Minutes #593
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Attendance
Present (34):
Jacob Adler, Chevy (Schevaletta) Alford, Elton Beckett, Ned Benton, Bibi (Silvina) Calderaro, Kathleen Collins, Artem Domashevskiy, Joy Dunkley, Jennifer Dysart, Jonathan Epstein, Diana Falkenbach, Sergio Gallegos, Alejandro Garcia Lozano, Heath Grant, Sergio Grossi, Jay Hamilton, Veronica Hendrick, Karen Kaplowitz, Allison Kavey, Anru Lee, Kyoo Lee, Jamie Longazel, Cristina Lozano Arguelles, Joseph Maldonado, Brian Maule, David Munns, Ray Patton, Kumar Ramansenthil, Macushla Robinson, Amada Santiago, Francis Sheehan, Marie Springer, Todd Stambaugh, Charles Stone
Absent (3):
Michelle Holder, Meriem Rebbani, Shilpa Viswanath
Agenda
- Adoption of the agenda
- Approval of Minutes #592 of the February 18, 2026, meeting
- Update on the Faculty Senate’s proposed policy on recording class sessions
- New business
1. Adoption of the Agenda
Approved.
2. Approval of Minutes #592 of the February 18, 2026, Meeting
Approved.
3. Report of Chair
A SimplyVoting ballot went today to the full-time faculty to elect 13 at-large representatives of the full-time faculty for next year’s Senate. There are 21 candidates. Department elections will be held in May for other Senate members.
President Kaplowitz said she is getting reports from many faculty extremely unhappy about our new email system, as is she. Others concurred. The problem is with CUNY, which chose this system, not with John Jay. Senator Ned Benton offered to create an instrument so that the Senate may survey faculty about their satisfaction with the email system. This was agreed to with gratitude.
3. Update on the Faculty Senate’s Proposed Policy on Recording Class Sessions Without Permission
President Kaplowitz reported that the Council of Chairs voted unanimously on March 4 to endorse and co-sponsor our proposed policy at the Collee Council. This strengthens our proposal. President Mason asked if the College Council vote could be moved to May but Karen said she thinks we should call for the vote in April because the May College Council meeting will have the 5-year strategic plan on the agenda and that could take up the entire meeting; she doesn’t want to have the clock run out on us. She is meeting the next day along with several senators with the Student Council and then later the next day the HEO Council to answer their questions and hear their concerns and suggestions.
She noted that one concern that had been raised at the CC is that some students who record their classes do so because they have learning disabilities but can’t afford the thousands of dollars for private testing in order to get certified for an ADA accommodation. She said this concern turns out to be unwarranted. She met with the head of our Office of Accessibility Services (OAS), Dr. Elena Beharry, who explained that she is able to provide the certification herself which means, of course, that it is free to our students.
Senator Ned Benton said that when the discussion is moved to how students’ feel, it is a problematic focus. It is essential to continuously state that faculty have copyrights on the materials – this cannot be voted to be taken away because some would feel better. It is legally impossible for the College Council to give intellectual property rights away.
Senator Allison Kavey said we need to present ourselves as student forward as we actually are. We must both make students aware of the issues and address their anxieties. We need to say that we strongly recommend that students who are encountering difficulties in their classes should see the OAS and speak directly to their professors.
President Kaplowitz said we should alert them of the importance of not have a social media record of saying terrible things that will haunt them, that this policy is for their benefit, not just ours. Unfortunately, intellectual property is an abstraction to them.
Senator Todd Stambaugh said he completely agrees with Allison Kavey. Although we have the votes – the faculty have 30 seats on the 50-member College Council -- we want the support of the students. We should focus on the unfairness of putting one student’s need to record over the needs of all others.
Senator Ray Patton said he worries if the policy were to be voted down it will be widely interpreted as permission to record. He suggested we reframe the language of the policy so that instead of prohibiting, we state the conditions when one can record. He agreed to send suggested language to the XC.
Senator Chevy Alford said students are rightfully worried about their future and how they appear on social media and we should speak about this.
Senator Benton said he continues to believe that it is important to make sure students and administrators know that they can’t vote to take away the rights of faculty and publishers. Intellectual property rights should not be taken lightly. It is important for the Senate to respect these copyrights that CUNY policy says belong to the faculty.
President Kaplowitz said we should speak about all of these reasons for our proposal at the CC and we should provide multiple voices speaking in support.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:50 PM
Provided by H. Grant and K. Kaplowitz