Meeting Minutes 5/28/2020

Task Force for the Future of Baruch 
Thursday, May 28, 2020
1:00 PM
ZOOM Video Conference

Meeting Convened: 1:05 PM

1. Introduction

2. President Wu explained his charge. He suggested that we look at future instruction in a flexible way and as a continuum. We discussed a “sliding scale” metaphor. The scale can be slid in either direction with different elements of online learning incorporated into pedagogy. President Wu brings valuable experience from his knowledge of Tulane’s efforts during Hurricane Katrina and his very recent work in preparing George Mason University for reopening in Fall 2021. His perspective on Tulane focused in particular on how students joined the rebuilding efforts and received course credit for their work.

3. Q&A Portion (Question/comment transcripts from the chat box will be published on Microsoft Teams)

4. Provost McCarthy began to discuss next steps for the Task Force and what the committee should think about in the coming days, weeks, and months of the upcoming Summer. The Provost asked four essential questions to the committee and asked them to think about these questions over the next week and decide which subcommittee they would like to be a part of. These questions were:

• What do we see as the most viable mix of online and hybrid courses and programs for the coming academic year?
• Paying attention to essential issues of appropriateness of the subject matter for hybrid learning, which hybrid programs would we consider especially appropriate for launching in Fall 2020; which in Spring 2021?
• Are we confident that we can provide appropriate space for these programs, space that will support social distancing requirements?
• In addition to faculty support services already provided by Baruch’s Center for Teaching and Learning and by CUNY, what enhanced efforts do we need to undertake immediately to enhance the effectiveness of both fully online and hybrid teaching and learning?
• What policies do we need to put in place to insure that we establish, and convey to Faculty, policies that support effectiveness, of online and hybrid teaching and learning?What further technical support do we need to make available to faculty and students to insure success – specifically support for:
  • Curricular and course design,
  • Support for online class delivery, including learning management systems, and
  • Access to online examination approaches that both respect student privacy and maintain intellectual honesty?
• As we address all of the above, how do we insure that we recognize the challenges Baruch students have faced in our recent abrupt transition to largely online, and what specific steps do we recommend – especially in the Fall term – a pervasive sense of compassion for the new challenges our students face.

The Task Force members agreed that weekly ZOOM meetings on Thursdays at 1 PM would work for their schedules throughout the remainder of the Summer (through the end of August).

5. Next Steps:

Determine subcommittees.

Share references and materials relevant to the Task Force’s mission.

Think about the topics and questions we discussed in our first meeting and how they can potentially be addressed in our work on the Task Force.

Meeting Ended: 2:38 PM