FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING
Call to Order: F. van Hartesveldt called the meeting to
order at
Present: Nickie Alexander, Rick Barnhart, Jennifer
Batten, C. Lee Brown, Mike Campo, Jim Chesla, Frank Conner, Anita Cook, Larry
Crossman, Katie Danko, Beth Foster, Dick Godfrey, Carolyn Grin, Jim Hayes, Dan
Hearn, Stacey Heisler, Tom Hofmann (for Doug Wabeke), Brian Keelean, Amy
Kerkstra, Robert Long, Bernie Manker, Bob Monaldo, Brian Morris, Jeff Neumann, Kathleen
Owens, Wayne Rodgers, Jonathon Russell, Mark Saur, Marilyn Smidt (for Marie
Burns), Jeff Spoelman, Fred van Hartesveldt, George Zeeff
Absent: Lyttron Burris, Joel Swets,
Visitors: John Cowles, John Doane, Fred Garbowitz
Agenda: Today’s agenda was approved as printed.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the April 22, 2005, Faculty Council meeting were approved with one correction to page 2 under the President’s Report—Lab coordinators and lab technicians (not tutors) requested accretion to the Association.
Minutes of the
Faculty Presentations from the Floor.
§ F. van Hartesveldt made the following announcements:
o The
college is pulling together a response team for Hurricane Katrina relief. A small group will meet today at
o Eleanor
Scheifele, Visual Arts Department, lost her battle with cancer this summer. J. Russell indicated that a dedication
to her memory is being planned for late September or October at
o Lyttron
Burrris lost her mother (
§
Secretary’s Report. C. L. Brown read thank-you notes received this summer from several faculty and agencies:
·
Hospice of the
· Edith Miller (Nursing Dpt.)—flower bouquet following her surgery this summer.
· Donna Adams (Nursing)—fruit baskets following her surgeries this summer
·
· George Zeeff (Criminal Justice)—fruit basket during his hospitalization
·
·
Hospice of
· Carol Doubblestein (Nursing)—flowers during her hospitalization
Treasurer’s Report. D.
Godfrey distributed copies of the annual report for
Negotiating Report. J. Spoelman updated Council on activities of the Negotiating Team:
· Much of the summer’s discussion dealt with how to disburse $40,000 specified for pay adjustments for extra curricular assignments (i.e. department heads, etc.) in last contract.
· Teams completed language on sick-day donations, which may now include sick time, vacation days, and personal days. The first 20 days donated will be one for one; thereafter, two for one.
· Teams discussed merging sick days and personal days to remove the distinction between them.
· Teams signed a memo of understanding regarding temporary department head vacancies.
The negotiating report prompted the following several reminders and concerns.
· Reminders:
o When completing the request for a personal day, faculty’s explanation may simply be that it is “personal business, not medical.”
o Per contract, the deadline for changes to salary (i.e. longevity training, new degree) is September 30.
· Concern: The college has not notified students that class meeting times may include break time.
President’s Report. F. van Hartesveldt’s report covered the
following items:
·
Personnel. As of August 31 the total adjunct faculty
is 407; full-time faculty, 247. Additionally,
there are five new hires and eleven faculty on temporary contracts. Andy Bowne is being hired as the new GRCC
Foundation director. Twelve classroom faculty have chosen the
42-week contract since it was first offered last hear; this year, eight
classroom faculty have chosen it this year.
About a dozen hiring committees have been formed to recommend new hires
for next year. About a dozen
administrators are teaching classes for us.
·
Evaluations. Eighteen faculty received letters that their
portfolios were incomplete last year.
Faculty are advised to retain possession of their portfolios following their
meeting with the assistant dean.
· Retirements. Retirements this year include Mike Kasperlik, Karen Holt, Terrence Dunn, Jim Snyder, Regina Doubblestein, Fred Baker, and Fred Deneke.
· Summer Developments. 1) Administration has laid off part-time job trainers (formerly Business and Technical Training), which leaves that department with only one fulltime faculty member and one part-time trainer, plus a number of independent contractors who are not Association members.. 2) Petition to accrete lab coordinators and lab technicians into the Association is still pending. Administration seems to agree that lab coordinators should be in the faculty unit.
· College Policies. Among the new policies issued by the college this summer was a new computer network acceptable use agreement which faculty are encouraged to read.
· Payroll Reminders. 1) October 7 is the first overload pay date. 2) In response to an Association request, payroll published a key to the payroll advice abbreviations. 3) Fourth-year longevity training credit ($1,000 for 2004-2005) was earned by 59 people last year. Questions related to longevity training credit should be directed to Jim Fox.
· Board of Trustees. 1) F. van Hartesveldt requested meetings with individual board members this summer, but received responses from and/or met with only Jan Maggini, Rick Verburg, and Gary Schenk (Board president). 2) The Board approved contracts with the police officers at GRCC and with exempt employees (i.e. president, vice presidents). 3) No update on last year’s computer theft. 4) The Board will offer sessions to explain Board policy governance.
· Revocations Granted. 1) The state agreed to revoke the retirement contribution election of a new faculty this summer. Election of retirement plan is irrevocable after a limited time period, but the faculty member was allowed to change plans when the college accepted responsibility for misinformation about the election window. 2) Last spring the college offered voluntary time off (VTO) for non-classroom faculty. The election for VTO was to have been irrevocable, but one faculty member requested and was granted revocation.
Start-up Issues and Successes. F. van Hartesveldt commented on several items brought to his attention: 1) Course packs of about 80 faculty were affected late this summer for lack of copyright clearance; 2) Cancellation of Kent Skills classes cut 16 credits out of faculty loads this fall, but the college accommodated the involved faculty members very generously. 3) Several faculty members have been compensated for overloaded telecourses. 4) Coaches’ pay may not have been equated to overload in past semesters, but improvements to Faculty Information Forms (FIFs) beginning this semester is to show the EOL.
B. Manker suggested evening class exams on December 20 and 21 are not required for those classes which have accumulated 800 minutes per credit hour prior to those dates and that exam night could be used for other activities (i.e. distributing student papers).
Faculty Credentials/Qualifications. F. van Hartesveldt has been advised that about nine faculty have credentials that may not match the credentials requirement of their base load assignments. The administration, in ensuring that every faculty member is qualified to teach his/her assignment, will meet with Association representatives to discuss the issue. Several reps expressed concern that administration has apparently lost faculty transcripts and is requesting them years after hire.
Committee Membership. F. van Hartesveldt indicated that a list of Association committee members will be sent to Council reps and also announced the following:
· Mark Saur is new special appointment as liaison for retired faculty members.
· RCC (Retirement Coordinating Council) representative is needed to replace Beth Foster.
· A faculty representative on the Bookstore Oversight Committee may be needed to replace Julie Hess.
· Faculty Voice Committee was active this summer and its input to administration prompted much of the content of College Learning Day this fall. F. Conner noted also that the committee is working closely with President Olivarez on the institution’s direction.
NEW BUSINESS
Topics for future meetings should be forwarded to F. van
Hartesveldt.
Next
Meeting.
Adjournment. Motion to adjourn, C. Grin; second, J. Hayes. Meeting adjourned at
Submitted by C. Lee Brown, Secretary
TREASURER’S ANNUAL REPORT
ASSETS
REVENUE: DUES.................................................................................. $145,999.08
INTEREST................................................................................ 2,406.27
EXPENSES: CONFERENCES........................................ $ 3,251.56
DONATIONS/FLOWERS/FRUIT.................... 1,755.69
FOOD............................................................... 5,569.88
GRIEVANCES.................................................. 2,915.40
INSURANCE....................................................... 471.00
LEGAL.............................................................. 2,861.77
NEGOTIATIONS/JCC................................... 21,641.32
OFFICE: POSTAGE......................................... 37.00
PRINTING...................................... 324.94
SUPPLIES....................................... 187.62
TELEPHONE.................................. 308.00
VOTING/SURVEY......................... 427.21
WEBSITE........................................ 108.47
PUBLIC RELATIONS............................................. 0.00
RETIREMENT COORDINATING
SALARY: OFFICERS................................. 52,726.00
SPECIAL EVENTS.................................................. 0.00
SUBSCRIPTIONS................................................... 0.00
TAXES AND RETIREMENT......................... 28,246.82
TOTAL EXPENSES........................................................... $122,172.16
NET
ASSETS
*CHECKING ACCOUNT= $36,660.34
*MONEY MARKET/SAVINGS= $94,848.41
Submitted