Bergen Extends Faculty Contract; Changes Student Evaluations

The Bergen Community College Board of Trustees approved an agreement with the College faculty on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 that extends their employment contract for one year, and at the same time makes important changes in the student evaluation process. The agreement between the College and the Bergen Community College Faculty Association extends their current contract, which was due to expire on June 30, 2011, to June 30, 2012, and provides for a salary increase of about 4 percent during that period. The faculty association has voted to approve the agreement.

The agreement also provides for changes in the way student evaluations are conducted and utilized by the College. The agreement allows the administration to order student evaluations for classes taught in both the spring and fall semesters by tenured and non-tenured faculty. It also gives the administration the ability to review reports summarizing those evaluations. In the past, tenured faculty were evaluated once a year and non-tenured faculty were evaluated twice a year. The College was able to review the evaluations of non-tenured faculty only.

“We have an excellent faculty, and this agreement recognizes their contributions to the College,” said Dr. G. Jeremiah Ryan, President of Bergen Community College. “At the same time, we were able to improve our student evaluation process, which should provide us with an important tool to help teachers and the administration identify ways to improve instruction. Student feedback is meaningful to us, and this new evaluation procedure reinforces student input in the course assessment and development process.”

“Student evaluations provide the individual faculty members with feedback in a formative manner, which allows faculty the ability to refine future classroom experiences,” said Peter Helff, President of the Bergen Community College Faculty Association.

The student evaluations are designed to improve the effectiveness of faculty in the classroom and help foster a collaboration to improve the quality of education throughout the College.

Bergen Community College is a public two-year coeducational college, enrolling nearly 17,000 students in Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Applied Science degree programs and certificate programs. More than 15,000 students are enrolled in non-credit, professional courses through the Division of Continuing Education, the Institute for Learning in Retirement, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center, located at 355 Main Street, Hackensack, and Bergen at the Meadowlands, located at 1280 Wall Street West, Lyndhurst. Information about the College is available at www.bergen.edu or by phoning the Welcome Center at (201) 447-7200.

The Bergen Community College Faculty Association (BCFA) represents the College's teaching faculty, non-teaching faculty, technical assistants, and professional assistants. It is affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA), the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), and the Bergen County Education Association (BCEA).