Faculty Senate Minutes
Thursday, May 7, 2009
3:15 PM to 5:00 PM, Chesapeake 115
1. Attendance: Please check-in on the attendance roster.
In attendance, Senate officers and delegates—Mark Hubley (FO President), Swazette Young (FO Vice
President), Len Sekelick (Liberal Arts), Vince Cipriani (WDCE), Kathi Linville (Nursing), Nicholas Plants
(at large), Barbara Sanders (Student Development Services), Alan Mickelson (Learning Resources),
Eldon Baldwin (at large), Rosanne Benn (Educational Development), Darlene Antezana (Liberal Arts),
Christy Wright (Learning Resources), Daniel Jones (at large), Leslie Wojciechowicz (Mathematics), Scott
Huxel (STEM), Janet Carlson (Educational Development), Leon Weaver (Student Development Services),
and Charles Thomas (Computer and Engineering Technology). Others in attendance—Jeanette GerrityGomez.
2. Review the Agenda for the 5/7/09 meeting.
The agenda was approved as written.
3. Review the Minutes of the 4/2/09 and 4/16/09 meetings.
The minutes of the 4/2 meeting were approved as written. The minutes of the 4/16 meeting were not
available.
4. Calendar
Spring 2009 important dates
A. College closed or no classes
i) Presidents’ Day, college closed, Mon. 2/16
ii) Spring Break, college closed, Mon. 4/6—Sun. 4/12
B. Other important dates
i) Last day to withdraw from 15-week classes, Fri. 4/17
ii) Final exam week, Thu. 5/7—Wed. 5/13
iii) Grades due, Fri. 5/15
iv) Commencement, Thu. 5/21
April/May important dates
E. Senate meetings
i) Thu. 4/2, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
ii) Thu. 4/16, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 105
iii) Thu. 5/7, 3:15—5:00 PM, Chesapeake 115
F. Board of Trustees meetings
i) Thu. 4/2, 7:00 PM, Kent 262
ii) Thu. 5/14, 7:00 PM, Kent 262
G. College-wide Forum
i) Tue. 4/21, 2:00—3:30 PM, LSC B
ii) Tue 5/5, 2:00—3:30 PM, LSC B
iii) Tue 5/19, 2:00—3:30 PM, LSC B
H. Academic Council
i) Thu. 4/23, 3:00—5:00 PM, CAT 133
ii) Thu. 5/14, 3:00—5:00 PM, CAT 133
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5. Attachments
A.
B.
C.
D.
Minutes from the 4/2 meeting
Domestic partner benefit proposal
Budget Advisory Committee recommendations
Proposed retirement changes
6. Reports
A. Senate President
Mark Hubley reported that the spring election was complete, and results were being tallied. There are
various vacancies remaining, and reorganization may change some of the delegate positions. There may
be a need for a special election in the fall.
B. Senate Vice President
Swazette Young reported that the College-wide Promotion & Tenure Committees had been meeting, and
they were nearing the conclusion of the process. The committee that had been reviewing the Faculty
Evaluation Plan was preparing necessary changes to the College Code, and these would be submitted to
the Board of Trustees for approval over the summer. Also, the committee that reviewed the Faculty
Evaluation Plan would begin reviewing the promotion and tenure procedures, with hopes of presenting
proposed changes to the Senate in the fall.
C. Academic Council
D. Representative from President’s Leadership Team
E. College-wide Forum
i) Representative from Faculty Organization
ii) Human Resources Committee
iii) Budget Advisory Committee
Alan Mickelson reported that the committee was reviewing proposed changes to the budget that include
changes to life insurance and retiree health insurance plans. Relevant documents were available. The
college is looking for cuts in the budget to save approximately 3 to 4 million dollars. Various members of
the Senate expressed concern about changing benefits for retirees and people near retirement. Hubley
asked how much could be saved with changes to life insurance, and wondered how many people depend
on the policies from the college as opposed to having their own policies. Someone suggested that total
elimination of life insurance benefits would save about ½ a million dollars. Janet Carlson noted that
saving relatively small amounts will eventually add up. Hubley said he heard a suggestion to eliminate
professional development funds from the budget in order to protect retirement benefits. Mickelson
expressed concern that if the professional development budget is cut so drastically, then it will be very
difficult to get that money back.
Mickelson said that the county is asking for an exemption from the state law that requires maintenance of
public education funding. If the county is not granted an exemption by the state, then the county may
come looking to cut more money from our budget. Another thing that hits our budget this year is GASBY,
which requires us to start funding future retirement benefits. Eldon Baldwin said that the college has
known about GASBY for a number of years, and despite the fairly large increases in our budget over
recent years, we have not done anything about it. We can’t just keep doling out pay raises when times
are good, then crashing when times are bad. We need to be smarter about budgeting for the long term.
iv) Campus Culture Committee
v) Learning Committee
vi) Technology Steering Committee
vii) Strategic Planning Committee
viii) Assessment Committee
ix) Facilities Committee
F. Chairs’ Council
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G. Adjunct Faculty
H. Representative from the Student Governance Board
7. Old Business
A. Salary & Benefits proposal
B. Elections
C. Domestic partner benefit proposal
The Senate commended Jeanette Gerrity-Gomez for the work she had done on this proposal (and the
short-term benefit proposal). The Senate voted unanimously to forward the proposal to the CWF
Executive Council. Baldwin noted that a similar proposal was brought to the Senate approximately ten
years ago, and the discussion was contentious. The proposal passed by just one vote. Baldwin said it
was nice to see how far things had come (at least in the Senate) over those ten years.
8. New Business
A. Presentation of new web portal (Heidi Elam and Oliver Hansen)
Heidi Elam and Oliver Hansen have been making presentations about the new web portal system to
various groups on campus. Entering the portal requires a login, and the portal is customized to some
degree to the user. For example, students see information relevant to students; faculty will have access
to items most important to them. The expected timeline included student access by fall, with access to all
employees within a year. They showed the Senate a test version of the portal. The portal system will be
easier to manage than the external web site, and it will replace the current document management
system. Training in how to use the portal will be provided as the system comes online.
9. Agenda Items for Upcoming Meetings
A. Discussion of tenure and promotion processes
10. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:15 PM.
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