Faculty Senate Minutes
Walden Dining area
1. Attendance:
President: Safdie,
Robert
Vice President: Lanza,
Don
Secretary: Crotty, Pat
(absent)
Sub Council Rep:
Past President: Alfonso, Robert
Parliamentarian:
Business/Technology: Fox,
Brad; Meghabghab, George; Rave, Dave;
Health Science/Nursing: Stamm, Lisa;
Andreaco, Jane
Humanities: Currie,
Curtis; Hilliard, Peggy; Knox, Jim;
Thomason,
Sarah; Poulin, Gerald
Library: Ellis, Rosemary
Math/Science: Bailey, Pat; Condon,
Jim;
Social/Behavioral Science: Cordell, Sharon; Doyle, Jim; Gomezdelcampo,
Lil;
Heidinger,
Gary; Schramm, Bill
2. Motion to Approve Agenda -- Motion to
approve agenda made by Jim
Condon. Second by Pat Wurth. Unanimous
approval
3. Motion to Approve Minutes – Motion to
approve minutes of
4. Treasury Report: Acct. # 2-61920 Starting
Balance $720.00; Current Balance: $685.65 . Unchanged from last month.
5. Recognition
of 2005-2006 Parliamentarian: Don Windham was recognized as 2005-06
parliamentarian.
6. Recognition of Tenure and Promotion
Committee Appointees
David
Puckett, Michael Curran, Maria Barriga; Deborah Palatinus; Gary Heidinger. All
appointees accepted.
7. Committee Reports
A.
Faculty Evaluation Committee – Looking at tools that can be used on line so as
not to use class time. If interested in volunteering to pilot get in touch with
Kristy Roberson-Scott. Plans are to demo to faculty in Spring 2006.
B.
Promotion & Tenure Policy Review Committee – Working on promotion with
tenure drafts. There is a deadline for the committee to complete its work by
the end of this semester.
C. Travel
Time Equal Office Hours Committee – The
sub-committee met and agreed that they would conduct a survey to determine how
other community colleges handled travel pay and office hours. Dr. Goff said that he recognized the unique
situation of RSCC faculty with numerous hours a week spent on the road
traveling from one site to another. He volunteered to talk to administrative staff
at TBR to find out what can be done at the TBR level.
D.
Faculty Sub-Council Report – No report.
E.
Curriculum and Academic Council meeting (Academic Calendar)
Faculty
senate representatives on the Curriculum and Academic Council meeting voted at
the October meeting of the Council to accept the proposed 2006-2007 academic
calendar. See Attachment II, Item 7. Many faculty discussed their preference to
have the Academic Festival on Thursday and Friday, rather than earlier in the
week.
8. Update: 24/7 Building Access – A letter
was written to Loretta Friend See Attachment II, Item 8 See attached email from
Loretta Friend.
9. Adjunct Travel Reimbursement - Dr. Gary
Goff
A
letter was written to Dr. Goff describing the faculty senate’s concern with adjunct
travel reimbursement. See Attachment
II Item 9 Dr. Goff informed Faculty Senate that this semester adjunct faculty travel reimbursement
will double. Adjunct faculty’s paychecks
will be delivered earlier in the semester to help adjunct meet their economic
needs. Dr. Goff is also looking at requiring direct deposit for all adjunct
faculty. Dr. Goff also discussed new ideas for providing financial assistance
to students. He discussed the TIPS program and is looking at restructuring financial aide
payment process to make student financial aid monies more accessible to
students earlier in the semester. He is
also interested in examining how the bookstore can tie into any new finance
structure that might be implemented at RSCC. Dr. Goff discussed the importance
of marketing RSCC and increasing the amount of monies for marketing.
10. Update:
Administrative Promotions and Support Staff Wages; and Faculty Salaries
Mr. Fuqua sent
RSCC staff a letter stating that RSCC would be unable to fund salary raises due
to decreased FTE, but will be able to pay out one time sum in November. See
Attachment II 10.
A question was posed about salaries
across the college. Interest was expressed in the administrative release of
employee salaries by position. Safdie said that he would open this subject up
to Dr. Goff.
Bill Schramm submitted the following
motion:
Stability of Faculty Support
Services: The Faculty Senate, recognizes the importance of support staff in
ensuring that faculty are able to perform their mission effectively, wishes to
maintain stability at the division secretary and faculty-support secretary
level and prevent the loss of skilled staff. One concern is that salary
benefits of other RSCC positions will attract qualified division secretaries
and create instability in faculty support services. While this concern may
directly impact faculty, the Faculty Senate recognizes the primacy of the
Support Staff Council in such matters. The Faculty Senate, thus, expresses its
hope that Support Staff Council will address this issue.
Second by Safdie
Much discussion was held on the
role of the faculty senate. Safdie said that he would attend the next support
staff sub council meeting.
Pat Wurth moved to table to the November 17th meeting. Second
by Sarah Thomason. Motion to table approved.
11.
Enrollment
Decrease. Faculty
received a letter from Dr. King describing the enrollment decrease for Fall
2005 and suggested several ways faculty may participate in helping to solve the
enrollment problem. See Attachment II 11.
12.
Motion to Approve Items on the Annual Agenda/Calendar See
Attachment II, Item 12. Don Lanza led the faculty senate in a discussion on
items to be included in a yearly agenda. The items of primary importance
included Distance Leaning, Promotion and Tenure, Academic Freedom, and
Alternate Course Scheduling that includes such topics as 4 day work week and a
common “free period.” Areas to be covered at the discretion of the executive
staff include: Incomplete Grades, Flu Vaccine, Amend Senate Constitution, and
options for adjunct faculty to participate in departmental activities.
13: Next Meeting:
14. Adjournment:
Meeting was adjourned at
Minutes recorded by Lisa
Stamm
Minutes Submitted by:
Patricia Crotty, MSN APRN BC
Associate Professor
Secretary Faculty Senate 2005-2006
Submitted:
Attachment II
ITEM
07
On Thursday, October 6 at
Academic Calendar
2006-2007
Fall 2006
|
Web Registration Begins |
Monday, April 3 |
|
Faculty Report |
Monday, August 21 |
|
Freshman Experience |
Wed. – Thurs., August 23-24 |
|
Classes Begin |
Monday, August 28 |
|
Labor Day |
Monday, September 4 |
|
Fall Break |
Mon.-Tues., Oct. 16-17 |
|
Thanksgiving |
Thurs.-Sun., Nov. 23-26 |
|
Last Day of Classes |
Monday, December 11 |
|
Examination Period |
Tues.-Thurs., Dec. 12-14 |
|
Grades Due |
|
Spring 2007
|
Web Registration Begins |
Monday, November 13 |
|
Faculty Report |
Monday, January 8 |
|
Martin Luther King Holiday |
Monday, January 15 |
|
Classes Begin |
Tuesday, January 16 |
|
Spring Break |
Mon.-Sun., March 5-11 |
|
Good Friday |
Friday, April 6 |
|
Last Day of Classes |
Monday, April 30 |
|
Examination Period |
Tues.-Thurs., May 1-3 |
|
Grades Due |
|
|
Graduation |
Fri.-Sat., May 4-5 |
Summer 2007
|
Web Registration Begins |
Monday, April 2 |
|
Classes Begin (1st & Full Terms) |
Monday, June 4 |
|
First Term Ends |
Friday, June 29 |
|
Second Term Begins |
Monday, July 2 |
|
Fourth of July |
Wednesday, July 4 |
|
Classes End (2nd & Full Terms) |
Monday, July 30 |
Attachment II
Item
08:
Action Taken (Letter written by FSP in behalf of the Faculty Senate on the issue of Building access.
“Roane State Faculty Senate has unanimously recommended that
In making this request, the faculty senate acknowledges the challenges associated with:
And feel confident solutions to these challenges can be found which satisfy all concerns.
Policy on
ADMISSION TO BUILDINGS
1. Security Guards
maintain daily logs, which contain the name(s) of anyone admitted to any
building after it has been secured at the end of the normal working day or when
the campus is closed. For this reason, and because guards may not know all
employees personally, they are required to determine proper identification
before granting access. Therefore, it is required that all employees carry
proper identification when requesting access to any campus facility. Acceptable
documents include such items as Driver's License, RSCC/TBR Identification Card,
Passport, Student ID Card or similar documents that establish identity.
2. After regular working hours or when the campus is closed, guards may deny access to anyone that is unable to produce proper identification or to anyone they believe has no legitimate business on campus.
3. Students will not be admitted to buildings, rooms or laboratories after regular working hours or when the campus is closed unless accompanied by an administrator or teaching faculty member. The administrator or faculty member is responsible for the student's conduct while on campus.
4. Students will not be permitted access to laboratories or other rooms that contain equipment where safety and security is of concern, unless the proper instructor or technician is present.
Thank you so much for speaking with the Faculty Senate. Your presentation raised the complexities involved with this issue. I look forward to working with you, exploring the challenges, and finding solutions that meet both faculty and institutional needs.
Attachment II
Item
09:
A:
Travel compensation review request
Motion
approved on
The
FSP was tasked with the authority to discuss the resolution with administration
and report back to the Faculty Senate at the October meeting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Letter sent to Dr Gary
Goff
During the last Faculty Senate meeting the faculty
raised a concern that adjunct travel reimbursement should be examined to
determine how well the current reimbursement schedule is aligned with the
rising cost of fuel. We are inviting you or your designee to speak to the
Faculty Senate about the current method of travel reimbursement for
adjuncts and the rising fuel costs.
The Senate is further concerned that we may begin to
lose adjunct faculty should they determine that current mileage compensation
levels leave them in the position of subsidizing
This concern was formalized in a motion which was
unanimously approved. The motion has been summarized in the first
paragraph of this document.
I hope you can send someone
to discuss this at our October 21st meeting.
Robby Safdie
Faculty Senate President
2005-06 Faculty
Senate meetings are scheduled for the following dates:
Harriman Friday, October 21, 1:30, 2005 Walden Dining Room
Oak Ridge Thursday, November 17, 2:30, 2005 H 209
Harriman Friday Dec. 9, 1:30, 2005Walden Dining Room
Oak Ridge Thursday January 26, 2:30, 2006 H 209
Harriman Friday February 24, 1:30, 2006Walden Dining Room
Oak Ridge Thursday March 23, 2:30, 2006 H 209
Harriman Friday, April 28, 1:30 2006 (Last meeting for the 2005-2006 academic
year)Walden Dining Room
Attachment II
Item 10
From: Fuqua, Bill
Sent:
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
4:41 PM
To:
Administrative Council;
Faculty; Support Staff
Subject:
SALARY INCREASE NEWS
This is an update on salary policy for the balance of this fiscal year.
The salary plan the College
submitted to the TBR in August was approved at the TBR quarterly meeting held
in late September at
First, the good news -- the
College will proceed with the institutional bonus of 1% of salary or $300,
whichever is greater, to be paid on the
Now the bad news - the College will not be able to proceed with the 2% salary increase for selected employees through our approved compensation plan in January 2006. One of the requirements for salary increases for FY 2005-06 from the TBR was that the President certify that all recurring salary increases be sustainable from recurring revenues without the need for additional fee increases. Unfortunately, the 6% FTE enrollment decline we experienced this fall will result in a reduction of over $400,000 in maintenance fees for the year and projected increases in the cost of electricity and natural gas will require over $170,000 in additional recurring funds. As a result, the College cannot support the annualized recurring cost of over $300,000 for the 2% salary increase.
I regret that the College will not be able to implement the recurring salary increases we had planned, but I am pleased that we can implement the one-time bonus in November.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
William S. Fuqua, III
Executive Vice President for Financial Services
865-882-4517
fuqua@roanestate.edu
Attachment II
Item 11
Dear Faculty Member,
As many of you are aware,
With that in mind, we are actively investigating an Early Alert system to help
us intervene with students who are experiencing difficulties during the
semester. In the meantime however, in order to address this problem now and to
help ensure a good Fall to Spring retention rate, I would like to formalize and
broaden the concept of FACULTY INTERVENTION, a process that many of you already
practice. Here are the strategies I am asking your assistance with
Strategy 1:
Please make every effort to engage students who are struggling in your class by
advising them to seek assistance from the
Strategy 2:
If a student has not attended your class, phone the student to ask why and then
document. This information should be sent to your Dean.
Strategy 3:
If you have a student who you have difficulty engaging or does not make progress,
please send their name to your Dean. Please include the name of the
student, the course and information regarding your assessment of the student
need. The Dean will then review and advise if another appropriate
strategy is available e.g. Administrative Withdrawal.
Your impact on students is critical to their success. I realize that each
of you assist students to stay on track, however a process that is formalized
will have better results. Your dedication to students is recognized and
most appreciated. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact
me or your Dean.
Sincerely,
Adolf A. King
Vice President of Academic Services
Attachment II
Item
12:
Approval
of Annual Agenda/Calendar
Since last
meeting items on this list have grown. Be prepared to rank these according to
importance and desire to discuss these issues at a faculty senate meeting.
Possible Agenda Items for Future
Faculty Senate Meetings
·
Academic
Audit: The New TBR Initiative
·
Common
Meeting Times for Faculty Development and Departmental Meetings
·
Adjunct
Faculty (Should they participate more in college activities, such as division
meetings, etc.?)
·
Promotion
& Tenure Issues (Clarification of roles of faculty and the administration
in the process)
·
Flu
vaccines (Should the college provide adequate vaccines for faculty and support
staff?)
·
Plus/minus
grades (Should college change to this system?)
·
MW
classes (Should the college go to MW/TR classes and leave Fridays free for
labs, advisement, etc.?)
·
Incomplete
grades (Clarification of the meaning of grade)
·
Distance
learning classes (There are several issues here, including the consistency
between the live and online classes, advising students before taking online
classes, etc.)
·
Amend
Faculty Senate Constitution (hasn’t been updated since 2000)