Faculty Senate Minutes
Thursday, February 7, 2008
3:15 PM to 5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
1. Attendance: Please check-in on the attendance roster.
2. Review the Agenda for the 2/7/08 meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 3:15 PM, and the agenda was passed as written.
3. Review the Minutes of the 12/6/07 meeting.
Mark Hubley asked if it was correct to attribute the statement in the fourth sentence of the first complete
paragraph on page 4 to Alan Mickelson. Nobody present recalled. Hubley said he would make the
comment anonymous. With that correction, the minutes were approved.
4. Calendar
The Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for February 14, was rescheduled to February 7.
The next meeting will be March 13. The President’s Leadership Team meeting for February has been
cancelled.
Spring 2008 important dates
A. College closed or no classes
i) Presidents Day, no classes, Mon. 2/18
ii) Spring Break, college closed, Mon. 3/17—Sat. 3/22
B. Other important dates
i) Last day to withdraw from 15-week classes, Fri. 4/18
ii) Final exam week, Thu. 5/8—Wed. 5/14
iii) Grades due, Fri. 5/16 by 4:00 PM
iv) Commencement, Thu. 5/22
February/March important dates
E. Senate meetings
i) Thu. 2/7, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
ii) Thu. 2/21, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
iii) Thu. 3/6, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
F. Board of Trustees meetings
i) Thu. 2/14, 7:00 PM, Kent 262
ii) Thu. 3/13, 7:00 PM, Kent 262
G. College-wide Forum
i) Wed. 2/6, 2:00—4:00 PM, LSC Community Room B
ii) Wed. 2/20, 2:00—4:00 PM, K-262
iii) Wed. 3/5, 2:00—4:00 PM, LSC Community Room B
5. Attachments
A.
B.
C.
D.
Minutes from the 12/6/07 meeting of the Faculty Senate
Draft proposal for Academic Council
Compensation study Statement of Work from RFP
Sabbatical leave proposal
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6. Reports
A. Senate President
Hubley said he presented the Academic Council proposal to the CWF, and it was generally well-received.
Attendance was disappointing at the faculty meeting to discuss the proposal.
Hubley said the Senate needed to fill various committees. The Promotion Appeals Committee requires
five members and two alternates. Members must be tenured associate or full professors. Hubley had the
following nominations: Ray Harris, Rosanne Benn, Anne King, Daniel Jones, Kathi Linville, Esther
Robbins, and Johnny Jones. Hubley proposed that Robbins and Jones serve as the alternates. There
were no further nominations, and the Senate voted in favor of all the proposed nominees.
Hubley said there is a need to assemble a Bylaws and Handbook committee. One member is the FO
President, there must also be a full-time delegate and a part-time delegate on the committee. Additional
members of the faculty may also serve. Hubley had the following nominations: Hubley (FO President),
Michelle Klein (FT delegate), Janet Carlson (PT delegate), Allison Miner, Christine Barrow, John Bartles,
Eldon Baldwin, Tonya Friday, Bernadette Dantley, Janet Barber, and Ricky Godbolt. Mickelson
expressed concern about an all-faculty committee taking on the task of revising the Faculty Handbook, as
the document is an administrative document, and outline faculty duties, etc. is an administrative issue.
He suggested taking a broader approach and including administrators in the process. Eldon Baldwin
referred to a previous attempt to revise the Faculty Handbook, and he said the effort collapsed largely
because the Williams administration did not make the effort a priority. Baldwin said they had difficulty
getting through the “legalese” and we need to make the document more readable. He suggested getting
Verna Teasdale to join the committee. Others (and not just faculty) can be brought into the process to
address specific concerns. The Senate approved of those nominated.
Next Hubley moved on to the Nominating Committee. Carlson, Surjit Dhariwal, and Nicolas Plants carried
over. Alvin Parrish was nominated for the position in Educational Development. Vacancies exist in
STEM, Learning Resources, BSBS, and Student Development Services. Hubley asked if Carlson could
run the election like she did last year. Carlson said the person who did the programming is not with us.
Baldwin suggested that someone will be able to fill in on the programming side.
Hubley said he would run again as president. However, Swazette Young will not run for another term as
vice-president.
The Senate needs to appoint two persons to serve as at-large alternates on the College-wide Promotion
Committee. They must be assistant professor or higher and not serving on other promotion committees.
No nominations were put forward.
The Senate needs to appoint two persons to serve as at-large alternates on the College-wide Tenure
Committee. They must be tenured. Jones and Mickelson were nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
B. Senate Vice President
Meetings are being held in the upcoming week for those reviewing promotion and tenure portfolios.
C. Academic Regulations and Standards Committee
D. Representative from President’s Leadership Team
The President’s Leadership team met in January and heard a series of reports
E. Representative from the Academic Team
Hubley said there was discussion of faculty teaching their entire loads online. The team suggested
putting a limit to the number of online hours; permission from the chair would be required to exceed the
limit. The concern is that a member of the faculty teaching his entire load online may not be sufficiently
engaged in campus life. Hubley suggested that it is the chair’s responsibility to ensure that faculty are
living up to their responsibilities. Another topic of discussion was the related issue of online office hours.
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Members of the Team agreed that while a fraction of office hours online is appropriate for those teaching
online classes, some hours should be on campus. Office hours are in part to serve the department, not
just one’s own students
F. College-wide Forum
Late registration proposal has been tabled until colleague is up and running.
i) Representative from Faculty Organization
ii) Human Resources Committee
iii) Budget Advisory Committee
The committee is working on defining goals for the committee.
iv) Campus Culture Committee
v) Learning Committee
This committee also is working on goals.
vi) Technology Steering Committee
This committee is still working on issues related to the High Technology Center.
vii) Strategic Planning Committee
viii) Assessment Committee
ix) Facilities Committee
Benn reported that this committee would meet again at the end of this month. The pedestrian crossing
sign in the middle of the road by Chesapeake Hall coming off Rt. 202 appears to be successful in slowing
traffic.
G. Chairs’ Council
H. Adjunct Faculty
I. Representative from the Student Governance Board
Some matters under discussion by the SGB include having greater input into the faculty evaluation
process, improving resources at the extension centers, and increasing faculty participation in student
activities. Hubley asked if a student had been identified to join the committee that is looking at the faculty
evaluation process. Young said that nobody had been contacted. Hubley suggested that a student be
added to that committee and asked Young to see that SGB is contacted about getting a student to
participate. There were no objections.
Hubley and others expressed concerns about resources for students using the extension centers.
Mickelson noted that evening and weekend students at Largo also do not get the same resources as
Largo day students, yet students pay the same fees regardless. Hubley mentioned that he believed there
is a state-mandated requirement that 50% of credit courses be taught by full-time faculty. That may be
true of all of our credit courses collectively, but it does not apply to our extension centers (or summer
courses). Thus, full-time faculty are another resource that is lacking at the extension centers. Many at
our institution, including our full-time faculty, have a 9-to-5 mentality, but this does not match the reality
that includes evening and weekend classes. Baldwin mentioned that Valencia College includes some
summer hours in faculty contracts.
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7. Old Business
A. Vote on the Academic Council proposal
Hubley noted some minor changes that had been made to the proposal since the last meeting, and he
asked for a vote on the proposal. Without further discussion, the proposal was passed by a unanimous
vote.
Hubley said the proposal would have to be approved by Dunnington and Dukes, and he expected that
would happen soon. Dunnington could then convene the committee, hopefully some time in March.
Nicholas Plants suggested that the Senate move to appoint the members that come from the Senate.
Janet Carlson (adjunct) and Charlie Thomas (full-time) were nominated and approved. Hubley said he
would forward those names to Dunnington.
B. Sabbatical leave proposal
Hubley noted that a proposal for faculty sabbatical leave was presented to the Senate last fall. In the
meantime, the ASO drafted a similar proposal for administrators. As the two plans are similar, they were
combined into a single document. In brief, the president will announce how many sabbaticals are
available for a coming year, some number for faculty and some number for administration. Applications
by faculty and administrators would then go through separate committees for approval. Committees will
forward those proposals that meet certain standards to the president, and the president will make final
selections.
Baldwin expressed concerns about having a combined program, especially since the number of eligible
faculty greatly exceeds the number of eligible administrators. He suggested that the number of
sabbaticals for each group be related to proportions of those eligible. Greg Weiss suggested that it is
hard to justify sabbaticals when we are facing difficult financial times.
Hubley said that Dukes raised the idea of eliminating the Leave Bank program if the sabbatical proposal
is approved. Hubley attempted to explain to Dukes that the Leave Bank program does not cost the
college any money, and the sabbatical program should have no impact on Leave Bank. Eliminating the
Leave Bank program is likely to cause problems staffing courses.
Plants asked who had been discussing this proposal. Hubley said it had been discussed by the Senate
and by the ASO. Plants thought it was important to have a broader combined discussion, rather than just
two discussions linked only by Hubley and Rosicky. Perhaps a “town hall meeting” with faculty and staff
invited. Hubley said that was certainly a possibility. He also expressed hope that Academic Council
meetings will be open and provide opportunities for broad discussion.
C. Other old business?
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8. New Business
A. Compensation study
B. Other new business?
_________________________________________
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9. Agenda Items for Upcoming Meetings
A. Discussion with Sandy Dunnington, VP of Academic Affairs
B. Other items?
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10. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:21 PM.
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