GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING
January 14, 2005
Call to Order: F. van Hartesveldt called the meeting to order at 6:44 a.m., 120ATC
Present: Nickie Alexander, Jennifer Batten, C. Lee Brown, Lyttron Burris, Mike Campo, Jim Chesla, Frank Connor, Larry Crossman, Katie Danko, Kevin Dobreff (for Brian Morris), Beth Foster, Dick Godfrey, Carolyn Grin, Amy Kerkstra, Robert Long, Bernie Manker, Bob Monaldo, Jeff Neumann, Kathleen Owens, Wayne Rodgers, Jonathon Russell, Mark Saur, Jeff Spoelman, Joel Swets, Dorothy Terhune (for Anita Cook), Fred van Hartesveldt, Douglas Wabeke, Troy Walwood, George Zeeff
Absent: Marie Burns, Dan Hearn, Stacey Heisler
Visitors: Fred Garbowitz, John Doane
Agenda: Today’s agenda was approved with two additions to Discussion items —1) Budget for Conferences, and 2) President Olivarez addressing the Council about the recent computer theft.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the November 19 and December 3, 2004, Faculty Council meetings were approved as submitted.
Secretary’s Report. Council received a thank-you note from the Association student worker for the holiday gift certificate upon her recent resignation.
Treasurer’s Report. The report for December 2004 was distributed. D. Godfrey commented that it was a relatively normal December and noted that total expenses in 2004 were $17,000 compared to $55,000 the previous year. December 31, 2004, account balances--checking, $56,239.34; money market/savings, $78,088.55.
Grievance Report. F. Garbowitz gave the following updates on grievances:
· Grievance #151—Faculty taught 400 extra minutes during first summer session 2004 due to error in scheduling. Denied at Level 2. The grievant failed to appear for the Level 3 meeting, which is being rescheduled.
· Grievance #152—Faculty denied a 42-week contract for lack of sick days and service time. Met continually through last semester. Sick days resolved. Continues at Level 2 while awaiting retirement records from the State for comparison with GRCC records.
· Grievance #153—Department denied expending C3 funds at department discretion. Withdrew the grievance at Level 2 following a memo of understanding which defined the term “discretion.”
· Grievance #154—Violation of overload rotation in reassigning retiree’s hours. Awaiting reply at Level 2 from Kathy McKimmy on a formal hearing date.
Leadership reminded council that each department should contact Cherry Scaturro’s office as soon as possible after July 1 in the years a contract ends to request return of extra C3 funds to the department.
President’s Report. F. van Hartesveldt gave the following summaries and updates:
· Contracts. The contract has been printed and shrink-wrapped as of the beginning of the week. It appears that a reprinting of the table of contents is delaying the distribution by Human Resources.
· Reminders. 1) Check pay stubs for accuracy of pay, number of hours, degree, sick leave bank, etc. 2) Check accuracy of contributions to IRAs or annuities, especially the amount contributed from the last paycheck. 3) Ask department heads to contact Cherry Scaturro to see if C3 money left for department. 4) Check deadline for degree changes. 5) Check accuracy of and keep copy of FIF.
· Human Resources Changes. Jim Fox replaces Faye Davis as the new HR generalist for full-time faculty. Jan Benham is the HR generalist for adjunct faculty.
· Center For Teaching and Learning. All three faculty with release time for that assignment have resigned but will continue through this academic year. Frank Connor will remain through the summer.
· Conflict of Interest Policy. The conflict of interest policy issued by Bob Partridge’s office last fall and which the Association leadership opposed is being revised. The new policy will be designed by administrators and faculty and will follow AAUP guidelines.
· Professional Portfolios. A survey of faculty being evaluated this year is underway to compare their impressions of the timeliness of the evaluation process to impressions of administrators. The survey is expected fairly soon and results will be reported to Faculty Council and to Velvie Green, provost.
· Adjunct Communication. An update from Bob Engmark, Information Technology, about adjunct e-mail accounts indicates IT is continuing to suspend disabling of adjunct accounts except for those related to acceptable use agreement (AUA).
· Evaluation of Administrators. Following the first faculty evaluation of administrators last April, the Association requested that the instrument be revised with faculty input and that the date be advanced. The administration has responded in part by rescheduling the evaluation for February.
· Board of Trustees. The last Board agenda included Faculty/Staff Comments as a replacement for Public Comments both at the opening and closing of the meeting. Deadline for filing nominating petitions (expiring terms, Jan Maggini and Michael Stearns) for the Board of Trustees is 4 p.m., February 8, 2005.
· Public Access to Faculty Association Tax Return. The Association tax returns for 2003-2004 are available for public access (as required by law) by contacting Fred van Hartesveldt or Dick Godfrey.
· Lake Michigan Credit Union Election. F. van Hartesveldt read an LMCU review of the election results. The Credit Union had sought to convert to a savings bank, opposed by Faculty Council. LMCU members did not approve the conversion.
· Foundation Board. Focus is now on the new campaign to raise $10 million in capital. A gala is planned for May to which community members will be invited.
· Scholarship Committee. At the end of last semester the committee met and agreed to discuss regular meetings, better communication to faculty, facilitating faculty, and getting information out about scholarships.
· Allocations Committee. Student allocation group is at a standstill. Student Congress is to propose changes to the allocation procedure.
Discussion/Action
Budget for Conferences. The subcommittee (Robert Long, Amy Kerkstra, Larry Crossman, and Fred van Hartesveldt) met on December 16 to discuss budget for conferences. The subcommittee recommends that the Faculty Council budget $4,000 per year for conferences and that the four officers and the chair of the negotiating team recommend the conferences and attendees. Fred Garbowitz and Jeff Spoelman have expressed interest in attending conferences this year.
MOTION: Budget
$4,000 for conferences; negotiating chair and four officers recommend the
conferences and attendees. Moved by
Mark Saur and seconded. Carried.
Update on Computer Theft—President Olivarez. F. van Hartesveldt asked Council input on President Olivarez’ willingness to converse with Council about the computer theft. An earlier e-mail poll of faculty indicated a majority interest in such a session, but since that time Bob Partridge issued a thorough update via e-mail. A brief discussion resulted in a consensus to simply ask Bob Partridge and President Olivarez of any new developments rather than have them meet with Council.
J. Spoelman commented that the fraud alert placed with credit reporting agencies expires after 90 days and recommended calling in every 90 days to renew the fraud alert for one year.
Start-up Problems. Council identified two major start-up issues—1) room assignment problems with the new room management software, and 2) shortage of classes for thousands of new enrollees.
F. van Hartesveldt asked K. Owens and F. Connor to bring in supporting material to the next Council meeting to help discussion of a college-wide enrollment cap.
NEW BUSINESS
Topics for the next Council meeting:
· Enrollment cap, including Commission
· Classroom Faculty Degree/Qualifications Standards
Next Meeting. Friday, January 28, 2005.
Adjournment. Motion to adjourn, B. Foster; second, M. Saur. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 a.m.
Submitted by C. Lee Brown, Secretary