To: Voting Members of the Faculty Senate
From: Tom Cooper, MCC’s SUNY FCCC Representative
Re: Opportunity To Serve on the FCCC
Date: March 11, 2004
After serving for many years as MCC’s representative to the SUNY Faculty
Council on Community Colleges, I plan to retire from this position at the expiration of
my present term on August 31, 2004. I am writing this memorandum to provide
interested members of the college community with information about the FCCC and the
responsibilities involved in serving as MCC’s representative.
The Faculty Council on Community Colleges (FCCC) was established in 1968
and represents community college faculty throughout the State University of New York.
Its founding chairperson was Dr. John MacNaughton, a former member of the MCC
History Department who served as the FCCC president from 1967-1970. Professor Alan
Shaw, a former member of the MCC English Department, served as FCCC president
from 1991-1993.
MCC has always elected its delegate and an alternate (three year terms) through
the college’s academic governance organization (currently the MCC Faculty Senate).
The delegate is responsible for participating in two FCCC conferences each year. These
meetings are held at various community colleges throughout the state or in Albany at the
System Administration Offices. The meetings usually are scheduled for a Thursday
through Saturday in the fall (October or November) and again in the spring (March or
April). At these meetings you will have an opportunity to work with delegates from other
community colleges. You also will have the opportunity to meet with representatives
from SUNY Administration and a variety of other organizations that are dealing with
items of interest to community college educators.
The MCC delegate’s travel expenses are paid by the Office of the Vice President
of Academic Services. It is expected that the delegate will serve actively on one of the
several committees within the FCCC and will, if needed, take on a leadership role within
the organization by serving on one of its ad hoc committees. Over the last few years an
increasing amount of committee business has been done by e-mail or teleconferences. As
a member of the FCCC, a delegate also may be asked to participate on one or more
SUNY committees organized by System Administration in Albany.
In representing the MCC faculty, the delegate is expected to keep the MCC
Faculty Senate and the Vice President of Academic Services well informed of any
significant issues of concern to the MCC faculty. In addition, the delegate should be
ready to seek out items from the MCC faculty that can be brought before the FCCC or
addressed by an appropriate FCCC subcommittee. The most important skill that a
delegate should possess is an ability to communicate information in a clear and timely
fashion.
As an FCCC delegate you will find a new awareness of the concerns and
successes of other SUNY community colleges. Above all else, your active participation
in this organization will give you a sense of pride in the accomplishments of the
dedicated and able educators who make up the faculty of community colleges throughout
New York State.
I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about this opportunity to
serve as MCC’s FCCC delegate. Please feel free to contact me by voice mail (ext. 3376)
or by e-mail (tcooper@monroecc.edu). Presently I am on sabbatical, but I am on campus
regularly and check my voice mail and e-mail frequently. I will be out of town during
most of the month of April, so for prompt feedback, please contact me before April.
Thank you for your consideration of this opportunity.