Aaron Fried: Goals-Assessment Report: Section 2 – Collegiality
To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity. – Douglas Adams
To me, collegiality means being a part of and working hard for the campus to which I belong. Collegiality means using a position as a leader to bring out the best in the people you work with and interacting with everyone in a manner that demonstrates respect and understanding for who they are and what their position might be. For the last few years, I have tried to turn my attention to working on using my position as the chair on College-Wide Curriculum Committee (CWCC) and within the Guided Pathways/Shared Governance system to change culture on campus relating to academic program development and equity and using my position in the Professional Association (PA) support the membership during the Covid-19 pandemic.
My main example of collegiality will be through the lens of Guided Pathways.
Collegiality: Guided Pathways Efforts
In 2017, I was invited to become a part of the Guided Pathways (GP) effort at MVCC. At the time, Vice President Maryrose Eannace invited me to be a part of the efforts of GP because of my involvement with the College-Wide Curriculum Committee and because of my background in Instructional Development. My skills and position in the campus community made me a good fit as a contributor for the GP efforts.
It is hard to completely quantify all of my efforts in our GP process because there have been many formal and informal interactions over the past five years that could qualify and many of the things I have done blend into other aspects of Collegiality, Professional Growth, and Teaching and Professional Effectiveness.
As part of the MVCC Guided Pathways Team, I have attended the following SUNY Guided Pathways Institutes:
SUNY GP Institute #1 – Benchmarking, Capacity, and Transformational Change – March 15 – 16, 2018 – Monroe Community College
SUNY GP Institute #2 – Mapping Your Guided Pathways – June 27-28, 2018 – Rockland Community College
SUNY GP Institute #5 – Career and Transfer Pathways – March 13-14, 2019 – Monroe Community College
SUNY GP Institute #6 – Pathways Institute Capstone – June 27 – 28, 2019 – Tompkins Cortland Community College
SUNY GP Institute #1, Cohort 2 – Benchmarking, Capacity, and Transformational – October 2-3, 2019 – Finger Lakes Community College
SUNY GP Institute #1.2 , Cohort 2 – Mapping Your Guided Pathways – January 16, 2020 – Online
SUNY GP Institute #2, Cohort 2 – Career and Transfer Pathways – October 21-23, 2020 – Online
SUNY GP Institute #3, Cohort 2 – Onboarding Students to Pathway – April 1-16, 2021 – Online
As a part of MVCC’s Guided Pathways work, I have contributed to the following panels or presentations:
Loveheim, B,P., Fried, A.P., Rie, M. (2019). Sustaining Momentum through Institutional Policy and Shared Governance. (Presented at SUNY Guided Pathways Institute #6 in Ithaca, NY, June 2019).
Crocker, S., Fried, A.P., Taylor, S., Wilke, J. (2019). Engaging Faculty in Guided Pathways. (Presented at SUNY Guided Pathways Institute #2 at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, NY, October 2019).
Wade, A., Fried, A.P., Urtz, A. (2020). Implementing Meta-Majors and Curriculum Maps. (Presented at SUNY Mapping Your Guided Pathways Event on January 16th, 2020). Video
Crocker, S., Fried, A.P. (2020). Program Planning for Transfer Programs. (Presented at the SUNY Guided Pathways Institute on October 23rd, 2020). Video
Crocker, S., Fried, A.P. (2021). So you’re a Guided Pathways school, what does that mean for in the classroom? (Presented at the Connecting, Collaborating and Celebrating the Art of Teaching Conference on April 16th, 2021).
As a part of MVCC’s Guided Pathways work, I have been a part of the following Institute Presentations at MVCC:
(As a note, I have been a part of many open forums that are not listed here because they were not official Institutes.)
Since 2017, I have also attended a variety of department/school meetings, College Senate, and Faculty Caucus meetings in order to communicate Guided Pathways process and product.
Assistant Professor Shannon Crocker has been MVCC’s facilitator for both the AACC and SUNY Guided Pathways efforts, and I have acted as both the Curriculum Liaison and co-facilitator.
In 2017 and early 2018, Shannon Crocker and I, as well as Liz Doherty and Dawson McDermott and a few other individuals, were trying to coordinate Guided Pathways activities, like communication and workgroup process, across campus. It was difficult to organize communication and action without administrative support. There was also a growing concern that despite our efforts, the administrative team called T6 at that time was making Guided Pathways decisions without input from the campus, which was a misconception.
In order to combat that misconception and in order to make the Guided Pathways work more efficient and effective, Shannon Crocker and I worked with Assistant Vice President Lewis Kahler to form the first iteration of the formal Guided Pathways governance structure which is now known as Guided Pathways Steering Council.
In addition to serving on the Guided Pathways Steering Council as a faculty representative, co-facilitator, and curriculum liaison, I have had the pleasure of serving on several other Guided Pathways Workgroups. I have served on the following Guided Pathways Workgroups:
General Studies/Undeclared Workgroup
Undecided Student Workgroup
Design, Analysis, and Assessment of Learning Workgroup
I was the co-chair for the Design, Analysis, and Assessment of Learning workgroup. Our focus was on Curriculum Development and Assessment/Evaluation. We generated a variety of recommendations that have been slow to implement because of the pandemic.
My collaborative work within the Guided Pathways and College-Wide Curriculum Committee led to my leadership on two major college-wide initiatives: Program Mapping Day and the Equity Data Summit.
Round 1: Program Audits
During the Spring 2017 semester, Vice President Eannace approached me as chair of the curriculum committee to develop a plan to study all our program maps at MVCC. The initial plan in 2018 was to start an academic program self-audit process. As part of the small initial Guided Pathways team, I developed a program audit process and tool that allowed a little self-study for individual programs. Much of the GP work was based on continual learning and so the program audits collected the best information we could include at that time.
Round 2: Program Mapping Review
Since the college has been a part of Achieving the Dream, there has been an annual professional development day in January called the Data Summit. Stars aligned – discussions with Vice President Kahler and President VanWagoner led to the decision to use that date in January 2019 as a Program Mapping Day. This required a variety of preparation.
Program Mapping Day
Program Mapping Day – Or the Program Mapping Data Summit – was a culmination of 3 semesters of work and collaboration between the Guided Pathways and the College-Wide Curriculum Committee (CWCC).
SAMPLES
This PDF describes the Program Audit Project. (the pdf will open in a new window)
This is a sample program audit for the AAS in Financial Accounting. (the pdf will open in a new window)
Math Pathways
Faculty representing each program worked to validate the program displays and answer questions about each program. Additionally, a math pathway was mapped for each program. Using the math pathway data, we were able to show some programs information about transferability of some math courses as well at some time to completion and hidden prerequisite problems that were stopping student momentum.
Step 1 – Develop a Program Process Guide
Building on the program audits and to give program faculty a background assignment to prepare to map their programs, I developed a process program guide. Every Academic Department was assigned a member of the CWCC as a facilitator. They were provide resources like their program learning outcomes, Clearinghouse data on transfer outcomes, gateway course information, and aggregate APR outcome data.
Program faculty were asked to look through old schedules to find when courses were scheduled and where they were scheduled. They were asked to account for program cost, transfer paths and articulation agreements, give rationale for elective choices, and conduct a pre and corequisite analysis.
Before the process guides could be released, I coordinated with Institutional Research in order to have the data available.
Additionally, I reviewed process guides with the professional advisors and career services representatives to provide a Student Affairs perspective for the programs.
Process Guide Samples:
This is a completed process guide for the AAS in Business Administration. PDF (Pdf will open in a new window.)
Step 2: Review Programs & Train CWCC Facilitators
By October of 2018, CWCC was using weekly meetings to study the Program Audits and Program Process Guides. Although this was not always the case, review included members of the advising office, academic deans, program faculty. The goal was to provide as much background and understand as much data before program mapping day occurred in order to make that day effective.
The final training preparation involved creating a training day so that the facilitators for the event would be prepared. The training was held on January 11th, 2019. This was about a week before Mapping Day to give time for facilitators to try the mapping process in order to become comfortable with leading the mapping day. CWCC members served as facilitators for the departments, but many other members of the campus took part in the training.
Step 3A: Design Program Mapping Tools
Many program mapping tools lack a good visual experience. I wanted to develop a tool/process that incorporated a visual process and collection of text that supported the program. The Program Mapping Tool was created using Excel. There were five important components with samples displayed to the right.
For each program, program faculty worked with facilitators to fill out a General Education worksheet, a map ofProgram Learning Outcomes to College-Wide Competencies, a map of Courses to Program Learning Outcomes, an advising display, and a display that SUNY uses for programatic decision-making.
This tool was designed so that if program faculty had completed the Program Audit and the Program Process Guide, along with what they were given for the mapping day, they had all of the tools needed to complete the Mapping Tool.
Step 3B: Design Visual Program Mapping Process
One misconception I wanted to overcome was that our four semester catalog displays are adequate paths for our students to follow in order to successfully complete our degrees. Program faculty (should have) already completed their program audits and process guides. They had a plethora of data about the courses in their program. In order to have a visual method for faculty to map and see their program, I designed a visual process using different color sticky notes to represent courses in a program.
Full directions are available to the right, but in the visual process, faculty used one color note for major courses, another color for Gen Ed requirements, a third color for MVCC requirements, and a final color for pre or corequisites.
Presented here are the business programs which were one of the biggest successes from mapping day. The business programs were able to create a true meta-major pathways.
This PDF has the full Visual Program Mapping Process directions. This link will open in a new window.
Step 4: Planning and Executing an All-College Program Mapping Day
For much of the mapping day planning I focused on academic program mapping. The full data summit would require planning a whole college activity and coordinating the CWCC facilitation of program mapping for all of MVCC’s 96 academic programs.
This required I coordinate with the VPLAA and Presidents offices for purchasing, scheduling, support, and coordination with everyone involved in the logistics on the day of the mapping. This planning started in September of 2018.
Part of the planning included assembling a folder for each program that included the Program Learning Outcomes, College-Wide Competencies, their current program displays, program data and recent APR results.
Finally, several sample program advising scenarios were collected for the college-wide activity. Tables with 8 employees had to schedule students for their current semester using the current college schedule. These were not faked scenarios, these were real students trying to schedule their real Spring semester. This was not done to shame anyone. Instead, this was to demonstrate that many of our programs have structural issues. If we have a hard time trouble shooting those issues, how can students solve those same issues?
This PDF has the Program Mapping Day scheduling scenarios. Link will open in a new window.
Program mapping day was a successful event that lead to many meaningful changes. Program mapping is an ongoing project.
Equity Data Summit
After the Program Mapping Day, trying to build on that successful effort, I asked the Vice President of Academic Affairs permission to start development of a program scorecard process so that every program on campus could receive constant feedback that provided actionable data for program changes. The first part I was asked to work on was and equity data portion. This ended up leading to the development of an equity scorecard for every program on campus and an equity simulation during the data summit.
Step 1: Data Scorecards
I wish this process was exciting and had lots of great pictures.
Instead, this took a great deal of reading and triangulating to figure out type of data that would be important. This involved working with the Diversity Council, Institutional Research, Institutional Effectiveness Council , and the President’s office. It was a lot of work. The scorecards are to the right.
The data in these scorecards have been institutionalized in the college’s APR data.
This PDF is all of the college’s academic program equity scorecards. Scorecards were developed for the whole college, each academic school, and each program. The PDF will open in a new window.
Step 2: Develop a facilitation process for equity discussions in academic schools
Like Program Mapping Day, the Equity Data Summit was going to feature breakout sessions for the academic schools to look at the scorecards and have discussions about the data.
For these discussions, it was important to put the Associate Deans in charge as facilitators. The deans and all members of the Guided Pathways Steering Committee took part in the facilitator training.
This PDF contains the facilitator documents that were created for the breakout sessions for the Equity Data Summit. This document will open in another window.
Step 3: Develop an All-College Equity Simulation
In planning for the Equity Data Summit, we came up with the idea to create a simulation – based on the poverty simulation – that demonstrated what it was like for students with common real world issues to go through the MVCC Steps to Enroll. This was an ambitious plan.
First, I met with a small team from student affairs who represented the Registrar, Financial Aid, Advising, Adult Learners Services, Career Services, and Admissions. We discussed the steps during enrollment that commonly come up as problems for students. Once we had a variety of student scenarios selected, The Vice President of Student Affairs’ office helped identify students currently at MVCC who ran into some of those issues during their enrollment process. We were able to get four students to volunteer to be interviewed and have their identity used for the simulation and be a part of a panel after the simulation was finished.
Planning the logistics for the simulation was difficult. We were able to get the Guided Pathways Steering Council, some recent retirees, and local community members to participate as the enrollment staff.
This PDF has the directions for staff at each Enrollment Station. PDF will open in a new browser.
This PDF has the simulated student information. Each student had slightly different circumstances that made enrollment easier or harder. The PDF will open in a new browser.
As a follow up to the Equity Data Summit, I have led a campus book club to help people discuss and plan projects in their classes and on campus related to equity.
I have received several awards related to my work at the college, especially related to Collegiality and Guided Pathways.
2018
Fall 2018 Heart of the Hawk: The MVCC Heart of the Hawk is awarded to a member of the full time teaching faculty who has recently shown excellence through specific achievement in one or more of the following areas: learning, accessibility, collaboration, excellence, operational efficiency, or integrity.
2019
2019 Winner of the MVCC Excellence in Faculty Service Award
2020
2020 Winner of the MVCC Altitude Award – This award is an annual recognition for outstanding innovation and/or entrepreneurial achievement within the scope of college operations.
2020 Winner of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service Award
2021
2021 Winner of the MVCC Eye of the Hawk Award for Group Assessment – Recognizes outstanding achievement in the area of outcomes assessment on the part of an individual faculty or staff member or group of faculty or staff members
Following is a full summary of other collegial activities at MVCC since starting at the college in the Fall of 2010.
- College-Wide Curriculum Committee, Fall 2012 – Current, Chair Fall 2014 – Spring 2021
- Academic Standards and Policy Committee, Ex-oficio, Fall 2014 – Spring 2021
Starting in 2012, I was elected as a representative to College-Wide Curriculum Committee (CWCC). Much of the Guided Pathways curriculum work was completed as the chair fo the CWCC. In addition to the Guided Pathways curriculum work, here is a description of other tasks I directed or completed in my term are chair of the CWCC.
Implementing New Paperwork: During the time while the CWCC was reviewing Seamless Transfer submissions, we identified several issues with the existing paperwork for submission for CWCC processing. There were seven different forms for CWCC submission, one common cover page and six proposal forms based on type of submission. The CWCC was able to condense the paperwork into two forms, one for programs and one for courses. The paperwork was also converted to an electronic version. Previous forms could be started by filling out sections of a webpage, but could not be saved by the person who was proposing a curriculum change. Converting the forms to electronic versions reduced the frustration of people who were proposing changes; work could be done over time and saved and then shuttled electronically. For the CWCC, review became more efficient because we could edit electronically, reducing potential for errors created by handwritten editorial comments.
CWCC Process Manual and Checklist: During the process of converting the CWCC Process to an electronic format and making submission to an online process, and at my direction, the committee created a process manual. Everyone contributed to the manual and it stands as a great resource for the submission process with FAQS and a wonderful section on creating consistent language written by Marie Czarnecki and Rosemary Spetka. The APSC recommended policy changes that were incorporated into this document.
CWCC Credit Hour Definitions: In 2019, with the advent of changes to the way developmental courses would be offered, I embarked on a project to create shared definitions of what a credit hour, contact hour, and instructional learning section (ILS) meant for students and course proposals. This involved discussing these topics with the VPLAA, CWCC, Faculty Caucus, and College Senate.
Seamless Transfer: After I was elected as the CWCC chair, SUNY implemented a seamless transfer initiative reducing the number of credits of all programs on community college campuses to no more than 64 credits. This triggered a review of almost every single academic program on campus. This meant that as chair, I had to work with Centers to review which programs needed changes into Seamless Transfer compliance, and trying to do so while making as few mistakes as possible. During this period of time the CWCC had weekly meetings that would routinely last up to two hours and even had a marathon end of semester meeting that ran eight hours. Little could be accomplished without a strong team working with me, and we were able to complete all reviews on time. In one semester, we reviewed 34 of the college’s programs and 76 courses.
Implementation of Electronic Submission/Tracking Process: When I was elected chair of the CWCC, a movement was already underway to make the CWCC process electronic. While several commercial options were available to complete this task, they were too costly. Additionally, local development of an electronic submission option not progressing to a point that would have been usable. When we first tested the system that was already in place we accidentally caused an email avalanche that triggered actual voting proposals that did not exist. The amount of email that was generated by the system would have made for confusion on the campus. In consultation with committee member, Tom Mihevc, we adapted a solution using Sharepoint, a commercial software already in use on campus. Essentially, we created a system of folders that would be repositories for the CWCC process. This website served as a single point entry for people proposing curricular changes. Users land on a page with a handbook created by the committee that is serving at that time. Forms are available for download. Users are granted access to submission folders based on a priority determined with departments where Associate Deans are responsible for submissions. While this system is not perfect, and does not meet all of the conditions desired for the project, it has worked as an effective tool that allows tracking of submissions through the entire CWCC process.
CWCC Work Flow and Process Timeline: Starting in 2019, in order to create more transparency, I developed a visual that represented the CWCC process and how the process differs for course and program development. This was used to develop a timeline for submissions so that people could understand how ling curricular decisions took.
Micro-credential Implementation: In 2018, SUNY asked colleges to consider developing a framework for awarding Microcredentials. While, I was not a part of the group that recommended the initial Microcredential policy, I worked with Academic Standards and Policy (APSC) to draft the initial MC policy. In CWCC, I developed a process for submitting and reviewing MCs. Last academic year, AY2020-21, I worked with CWCC, College Senate, Caucus, and APSC to draft an updated version of the policy after CWCC review of submitted MCs since 2019.
Initial Microcredential Policy, 2019
Other Committee Work
- Center for Life and Health Sciences Curriculum Committee, Fall 2014- Spring 2015
While I was a member of the Center for Life and Health Science (LAHS), acting Dean Julie Peacock initiated a LAHS Curriculum Committee to serve as the internal review body for the center. This body consisted of a member elected from within the center, but as the Center’s CWCC representative, I served as the chair of this committee until the centers were dissolved at the end of the Spring 2016 semester. Duties as chair of this committee involved helping center proposers prepare curricular submissions and coordinating votes on the LAHS curriculum committee and at the level of the entire center.
- Professional Development Design Team, Spring 2012 – Fall 2013
- Life and Health Sciences Professional Development Committee, Fall 2013 – Spring 2015
In 2012, I was appointed by the VP to the Professional Development Design Team. Over the course of eight months we researched effective professional development and drafted recommendations about how PD money could better be spent helping out the MVCC community. This process involved interviewing faculty from another institution and coordination of recommendations and advice for the formation of a Professional Development committee on campus.
Based on my work on the Professional Development Design Team, I was nominated to the Life and Health Science Center’s Professional Development committee in Fall 2013. I was elected by my peers as the chair of this committee. This involved helping elect a committee and managing their training while also accepting and reviewing applications for funding with the LAHS PD committee. This was an arduous task, as the fund deployment was ongoing during the entire academic year and involved getting enough people to vote on each proposal. The LAHS Center was the largest, highest funded, and most active group when it came to professional development. Both full years I headed the committee (2014-2015 and 2015-2016), we were able to use all of the centers funding on proposals within our center and tried to fund every proposal, at least partially.
Service for the MVCC Professional Association
- Negotiations Committee, Fall 2012 – Present, Chair Fall 2016 – Current
During the fall semester of 2012, I was nominated and elected to the Professional Association’s (PA’s) negotiations team. Initially this meant reviewing the current contract and drafting new language. Eventually, the team asked me to complete an economic analysis. This analysis was presented at negotiations and led to a series of side meetings that set the stage for our final negotiations. In Fall 2015, I was elected co-chair with Alison Doughtie and in 2018, I was elected as chair. My roles on the negotiations team include: organizing the team and overseeing the other members in their various roles in support of the team, conducting the economic analysis for the team, and acting as the spokesperson for the team both in sessions with the college and when communication to the PA leadership and membership.
I have served the PA for three contract negotiations. Each time has led to successful contract ratification.
To say that living, working, and teaching through a pandemic has been challenging would be an understatement.
Perhaps one of my biggest challenges was working with the College as a negotiations chair who had to look out for the best interests of the PA membership but also had a responsibility to work with the College to keep the college running.
This work has come in phases. Initially, on March 8th, Norma Chrisman and I worked with the college to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to get the college through an unprecedented time.
By May 2020, SUNY had frozen some of the funding to colleges and so budgeting became uncertain. As detailed on the left, Norma and I worked with the college to freeze PA memberships salaries for a year to both prevent the college from an economic disaster and to protect the jobs of all PA members.
We have had to continue to work with the college on a regular basis to update the MOU and provide mechanisms for evaluation and scheduling.
Due in great part to the College’s work to improve relations with the college and our continued efforts in communicating and working with the college, we have made it through the pandemic so far without having to suffer from layoffs in our unit and negotiations were a great success.
In October 2021, The MVCC Professional Association honored my and my commitment to our Union by nominating me for The AFL-CIO Samuel Gompers Distinguished Service Medal for my work with our union and my dedication to negotiating an equitable contract for the members of our unit.
MVCC Professional Association
- New Members Committee, Fall 2014 – Spring 2019
In Fall 2014, the PA created a New Members Committee in order to reach out to new members and orient them to the benefits provided to them by the PA at MVCC. I have served as the chair of the New Members Committee since its inception and also as a member of the PA Executive Board reporting on our activates. Duties of the New Members Committee include recruiting potential members, training them in the outreach goals of the committee, meeting with new members to provide explanation of their PA benefits, and working with the PA to plan the annual New Members reception.
- Community Outreach Committee, Fall 2012 – Spring 2014
- Political Outreach Committee, Fall 2013 – Spring 2015
Other Collegial Work at MVCC
MVCC Institute Presentations
- Aug 2014: Introduction to the Cadaver Lab
- Jan 2017: Preparing for the CWCC Submission Process
- Aug 2017: The Contribution of the Silent Teachers
- Jan 2018: CWCC and Guided Pathways
- Jan 2018: Guided Pathways: Our Progress to Date and Where We Need To Go
- Jan 2018: Get Your Power(On)Point!
- May 2018: Guided Pathways: Mapping the Pathways
- May 2018: Eduard Pernkopf, MVCC, and the Nazis
- Aug 2018: Guided Pathways: Current Work at MVCC
- Jan 2019: Guided Pathways Open Forum
- May 2019: Guided Pathways Open Forum: Summing Up the New MVCC Student Experience, 2 Sessions
- Aug 2019: Guided Pathways Update
- Aug 2019: The Contribution of Human Donors to Science
- Jan 2020: Program Planning for Transfer Programs
- May 2021: Equity Syllabus Course Summary
Core Workshop Facilitator
- 2021 – The Psychology of Difficult Conversations
Clifton Strengths Champion, Started May 2021
Professional Development Courses Developed
- Equity/Inclusion Syllabus Course, Started in Spring 2021
- Learning Outcomes Course, Starting in Spring 2022
New Faculty Experience
- Mentored Renee Sbiroli, Fall 2013- Spring 2014
- NFE and Curriculum Presentation, October 2020
- NFE Observation Instructor
I starred in the 2018 ASAP promotion video as “Faculty Advisor.”
Screening Committees
- Health Services Laboratory Assistant, Spring 2012
- Health Information Technology Instructor, Spring 2015
- Director of Assessment and Academic Systems, Spring 2020
- Coordinator of Distributed Learning, Summer 2020
- Director of Assessment and Academic Systems, Summer 2021
I believe that this display of collegiality shows that I am effective at bringing people together, working across groups on campus, managing college-wide initiatives, and pushing the work of the college forward in a manner that benefits as many people as possible.