• Faculty Council

    The Faculty Council of LaGuardia Community College is an organization which represents the interests and concerns of faculty both College- and CUNY-wide. It is distinct from the Senate, the official governance body of the College which is comprised of faculty, staff and students, though the Faculty Council and Senate work closely together on matters of shared concern. The Faculty Council is governed by a Constitution and By-Laws.

    Every professional staff member at LaGuardia who is subject to the processes of reappointment, tenure and promotion, whether full-time or part-time, is automatically a member of Faculty Council and welcome to attend meetings. Each academic department elects a representative to the Faculty Council’s Executive Committee, which then elects a Board of Officers to lead the work of the Council.

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    The Faculty Council was created soon after LaGuardia Community College was founded, in order to meet the faculty's need for a forum of its own. The official governance body of the College, the Senate, was established as an egalitarian tri-partite entity, comprised of faculty, staff and students; as such, it could not provide an arena for the discussion of distinctly faculty concerns. Because the faculty needed a channel for the expression of its own voice, Faculty Council was established.

    Unlike the Senate, the Council is not a part of the official governance structure of the College. Its strength lies in recognition of the fundamental nature of a college or university: while students are the essential members of an academic community, their presence on campus is of necessity temporary; likewise, administrators and staff members, whose primary functions do not include teaching, often follow paths of opportunity away from the college. Thus, the faculty, uniquely engaged above all in teaching and scholarship, and supported by tenure, is the enduring core of the college community, and has a special, long-range perspective. Faculty Council exists at LaGuardia as the place for open discussion among colleagues, where information is shared and issues are aired. These discussions may lead to recommendations and resolutions passed on to the governance body and the College administration.

    All members of the LaGuardia community who are subject to the prescribed reappointment and tenure process, whether full-time or part-time, are automatically members of the Faculty Council. No dues are required, and all members are welcome to attend the Council's meetings and participate in committees. Academic departments and other teaching units are each represented on the Executive Committee, which then elects the Board of Officers. The Board is comprised of the president, vice president, treasurer, recording secretary, corresponding secretary and Senate designee. Members of the Council's Executive Committee and Board of Officers are also active participants in College and CUNY governance.

    The Council conducts major events, including an annual forum on tenure and promotion, open meetings between the faculty and the administration, debates among union electoral candidates, and others, all with the aim of keeping the faculty at large well informed. For the benefit of students, the Council offers numerous scholarship awards, paid from funds raised at an annual auction. Faculty Council is unique in its capacity for communication across disciplines, across departmental boundaries and without contractual constraints, to insure full and free discussion of all relevant concerns in the interests of LaGuardia's students and educators – thus in the interests of the College first and foremost.

    Faculty Council Constitution and By-Laws


  • Representatives 2022-2023


    Business and Technology
    • Bindu Pillai
    • Sada Hye Jaman (Alternate) 
    Education and Language Acquisition
    • Walter Sistrunk 
    • Eric Conte (Alternate) 
    English
    • Tara Coleman 
    • Paul Fess  (Alternate) 
    Health Sciences
    • Julio Torres
    • Donna Siergie-Munsey (Alternate) 
    Humanities
    • Sarada Rauch  
    • Patricia Sokolski (Alternate)
    Library
    • Derek Stadler  
    • Alexandra Rojas (Alternate) 
    Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science day
    • Steve Cosares  
    • Reem Jaafar (Alternate) 
    Natural Sciences
    • Dan Gertner  
    • Pratikkumar Rathod (Alternate) 
    Social Science
    • Kyle Hollar-Gregory
    • Ryan Mann-Hamilton (Alternate) 


    President
    • Rochell Isaac  
    Vice President
    • John Toland  
    Secretary
    • Tara Coleman  
    Treasurer
    • Derek Stadler  




  • Annual Events Image

    Faculty Council Auction


    An annual event since the 1980s, the Faculty Council Auction provides funds for student scholarships at LaGuardia. The Auction is held during the Holiday Party on the last Wednesday of the Fall Session I, immediately following the Professional Staff Meeting.

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    All funds generated by the Auction go to scholarship awards and programs for students, under the scrupulous supervision of the Business Office. From these funds, Faculty Council provides scholarship awards and funds to meritorious students who meet the criteria of the following awards and programs.





  • Tenure and Promotion Forum Image

    Tenure and Promotion Forum


    The Tenure and Promotion Forum provides an overview of the tenure and promotion processes at the College. Speakers include the Provost, the Director or an administrator from Human Resources, a departmental Chair, a faculty member, and a member of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) chapter leadership.

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    To help faculty understand the review process, speakers address the following topics: a) Am I making the appropriate departmental, college and professional contributions required for promotion and tenure? b) When am I eligible for promotion and tenure? c) Who reviews and places documents in my personnel files? d) When may I review my personnel files and what kinds of documents should I place in them? e) When and how should I file a grievance with the union? f) What do I do if I receive a letter of concern? The forum is open to all tenure-track and tenured faculty who are encouraged to ask questions about the process and criteria for reappointment, tenure and promotion associate and full professor. The forum is recorded and made available to faculty to view at any time in the link below.

    View Forum (May only be viewable on campus)
    2018 Tenure & Promotion Forum Question & Answer session

    1. Does the tenure clock stop when a Faculty member is on leave (e.g. parental leave)?
      It depends on the type of leave. Generally, time spent on leaves of absence without pay will result in a break in service towards tenure or a certificate of continuous employment (for a lecturer). If a Faculty member has questions about their specific situation, they should contact the Human Resources Benefits team.
    2. When are the Faculty P&B files inaccessible (e.g. before P&B meeting dates) and how is that communicated?
      In order to prepare for the Personnel and Budget Committee meetings and accompanying processes, Human Resources sets due dates by when candidates may access their personnel files to review or add documents in anticipation of an upcoming P&B meeting. These due dates are posted on the college-wide P&B calendar which is distributed to all Department Chairs.
    3. Eligibility for promotion for professors?
      Provost Arcario is working on updating the faculty and staff handbook which will clearly state the criteria.




  • Resources

    The following list of resources is meant to provide a central location where faculty can access a number of offices, organizations, data, and articles that will be useful whether a faculty member is in their first or 30th year at LaGuardia. The resources have been organized in several categories in order to make them more useful.