Meeting of
Approved Minutes
(Please note: General interest issues or meetings & notifications are listed below in bold to allow them to be located more easily.)
I. General
A.
Call to Order: A
quorum being present, President Carmela Arnoldt called the meeting to order at
B. Introduction of Guests – including, but
not limited to, Joseph Bednorz, Brian Bird,
Ruth Callahan,
C. The
proposed meeting agenda was adopted as amended.
D. The minutes from the
E. Treasurer Daugherty reported a balance
of $16,073.09 for all accounts.
F. President Arnoldt reported:
·
President
Arnoldt reminded Senators that Senate operates by Robert’s Rules of Order.
·
GCC has been awarded 7 full-time
faculty positions for 05-06.
·
President Arnoldt reminded
Senators and all faculty to send their personal (home) E-mail to Doyle Burke at
doyle.burke@cox.net so that they may receive
updates about legislative issues that cannot be discussed on Maricopa
time/property.
·
Senate
received a note of thanks from Mrs. Randolph, Chancellor Glasper and Jeanette
Stewart for gifts and/or cards received.
·
Senator
Reavis has offered to assist a member of the math/business/economics departments in the calculation of
salary information over time. A volunteer from one of these departments
to work on this collaborative effort is being solicited.
·
A
recent survey shows that students often choose a college based on its price,
location and/or convenience. These
ranked higher than choice based on quality of instruction.
·
SIS
continues to update to the New Student System (NSS), which will go on-line
soon.
·
A review of past FEC, Meet & Confer, and GCC Senate leadership
actions in recent years confirms that many efforts to improve salary and
working conditions have been made.
·
Attendance
at Public Records Training is being encouraged for all employee groups. One topic especially pertinent to faculty: Rules
about divulging student information
·
GCC Speakers Bureau is filling
its schedule and is looking for additional places to speak. Their presentations highlight the position
and value of the community college within the community. If you would like to invite the Speakers
Bureau to a specific group or civic organization, please contact George
Martinez.
·
President
Arnoldt has reviewed an initial draft of the Progress Report on Campus Climate
due to the HLC in June.
·
President
Arnoldt is serving on an ad hoc District E-mail Resources Committee that is
examining the E-mail distribution system and policies regarding the use of
college and District E-mail and personal web pages.
·
GCC
President Randolph is still considering the College Plan.
G. FEC (Faculty Executive Council) Report - Vice-President Reed
·
NO
REPORT
H. Governing Board Report. President Arnoldt reported:
·
FEC
noted that three topics directly affecting Faculty (academic freedom, risk
management, and the conferring of baccalaureate degrees) were discussed at the
8/14 Strategic Conversation, a date when Faculty were not on contract. FEC President Stuebner wrote to the Board to
express displeasure with the timing of these issues. While no decisions were made at that time,
Faculty voice would have contributed much to the discussion.
II. Old Business
A. Retired Faculty
Recognition Plaques –
·
A
list of faculty who passed away during their service to GCC and an updated list
of faculty who have retired since 1989 was received from HR during the summer.
·
The
lists included a greater number of faculty than remaining slots on the current
plaques. Thus, Dwyer requested that
Senate consider funding two additional plaques (one for deceased faculty &
one for retired faculty). In order to
match the current plaques, the new plaques must be solid wood; plaque price
includes engraving of later tiles.
·
The following motion was made and
seconded: “Move that Senate fund the purchase of two additional plaques up to a
total cost of no more than $700.” Motion
passed unanimously.
·
Preliminary
permission has been obtained to place the completed plaques in the
B. 4th
FEC (Faculty Executive Council) Representative - Arnoldt
·
President
Arnoldt asked Senators to consider serving on FEC this semester. Our 4th vote is very
important. Only
C. 12 Month Pay
Option - Kadel
·
President
Arnoldt informed Senate that Senator Kadel had agreed to be the GCC Senate
contact person regarding the possible implementation of a 12-month pay option
for faculty.
·
Senator
Kadel will be in direct contact with District Office and HR in trying to
decipher why the process is described as being so difficult to implement. The approximate cost of implementing the
system is $320,000.
·
District
seems to be seriously considering this option for July 2005.
D. Mentoring Thanks
- Reed
·
Vice
President Reed informed Senate that Senate had received two very nice thank you
notes from this Fall’s recipients of the Senate Mentoring Scholarship. The
gifts were very much needed and appreciated.
E. Membership -
Nelson
·
President
Arnoldt informed Senate that all Faculty who are not already enrolled in automatic
deduction of Faculty Association dues had received a Faculty Association
membership form earlier this semester (during accountability).
·
Senator
Nelson again agreed to assign Faculty to each Senator to be their individual
constituents. Lists will be sent later
this week after the updated Faculty List is obtained from Faculty Association
secretary Carrie Taylor. Each Senator
will represent between 15 and 20 individual faculty.
·
Senator
Nelson encouraged Senators to contact their individual Faculty as soon as
possible and to encourage non-members to join the Association.
III. New
Business
A. Establishment of College Plan Review Subcommittee -
Daugherty
·
President Arnoldt reminded Senate GCC President Randolph is still
reviewing last semester’s College Plan revision.
·
Senator Daugherty described the history of the current College
Plan.
·
He informed Senate that the Department Chair Evaluation process,
as described in the new College Plan, had been piloted last Spring in the Math
Department. Results from the pilot
revealed that some of the current questions (taken directly from the Department
Chair job description) may be inappropriate or difficult for faculty to
answer. Edits were suggested. The approximate 50% evaluation return rate is
comparable to the return rate on the previously used paper survey.
·
The College Plan subcommittee had been challenged last semester to
create a section about Evaluation of Administration, written in a similar vein
to the Department Chair Evaluation.
Members of that committee have been attempting to locate a job
description to use in modeling the questions for the new evaluation.
·
Senate created an ad hoc
College Plan Review Committee to continue the work in developing the
Administrative Evaluation. Senator
Daughterty will chair the committee; members will include: Senators Garcia,
Nelson, and Rivera.
B. EEOC Ruling – FEC Executive-Councilor-At-Large Rodriguez
· ECAL Rodriguez provided Senate with information about three complaints that have been filed following a campus-wide e-mail sent in October 2003 and referring to a hostile environment for minorities at GCC:
· In December 2003, a number of employees complained to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) about “offensive” e-mail that was sent by a GCC faculty member. The EEOC issued a determination letter asking the complainants and MCCCD administration to conciliate. According to the complainants, the MCCCD administration did not act in a “timely manner,” and the case was forwarded to the U.S. Justice Department, which issued a right to sue letter.
· Another group of employees at Phoenix College also lodged a complaint with the EEOC about the same e-mail and a related issue. The group has also been issued a determination letter, and is waiting to see if MCCCD will conciliate.
· Later, according to Rodriguez, a complaint was sent by a group of GCC faculty to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) requesting a “focus visit.”
· President Arnoldt then cited portions of the letter to the HLC in which the GCC Faculty Senate and the Senate President, GCC President, and District Chancellor are noted as being inactive in challenging a hostile environment to a “certain population on our campus and District-wide.”
· Ensuing discussion centered on the issue of “academic freedom” versus potential abuses related to free expression via the MCCD email system.
· Since the complaint to HLC mentioned the actions (or inaction) of GCC Faculty Senate in particular, much of the dialogue focused on that complaint.
· Several questions were asked and statements were made by Senators:
· What should Senate have done? How could the Senate’s statement rejecting the e-mail’s content have been judged more adequate by the offended parties?
· Some of the complainants believed that the Senate’s statement took too long to be issued and was insufficient. The silence during the intervening period may have been taken as tacit approval of the e-mail’s content.
· Others pointed out that Senate is a body that meets only once a month, which significantly limits the body’s ability to operate quickly.
· Another recalled that an initial statement had been brought forward during one meeting and that Senate had requested that the authors re-work the original statement and present it at the following meeting. This put a significant amount of time between the offensive e-mail and the Senate statement. Further discussion ensued about the timing of the Statement.
· Further, Senate was reminded that the previous Senate had agreed that no formal votes would be held electronically, and so the final vote on the statement had to await the next scheduled Senate meeting (following Christmas break).
· Several Senators defended the position of last year’s Senate, saying they felt that the Senate statement was a condemnation.
· Some Senators stated that they felt they had acted and voted in good faith to produce a statement that they felt was as far as they could go without violating Faculty rights to free speech. Although several Senators stated that the original e-mail spawning the discussion and necessitating the Senate statement had angered them, they felt conflicted about it because of the importance of protecting the right to free speech and/or academic freedom.
· Additional discussion centered on Faculty Senate being placed in the position of censuring or disciplining another Faculty member. This places the group that represents the Faculty in a difficult position. However, the point was also made that many of the members of the group who filed the HLC grievance are also Faculty, and their rights should be equally protected by the Senate.
· President Arnoldt stated that these issues are part of a larger concern. Portions of this debate have spawned the District e-mail group mentioned in the President’s Report, and she hopes that agreed-upon parameters will be established to help prevent future occurrences.
· One Senator said additional inflammatory messages have been sent to individuals (rather than through campus distribution lists). Several agreed that such messages would warrant different action than the original Senate response.
· Several Senators encouraged acting on the side of good will and not laying blame or feeding campus fears or rumors. All agreed that accurate and complete information on these complaints be distributed when available.
· Senators agreed that the current situation is “out of our hands” until further action is taken by the complainants, EEOC or HLC.
C. Faculty Committee
Service Review - Arnoldt
·
President Arnoldt worked with Student Life staff this summer to
produce a list of current committees on the GCC campus. Eighty-five committees
were divided into categories based on type and the level of intensity of
service.
·
It became apparent during the examination process that there is
little or no accountability with some of the committees. While it is easy to establish a committee,
few rules define the parameters of each committee.
·
Three recommendations came from this committee review:
1.
Resurrect a Committee Architecture Committee
on a bi-annual ad hoc basis.
2.
Establish
a “Committee Evaluation” committee, similar in scope and objectives to the FEC
FPG Review Committee and GCC Budget Review Process Committee (to examine more
thoroughly the work-load and direct community value of each committee.)
3.
Appoint
a person (FAC or PSA) or mechanism to collect minutes, perceptions and etc.
about each committee.
·
As a first step toward #3, a survey will be distributed this fall
that asks faculty to estimate the predicted functions, time requirements, and
community value of their 04-05 committees. A follow-up survey
to determine if these expectations met the actual committee experience will be
sent with the 05-06 Committee Assignment Request.
D. October 12th Governing Board
Strategic Conversation on Shared Governance – Reed & Arnoldt
·
President Arnoldt reminded Senate that they had received copies of
a draft of an “Evaluation of Shared Governance” survey. President Arnoldt requested that Senate
review the document and send comments to her ASAP.
·
The 10/12 Strategic Conversation will focus on the definition of
Shared Governance and how faculty plays a role in that structure. President Arnoldt shared a draft outline of
the presentation prepared for the evening.
·
President Arnoldt explained how Shared Governance is advantageous,
and informed Senate that Chancellor Glasper has been much more accepting of the
concept.
E. GCC Report to Governing Board on 9/28/04 -
Arnoldt
·
This year, each college has been assigned a particular Governing
Board meeting at which to “sing the praises” of its Faculty. President Arnoldt requested names and/or
programs she might include in her report to be given on 9/28.
·
Some suggestions included: Nursing
test scores, Math scholarships, Adult Lifelong Learning, Project Sails,
Revamped student paper: The Voice, and the Black Cats Poetry Club.
F. PBAC (Presidents Budget Advisory Committee)
Membership - Arnoldt
·
The following faculty
were approved unanimously as potential candidates for 2004-2005 PBAC
membership:
·
Potential returning members from
03-04: Rene Diaz-Lefebvre (Psy), John Kelly (Tech), and Miriam Pack (Math).
·
Potential new members for 04-05:
Brian Bird (Math), Cheryl Dellai (App Sci), Fernando Garcia (Tech), Dave
Jenkins (Tech), Lisa Lewis (Fitness), Christine Moore (LMC), Doug Nottingham
(Music) and Scott Stroher (Bus.).
·
These
names will be forwarded to GCC President Randolph who will choose 2 faculty who
served last year and 2 committee members who will serve for the first time this
year.
IV.
Information
A. Public Awareness
Campaign - Arnoldt
·
Public Awareness campaign includes distributing
information about GCC’s Master Vision, Campus Planning, recent events and
upcoming challenges. The group seeks to
spread the information about the continuing increase in students at our
college.
·
Please
contact George Martinez to schedule a talk with your group.
B. GCC Faculty
Travel Request Processor - Arnoldt
·
The possibility of having one campus person
handle all travel requests has been discussed.
Some departments already have one person responsible for filing all
travel documents. Having one person
would make the process more consistent and efficient.
·
President Arnoldt asked for feedback on this
idea; please contact her.
C. Faculty Offices -
Arnoldt
·
As space is at a premium, 49% faculty and faculty
on sabbatical may be asked to share offices.
·
A recent article in Academe discusses the
merits and drawbacks of individual faculty offices and their use, as well as
whether faculty are guaranteed such privileges.
·
District RFP (Residential Faculty Policies)
guarantees “office space,” but not necessarily a private office.
·
No action is currently being considered, but
future space limitations may dictate changes in prior practice.
D. Faculty and
Faculty Senate Listening Sessions - Arnoldt
·
Associate Dean Jeffery has asked Senate to
confirm a set of dates to be designated as the Faculty Senate Listening Session
and the Faculty Listening Session for discussion of the Campus Climate Progress
Report.
·
Senate discussed the available dates and chose
the following:
·
Meeting with Faculty Senate: Sept. 30 (Thurs.) 2:30-4:00 p.m. - Student Lounge
·
Meeting with ALL
Faculty: Oct. 1 (Fri.) 1:00-2:30 p.m. – Student Lounge
·
These dates have
subsequently been confirmed.
Meeting was
adjourned at 4:55 pm.
Next meeting of the GCC Faculty will take place at the
regularly scheduled week and time on September 23rd @ 2:30pm.