Draft Faculty Senate Agenda & Minutes
Thursday, October 4, 2007
3:15 PM to 5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
1. Attendance: Please check-in on the attendance roster.
2. Review the Agenda for the 10/3/07 meeting.
3. Review the Minutes of the 9/20/07 meeting.
The draft minutes were not available. Mark Hubley said he would distribute them electronically for
approval.
4. Calendar
Fall 2007 important dates
A. College closed or no classes
i) College Enrichment Day, no classes, Tue. 10/30
ii) Thanksgiving Break, no classes, Wed. 11/21
iii) Thanksgiving Break, college closed, Thu. 11/22—Sun. 11/25
Website –no class day on Wednesday before Thanksgiving 11/21
iv) Winter Break, college closed, Sat. 12/22—Sun. 1/6
B. Other important dates
i) Last day to withdraw from 15-week classes, Tue. 11/20
ii) Final exam week, Tue. 12/11—Mon. 12/17
iii) Grades due, Wed. 12/19 by 4:00 PM
October/November important dates
E. Senate meetings
i) Thu. 10/4, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
ii) Thu. 10/18, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
iii) Thu. 11/1, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
iv) Thu. 11/15, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
F. Board of Trustees meetings
i) Thu. 10/11, 7:00 PM, Kent 262
ii) Thu. 11/8, 7:00 PM, Kent 262
G. College-wide Forum
i) Wed. 10/3, 2:00—4:00 PM, LSC Community Room B
ii) Wed. 10/17, 2:00—4:00 PM, LSC Community Room B
iii) Wed. 11/7, 2:00—4:00 PM, LSC Community Room B
iv) Wed. 11/21, 2:00—4:00 PM, LSC Community Room B
5. Attachments
A. HR Committee report to the CWF (included at the end of these minutes)
1
6. Reports
A.
B.
C.
D.
Senate President
Senate Vice President
Representative from President’s Leadership Team
College-wide Forum
i) Representative from Faculty Organization
ii) Human Resources Committee
iii) Budget Advisory Committee
iv) Campus Culture Committee
v) Learning Committee
vi) Technology Steering Committee
vii) Strategic Planning Committee
viii) Assessment Committee
ix) Facilities Committee
E. Chairs’ Council
F. Adjunct Faculty
G. Representative from the Student Governance Board
7. Old Business
A. Update on the Academic Council
B. Update on committee for review of faculty evaluation process
C. Other old business?
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
8. New Business
A. Discussion with President Dukes
Charlene Dukes thanked the Senate for inviting her to attend. It has been 93 days since she officially took
on the job of President, she has already had a very busy schedule meeting with Senators, the Governor,
the County Executive, and other community leaders. Dukes said she is happy about the salary
improvement for employees, and she has been listening to concerns of adjunct faculty, students, etc.
She has met with the Presidential Leadership Team to discuss guiding principles. She hopes to create
an atmosphere of open dialogue with the campus community.
Hubley raised a question about the newly passed late registration policy. The calendar committee met
recently and had concerns about the spring ’09 semester, in which an early graduation date threatens to
shorten the post-holiday registration period. There was discussion of pushing back or eliminating the late
registration period. Faculty opinion is to have late registration begin before classes begin, as described in
current policy. Dukes said she wanted to look at the data on how late-registering students perform in
class, then make a decision based on the data. Some preliminary data showed little difference in
performance between students who registered on time vs. students who registered late. It is also
possible that we could break our contract with the Showplace Arena and set a different graduation date
for that semester. Greg Weiss asked if there would be a financial penalty. Dukes replied there might be;
however, that would not dictate any decision to be made about late registration.
Janet Carlson thanked Dr. Dukes for attending a meeting of the adjunct faculty. Carlson expressed a
desire for more professional development for our adjunct faculty. In particular, workshops on pedagogy
would be beneficial. Various members of the Senate commented that we need to offer more attractive
salaries and benefits to our adjunct faculty. Dukes suggested setting clear priorities; the Senate should
identify five (or so) top priorities to remedy the situation. She has been working hard to make sure that
the county continues to increase its support for the college. There are some concerns at whether the
state is going to do its part, given the current $1.7B deficit identified by the Governor’s office.
2
Hubley suggested that there may be a widespread willingness among faculty and others to accept lower
standards in classes taught by part-time faculty. For example, when classes are assessed as part of the
college’s assessment program, it is sometimes the case that classes taught by adjuncts are not included.
Hubley was informed by Dennis Huffman that on the first day of classes at UTC, nine faculty were not
present for their first class meetings. There are also problems with adjunct faculty not using campus Email and voice-mail. Hubley said the college needs to do more to hold adjunct faculty to a high standard
while also giving them the appropriate resources (e.g., professional development) and compensation. Dr.
Dukes suggested changing the contracts for adjuncts to specify expectations such as E-mail and voicemail. Also, chairs bear the primary responsibility of upholding faculty standards. Laura Ellsworth said she
would bring this issue to the Chairs’ Council for discussion.
Nicholas Plants stated that we should avoid distinctions between faculty and administration in such
matters. There must be a clear synergy between the two, and we must avoid making assumptions about
what the faculty is doing and what the administration is doing. Rather, we need to work together to create
a vision and make it happen. Dukes said she does not want to run things in a manner in which people
are seen as winners or losers. We need to work together, and we need to hire the best people and
support the best people.
Eldon Baldwin said there have been problems in communications that have been detrimental to the
adjunct faculty. For example, in the fall of 2006 there was widespread belief that all full-time and parttime employees would get a “Christmas bonus.” Only at the last minute was it made clear that adjunct
faculty would not receive any bonus. Although the administration never intended for adjuncts to get the
bonus, it was not communicated effectively, and many adjuncts were insulted. Likewise, the new free use
of the Natatorium policy was not communicated properly, resulting in bad feelings. Dukes replied that we
do need to be more effective in communicating. However, we also must accept that we have a limited
amount of money, and we have to make hard decisions about where that money goes. Dukes stated that
it is not appropriate to treat all employees in an equal manner—some will get benefits that others do not.
However, it is her goal to treat all employees in a fair manner. Baldwin added that it is time to consider
ways of encouraging and rewarding people to do the things that the college needs. Perhaps we need to
move to a salary improvement system that has a merit component.
Carlson suggested that one benefit for adjunct faculty that would not cost money is recognition of years of
service for adjuncts on College Enrichment Day. This is not current practice. Dukes supported the idea,
but wanted to ensure that time is taken to make sure it is done accurately. Alvin Parish mentioned that
the names of adjunct faculty used to be included in the College Catalog, but they no longer are. This is a
perk that the adjunct faculty appreciated. Dukes replied that these names were probably removed as part
of an effort to streamline the catalog. She would talk to the party responsible for the catalog.
B. Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award.
Hubley mentioned that no member of the adjunct faculty was nominated for the Faculty Senate
Excellence Awards. Various people had contacted him expressing concern about the situation.
Hubley had talked with Susan Richardson, chair of the awards committee, about ways to remedy the
situation. Was there still time to call for nominations, select a winner, and make public presentation.
Hubley suggested that he could put out a call for nominations with a deadline of October 19. The
committee could select a winner the following week, and the winner could be recognized on College
Enrichment Day, the 30th. Or do we make it a longer process with recognition at a later time? Plants
asked why this was being considered? There was a process, and if no adjuncts were nominated
according to the process, then perhaps it is appropriate that no adjunct award is given this year. Hubley
said he was balancing the need to follow the process against the fact that not giving an award may be
seen as another “slap in the face” to our adjunct faculty. Baldwin said that the process of nominating for
these awards continues to be broken, and if the award is going to continue there needs to be a way of
getting more nominations. Iva Toler made a motion calling for nominations with a deadline of the 19 th and
encouraging chairs to nominate adjunct faculty. The motion passed with fifteen in favor, none opposed,
and two abstentions.
C. Other new business
There was further discussion of the issue with the Spring 2009 calendar. Graduation dates are locked in,
for the next few years, and Spring ’09 is tight. Barbara Sanders suggested that this is not just a Spring
3
’09 issue. Rather, various people on the CWF appear interested in doing away with the policy of having
the late registration period occur prior to the beginning of classes. There are also concerns that
Colleague will not be flexible in allowing students to register after the “normal” registration period closes.
The numbers that were shown earlier and used to support the idea that there is little difference in success
between students who register on time and those who register late are not based on proper data: both
pools of students that were compared included those who registered late. There are various ways we
can encourage and help students register on time. Also, we do allow students to register during the late
registration period. So, we should not support doing away with the current late registration policy.
9. Agenda Items for Upcoming Meetings
A. Attendance by VP Dunnington; November?
B. Other items?
_________________________________________
10. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM.
4
HR Committee Report to the CWF
Wednesday, Oct 3 ,
Rik Karlsson, Co-chair: The HR committee of the CWF began its meetings for the semester on
Sept 12. Its most recent meeting was Sept 26, during which the committee took up the following
business:
1. Review of committee work processes with a view to maintaining effectiveness and
timeliness of committee output.
2. Validation of the meeting schedule for the academic year as being every other
Wednesday morning from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct 10.
Wednesday is the least conflicting day of the week for members with other meetings and
obligations.
3. Took stock of the membership of the committee. Louis Renaud reported that the Faculty
Senate had decided that his assignment as the acting dean of the STEM division
precluded him from continuing to serve as an FS representative to the CWF. Since the
HR Committee, under the CWF By-Laws must have at least 3 members of the CWF
sitting, the committee notified governance that a CWF member should be identified as his
replacement in that role. Mr. Renaud desires to continue on the committee and has put
forward a petition to serve.
4. It had been previously made known to the committee that Mr. Jerome Countee of
Workforce Development and Continuing Education (WDCE) had put forward a petition
to serve to fill the billet vacated by Dyanne Lyon, but that petition has not come before
the committee. It should be noted as well that Laurie Cunningham has also withdrawn as
a member of the committee; Janice Watley is no longer an employee of the college. The
committee membership presently includes Lark Dobson and Rik Karlsson, co-chairs,
Karen Egypt, Denise Barino-Samuels (CWF), Joyce McPherson, Ethel Shepard-Powell
(CWF), Janice Goodwin-Alston, Linda Martin and Elana Robinson.
5. The committee discussed interest in having a student representative as a member.
6. The committee discussed constituent issues that could come before the committee as well
as taking inventory of unfinished business such as the Alternative Work Schedule Policy
proposal. Other issues foreseen for discussion include the use of mandatory leave during
winter and spring break periods when the college is closed, the use of annual leave by
newly employed classified staff, increasing annual leave by one day, and instituting a
supervisory training program throughout the college.
7. Karen Egypt volunteered to be the spokesperson for the committee for reporting to the
CWF in the absence of the co-chairs.
5