FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING
Call to Order: F. van Hartesveldt called the meeting to
order at
Present: Nickie Alexander (for Jim Chesla), Rick
Barnhart, Jennifer Batten, C. Lee Brown, Marie Burns, Lyttron Burris, Mike
Campo, Frank Conner, Anita Cook, Beth Foster, Kelly Gessler (for Amy Kerkstra),
Dick Godfrey, Dan Hearn, Stacey Heisler, Ron Higgins (for Katie Danko), Brian
Keelean, Mike Light (for Carolyn Grin), Robert Long, Bernie Manker, , Brian
Morris, Jeff Neumann, Kathleen Owens, Wayne Rodgers, Jonathon Russell, Mark
Saur, Joel Swets, Fred van Hartesveldt, Doug Wabeke, George Zeeff
Absent: Larry Crossman, Jim Hayes, Bob Monaldo, Jeff
Spoelman,
Visitors: Sandy Andrews, John Doane, Fred Garbowitz,
Randy Sahajdack
Agenda: Today’s agenda was approved as printed.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the
Faculty Presentations from the Floor.
§ The October 8 GRCC Hurricane Katrina relief effort had very light participation and raised approximately $1,500.
§ Hillary Haney, Language and Thought, had a baby.
Secretary’s Report. C. L. Brown read thank-you notes received from Rick Barnhart (Business) and Lyttron Burris (English) for expressions of sympathy following the deaths of their mothers and from the Dorothy Terhune family (Library) for a plant received following surgery.
Super Senate Update. At the Association’s request, three Super Senate representatives—Sandy Andrews, Mike Light, and Randy Sahajdack—attended the meeting and responded to questions from the floor about Academic Senate restructuring. Their responses are summarized as follows:
Q: Is this going to happen?
A:
Yes, restructuring of Academic Senate is going to happen as a result of ALT (Academic Leadership Team)
academic reorganization meetings this summer.
Reorganization is expected to proceed following approval of a proposed by-laws
revision to allow for reorganization.
Q: Are
Dean’s Council and provost okay with this?
A: Yes.
Q: How
can such a large group be effective?
A: This arrangement will bring every
major campus issue before one body for a decision and ensure that the same
message is distributed to the entire college.
It will also allow for a single history of all decisions.
Q: What
happens to the original goal of the Academic Senate—to create an environment in
which faculty could freely discuss issues with other faculty.
A: Academic
Senate was not designed as a faculty
body, but as an academic senate. However, faculty will still have a majority
voice.
Q: Will
other parts of the college (i.e. finance personnel; facilities personnel) be
answerable to this committee or invited to these meetings?
A: Other
parts of the college may need to be reminded that we are academics first. The goal is that this group will strengthen
all parts of the college.
Q: Will
this group deal with seemingly small topics that actually have great impact (i.e.
school colors)?
A: Yes.
Anyone can bring a proposal before the Academic Senate. The current Academic Senate charter states
that the senate is responsible for the academic integrity of GRCC. That will not change.
Q: It
seems clear that the restructuring of Academic Senate will eliminate ALT. Will Dean’s Council continue?
A: Deans
will still need to meet to take care of dean issues. It’s unlikely that any one of the groups
(i.e. ALT, Dean’s Council) will be eliminated.
Q: What
about the discrepancy that some of
the faculty attending the meetings are paid to attend while others are not?
A: The
Academic Senate reps addressing Council support release time for Academic
Senate members whose contractual duties do not include Academic Senate
meetings.
Q: Will expediency and
communication be improved?
A: It’s
anticipated that efficiency of communication will be a goal. Agendas will be planned by a team of six—two
faculty, two department heads, and two administrators. Two meetings a month are planned.
Q: How do we make sure these
plans are carried out?
A: We
all need to be mindful and keep an eye on this to make sure that it progresses
as planned.
Although the administration will retain its ability to make decisions, this is a huge gesture on the part of the provost—trusting faculty to have a more powerful voice in decisions.
F. van Hartesveldt encouraged reps
to pass on to their senators concerns, questions, and skepticism that they want
brought before the Senate.
President’s Report. F. van Hartesveldt’s report covered the
following items:
· Scanner. The association has purchased a scanner and will be converting paper documents to digital format, which will aid in managing office records.
· Department Meetings. F. van Hartesveldt has started meeting with departments group by group. As a result, he has compiled a list of contract benefits that will be made available to members at these meetings.
· Board of Trustees Meeting. F. van Hartesveldt addressed the board at the end of their last meeting thanked the three trustees who had met with him. Additional meetings are being scheduled with the remaining four trustees.
·
Faculty
Load Statistics. Full-time classroom
faculty, 217; 15 full-time faculty at 28 or more contact hours; 32 full-time
faculty above 27 contact hours (including those at or above 28). Of the top 29 faculty, 28 are male. Faculty with underloads, 16. As of
· Service Hours. Eighty faculty have completed the fourth-year longevity training. Twenty-four are in process.
· Adjunct Issues Meeting. Thirty-four adjunct faculty replied to the invitation to meet with the Negotiating Team and F. van Hartesveldt. Meetings are planned for November and January this semester. Additional names of those interested in such a meeting are welcomed.
· Accretion Petition of Lab Coordinators and Lab Technicians. F. van Hartesveldt has talked with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) attorney this week in an attempt to move the process along. The HR director has submitted to the vice presidents a recommendation which they have yet to consider.
·
Legislation.
Screening Committees. Changes in the hiring process have limited the number of nurses the Nursing Department could place on the screening committee while at the same time allowing an additional committee person who was not a nurse.
Scholarship Committee. The committee has yet to meet and organize.
Negotiating Report. N. Alexander indicated that the Negotiating Team has not been able to meet with JCC this year and that today’s meeting has been cancelled. A sub-team has met to continue clarifying contract language. F. van Hartesveldt also indicated that the team has made a proposal to administration for disbursing $40,000 negotiated last year for release time.
Grievance Report. F. van Hartesveldt commented that the grievance history he recently sent to reps is intended to aid their understanding of the grievance reports made at meetings by F. Garbowitz, who then reported the following:
Grievance #156—Advance training pay for adjunct. Still in the appeal process.
Grievance #157—Adjunct hired for summer class and subsequently fired. Still in the appeal process.
Grievance #160—Faculty on extended contract denied assigned hours. Administration has made a tentative offer. Awaiting a meeting with administration.
NEW BUSINESS
Topics for future meetings should be forwarded to F. van Hartesveldt.
Next
Meeting.
Adjournment. Motion to adjourn, K. Owens; second, R. Long. Adjournment at
Submitted by C. Lee Brown, Secretary