Union notes from Union / Management Meeting

Present – Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Peter Cokkinias, Peggy Codding, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Danny Harrington, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio

Management – Larry Simpson, Jay Kennedy, Darla Hanley, Amelia Koch, Chris Connors, Richard “Mac” Hisey, John Eldert, Matt Marvuglio

1. Larry opened the meeting. On-line Course Development and Delivery for on-campus students. In the fall of 2011 and spring 2012, there will be one course in each division, two in fall and two in spring to see how this will work for students and faculty. This is not to replace any brick and mortar classes, just another learning modality. We have Berkleemusic and PULSE assets available to use. Perhaps we could have a PULSE presentation during this meeting in the future. Course developers are available to assist faculty in the design of the course. 
   
   Jackson: what support would be available for faculty? Larry: we are in the process of looking at all the options, course development, release time, service, etc.
   
   Matt: we are currently running six blended courses of Basic Keys.
   
   Jackson: can we get access to the course? Matt: yes it is all on campuscruiser, you only need a password.
   
   Larry: we do not want to turn Berklee into the University of Phoenix, we are not in a hurry, there is no number of courses that we are planning on putting on-line, we just want to get started. Faculty should make the decisions about what types of courses should be offered on-line. We can turn the next meeting into an information meeting about the assets available, Berkleemusic and PULSE.
   
   Mike: the contract does address the on-line delivery of courses on page 77; we can look at it and continue this discussion next month.
    
2. Gender Issues at Berklee. The Union Executive Committee has been discussing this issue in our meetings and we have not come to a conclusion at this time. We can discuss today but we will need to revisit this after the UEC reaches a conclusion on how to proceed. Perhaps we could set up a joint Union/Management committee regarding gender issues. Larry: this is not only a faculty issue; we have a diversity and inclusion council that has faculty, staff, and admin. I would be interested in a faculty only perspective to look at and address. The e-mail policies may need to be communicated to avoid future e-mail blizzards.
    
3. Faculty office space: the 155 building does not have private space to meet with students. Let’s sit down and seriously take a look at possibilities to adjust the space. Classroom facilities also need to be discussed.