GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING

http://www.grccfaculty.com

February 10, 2006

Call to Order: F. van Hartesveldt called the meeting to order at 6:32 a.m., 122 ATC.

Present: Nickie Alexander, Rick Barnhart, Jennifer Batten, C. Lee Brown, Mike Campo, Jim Chesla, Anita Cook, Larry Crossman, Katie Danko, Beth Foster, Fred Garbowitz, Dick Godfrey, Carolyn Grin, Stacey Heisler, Tim Hoving, Brian Keelean, Amy Kerkstra, Robert Long, Mary Lucas (for Bernie Manker), Bob Monaldo, Brian Morris, Jeff Neumann, Kathleen Owens, Wayne Rodgers, Jeff Spoelman, Joel Swets, Fred van Hartesveldt, Doug Wabeke, George Zeeff

Absent: Marie Burns, Lyttron Burris Frank Conner, Jim Hayes, Dan Hearn, Jonathon Russell, Mark Saur, Troy Walwood

Agenda: Today’s agenda was approved as printed.

Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the January 27, 2006, council meeting were approved with the following corrections:

· In the paragraph titled Court of Appeals Case—Employee Qualifications of the President’s Report, change the last sentence to “This ruling could be significant for GRCC faculty who refuse to use GRCC e-mail system.”

· In the Board of Trustees paragraph of the President’s Report, change “mileage” to “millage.”

Faculty Presentations from the Floor.

· Jim Snyder, retiree, sends thanks to the Council and Association for his retirement gift.

· Jim Snyder has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

· Jeff Stone’s return to work after his amputation has been delayed by a recent leg injury.

· F. van Hartesveldt said he received a death notice on Jane Hebrid Idema, former faculty. He also reminded faculty to forward death notices of faculty to the Association leadership as well as to Elaine McCormick in the president’s office.

Treasurer’s Report. D. Godfrey distributed the January 2006 treasurer’s report (attached) and noted that the month’s activities were atypical since approximately $20,000 in expenses for officers’ pay hasn’t been billed, and, thus, is not reflected Total expenses for January, $1,740.68. The January 31 checking account balance was $66,826.86; money market/savings, $101,347.55. It was noted that Association by-laws require an annual internal audit.

President’s Report. F. van Hartesveldt’s report covered the following items:

· Association Office (509M)—Additional file cabinet and supplies have been acquired for the office. The student worker continues to organize files and is transferring hard copy documents into electronic format, some of which will likely be made available on the Association web site.

· YMCA Membership Discount—At the suggestion of a faculty member, F. van Hartesveldt informed the Council that according to Liz Timmer the YMCA offers GRCC faculty a $100 discount on the initial membership fee.

· Faculty Voice. As an update to a previous conversation about faculty voice, F. van Hartesveldt indicated John Politi, an outside consultant being hired to help the college with internal communications and strategy, will be on campus February 16 and 17 to interview approximately 40-50 staff across the college.

· Association Conferences. F. Garbowitz and F. van Hartesveldt will attend two of the conferences (Law and Higher Education and Labor Law, respectively) approved by the Association. A third conference (National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining, April 2-4 in New York) has also been approved, but no interest in attending has been voiced.

· Faculty Disciplinary Cases. Two new disciplinary cases against faculty members have resulted from violaton of the acceptable use agreement and student complaints. Council discussed at length the more serious of the two cases, which involved use of videos as instructional material. F. van Hartesveldt advised that the administration will act on the case. It was suggested that the Association may want to approach it as an ethics issue. Two additional situations based on student complaints may also evolve into disciplinary action by the administration.

· Association Web Site. A. Cook and K. Danko have enhanced and updated the Association Web site. Both were thanked for their work, and faculty are encouraged to visit the site.

Discussion and Action

Committee Membership and Reports. J. Neumann explained that the Joint Executive Evaluation Team meets once a month and identified the team members. Sandy Andrews, Mike Klawitter, and J. Neumann represent faculty; administrators are Tina Hoxie, Velvie Green, and Cindy Martin and by invitation Cynthia Springer and Kathy McKimmy. The team is discussing methods for evaluating on-line and hybrid courses with a concern for faculty and student confidentiality. They’re also concerned about the amount of paper work generated (especially with adjunct evaluations every semester), access to, and storage and life span of the paperwork.

· Adjunct Faculty. F. van Hartesveldt cited adjunct faculty count at 438, which is a bit down from fall semester. The Association leadership had its third meeting with adjunct faculty last night. The concerns voiced at these meetings will be summarized and shared with faculty. N. Alexander indicated that much of the discussion at the third meeting centered on the need for checks and balances to ensure against favoritism in assigning classes. She and F. van Hartesveldt suggested that an overall outcome of the meetings might be that contract distinctions be made based on types of adjuncts such as their longevity and teaching load.

Negotiations Report. J. Spoelman reported on negotiation activities as follows: 1) The team was scheduled to meet with JCC today at 8:30 a.m. and again at 10:30 a.m. to discuss accreting the lab tutors, but both meetings have been cancelled because of the in-service activity for non-classroom staff. 2) Kathy McKimmy will meet with John Doan and J. Spoelman today to discuss disbursing the release time/extra-curricular money for department heads and program directors. 3) A meeting was held earlier this week (J. Spoelman, Kathy McKimmy, Steve Abid) to reconsider how to select overload memo of understanding. The team gained new perspective on what should be in it and how to present it.

Retirement Coordinating Council Report. B. Foster’s RCC update on the January 30 meeting included several major points:

· Our lobbyist, Ellen Hoekstra, reported on highlights of the Governor’s State of the State address, i.e. a program proposal that would offer state-run 401(k) plans for workers without employer pension plans.

· The Speaker of the House invoked a rarely used procedure which observers say showed his determination to win passage of HB 4947 and HB 5314. The RCC would like letters sent to legislators opposing HB 4947 and HB 5314.

· RCC is requesting donations from member groups toward expenses of the February 15, 2006, Legislative Day. Alice Donahue and B. Foster will represent the Association at that event

MOTION: Donate $50 to RCC for Legislative Day. B. Foster; support, R Long. Carried

New Business. Items for the next Council meeting agenda should be sent to F. van Hartesveldt.

Next Meeting. Friday, February 24, 2006, 6:30 a.m., 120 ATC.

Adjournment. Motion to adjourn, B. Morris; second, R. Long. Adjournment at 7:48 a.m.

Submitted by C. Lee Brown, Secretary