Faculty Senate Minutes
Thursday, February 21, 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 2/21/08 meeting.
The agenda was passed as presented.
3. Review the Minutes of the 2/7/08 meeting.
4. Calendar
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. Compensation study Statement of Work from RFP
B. Sabbatical leave proposal
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6. Reports
A. Senate President
Mark Hubley reported that President Charlene Dukes had approved the Academic Council proposal.
Vice-President Sandy Dunnington would contact members of the Council and arrange the first meeting in
March. The Academic Team would meet at least one more time before the Council took over.
Hubley said he met with Dukes and Lark Dobson to discuss ID badges. Hubley said he expressed
concerns that communications from the point of the Enrollment Management Team to the announcement
from Human Resources did not work as well as they should have. Hubley said that while something
about badges may have passed across his desk, his assumption would have been that there would be a
discussion by broader committees (e.g., the CWF) prior to announcement of a policy. Janet Carlson
noted that it would be difficult for adjunct faculty to comply with the stated policy, as the hours for
obtaining a lanyard and photo ID are limited. Hubley said he would work with Dukes and Dobson to
revise the policy in a way that would be more accommodating, more clearly justified, and without any
slogans. Nicholas Plants said he thought the Enrollment Management Team was an ad hoc committee
appointed by President Williams. This would not necessarily be “representative” of the faculty.
Hubley expressed his opinion that it is reasonable for the college to ask us to wear identification. We are,
after all, employees of the college. However, it would be in the administration’s benefit to clearly explain
the rationale and loosen up the requirements, such as allowing us to use our own lanyards. Also, the
administration should be clear about its expectations: If this is a requirement, then stand by that. If it is
optional, then give a good justification and most will comply.
Various members of the Senate continued to wonder what the purpose actually is? If it is for
identification, the names are printed to small and are hard to read. If it is for security, then why not
include students?
Baldwin suggested that the current governance system is not effective in thinking things through. As the
system evolved, the “opinion of the faculty” was generally obtained by simply going to the President of the
Faculty Organization. Generally, the FO President served on nearly every important committee. With
growth of the number of committees this is no longer practical, and more people are serving on various
non-functional committees. Actual decisions often simply get made by the senior leadership. Often these
decisions are made in isolation from the larger campus community, and, as in this case, these decisions
often aren’t very good.
Hubley said that on Tuesday morning he was told by a member of the faculty that this debate is ridiculous
and the faculty are embarrassing themselves. Hubley said he felt the matter did raise some important
concerns, but he did not want to engage in a battle over ID badges. There are more important things to
spend time on. Hubley said he would like to announce to the faculty that the policy would be revised,
there would be no slogan, and we should accept the idea of ID badges. Alvin Parrish said he was still
concerned that the faculty needs to do something about the way this matter was handled. Hubley said
that he would prefer not to fight over this issue.
B. Senate Vice President
Swazette Young announced that a student had been added to the faculty evaluation committee. The
Salary and Benefits Committee met and prepared a strategic plan to provide timely increases in salary for
all faculty, including adjuncts. One idea under consideration is a regular cost-of-living increase of 1 to 2%
with additional raises based on accomplishments. The committee is also looking at other ideas. Alan
Mickelson suggested getting together with someone on the Budget Advisory Committee. Hubley noted
that the compensation study requests development of a merit pay proposal. Christy Wright asked if the
new union for classified staff would have any impact on pay equity.
C. Academic Regulations and Standards Committee
Danny Jones reported that this committee has disbanded, due to the formation of the Academic Council,
which will take on the role of this committee.
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D. Representative from President’s Leadership Team
Baldwin reported that a meeting had been canceled.
E. Representative from the Academic Team
F. 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
Rosanne Benn reported that the committee is meeting next week. The Transportation and Parking subcommittee had discussed slowing traffic and had plans for two more crosswalk signs to be put near the
new High Tech building and Marlboro Hall. The college is lobbying to get a stop at campus on the
proposed Metro Purple Line. Crosswalks have been repainted to increase their visibility. Campus Police
says it is issuing more tickets to students parking in faculty/staff spaces, but they don’t have enough staff
to patrol as often as they would like. Charlie Thomas noted that a car had sped by him at an unsafe
speed. He mentioned this to Dave Mosby, but nothing is being done. Someone suggested writing a
petition. Thomas expressed frustration that nothing will be done to make the campus safer for
pedestrians until someone gets killed.
G. Chairs’ Council
H. Adjunct Faculty
Janet Carlson reported that a meeting for adjunct faculty was planned for the evening February 27. VicePresident Taibi would be discussing “Teaching Through Obstacles.”
I. Representative from the Student Governance Board
7. Old Business
A. Sabbatical leave proposal
Hubley turned the discussion to a review of the sabbatical leave proposal. Someone suggested placing a
limit on the number of times that a department chair can deny an application. Jones suggested limiting
the number of denials to two before it becomes the responsibility of the college to accommodate the
leave. Kathi Linville suggested that we see how the policy plays out. It was noted that Student Services
has a history of repeatedly denying faculty use of the Leave Banking program. There should be some
clear language that says the college at some point is responsible for getting coverage to enable a
member of the faculty to take a sabbatical. Hubley agreed that inadequate coverage is not an acceptable
excuse for repeated denials. Baldwin suggested language parallel to section 4.D. and a motion was put
forward to add such language to the proposal. The motion passed unanimously.
In light of past problems in Student Services, Baldwin suggested having a conversation with Taibi about
the proposal. Hubley said he would attempt to do that. Hubley also said that the sabbatical proposal
would be discussed at the next meeting of the CWF. He would also send a copy of the proposal to the
faculty.
Plants said it seemed that parts of section 6.G appear to apply to administrators whereas others appear
to apply more to faculty. Is the sabbatical supposed to benefit the administrative area or the person
taking the sabbatical? Hubley suggested that all four criteria apply to both faculty and administrators. A
faculty sabbatical should have some benefit for both the faculty member and the person’s department
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(and therefore the college). When a faculty member writes a proposal, it should demonstrate both
personal benefit and benefit to the college.
Concerns were raised about the requirement for a presentation to the Senior Team and the Board.
Should there not be a presentation to the area that is benefiting most from the sabbatical? Hubley
suggested a presentation to the college community. This could be attended by colleagues/students in the
area as well as any interested members of the Senior Team. How would “professional growth” and the
other requirements of the proposal be judged? Hubley said he was concerned about making the
guidelines too specific. The committee should be able to recognize a good proposal. Plants suggested
that it would be helpful for the committees to have reasonably clear guidelines.
Hubley said he would get together with John Rosicky and work on the changes suggested by the Senate.
The proposal would be viewed by the CWF and at some point come back to the Senate. Eventually it
would have to be approved by the Board of Trustees. Baldwin suggested separating out that part of the
proposal that is “policy” and needs to be included in the code, from the part that is procedural. This would
make it easier to amend the procedures.
B. Other old business?
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8. New Business
A. Compensation study
Hubley asked members of the Senate to review the Scope of Work document for the compensation study.
He said that Karen Egypt and Clyde Ebenreck are on a committee that is reviewing prospective vendors
for the study. Hubley said that the plan is for the consultant to have open discussions with the various
constituency groups. Baldwin said it is important that systems for evaluating employees in the different
groups be kept clearly separate. There cannot be a “one size fits all” plan. He expressed concern that
the Senior Team does not tend to recognize differences between the groups.
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 was adjourned at 5:25 PM.
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