Faculty Senate Minutes
Thursday, April 3, 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 4/3/08 meeting.
The agenda was approved as written.
3. Review the Minutes of the 3/6/08 meeting.
The minutes were approved as written.
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
April important dates
E. Senate meetings
i) Thu. 4/3, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
ii) Thu. 4/17, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
iii) Thu. 5/1, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
F. Board of Trustees meetings
i) Thu. 4/10, 7:00 PM, Kent 262
ii) Thu. 5/8, 7:00 PM, Kent 262
G. College-wide Forum
i) Wed. 4/2, 2:00—4:00 PM, LSC Community Room B
ii) Wed. 4/16, 2:00—4:00 PM, LSC Community Room B
iii) Wed. 5/7, 2:00—4:00 PM, LSC Community Room B
iv) Wed. 5/21, 2:00—4:00 PM, LSC Community Room B
H. Academic Council
i) Thu. 4/10, 3:00—5:00 PM, LSC Conf. Room 6
ii) Thu. 4/21, 3:00—5:00 PM, HTC 133
iii) Thu. 5/8, 3:00—5:00 PM, HTC 133
5. Attachments
A. Minutes from the 3/6 meeting.
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6. Reports
A. Senate President, including report from Academic Council
Mark Hubley reported that the Academic Council met for the first time on March 27. Much of the meeting
was spent discussing housekeeping issues and how the Council will operate. There is an intent to allow
some time at each meeting for open discussion including both members of the Council and other
members of the campus community. Upcoming topics of discussion will include Quality Matters. There
are also plans to address issues pertinent to Academic Affairs that were raised in the Middle States Self
Study and strategic goals for Academic Affairs.
Hubley attended a meeting of the Facilities Committee to discuss & drink in classrooms. There was
general agreement that food & drink will not be allowed in certain rooms (e.g., computer labs and science
labs). In regular classrooms, it will be up to the instructor to determine whether or not food & drink are
allowed during class. Also, the committee seemed willing to be more flexible with regards to availability of
food & drink in classrooms for meetings, seminars, etc. Hubley said the Facilities Committee would
create an updated draft of guidelines.
Hubley met with John Rosicky and Sandy Dempsey to discuss the sabbatical proposal in light of the
discussion of the proposal at the CWF. They generally agreed that a “sabbatical” leave program is
appropriate for faculty, and a “professional” leave program may be adopted for staff and expanded
beyond just administrative staff. The faculty schedule, based on semesters, is the key difference. Eldon
Baldwin suggested that Hubley pay attention to the fact that not all faculty are on 10-month contracts, and
that we need to be clear about the availability of sabbatical leave for 12-month faculty.
B. Senate Vice President
Swazette Young reported that the Salary & Benefits Committee has a proposal for pay increases for all
faculty beginning in 2010. This will be related to cost-of-living increases and will include a systematic
increase in adjunct pay.
Nicholas Plants asked for an update on domestic partner and short-term disability benefits. Hubley said
he had received E-mail messages from Lark Dobson indicating that the college wants to move forward
with a plan to make short-term disability benefits available. However, she said the college will not
consider domestic partner benefits. The reason given for the latter is that the county government does
not offer domestic partner benefits. Hubley said this same excuse was given years ago, and it seems to
be a “boilerplate” response from the administration on an issue it views as politically sensitive. Janet
Carlson asked what we should do about the short-term disability proposal. Hubley said he would talk to
Dobson and see if the FO, ASO, and CO can work together with the administration in moving forward with
a plan. With regards to domestic partners, Hubley suggested that Chris Hunt’s committee needs to move
forward with developing a plan; a proposal will not likely be ready by the end of this semester.
Barbara Sanders raised the issue of the compensation study. She alluded to a rumor that a vendor has
been selected, and they will not interview anyone under the level of dean. Hubley said he would contact
Karen Egypt and Clyde Ebenreck to see what their committee had done regarding the selection of a
vendor.
C. Nominating Committee
Carlson updated the Senate on the status of the ballot. There were vacancies for a delegate from Health
& Human Performance and an adjunct delegate for STEM. Hubley said Iva Toler may be willing to serve
for HHP; Kathi Linville said she would check with Toler. Hubley said he would send out some E-mails in
an effort to encourage more people to participate. The Senate recommended that the election begin on
or about April 18 and last for 5 to 7 days.
D. Representative from President’s Leadership Team
Baldwin said the next meeting was scheduled for 4/4/08. He asked if there were any issues he should
raise. Hubley suggested the domestic partners benefits issue. Plants suggested the compensation
study. Sanders said he should raise the issue of the tuition raise and the fact that awareness of this issue
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is not what it should be. Someone should have done a better job communicating this to the campus
community.
E. Enrollment Management Team
F. College-wide Forum
Baldwin commented that it seems to be the case that when a committee that includes a member of the
faculty makes a recommendation, the administration perceives the recommendation as being supported
by the faculty. Hubley seconded this concern and suggested that faculty on various committees may
represent the viewpoint of the faculty, but do not necessarily represent the position of the faculty on a
particular matter. In cases where recommendations of a specific committee (e.g., Curriculum or the
Enrollment Management Team) are going to have important repercussions on the broader campus
community, the recommendations should go to a broader representative body (e.g., Academic Council or
CWF) before being enacted. The administration should recognize when an issue needs broad
consideration. Plants suggested that faculty on these committees are the responsibility of the faculty. It
is up to us to keep informed of what is going on with the various committees. Hubley suggested it is not
possible for one person (i.e., the FO President) to keep track of all the faculty on the many college
committees. The various faculty representatives need to exercise judgment in knowing what is a minor
issue and what issues need to be elevated to higher discussions. Baldwin said that the senior leadership
is not seeing things this way. Plants said that it is fair to have expectations of our colleagues, that faculty
need to funnel information to the Senate, and that we need to take more responsibility. Alan Mickelson
suggested that we need to meet with various administrators, discuss the perceived problems, and
propose some solutions. Hubley suggested that when a person is appointed to a committee the
expectations of duties and communication need to be made clear.
i) Representative from Faculty Organization
ii) Human Resources Committee
iii) Budget Advisory Committee
Mickelson said that the committee is looking at was to cut back on proposed increases to the budget.
Hubley asked what the proposed increase amounts to? This is about 10 or 11 million. Mickelson said the
committee is looking to reduce that number by 4 to 5 million; he would like the faculty to suggest where to
make those cuts.
iv) Campus Culture Committee
v) Learning Committee
vi) Technology Steering Committee
vii) Strategic Planning Committee
viii) Assessment Committee
ix) Facilities Committee
G. Chairs’ Council
H. Adjunct Faculty
I. Representative from the Student Governance Board
7. Old Business
A. Faculty excellence award
B. Other old business?
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8. New Business
A. Tuition benefits for retired faculty
Hubley referred to Emily Bronstein, who worked as a member of the full-time faculty for over 30 years and
is currently a member of the adjunct faculty. Bronstein has a son who is currently a student at PGCC and
who has taken classes her over the past couple of years. Since Bronstein has not been a member of the
full-time faculty during this time, the college has denied her a tuition waiver for her son. Bronstein,
present at the meeting, said this leaves a bad taste in her mouth, given her extensive service to the
college. Hubley said it seems clear that the college intends that dependents of its employees may take
classes with tuition waived. The fact that Bronstein’s dependent son became a student after she put in
over 30 years of service should not exclude her. The members of the Senate agreed. Greg Weiss
suggested there should be some minimum amount of service (e.g., 20 years) that would make an
employee eligible for this benefit even after retirement.
A motion was put forward that Hubley petition the college (via Tom Knapp or Dobson) to extend this
benefit to Bronstein and include retroactive reimbursement for classes already taken by her son; and
Salary & Benefits should look into a proposal to make this benefit extend into retirement after a minimum
term of service. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
B. Teaching load restrictions
C. Role of faculty on college committees
D. Other new business?
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9. Agenda Items for Upcoming Meetings
A. Program Mentoring?
B. Learning Centered College Committee, May 1
C. Other items?
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10. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:15 PM.
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