Faculty Senate Meeting
1. Attendance:
President: Safdie,
Robert
Vice President: Lanza,
Don
Secretary: Crotty, Pat
Sub Council Rep:
Past President: Alfonso,
Robert
Parliamentarian:
Business/Technology: Fox,
Brad; Wurth, Pat; Rath, Dave
Health
Science/Nursing: Stamm, Lisa; Young, Marty
Humanities: Hilliard,
Peggy; Knox, Jim; Thomason, Sarah; Currie,
Curtis
Library: Vaughn, Laura;
Math/Science: Bailey, Pat;
Social/Behavioral
Science: Gomezdelcampo, Stella; Cordell, Sharon;
2. Motion to approve agenda: Agenda was
unanimously approval.
3. Motion to approve minutes: Minutes of
4. Treasury Report: Acct. # 2-61920 Starting
Balance $720.00; Current Balance: $685.65. No Changes to report.
5. Committee Reports
A.
Faculty Evaluation Committee:
The
committee (and volunteers from the faculty) completed a pilot program using
both companies that we are considering contracting with (Online and IDEA). The
committee has not met to discuss the results but will be doing so within the
next two weeks. We need to make a decision about which one to adopt before the
budget process begins.
B. Travel
Time Equal Office Hours Committee:
The committee reported that no community college surveyed provided
“substituting office hours with travel time” when the faculty member travels
from home to arrive at his or her first place of work. The committee however,
wishes to address several conditions that make this issue a particularly
difficult one to address. First, the TBR
system, as far as the committee’s research could ascertain, has no policy
regarding “substituting office hours with travel time.” State regulations do
not permit travel reimbursement for traveling from home to work and that RSCC’s current practice of “substituting office hours with
travel time” is based on the travel reimbursement model. Finally, the committee
feels that any changes in the current compensation practice at RSCC would have
a statewide impact. It is the recommendation of the committee that the faculty
senate take no action on this issue until we study how changes at RSCC could
impact current “substituting office hours with travel time” practices
throughout the TBR system.
C.
Curriculum and Academic Council meeting:
No report.
D.
Faculty Sub-Council:
(The
following report submitted by Betty Denison.)
1. The Special Ed Diploma in the state of TN has been
discontinued (a spec ed diploma student did not have immediate access to
community colleges). This could result in more special ed students having
access to community colleges. While community colleges are all about
access, we are unprepared for special ed students. A state-wide committee
has explored the ramifications of this (Ed Smith is RSCC committee member, Jim Brun (PSTCC) is chair), and is recommending that a
Reading Standard be implemented as an admission tool. The recommendation
is that the minimum Reading Standard will be set at an ACT of 12, a
Compass of 53, or an Asset of 34. Ramifications: Compass will now
become an admission tool instead of a placement test? probationary
enrollment?
2. We will be using WebCT version 4.1 the remainder of this
year and next year, and then there will be a GIANT migration to whatever new
product (or company) the state of TN contracts with. I am NOT SURE
whether we are talking academic years or calendar years. But by fall 2008
(and maybe January 2008), all online classes (including RODP) and web-assisted
classes will be using a different platform.
3. Some of you may remember that Senator Fowler was going to
introduce a bill last semester in the legislature that would have put a
moratorium on all new programs and online classes. It turns out, his main
issue was that there needed to be some oversight as to programs across the
state. He didn't want UM to offer an online MBA, ETSU to offer an online
MBA, and TTU to offer an online MBA. Since he was unsure about OVERSIGHT,
he was going to introduce a bill that would stop all programs until there was
some oversight. TBR folks negotiated with him and by adding a few
sentences to an existing policy of oversight (Policy
4. There is a draft (finally) of an articulation of Diploma
Programs in Technology Centers to Associate of Applied Science Degree programs
in Community Colleges. A student (who has completed a diploma program
consisting of at least 900 contact hours at a Tech Center ) must meet all
regular admission requirements, must meet all DSP requirements, must complete
15 - 17 hours of the general education component, must complete 15 hours of
college-level work in the appropriate concentration--(a total of about 30
hours), and then 30 hours of credit will be awarded from the Tech Center
transcript. The student's GPA will consist only of the hours completed at
the community college. They can receive an AAS degree in General
Technology.
5. The
6. Promotion & Tenure Policy Review
Committee; Sarah Thomason et al. (The following was submitted by Sarah
Thomason.)
Draft Tenure Policy Report
III. B. Length of Probationary Employment
--language is clearer
--declare at the beginning of
5th year
--a second attempt is possible
after five years
--visual is included
--can choose to wait until
beginning of 6th year to apply
IV. Criteria To Be
Considered in Tenure Recommendations
--three categories are teaching, service/outreach, and
scholarship/creative activities/research
IV. A. Tenure-track Faculty Evaluation Process and
Schedule
--student evaluations: required from all classes throughout
probationary period
--peer evaluations: three
components
--a mentor (mandatory) assigned by the
dean for newly-hired faculty. The mentor
has several responsibilities, including writing a narrative summary of the
candidate’s progress after each semester of the probationary period and when
considered helpful, collaborating with the faculty member to devise a plan for
improvement.
--other peers (optional). As in the previous policy, a faculty member
may ask a colleague to do a class observation, materials review, etc.
--optional ad hoc tenure review
committee. At all times (regardless of
whether problems are perceived or not), tenure-track faculty may request a
preliminary review by an ad hoc tenure review committee prior to application
for tenure as a mechanism to assess the progress of the candidate toward
tenure. This committee shall be composed
of the mentor (who serves as chair), one tenured faculty from outside the
department, the dean of the department where tenure will be granted and, if
desired, one tenured faculty member from outside the division.
--dean/library director or program director evaluation
--has the responsibility for an initial
conference, a mid-year review, and a faculty evaluation summary at the end of
each year
--collaborates with the faculty member and
mentor to devise a plan to remedy any deficiencies noted. If improvement plan
does not produce the desired outcomes within two years, the dean has the
responsibility not to rehire the individual
--classroom observation schedule is more
rigorous.
--minimum two visits per year (first and second year)
--minimum one visit per year (third and fourth year)
IV. B. 2. Service/Outreach: three components
--college service—very similar to current policy
--outreach/public service—emphasizes service
to the community and society at large, with major emphasis on the application
of knowledge for the solution of problems with which society is confronted
--professional service—work done for
organizations related to the faculty member’s discipline or statewide/TBR
committees, guest lecturing on other campuses
IV. B. 3. Scholarship/Creative
Activities/Research: documented evidence
of scholarship, creative activities, and research such as sharing classroom
successes in an organized way with colleagues, writing educational articles,
performing or creating compositions, and publication in journals
V. C.
Tenure Timeline—very detailed in an attempt to provide clarity regarding
responsibilities and procedural issues. Faculty who were hired prior to July 1,
2004, may elect to be considered for tenure under the provisions of the current
policy: Policy 5:02:03:00.
7. Update: Building Access (See Attachment
II)
8. Benroth Award Procedures Review: Awareness Letter; Designating Chairman of Selection Committee; Appointing Selection Committee. FS President & Vice President will review policy and develop letter to be sent to Division Deans to solicit nominations. A Selection Committee was formed of volunteers, one from each division as follows:
Chair---Don Lanza
Social Science---Don Windham
Business -----Pat Wurth
Math/Science----Betty Denison
Health Science---Marty Young
Humanities----Jim Knox
Nursing---Lisa Stamm
Library---Laura Vaughn
9. Discussion on Strategy to Approach Distance Learning Classes and Academic Freedom: Faculty senate will discuss issues at next meeting.
10. Next Meeting: Harriman Friday February 24,
11. Adjournment: Meeting
ended approximately 4pm
Minutes Submitted by:
Patricia Crotty, MSN APRN BC
Associate Professor
Secretary Faculty Senate 2005-2006
Submitted: February 13, 2006 Approved: February 24, 2006
Attachment II Movement on Building Access
Letter from Dr. Goff addressed to Faculty Senate President:
Based on the Faculty Senate's request to
allow faculty to have greater available to their offices at the Oak Ridge
Branch Campus, we have worked all the details to expand the hours that the
campus will be open for faculty.
We will extend the hours of access for
faculty during a trial period this Spring Semester as shown:
Monday-Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
I have had to keep faculty safety and
security in mind as well as the additional costs associated with the additional
access. The College could not afford a
24 X 7 access on the ORBC. Based on the additional costs to have security on
site while faculty are in the building, I want to do a trial period this
semester to see if there is a great need to expand the hours. I believe that this is a reasonable approach.
Please feel free to share this with the
Faculty Senate.
Very Respectfully,
Dr. Gary Goff
President
Phone: (865)882-4501
Fax: (865)882-4601
email: goffdg@roanestate.edu