placement. Please make sure you discuss that with your constituents.
  4. We will continue to use Blackboard, and then Brightspace to monitor discussions asynchronously.

Thank you for your service in shared governance. We are in this together, and we respect process and our role as a recommending body. Sometimes we may not always understand what the process is. Ask and you will be assisted without judgment. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break.

Nayda Pares-Kane
Faculty Senate
11/23/2022