http://www.grccfaculty.com

February 22, 2008

Call to order:  F. van Hartesveldt called the meeting to order at 6:33 a.m., 234 Student Services Center.

Present:  S. Abid (for C. Grin/M. DeVivo), W. Acevedo-Ferrer, N. Alexander, R. Barnhart, J. Berlin, L. Burris (for J. Hayes), M. Campo, F. Conner, D. Cope, L. Crossman, K. Danko, F. Garbowitz (for B. Manker), D. Godfrey, H. Hoare, T. Hofman (for D. Wabeke), D. Huisman, B. Keelean, S. Knoppers, B. Monaldo, R. Montes-Sutton, B. Morris, J. Neumann, M. Parsons, R. Ralya, J. Spoelman, D. Terhune,  F. van Hartesveldt, M. Vargo (AGC Guest), G. Zeeff,  F. Zomer.

Absent:  J. Batten, J. Doane, P. Laureto, J. Russell, A. Saldivar, T. Walwood.

Guests:  T. Hofmann, M. Vargo.

Approval of agenda:  Approved as written.

Approval of Faculty Council minutes from February 8, 2008:  Approved as written, with the following clarification:

• For the bookstore, Follett pays the college a minimum of a six figure flat fee, plus an additional percentage.

 
Faculty presentations from the floor: 

• Condolences are extended to D. Cope who recently lost his mother. 
• Condolences are extended to M. Saur who recently lost his brother. 
• T. Hofmann reported on recent changes in retiree laws.  Most significant change is that if you retire before age 60 because you purchase years of service, your health insurance will not be effective until age 60 unless you pay the out-of-pocket cost of insurance up to age 60.  However, if you purchased or start to purchase your years of service before June 30, 2008, then this change does not apply and your paid health insurance will be effective before age 60.  Also, all faculty members, not just full-time, can buy years.  Faculty can contact T. Hofmann at X 4269 if you have further questions.
• As a reminder, if a department is planning on hiring a new faculty member for next fall, try to get him or her in the system by assigning an early summer class because employees hired for the first time after July 1, 2008, will pay a graded premium for their retirement plan. 
• The college is working on a retirement guide to help those who are nearing retirement. Contact Ed Sosa with questions. 

President’s report: 

• Retro-pay is expected mid April, although there is no firm date.  There will be no separate retro paycheck.  The new overload rate started on February 8, 2008 and is spread over eight paychecks. 
• ASR is generating additional checks based on the increase and combination of dental/vision coverage for those who exceeded their dental or vision allotment in the 2007-08 contract year.  This will happen automatically so there is no need to resubmit a dental/vision form. 
• Professional expense funds will also be processed at the new rate automatically.  This applies to those who applied for funds more than $500 this year. 
• Recent Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting covered the following:
• Enrollment report showed that the number of students increased by just six individuals, but the number of contact hours increased significantly.   
• Mid-year budget report showed numbers better than previously projected.  Expenses increased, but retirement contribution decreased.  There was an increase in property tax, tuition and fees, and state revenue.  Operating budget went over 90 million for the first time.
• In faculty hiring, there are nine current searches for full-time.  While this is an increase in hiring compared to Fall 2007, some of these positions are temporary. 
• The President’s Office has been reorganized.  P. Cwayna is promoted to a VP position, and A. Bowen is promoted to Executive Director of College Advancement.  Discussion took place on how just one out of the top seven leaders has an academic background and how the hiring of Deans is not a public process.
• The Foundation is in the process of becoming independent from the College.  President Olivarez, P. Cwayna, and A. Bowen recently returned from a fundraising trip to Florida.
• The contract states nothing about having to give a final exam; however, the exam days are part of the contract calendar.
• The Provost’s office is still working on a process for administering the $12,000 adjunct professional development fund.
• A flexible scheduling pilot program for Nursing will soon be presented to Dean’s Council.  This will allow for assignment of baseload in the summer by mutual agreement of a faculty member and the administration.
• A pilot program called Structured Learning Assistance is being proposed for tutoring of students.  This will affect the duties of Lab Coordinators and other faculty.

Negotiations report: 

• The team is continuing on getting a final written copy of the contract to press.
• It was proposed that the faculty negotiations team and administration offer meetings to faculty and deans to explain contract changes.  Another option is to hold monthly meetings in which specific topics are explained. 

Discussion and action items:

1. Committee reports:
1. Faculty Council Officer elections will be held in April.  F. Zomer is joining the nominating committee.
2. R. Kladder and M. Saur have agreed to join the Constitution committee.  Changes to the Association Constitution should be submitted to K. Danko.  The current constitution can be found at http://www.grccfaculty.com/newforms.html.
3. The AGC has formed an Ethics committee which may conflict with the Association’s Ethics committee.  Discussion took place, including the following:

• Ethics used as a means of discipline is a concern. 
• In December an anonymous complaint to the administration’s ethics hotline resulted in an unfounded investigation.  A grievance may be filed.
• Ethic complaints brought to the attention of the Faculty Council are dealt with quietly.
• The AGC has defined a process and a code of conduct.  The major issue with the AGC’s code of ethics is that it could address contractual issues such as office hours, class meetings, and performance.
• M. Vargo, an AGC representative, spoke about the purpose of the AGC’s code of ethics.  This included providing ethical guidelines for faculty, encouraging and educating faculty about ethical behavior. 
• Concerns are that unethical behavior is subjective, the administration, other staff, or even faculty will use ethics to target individual faculty members, teaching will be the subject of ethics complaints, and investigation and discipline will be undertaken based on anonymous ethics complaints. 
• It was suggestion that further conversation is needed between AGC and Faculty Council to determine what issues should be handled by each party.  The Faculty Council is the only college organization representing only faculty, yet many other groups make decisions affecting faculty.  

New Business:  Items for the next Faculty Council meeting should be submitted to F. van Hartesveldt.

Next Meeting:  Council meeting on Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 6:30 a.m. 120 ATC.

Adjournment:  Motion to adjourn F. Conner, seconded W. Acevedo-Ferrer.  Adjournment at   8:08 a.m.

Submitted by K. Danko, Secretary.