Minutes #596

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Attendance

Present (33):

Jacob Adler, Chevy Alford, Elton Beckett, Ned Benton, Bibi Calderaro, Kathleen Collins, Artem Domashevskiy, Joy Dunkley, Jonathan Epstein, Diana Falkenbach, Alejandro Garcia Lozano, Heath Grant, Sergio Grossi, Jay Hamilton, Veronica Hendrick, Michelle Holder, Karen Kaplowitz, Allison Kavey, Anru Lee, Jamie Longazel, Cristina Lozano Arguelles, Joseph Maldonado, Brian Maule, David Munns, Ray Patton, Kumar Ramansenthil, Meriem Rebbani, Amada Santiago, Francis Sheehan, Marie Springer, Todd Stambaugh, Charles Stone, Shilpa Viswanath

Absent (4):

Jennifer Dysart, Kyoo Lee, Macushla Robinson, Sergio Gallegos

Guests:

Professor Stephen Russell, Dean of Academic Programs Andrew Sidman, Registrar Shavonne McKiever, Associate Registrar Melissa Dolan, President Karol Mason

Agenda

1. Adoption of the agenda
2. Approval of Minutes #595 of the April 14, 2026, meeting
3. Report from the Chair
4. Elections
5. Proposed Statement regarding Professional Advisors: Proponents: History Department & Humanities and Justice Program
6. Discussion about the Agenda of the May 12 meeting of the College Council

• a. Draft 5-year JJ Strategic Plan for 2026-2031

7. Proposal that the Faculty Senate propose to the College Council a policy mandating that no full-time or adjunct faculty be scheduled to teach during Community Hour:  Executive Committee
8. Invited Guest: Dean of Academic Programs Andrew Sidman: Discussion of his proposal for a Math 105 Tutoring Pilot during Community Hour
9. Consideration and vote on proposal from Dean Sidman to use Community Hour for pilot Math 105 tutoring program
10. Invited Guest: President Karol V. Mason
11. New business

1. Adoption of the Agenda

Approved

2. Approval of Minutes #595 of the April 14, 2026, Meeting

Approved

3. Report from the Chair

Macushla Robinson, a member of the Faculty Senate representing the Department of Art & Music, was in a terrible accident a week ago at the college. She was giving a few people a tour of the Gerald Lynch Theater and fell into the orchestra pit, which is 15-feet deep, breaking nine bones. The good news is that she is not paralyzed and her brain was not injured. She has had three operations already and recovery will be long. Her family is in Australia. We can ask President Mason when she meets with us later today for suggestions about what we can do. President Kaplowitz is in communication with Macushla’s chair; the department is planning a GoFundMe to bring her sister here to which we could contribute. We could send cards as well. She will let the Senate know how to do so when she has this information. Provost Pease has visited her as has Macushla’s chair.

4. Elections

The Senate elected:

a.  Manouska Saint Gilles (LPS) as an adjunct representative on the 2026-7 Faculty Senate and also as an alternate representative on the 2026-27 College Council

b.  Kendra Doychak (Psych) as an alternate representative on the 2026-27 College Council

c.  Jamie Longazel (Poli Sci) as an alternate representative on the 2026-27 College Council

5. Proposed Statement Regarding Professional Advisors: Proponents: History Department & the Humanities and Justice Program

Senator Allison Kavey spoke on behalf of both the History Department and the Humanities and Justice Program, which drafted a statement they are asking the Senate to adopt. She explained that In response to the administration’s decision to expand student advising beyond general education, the statement proposes maintaining the control and the extent of professional advising within academic departments. Because professional advisors are staff and will each be assigned to multiple departments and students will be assigned to them, a more deliberate assumption of responsibility is needed by the faculty and advisors.

Senator Kavey said the statement proposes that departments that wish to keep advising in-house get to maintain that control. Some professional advisors do not do a good job: they don’t know the curriculum, nor should they; what they really need to know is Gen Ed. She called academic advisement an extension of the classroom.

Senator Francis Sheehan agreed, saying that the only thing worse than no advisement is bad advisement, which can cost the students years, especially in disciplines like his, which is Science. Senator Chevy Alford noted that not every department is doing equally good work in advising and urged more thoughtful oversight.

Senator Kavey noted that the Council of Chairs unanimously adopted this statement a few days earlier and has urged the Senate to do so as well. She moved the adoption of the statement by the Faculty Senate.

The faculty supports efforts to innovate and improve student advising at John Jay. Because the needs of academic programs at the college are varied, it is important that the relationship between academic and professional advisors be flexible. In consultation with the professional advisor assigned to them, academic programs should create a clear set of expectations that delineate who will be responsible for informing students of new course opportunities, major requirements, college option requirements, postgraduate opportunities, internships, etc. Academic programs’ unique needs should be the focus of the delineations. Regular meetings between academic advisors and professional advisors are important for improving student paths to graduation.

The statement was adopted by unanimous vote and will be sent to Provost Pease, Dean Sidman, and Assistant Provost Villanueva.

6. Discussion About the Agenda of the May 12 Meeting of the College Council

a. Draft 5-Year JJ Strategic Plan for 2026-2031

President Kaplowitz reported that the Senate reps to the Strategic Planning Committee – Ned Benton, Joseph Maldonado, and she – were able have the words “liberal arts institution” restored to the draft of the new Mission Statement and, in fact, those are now the first three words of the statement. She thanked Senator Ray Patton for noticing that this phrase had been removed from the previous statement and for bringing this to the Senate’s attention. She said the faculty members on SPS were also able to add language to the Mission Statement about JJ being a minority serving, Hispanic serving, and Asian serving institution, which many faculty and students have been urging.

A discussion took place about the fact that the metrics by which the college will be measuring the extent to which we are meeting our 5-year Strategic Plan goals and objectives, which are called KPIs [Key Performance Indicators] have not yet been developed and, thus, the College Council will be voting on only the Strategic Plan Framework on May 12 meeting and not on the KPIs, which are the heart of the plan. The KPIs are being developed during the summer; there had not been the time to do so this semester.

A motion was made charging President Kaplowitz to move to amend the adoption of the Strategic Plan at the College Council so that the College Council will have a discussion without vote about the KPIs at a meeting of the College Council in the Fall and then a vote by the College Council of the KPIs at a subsequent meeting of that body. The motion was adopted by unanimous vote.

[Note: On Monday, May 11, President Kaplowitz and VP Heath Grant met with President Mason who spoke about the need for flexibility since KPIs are sometimes adjusted during the course of the 5 years of the plan. President Kaplowitz consulted with the Executive Committee which decided to substitute the Strategic Planning Committee for the College Council in the motion. The SPS has a majority of faculty and its purview is assessment, including strategic plans and KPIs. She then wrote to the Senate and received no objections, but rather expressions of support. The combined motion at the College Council of approving the Strategic Plan Framework and bringing the KPIs to SPS for discussion and then for vote was unanimously adopted on May 12, with President Mason’s support.]

7. Proposal That the Faculty Senate Propose to the College Council a Policy That Would Mandate That No Full-Time or Adjunct Faculty Members Be Scheduled to Teach During Community Hour:  Executive Committee

John Jay long had a daily Community Hour from 3:30-5 PM, during which no classes were scheduled. But then enrollment increased and we did not have a sufficient number of classrooms (this was before the New Building was constructed) and at-first adjunct-taught classes were scheduled during CH and then full-time-taught classes. By the time Jeremy Travis became president in 2004 there was, in effect, no community hour. The Faculty Senate brought this to the president’s attention, explaining the resulting difficulty in scheduling faculty meetings as well as the reduced student engagement in clubs and other activities; the Senate also pointed that that we were the only CUNY college without a community hour. President Travis asked the Senate to develop a proposal for a CH. The Senate proposed the 1:40-2:55 time period and recommended that CH be daily. President Travis agreed.

The Senate then recommended that the College Council make CH college policy so history would not repeat itself. President Travis countered that was not necessary since to him CH was sacrosanct. Yet the year President Mason began her tenure, some full-time and adjunct faculty reported to the Senate that their chairs had told them they would be teaching during CH. The Senate pushed back and that did not happen

But now Dean Sidman is asking the Senate to permit tutoring sessions to be officially scheduled by the Registrar during CH for MAT 105 students as a pilot program and, if successful, a permanent program. These tutoring sessions would be taught by students, not faculty, but yet the concern has been expressed by Senators that to give our approval would be to create a slippery slope. Hence this proposal from the Senate executive committee.

President Kaplowitz explained that she and VP Heath met with Registrar Shavonne McKiever and Asst Registrar Melissa Dolan the previous day and that they suggested that CH really exists only Mondays through Thursdays. They also suggested there be an exception for off-campus courses, specifically College Now courses for high school students and courses taught in our prison-to-college initiative, which take place in prisons. Senator Francis Sheehan said a second exception is needed, explaining that Forensic Science students need to graduate as lab experts, because they may have to testify in trials which determine life and death. And, so, the forensic science labs are open throughout the day for students to practice their lab work on their own time; this requires the presence of CLTs [College Lab Techs], whom our Charter identifies as faculty; these open lab sessions extend through community hour. Senator Ray Patton proposed a third exception: the colloquium course for first-year Honors Program students which is required of all Honors students and which has been scheduled during CH for more than two decades because all must be free to take the course.

The following is the proposal, amended accordingly:

The Faculty Senate shall propose a policy to the College Council for its action whereby the College shall adopt a policy whereby no credit-bearing courses may be scheduled during Community Hour and whereby no full-time or adjunct faculty members may be scheduled to teach during Community Hour.

For the purposes of this policy, Community Hour at John Jay College of Criminal Justice is daily on Mondays through Thursdays, from 1:40-2:55 PM.

Exceptions to this policy shall be permitted (a) when courses take place at a venue other than the John Jay campus, such as College Now courses that take place in high schools and Prison-to-College Pathways (P2CP) courses that take place in prisons; (b) for Science Supplemental Lab Instruction; and (c) for the Honors Colloquium 1 (181) and Honors Colloquium 2 (182).

Any waiver to this policy requires the permission of both the Provost and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, which may bring the issue to the full Faculty Senate if such action is felt to be warranted by its Executive Committee.

Furthermore, any changes to the frequency or time schedule of Community Hour, as defined in this policy, shall require the approval of the College Council.

The Senate approved the proposal by unanimous vote. It was recommended that before the proposed policy is brought to the College Council in the fall, it be brought to the Council of Chairs [CoC] in case there are other exceptions that we should consider and for, perhaps, endorsement by the CoC.

9. Invited Guest: Dean of Academic Programs Andrew Sidman: Discussion of His Proposal for a Math 105 Tutoring Pilot During Community Hour

Dean Andrew Sidman was welcomed as were Registrar Shavonne McKiever and Associate Registrar Melissa Dolan, whom Karen and Heath had invited.

Dean Sidman explained that 43.5% of the students who take MAT 105, which is the mathematics course required of all STEM students, earn the grade of C- or lower. He said even though tutoring is required, most students do not go to tutoring. Those who do are more successful in the course.

Asked why the students have such poor mathematics skills, he explained that during the Covid pandemic, the CUNY Board of Trustees ended the SAT requirements for admission to the senior colleges and has not restored it to date. So students who would have had to attend community colleges because of their SAT scores are now applying to and being admitted to senior colleges and, thus, they are less prepared. After MAT 105, which is college algebra, students need to take MAT 141, which is pre-calculus, which is required of all STEM majors. To be able to register for MAT 141, students must be placed in the course based on their academic records or pass MAT 105.

He explained his request for CH for tutoring is because students are free during CH and student tutors are free then as well. The tutoring will be once a week and will appear on the students’ schedules. He explained that the extent to which attending tutoring counts toward the final grade is up to each individual MAT 105 instructor. Asked by Senator Michelle Holder how many majors require MAT 105, Dean Sidman said there are five STEM majors; 15 sections of MAT 105 are scheduled in the fall and 12 in the spring. (MAT 108 is the pre-requisite for statistics.)

Asked whether there are professional math tutors, rather than student tutors, at other CUNY campuses, Dean Sidman said there are; asked whether our student math tutors receive educational support before teaching, as they do in English, Dean Sidman said they haven’t been but such a program has just been developed.

The Senate thanked Dean Sidman, Registrar McKiever, and Assoc Registrar Dolan for meeting with us.

10. Consideration and Vote on Proposal from Dean Sidman for Use of Community Hour for a Pilot Math 105 Tutoring Program

The Senate further discussed Dean Sidman’s request and a motion was made to grant the request. The vote was unanimous to do so.

11. Invited Guest: President Karol V. Mason

Asked about Macushla Robinson, the Art & Music Department representative about whom President Kaplowitz briefed the Senate at the beginning of today’s meeting, President Mason said that Macushla’s chair and the provost have been visiting her and that she herself has been sending cards with them although Macushla cannot use her hands to open cards. President Mason wants to give Macushla a subscription for Audible so she can be entertained and engaged while she recovers. GoFundMe has not yet been set up. PESHA, the government version of OSHA, is working with the college to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Macushla was in the theater without notice and it was dark, which probably led to the fall. The president is working with public safety and PESHA to make sure no one is again able to access the theater without approval and advance planning. She also asked us to make sure HR has our up-to-date emergency contact information.

President Mason reported that this has been a successful year for the college; there is vibrancy and energy and engaged students—even on Fridays. Our athletics program is going well, as are our music and theater programs. She spoke of book talks, lectures, receptions with JJ alums who are now NY judges, new fellowships, industry immersion programs through the job readiness center, a new director of the center, and career prep talks. The student success focus she began by focusing on retention and graduation rates has now been enhanced by adding career readiness. 47,000 students have graduated in the last decade. We have so many research talks and other options for faculty to engage with the president. Her goal is to make those opportunities more regular and intentional.

Senator Allison Kavey asked President Mason’s thoughts about the new policy prohibiting the recording of class sessions and the process of its vote by the College Council. Senator Kavey remarked that her own conversations with students about the proposed policy had been positive—and Senator Todd Stambaugh said the same was true for him—and so she was surprised by the negative responses by the students at College Council. President Mason said she was not surprised—Allison’s and Todd’s experiences were unusual—and that she had tried to tell them the vote would not go their way, because the faculty have the votes needed to adopt the proposal. She tried to explain that if the faculty vote as a bloc, they will carry the vote.

President Mason said she understood why the faculty supported the policy and that she supports faculty and students feeling free and safe to speak in our classrooms. She said when Karen explained how their recorded classroom comments could be used against them, they did understand, but at the same time they felt that the faculty were taking away a right that they thought they had but didn’t actually have. She commended the Senate for the changes made in the policy, in response to student concerns, and for its patience in letting discussions take place in February, March, and April, even though the faculty had sufficient votes in February. President Mason said she had hope that a compromise could be reached; she had hoped there would not be a faculty/student split. Because of that split, she abstained, but she purposely waited until everyone else had voted, so as to not influence the vote.

President Kaplowitz reported that as they were leaving the meeting students were saying the vote had been rigged but the Senate had revised the policy twice and had had several conversations with students and so she was disappointed to hear that. Senator Joseph Maldonado did think the students would react the way they did and was not surprised by their sense that something was unfairly being taken away from them. Senator Sheehan noted that the national political climate encourages people to think that losing should always be interpreted as a rigged contest; furthermore, the students could have tried to shape the resolution to be closer to what they wanted—but the Faculty Senate did it for them. Knowing you won’t have the votes means you need to work with the other side to get what you want. He also reminded us how rare it is for the faculty to vote 100% as a bloc; this was something truly important to the faculty.

President Mason just as the students said the faculty didn’t hear their objections – when in fact you did hear but simply did not agree – when she met the previous day with the Muslim Student Association, they too kept saying she was not hearing them when, in fact, it was that she did not agree with them.

Senator Ned Benton reported that on May 5 the UFS passed a recording resolution that was influenced by ours. It will be proposed to the BoT and we will see how that goes. There is a sense of positive reception, but getting it to adoption could take some time. President Kaplowitz said the UFS resolution differs from ours in two different ways: photographs cannot be permitted orally only in writing and there is no exception for recording events that a student believes violates CUNY policy or the law.

Senator Brian Maule also had a different experience with the College Council students. When he discussed it with them, they supported the policy, but they opposed it at the meeting. What happened between? President Mason said not all the students they had met with were eligible to vote. Senator Charles Stone noted that the more meetings we had, the more “us versus them” it became. He wasn’t surprised when they voted in opposition.

Changing the subject, Senator Stone asked about the lack of an acceptable food service, citing the poor quality of the food and the high prices. President Mason said Aladdin misrepresented what they would do and unfairly hurt us financially. Because we are a non-residential college, we cannot offer an appealing contract, and we do not have any contract right now. The current offerings are part of a contract with Brooklyn, and it is temporary but not good. An RFP is out but it is unclear whether we will get any offers.

Senator Todd Stambaugh raised an AI question. Just this week he experienced the following sequence of events: he read that Nature had retracted a widely cited article that had touted Chat GPT as a positive force in learning, because the research had been faulty; after that, he received an offer from an office at John Jay for a paid workshop to use AI in his classes; then he received an email from Gina Foster requesting an assessment of her “ethical use of AI” guidelines; and then he received a preprint of a study by researchers at several prominent universities saying AI is not good for use in learning, that it hurts learners’ persistence and independent performance. The body of evidence increasingly shows that the use of AI technologies is a detriment to learning; simultaneously there is no practical support for teaching without it here, he said.

President Mason said she and the provost were surprised at the most recent Faculty Development Day to hear faculty say there is no or less support for teaching without it than with it; she said they are working to better support those who do not wish to use AI. Senator Stambaugh responded that we need more resources for those who don’t want to use AI.

Senator Jake Adler, who is part of the AI group that Gina Foster is heading, said the points Todd raises are not unfamiliar to him. He has tried to communicate that there is no pressure to adopt AI, as far as he knows, and that there are different levels of AI usage and attitudes toward it. He has always approached these discussions and understands that some people are not going to use it and will not adopt it. The language in the college documents does not acknowledge those who don’t want to use AI to the same extent as those who do. He added it is difficult to give equal footing to each position on the spectrum, and he assumes that those who oppose its use do so out of a pedagogical position. He himself has grown more AI avoidant with research and time. He does not want to police other people’s use or persuade them one way or another but rather feels that if someone can come up with an argument for an ethical and effective use of AI that would be fine. He also feels that some of the negativity comes from how other people might be using it.

Senator Kavey says she agrees with Todd, but that she is concerned that the bigger problem is a growing gap between what students think is the point of an education versus what the faculty think it is. President Mason said we need to get students to think more about the value of an education in terms of the skills they will need after graduation. That is how higher ed will survive. Senator David Munns pointed out we could change existing documents to make AI something you need to opt in to rather than something to opt out of. The language from the TLC is too AI positive and assumes its omnipresence is a sign of its value, he said.

Senator Kumar Ramansenthil agreed with both Todd and Allison that the people who want to use AI are getting more support here than those who do not. He is worried that telling students not to use AI will lead them to not learn to use it properly. Senator Cristina Lozana Arguelles said students need critical thinking skills and other skills to be able to use AI and to assess AI products; therefore, the students need professors to teach them those skills and then others will help them learn to use AI well.

Senator Stambaugh said he is not sure the technologies available now are here to stay and he is not sure he believes that students need to learn to use AI technology at all. The whole point of AI models is that they evolve and, so, using it “right” will also change, which points to the question of how do we know what the right way is? He said courses that use AI should be specifically identified as such and moved through governance. President Mason agreed.

Senator Ramansenthil asked how can we prevent students from using AI? Senator Stambaugh said he supports opting in, as David Munns suggested: it is not our job to control what students use but whether it is tolerated as a tool or integrated into the curriculum. President Mason said these are all classroom-level decisions to be made by the faculty and that college administrators should not be dictating them.

Senator Stone spoke about another issue important to faculty: some departments have a huge number of majors compared to the comparatively few number of full-time faculty to teach and mentor them. He said there has to be a rightsizing of the ratio of full-time faculty to majors. President Mason said she and the provost have been meeting with all the academic departments during the course of the year and have been working on this very issue. She has prioritized hiring full-time faculty and has announced that we have to stop doing some things we are doing because our resources have to be directed to faculty.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 PM.

Provided by H. Grant, A. Kavey, and K. Kaplowitz