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Faculty Assembly

FA Winter Retreat Jan 12 2021

Teaching During the Pandemic

FAEC Summary

The past two semesters have been incredibly difficult for faculty.  Challenges include managing working and homeschooling their own children simultaneously, lack of student engagement, a general lack of a standard student code of conduct in the virtual setting, along with high general levels of stress and fatigue.

Suggestions from faculty on ways to improve teaching experience:

  1. Reduce the expectations placed on students, within reason.
  2. Increase student engagement by randomly calling on them during virtual class.
  3. Allow students time to socialize with one another during breakouts to promote better class dynamics.
  4. Use tools such as:
    1. Flip Grid
    2. Miro
    3. Mural
    4. Vocaroo
    5. Slack
    6. Camtasia
    7. Padlet.com
    8. Jamboard

A key problem raised several times is student participation with webcams.  Many faculty are still not sure how to handle the situation, however all agree that without students on camera, instruction and participation is significantly degraded.  ASB forwarded potential wording for syllabi to encourage the use of webcams:

“For your WebEx presence to count for attendance and/or class participation, students are expected to keep their cameras on during virtual synchronous class meetings.  If there is some specific reason that you cannot keep your camera on, please notify the instructor before class.”

A second core issue is the lack of a student code of conduct for virtual instruction.  Faculty find students have inconsistent and incorrect expectations, have trouble using email professionally, and that there is an inappropriate level parental involvement in academic activities and decisions.

Faculty remain interested in learning more from their colleagues.  There are requests for another faculty showcase on instruction similar to what was held last Spring.  Faculty noted several campus groups and programs which have been invaluable, including the library’s Interlibrary Loan program.

Adjunct Instructors at Ramapo

  1. Adjuncts appreciated the invitation to join the retreat and welcome further involvement at FA meetings and activities.
  2. There is a general feeling that Ramapo can do a better job recognizing the value adjuncts bring to the College, particularly those adjuncts that have been at the College for many years.
  3. Ways adjuncts can be recognized:
    1. Creation of an adjunct teaching recognition award
    2. Make adjuncts eligible for the Bischoff Award.
    3. Adjuncts should appear in the faculty profile web pages associated with each school.
    4. A web presence for adjuncts will also help students contact their instructors.

Faculty Concerns

Faculty expressed concerns about the following broad topics:

  1. Presidential Search:
    1. What level of commitment will the new President have to liberal arts?
    2. How can we feel confident with a virtual-only interview?
  2. Enrollment:
    1. Is Ramapo seeing an influx of local students who would normally be attending universities outside NJ?
    2. How are the Spring ‘21 dorm and enrollment numbers shaping up?
  3. Finances:
    1. Faculty continues to hear rumors of mergers, and questions about Ramapo’s financial sustainability.
    2. Is there additional CARES funding expected, and if so, to what amount?  Are there other inflows of funding expected?
  4. Students:
    1. Faculty would like to see better coordination with SGA on student issues.
    2. Faculty expressed concern for international students – citing inconsistent reports on how well they are being responded to from the College.

There are several procedural and administrative issues that faculty remains uninformed about, and request additional clarity:

  1. Schedule going forward: the course delivery mode and expectations from faculty and students.
  2. Faculty Handbook revisions, or lack thereof.
  3. Tenure clock, reappointments, and promotion opportunities.  There are disciplines whose core research work and output revolves around access to equipment and labs on campus, professional conference meetings, and other things drastically limited over the past 10 months.  There is concern that issues such as pausing the tenure clock have not been addressed or clarified.  There are concerns regarding the limited promotion opportunities creating bottlenecks in the future.
  4. Faculty would like to be more confident setting their own course policies – with a more informed understanding of the Provost’s position, and what other instructors are doing.
  5. It would be helpful if faculty (esp. adjuncts & untenured profs) knew that they can schedule additional asynchronous days even if their course is listed as “virtual”.
  6. The administration’s encouragement of students participation in the course evaluation in the Fall suggested the use of extra credit, and other grade-related incentives to complete surveys.  Faculty is not comfortable with this language.

Additional non-academic concerns remain:

  1. Faculty requests more complete and clear information regarding filing for unemployment while furloughed, and requests more support from the AFT and HR.
  2. How will vaccination be handled for faculty?  Will vaccination be mandatory for faculty, staff, and students?
  3. What plans are being made for assisting / supporting all campus members after the pandemic, in particular the mental and emotional toll the past year has taken.

Ramapo going forward

There were several suggestions offered relating to changing the way things work at Ramapo in the future, as a result of our pandemic experiences:

  1. Many faculty would like to see virtual meetings become the norm.  Virtual participation in meetings would allow more flexible schedules, and allow for a reduction in commuting.  Virtual meetings have been surprisingly efficient and effective.
  2. The College should move to a paper-free work environment.  We have switched mainly to electronic PDF forms, and this trend should continue.
  3. FA should maintain a shared resource page for faculty.
  4. Some faculty expressed a new confidence that alternative teaching strategies – such as hybrid and virtual synchronous learning – have benefits, and should not be dismissed for some courses going forward.

 

The following issues arose during the Winter 2021 Faculty Assembly Retreat:
Summary of the “raw data”

Suggestions for FAEC and Provost Council: 

  • Respondus and problems with it, Steve Rice bringing it back to Provost council.
  • Organize FA and FF around one item, and discuss in depth.

 

Presidential Search/Administrative Issues

  • There was concern that the next president might not be fully committed to the College’s liberal arts mission.
  • A likely a concern across the faculty:  Tenure clock, reappointments, and promotion opportunities. Of special concern here, issues such as pausing the tenure clock have not been addressed or clarified.  There are concerns regarding the limited promotion opportunities creating bottlenecks in the future.  We could even have situations where faculty are competing for promotion against faculty who started at Ramapo perhaps afterthe pandemic.
  • Many also brought up their confusion on how the last two semesters will be considered during tenure/promotion applications. Can the tenure clock be paused during the Covid crisis?
  • There are disciplines whose core research work and output revolves around access to equipment and labs on campus, professional conference meetings, and other things drastically limited over the past 10 months.
  • While some faculty have suggested that students have unrealistic expectations of faculty to respond to emails, others note faculty have similarly unrealistic expectations also of administration and staff.
  • Faculty expressed concern about the way that the administration “encouraged” student participation in the course evaluation in the Fall. The administration asked faculty to provide incentives (extra credit) for students to participate in the course evaluation. There are real ethical issues here.
  • There was concern for clarity around the future of the college: rumors about mergers. How sustainable is it?
  • Faculty looked for new information on budget, residence hall/dorming numbers, CARES act and next round of fund.
  • Faculty Handbook revisions or lack thereof was discussed.
  • Some asked: are we getting all the students from Bergen who would have otherwise gone to national universities?

 

Adjunct Faculty Issues

The following issues related to adjunct faculty were discussed:

  • Several adjunct faculty expressed appreciation for being invited to attend the retreat but feel that Ramapo doesn’t value or express appreciation to those who have been teaching there for years.
  • It was suggested that adjunct faculty be recognized for their teaching accomplishments. One suggestion wasthe creation of a teaching recognition award, similar to the Bischoff, (or expand eligibility for Bischoff to adjunct faculty).
  • Adjunct faculty should be acknowledged more and also included in all school “faculty profiles” pages on the Ramapo site. The fact that the adjunct faculty is not in the college website did create problems; students wanted to contact them but they couldn’t find them anywhere.
  • It was suggested that with a new Provost and a new President coming in, we have an opportunity to “train” the new admin about the best way to protect and help our adjunct faculty.

 

Virtual Teaching Issues

  • Some faculty found they were less stressed when they adjusted student expectations in the classroom. Recognizing that student engagement would take different forms in Webex and asynchronous sessions, many recommended we embrace new measures for what it means for class participation and discussion under the current circumstances.
  • Breakout groups offered various points of view and teaching strategies regarding “Student Screen Engagement.”
  • There was a sense faculty can feel more confident setting their own course policies – with a more informed understanding of the Provost’s position and what other instructors are doing.
  • Some faculty with young children at home expressed the anxiety they’re feeling because of working and homeschooling simultaneously.
  • Faculty experimented with different teaching methods during the fall and shared some of the more successful outcomes.
  • Useful online teaching resources suggested included Flip Grid, Miro, Mural, Vocaroo, Slack,Camtasia, Padlet.com, Jamboard. and others.
  • The issue of keeping cameras on was raised more than once.
  • Most agree that keeping cameras on is preferred for connection between students, faculty and other students.
  • Clear recommendations on camera use would be helpful.
  • Some language suggested by The Dean of ASB: The Cameras Issue:  here’s some language to use in syllabi takes the tone not of demanding, but allows faculty to but err towards “opt in” rather than “opt out”:
    • “For your WebEx presence to count for attendance and/or class participation, students are expected to keep their cameras on during virtual synchronous class meetings.  If there is some specific reason that you cannot keep your camera on, please notify the instructor before class.”
    • The above, however is not a formal policy statement.
  • Also noted was that many students may not have the bandwidth to accommodate keeping cameras going.
  • As a way of engaging students, someone suggested allowing time to socialize with each other during breakouts.

 

Students behavior, expectations, experience

  • Issues of academic integrity seem to also be exacerbated by the current situation.
  • How do we improve student motivation?
  • How are international students doing? We have some inconsistent reports on how well they are being responded to from the College.
  • Issues about the student code of conduct were brought up. Students need instruction in email etiquette and proper communication. Students have unrealistic expectations around email response times during the pandemic.
  • One suggestion was a shared list of “expected or norms of student behavior” (maybe FA take the lead?)
  • Some students are expressing a “customer” model of demanding “service” rather than engaging in learning in the classroom. Virtual classes seem to exacerbate this problem.
  • Parental involvement in academic activities and decisions was discussed. Are parents and other family members present during Webex classes? How do we deal with privacy issues?
  • Many recommended a need for more coordinatation with SGA on student issues.
  • Going forward, we need to give students more clarity on course delivery modes and expectations from faculty and students.

 

Furlough/ Unemployment Application

  • Faculty shared firsthand experiences, concerns and confusion about the process. It would be good to continue to receive updates from AFT / FAEC on this topic.

 

Wellness

  • Faculty expressed concerns about student and faculty fatigue.
  • It would be helpful if faculty (esp. adjuncts & untenured profs) knew they could schedule additional asynchronous days to mitigate anxiety on both sides of webex courses.
  • What are the covid vaccination policies for faculty, staff and students?
  • Will the College mandate covid vaccinations for faculty, staff and students to return to campus?
  • Many faculty expressed anxiety and stress regarding returning to campus.
  • There was concern about returning post-Covid. How to help one another after this? Will we all have PTSD?

 

Resources

  • The library’s robust ILL program was commended and recommended.
  • The possibility of using Webex/ etc. for faculty meetings in the future.
  • There was a desire for a shared resource page for faculty.

 

FA Planning

  • Some suggested FA should please plan ahead so that next Fall, FA can include virtual attendance.
  • Likewise, some suggested UNIT COUNCIL meetings also allow for virtual attendance.

 

Sustainability/ Post-Covid

  • Will our distance learning experience move us toward abandoning paper processes for good?

 

 

 

Categories: FA RCNJ 2021, RAMAPO FAEC