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Faculty Association | ||||
MEETING MINUTES |
May 1, 2009
Call to order: F. van Hartesveldt called the meeting to order to 10:35 a.m., Ford Fieldhouse.
Approval of Agenda: Approved as written.
Approval of Minutes from April 17, 2009: Approved as written. Motion to approve, D. Cope and M. Saur seconded, with the change that B. McMillan’s name was spelled wrong. Minutes approved.
Presentations from the floor: K. Kalisz, English, recently had a baby. Many welcome backs were extended to N. Alexander.
Secretary’s report:
- A thank you from M. Steinfort for the flowers and card sent during his hospital stay.
- A thank you from R. Verburg for the Board of Trustee election endorsement from the Faculty Association.
President’s report, including Davenport property:
- The big topics of the year have been the presidential search, the purchase of Davenport University’s Fulton Street campus, and the proposed MPSERs retirement incentive legislation. The chances of the MPSERs retirement legislation being revived are very slim. If you are thinking of retirement, do not wait for a state incentive.
- Davenport property involved a $9.5 million purchase price. Nothing has been officially stated about who will move there, but there has been talk of health and math moving. Concerns have included cost of operations and the need to hire full time faculty for the additional students.
- President Ender seems very direct with a student focus. He seems active directly with the college’s internal operations. He has committed to making the Provost second in command, giving highest priority to Academics.
- Internally, the Association has not been running full capacity with N. Alexander, R. Montes-Sutton, and J. Spoelman gone part of the year. Negotiation teams have not been meeting much this year, so there’s not much to report.
- Reminder about the computer Acceptable Use Agreement that college-provided computers are not ours. They are not for personal use.
- A laid off faculty member was called back after enrollment increased.
- The Academic Summit in February yielded much data. IR is still compiling the data. Over 3,000 suggestions were made.
- Over the summer, things should drop off a bit. Internally, grievance work should drop. Other summer work includes a history project that D. Huisman will work on. A. Cook will return May 12 to continue archiving records. The summer work will include a student worker.
- Next year is a negotiations year. F. vanHartesveldt will meet with departments to survey faculty concerns.
- Thanks were extended to Faculty Council representatives for attending meetings all year. If your term expires, make sure you have a replacement for the Fall.
- Thanks were extended to L. Burris for working on grievances this year and the grievance history report.
- Retirees this year include L. Crossman, J. Vaughn, J. Schultz, D. Pruis, D. Davis, Bob Harvey, and C. Grin.
Discussion and action items:
- Budget proposal: The proposed 2009-2010 budget was sent to all faculty members. J. Hesse made a motion to approve the budget. M. Campo seconded. The budget looks similar to years past. There was a surplus in 2008-09 because there was less contract negotiation. A $3,200 expense will show in 2008-09, which was the fee for the external audit. The audit showed nothing out of the ordinary. Additionally, Council canceled the Association’s Retirement Coordinating Council (RCC) membership, but subscribed to a one-year period of four legislative reports from Capital Services. Motion passed.
- Dues proposal: S. Knoppers made a motion to continue the Faculty Association dues for 2009-2010 at the same rate (.5%) as 2008-2009. R. Barnhart seconded. Dues have been at this rate for at least 15 years. About 260 full-time faculty and 500 adjunct faculty contribute. Motion passed.
- Board of Trustees election is May 5, 2009. Faculty Council endorsed three candidates (James, Verberg, and Ysasi). Bennett and Klein would have been acceptable as well. Endorsement flyers were distributed to Faculty Council representatives.
New Business: Items for the next Faculty Council meeting should be submitted to F. van Hartesveldt.
Next Meeting: Faculty Council, TBA.