GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING

http://www.grccfaculty.com

November 17, 2006

Call to Order:  F. van Hartesveldt called the meeting to order at 6:32 a.m., 120 ATC.

Present:  N. Alexander, R. Barnhart, J. Batten, J. Berlin, M. Burns, L. Burris (for J. Hayes), J. Chesla, A. Cook, L. Crossman, K. Danko, J. Doane, B. Foster, F. Garbowitz, D. Godfrey, C. Grin, H. Hoare, T. Hoving, B. Keelean, R. Long, B. Manker, R. Monaldo, R. Montes-Sutton, B. Morris, J. Neumann, M. Parsons, R. Ralya, J. Russell, W. Rodgers (for W. Acevedo-Ferrer), M. Saur, J. Swets, F. van Hartesveldt, D. Wabeke, G. Zeeff.

Absent:  M. Campo, F. Conner, K. Owens, J. Spoelman, T. Walwood.

Approval of Agenda:  Agenda approved as written.

Approval of Minutes from November 3, 2006:  Minutes approved as written. 

Faculty Presentations from the Floor: 

• Tom Pierce will speak on campus November 17, 2006, as a guest of KARSP, the representative group for retired Kent County school employees.
• Thank you to M. Saur who served on Faculty Council as the retirees’ representative.  He will be attending future meetings on an as-needed basis.   
• Reminder to Faculty Council to bring a holiday donation for food services on December 1, 2006.

Secretary’s Report:

• Jack Bajema, Computer Applications, sent a note of thanks for the retirement cash gift. 

President’s Report: 

• A. Armijo, Executive Assistant to the President, will be taking on a new role overseeing the Learning Corners, which includes the Learning Corner at Wealthy and the new Learning Corner West. 
• P. Trepkowski will be serving as Interim Provost when D. Boyer leaves at the end of this semester. 
• The Open Door campaign has reached 9.5 million in gifts and pledges. 
• Email to F. van Hartesveldt is being sent to grccfaculty.com rather than to grcc.edu.  If this is happening, go to the Address Book in GroupWise, Frequent Contacts, search for fvanhart@grccfaculty.com, then delete the contact.  All email should be sent to fvanhart@grcc.edu.
• Thompson Learning is offering non-credit courses via http://www.ed2go.com/grcc/, but they are being offered through Thompson Learning and not taught by our current faculty members.  This is a labor relations issue because the Faculty Association must negotiate employment terms for all persons who provide instruction for GRCC.
• A new position Nursing lab tech, has been posted as a Meet and Confer position.  It appears similar to the lab tech positions which recently accreted to the Faculty Association.  If it is, it should be a Faculty position.
• Labor relations issue surrounding independent contractors/contingency hires for training solutions.  Concern is that these positions are belong in the Association and should be covered by the contract. 

Discussion and Action Items:

Committees

• Allocations Review committee, created to oversee student group fund disbursement, is inactive.  The student government wanted more control over the funding and the College Leadership Council supported them.  This new process does not call for faculty involvement. 
• Scholarship committee is waiting on a reply from E. Cisler and A. Bowen. 
• The college’s Bookstore Oversight committee, which includes faculty members, meets as needed.  Concerns about the bookstore may be sent to the Faculty Association’s representative to the committee, J. Hess, Mathematics. 
• The Association is still looking for someone to administer the PAC. 
• Internal Finance, Emeritus Faculty, and Constitution committees will meet in the spring.

Negotiations

• JCC did not meet on November 3, 2006, after being directed by the Faculty Council to cancel the meeting because two key administers were not able to attend.  JCC will meet again today, November 17, 2006. 
• Finance group, formed to consider the financial terms of a one-year contract, has met with the Administration. 
• Faculty Concerns survey concluded on November 15, 2006, with over 49% of faculty responding.  Concerns included wages, benefits, adjunct issues, and professional development funds.  Summary will be sent to all faculty members. 
• All MOUs are being reviewed to determine their status.  The current ones will be posted on http://www.grccfaculty.com. 

Summer base load assignments

• Several faculty members have proposed that full-time base load assignment include the summer semester.  If enacted, faculty members would be assigned base loads during two out of three semesters, not necessarily only fall and winter, or base load might be spread evenly over three semesters. 
• M. Burns from Nursing presented the following about benefits and concerns:
• Flexibility would allow for better student success; allow for continuous curriculum development; mentor adjunct year round; and allow for a larger volume of students. 
• Concerns include unknown costs, faculty availability and scheduling options, outside faculty responsibilities such as department meetings, graduation, learning days, and advising day. 
• Discussion included the following:
• Students are less apt to take summer classes, especially late summer classes, due to issues such as financial aid and the need to work. 
• Greater support in the summer would need to be able if summer enrollment increased.
• Overload in summer would be less available if used as part of base load. 
• If students took more summer classes, their fall and winter semesters may be decreased to a part time status, affecting financial aid. 
• It could be problematical for full-time faculty to participate in college activities such as department meetings and course development in the semesters in which their base loads were not assigned.
• Contract currently allows for summer to be assigned as base load. 
• This issue could be considered by individual departments and the AGC. 

Grievance Report:  F. Garbowitz reported on the following:

• Grievance 167, regarding denial of overloading a telecourse class, was denied by Administration.  The Association will appeal to a third party neutral. 

New Business: 

• Items for the next Faculty Council meeting should be submitted to F. van Hartesveldt.

Next Meeting:

• Friday, December 1, 2006, at 6:30 a.m., 120 ATC.

Adjournment: 

• Motion to adjourn, B. Morris; J. Neumann seconded.  Adjournment at 7:47 a.m.

Submitted by K. Danko, Secretary