Faculty Council Minutes
Osceola Campus
Attending: Lind Anthon, Joel Berman, Mark Bollenback (for Debbie Garrison), Amy Bosley, Tom Byrnes, Jackie DiMartino, Jean-Marie Fuhrman, Shari Koopmann (for Deidre Holmes DuBois), James Leonard, Terry Long (for Joan Alexander), Brian Macon, Sue Matthews (for Graeme Lindbeck and Lana Powell), Marie McClendon, David Rogers (ex-officio), Bill Snider (for Gloria Hines), and Rose Watson
Minutes:
The April minutes were approved as read with one correction: the addition of Linda Anthon’s name to the list of those attending the last meeting.
Appointments:
Atlas Improvement Team
Renee Jardon, Communications, East, appointed
Maiken Murphy, Communications, East, appointed as alternate
There were 2 dissenting votes.
College Planning Council Co-Chair
Suzette Dohany, Communications,
College Planning Council Campus Representatives
Ray Enger, Business, Social Science, & IT, Osceola, appointed
Lana Powell, Business & Information Technology, West, appointed
Curriculum Committee
Carin Gordon, Business & Public Services, East, appointed
Cathy Mestre, Business, IT & Public Services, East, appointed
Recommendation of Consideration of Policy Cluster by Faculty to Two Per Month Beginning in September
Tom Byrnes recommended the removal of this part from the agenda.
Discussion Items:
CLC Co-Chair on Learning Leadership Team
The Learning Leadership Team will ask someone from the College Council to serve as co-chair.
Election of Faculty Council President-Elect
The Faculty Council discussed the possibility of changing the Constitution to permit past members of the Council to qualify for the position of President, listing strengths of and drawbacks to such a change. Currently, only those sitting on the Council are eligible for this position due to the knowledge that they receive about College matters by fulfilling such a role. Finally, the Council decided for each Faculty Senate to discuss the matter in September before soliciting faculty feedback.
Commencement Feedback
Tom Byrnes announced that Joyce Romano should receive feedback concerning next year’s commencement.
Members of the Council presented this feedback:
· The recent commencement ceremony was better organized and shorter than those of previous years.
· It was more dignified due to fewer outbursts such as those made by noise makers, someone adding that the College should continue to eliminate the use of noise makers.
· A suggestion was made by someone from East to synchronize the name with the face on the screen.
· Another suggestion was made by someone from East to designate someone to guide faculty when they enter the arena to avoid gaps in the procession.
· A suggestion was made by someone from West to make students more comfortable before the ceremony and not to leave students standing in the hot sun before the beginning of the ceremony.
· Osceola faculty and staff love having the ceremony at the Silver Spurs Arena.
Withdrawal Task Force
The State has conducted a study concerning the withdrawal policy, and, in response to this study, the College should form a task force of no more than seven members to examine withdrawal policies and procedures, with professional counselors and faculty involved in counseling being invited to join. In addition, the College Learning Council advocates an investigation of current withdrawal policies and procedures, with the investigation leading to recommendations for changes. An e-mail will be sent requesting volunteers for the task force, with perhaps a note that math faculty and counselors volunteer.
Budget Update
An e-mail concerning budget updates from Bill Mullowney was discussed. An increase of 9% for faculty pay was identified as a top priority.
Faculty Technology Advisory Group
All parties have an interest in the governing of technology resources at the College. For the Faculty Technology Advisory Group, a team of faculty and advisors is envisioned to handle issues involving faculty and technology and to serve as a vehicle for faculty to express concerns and share feedback. The Council discussed guidelines for staffing the Advisory Group, with particular emphasis placed on representation from each campus. An e-mail will be sent requesting volunteers.
Flex Learning (College on Demand)
The Flex Learning Plan addresses the logistics of the College offering more than the traditional number of terms within an academic year, creates 15 different start dates for students, and provides students with alternate course scheduling options. While Flex Learning will create a variety of options for both students and faculty, the College needs feedback on its Flex Learning Plan before implementation of it. In addition, some members of the Council provided this feedback: (1) five-week semesters are not always conducive to learning; and (2) certain courses, such as reading and writing, are not always conducive to five-week semesters.
Information Items:
Tim Williams Update
The Board of Trustees has received a recommendation to terminate Tim Williams by the Board-appointed hearing officer, and, at its June meeting, the Board will take action on this recommendation.
Food Services Contract
Food Services has awarded the contract to Lil Bean Co., which has purchased a franchise of Nature’s Table. Under the new contract, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi products will be offered at the College. The cafeteria on West Campus will undergo a complete refurbishment, and a Council member indicated that the coffee shop on Osceola Campus must remain inside a building.
Student Assessment of Instruction Update
A student focus group will be formed to offer suggestions for student assessment of instruction. Essentially, the old form for student assessment of instruction is unsatisfactory, and the College needs a new one, which, hopefully, it will have ready for use in the autumn 2006. A Council member queried if all evaluations would appear online and be accessible to students.
Compensation Implementation Team Update
The College will allow credit for instruction at the high-school
level and for administrative experience at the same level, with a maximum of
fifteen years’ credit from work experience.
Credit for high-school experience will be given at a 3 to 1 ration—with
3 years’ high school equating to one year
The Foundation has requested the appointment of one faculty member, as it is important to have a faculty voice on the Foundation. The member will come from a pool of three applicants.
Sexual Harassment Seminars
These seminars will be offered on different campuses and at different times, and while attendance at these seminars will not be mandatory, faculty will be responsible for the content of them. It was recommended that the information be distributed to those who cannot attend.
Meetings with Kaye Walter
Tom Byrnes recommended that the president of each Faculty Senate meet with the Chief Learning Office 45 minutes before each Faculty Council meeting.
Reports:
Campus Reports
West – A concern was expressed that the West Campus does not have enough counselors and that a discrepancy exists between the number of counselors at the West Campus and at the East Campus. This concern will receive further attention.
Osceola – A concern was expressed about caps on classes, specifically discrepancies between those for on-ground and for online courses.
East – none
Other Reports
None were given.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at
The next Faculty Council meeting is scheduled for