Faculty Council News
11 November 2014
The November meeting opened with approval of minutes from the October meeting, open session, and new business, of which there was none, so we jumped right into a continuation of Nancy
Pringle’s (Vice President and General Counsel) presentation from the October meeting on some minor modifications in the College’s Policy Manual. The first part of her presentation covered changes in the Ethics and Integrity Policy (2.34). Council endorsed these changes without opposition. Pringle then reviewed proposed changes to the Conflict of Interest and Conflict of
Commitment Policy and the Nepotism Policy, most of which centered on defining family members, relatives, etc. In short, the College is updating these policies to reflect cultural changes.
Council listened attentively, making modest suggestion; Nancy will send modified proposals back to Council in the spring for further input.
Next up was Mark Coldren, Associate Vice President of Human Resources, who highlighted changes in benefits for the next fiscal year. Mark explained that there will be a modest increase in health care cost, and revealed that we have a new dental plan and inviting life insurance options. The change in our health insurance premium largely reflects the College’s efforts to shift the sharing of health care cost to current industry best practices, which is 75 (employer funded)/25% (employee funded); we are currently at 78/22%. The new dental plan is the best the
College could find in the market; Mark hopes it will reduce our exposure to troublesome practices of our past provider. Council inquired if the new plan’s cost reflects the College’s efforts to shift the sharing of health; Mark he intimated it wasn’t. Council also asked him to examine the possibility of raising the ceiling on annual maximum cost, which is currently $1500.00, a figure it has been at for quite some time.
The life insurance changes were substantial. In the past, all employees had to buy at least
$20,000 or one unit of College life insurance, with other units available at additional cost, not necessarily at a competitive rate. This year the College provided every employee who elects to receive benefits with $50,000 of basic life at no cost, and additional units could be purchased at competitive rates, and up to a certain percentage of salary, without a physical examination.
Council then discussed with Mark the possibility of reconstituting the Faculty Benefits
Committee, which has been defunct for some time. Mark agreed to the proposal, offering that he welcomes “more eyes and suggestions” as he and his group explore benefit options in the future.
He explained that the spring is the best time, as that is when benefit options are explored. It is likely that the revived Faculty Benefits Committee will also include members from the Staff
Council as well.
The report from the Shared Governance Task Force followed Coldren’s presentation. Council unanimously passed a motion to upload the report to Sakai, email the report to all faculty, and hold two town-hall meetings dedicated to a discussion of the report.

The last order of business this night was a cordial discussion with President Rochon about
Honorary Degrees. In short, he shared his philosophy that he prefers to aim high rather than to catch a rising star and while important it is not imperative that the prospective honoree has an IC connection. Council inquired as to what constitutes an outstanding candidate, suggesting that perhaps he or she was a “game changer”. Council also inquired if the purpose of the degree was to increase the status of the college or the honoree.
Respectfully,
Tom Swensen
Secretary Faculty Council
Professor and Chair Exercise and Sport Sciences