Meeting Minutes 6/25/2020

Task Force for the Future of Baruch 
Thursday, June 25, 2020
1:00 PM
ZOOM Video Conference

Meeting Convened: 1:01 PM

1. The spokesperson for each subcommittee of the Task Force provided a summary of their final reports, which will contribute to our overall reopening plan.

• Subcommittee #1 (“How do we start?”): The subcommittee came to the consensus that almost all Fall 2020 courses should be held online. After surveying different faculty members across various departments, there was a strong sentiment in support of holding most courses online. This recommendation was made because the majority of faculty members that were surveyed did not want to put students in an uncomfortable position where they need to come to an in-person class to receive credit for the course. If a majority of courses will be held online, students, faculty, and staff should know as soon as possible, and resources should be distributed quickly. Some courses may need to be held in a hybrid format, such as studio arts courses, but there are very few classes that may need to be held in this format. It’s important for the college to consider utilizing the “Online Plus” alternative that was proposed in one of our previous meetings. It was noted that it is also important for faculty members to utilize the “notes” section of CUNY First because this can inform students of software requirements, computer program requirements, etc. that will be necessary to complete the class remotely.
• Subcommittee #2 (Faculty Development):  It was discussed that faculty members need technical assistance if most classes will be held online. Some faculty members may need full-time assistance while others may only need minimal help. The subcommittee has been working on a supplementary document to their draft report that outlines what kind of technical support has already been provided to faculty members and what additional technical support can be provided in the future. After surveying some adjunct faculty members across departments, it was discussed that faculty members should have access to their emails and CUNY First as soon as possible so that they can begin preparing their courses. Additionally, faculty members requested that the possibility of administering exams in-person for large multi-section courses be considered. The subcommittee has also reached out to various publishers to gather information about what types of resources they can provide to faculty members at Baruch. It was noted that a webcam component in a course may pose a problem for students and/or faculty members who may not want to show their homes on the screen. Additionally, not all students have devices whose hardware supports the use of a virtual background. If students were to use a Baruch device that supported the use of virtual backgrounds, students can be provided with Baruch themed virtual backgrounds or they can take time creating their own to use.
• Subcommittee #3 (Technical Support): As mentioned in the first subcommittee’s draft report, some classes may need to be held in-person or in a hybrid format, such as studio arts courses. These courses may not require the same equipment that online courses require. For example, when students come to campus for a music course, they will use the instruments that are in the room because they are available, and the instructor may not need electronic equipment during their in-person class. It’s clear that if the majority of courses are online, Baruch will need assistants to help facilitate assistance for online courses. The college will also need individuals who can provide support for instructional design. It may be possible for faculty members to setup online appointments for someone to assist them with their online or hybrid course.
• Subcommittee #4 (Student Support): The subcommittee decided to take a wholistic approach when thinking about framing their recommendations for the final report. When drafting their plan, they decided to consider five core values:
  • Students are central to everything we do.
  • Compassion needs to be integral to the work that we are doing.
  • We need to consider and practice communicating in a variety of different modalities (email, text, phone). Transparency is crucial for everyone, especially during this time.
  • It’s important to create a culture of empowerment.
  • It’s also important to cultivate trust and respect for our students.
  • In addition to considering the five core values, it was also important to the subcommittee to look at three different areas in terms of providing support for students. These areas are:
    • Transitional Support for Students’ Success
      • We need to think of different ways that students can receive information:
        • We can place the information on the forefront of our website.
        • We can create a “Student Success Portal,” where students can go to find all of the information they need to know.
        • We can create a video channel for students. The video channel can house welcome videos and informative videos to help students.
        • We can update traditional first year seminars.
        • We can increase academic advisement.
        • We can create care communities within Team Baruch so that current students can serve as a resource to new students.
      • How can we engage and empower student learning?
        • We can think about creating flexible syllabi (creating flexible assignments and due dates).
        • We can find ways to make sure that students have access to both print and digital resources.
        • We can explore the possibility of extending the credit/no credit deadline.
      • Physical Location Environment
        • We need to consider how we can make areas of campus available to students (e.g., areas for students to take exams remotely, ways for students to access library resources, and places for students to go to if they need a “safe space”).
        • We also need to think about the unique challenges that online learning may present for international students:
          • International students may be dealing with legal issues of residence.
          • We may have students who currently live in different time zones.
          • We may have students who are working behind an international firewall.

2. Next Steps:

• Provost McCarthy will review the draft reports and compile them into a final report to present to President Wu.
• The development of an FAQ document for faculty and students that defines “synchronous” and “asynchronous.” (This does not necessarily need to be done for the next meeting, but we discussed creating this document to help faculty and students as soon as possible).

Meeting Ended: 1:59 PM