Members Present: Deborah DeMino, Meredith Dickens, Penny
Edwards, Pam Goodman, Tracy Kilgore, Eleanor Leverette, Som Linthicum, Laura
McClain, Robin McFall, Michael Oates, Richard Reeves, Julia Seligson, James
Walker, Greg Westmoreland, Derek Williams
Members Absent: Stacey Frank, Mary Gibson, Justin Herndon, Jeremy
McCracken, Cynthia Swaney
Guests: Galen Dehay, Scott
Jaeschke, Marci Leake, Mandy Orzechowski, Luke VanWingerden
Presider: Mia Tensley
Welcome and Agenda: Mia called the meeting
to order at 12:32 pm and directed all in attendance to the agenda for the
meeting.
New Business:
1. Approval of minutes from September 21, 2018 –
Mia Tensley
Mia distributed copies of the
minutes from the September meeting. These minutes had been posted in the Teams
folder for all to review. She asked if there were any changes other than those
noted in Teams. Pam Goodman identified two changes on pages 4 and 5 to the
number of departments in Business and Public Services and to the departments
she would work with as a Senator. There were no other changes. The minutes were
approved as posted with these two changes.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Robin McFall will make the
two changes and post the approved minutes to the Teams folder and send them to
IT to post in the College Committees link under the Employee tab in eTC.
2. Institutional
Research – Chris Marino
Chris Marino
shared information about his office so that Faculty Senate would know more
about the services. He stated his office specifically works with research,
evaluation, accreditation, and planning support. He and his staff work with
questions on an institutional level. Some examples are IPEDS, program level
evaluations, student reaction to instruction surveys, academic program reviews,
and program assessment (helping plan outcomes). He stated that although his
office does not work at the individual or class level, he could assist Faculty
Senate with research, calibration, etc.
He then opened the floor to questions.
Richard Reeves
asked if something like a survey would be possible to determine the level of
faculty interest for a live active shooter training. He stated he had spoken
with Campus Police and was told because of the cost and time involved, we would
need to know there was a certain amount of interest before anything could be
planned. Chris told him that since there is already a mechanism in place for
such training, he would like to find out more information and asked Richard to
make an appointment to talk to him one-on-one.
Som Linthicum
asked if TCTC had its own Institutional Review Board (IRB). Chris responded
that we do not, that we use Clemson's IRB when needed. He stated that most
individuals go through a process with the specific group through which they are
doing research (for example, NSF). He stated that many faculty/staff who come
to him with specific questions will find the information is already available
through documents already in his office.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Richard Reeves will follow
up with Chris Marino to get a specific answer to his question.
3.
Constituent Concerns – Galen Dehay and Marci Leake
Galen Dehay shared an email that was sent directly to him
from a senator. The email brought forth several concerns from a faculty member:
1. It seems we are quick to hire FTE faculty positions. 2. We should hire more adjuncts, not FTE
positions. 3. It seems unfair that staff
are in 12-month positions while some faculty are not offered the option to work
in the summer. 4. If enrollment numbers
are low enough that not all faculty work in the summer, then a similar number
of staff be reduced in the summers as well.
Galen explained the following to respond to each of these
concerns:
A. The
College does not hire full-time faculty. The request with justification comes
from a department head, is approved by the dean of the division, is prioritized
by the Academic Leadership Team, the criteria for the position is validated,
and then Human Resources requests an FTE from the State Budget and Control
Board. If a position is approved, it is then budgeted and approved to hire.
B. Faculty
are .75 FTE. The position description says that faculty are 39 week employees
(F39 classification). Faculty do not work on contract.
Staff are 1.0 FTE
(F52 classification). They are required to complete administrative and
"student-facing" functions to ensure continuous operation of the
College.
C. The
College cannot spread 9-month pay for faculty over 12 months as it would be a
violation of the SC Wage Employment Act. School districts can do so because
they are not considered state agencies. In addition, school districts are
certified to functions as escrow agents—they can "hold in escrow monies
already earned." The College is not certified to do so and cannot become
certified to do so as it is considered a state agency. However, faculty do have
an option. HR can divide earning into multiple accounts for direct deposit (for
example, a checking account and a savings account). So, faculty can plan ahead
and have some money deposited straight into a savings account to set aside
funds for summer months when employment is not guaranteed.
D. There
is no precedent for a faculty member to be assigned non-teaching duties in the
summer for the sole purpose of mitigating a lack of teaching. While some
faculty have been placed on contracts for duties such as advising, creating new
courses, or completing duties of a grant, these contracts were not specifically
created to make up for the lack of teaching.
Galen offered a
proposal to Faculty Senate: if a faculty member comes directly to a Faculty
Senator, as an advocate, the Senator needs to find the most appropriate channel
to direct the faculty member to achieve a timely resolution. If the Senator
finds there are too many channels and it will take too long to find an answer,
then the Senator should direct the faculty member directly to Galen.
Mia directed all
senators to Article IX of the Constitution and By-laws which states
"issues should be addressed through established administrative channels."
Laura McClain stated that as advocates, we should indeed direct faculty to the
most appropriate place to receive a quick answer. Meredith Dickens stated that
this same issue came up last year and was already discussed in Faculty Senate.
Penny Edwards made
a motion that Faculty Senate create a folder in Teams to start a FAQs page for
issues that often come up year after year in Faculty Senate and with faculty in
general so that we are not constantly addressing the same issues. Meredith then
asked who would be responsible for the creation and maintenance of such a
folder. After some explanation from Scott Jaeschke about amending a motion,
Penny amended her motion to the following:
Mia Tensley in her
position as president will create a folder in Faculty Senate's Teams for the
development of a FAQs page with the first entry being the issue Galen brought
to Faculty Senate today. Then, the Faculty Senate vice president (Julia
Seligson 2018-19) will be responsible for the upkeep (updating) of this folder
with issues that have been vetted through appropriate channels.
Richard Reeves
seconded this motion. In the discussion that followed, Penny stated she thought
the PowerPoint Galen used to present to Faculty Senate should be included in
the folder. Others agreed, and Galen stated he would send it to Mia for that
purpose. Pam Goodman asked for clarity on what types of questions would be
placed in this folder. Mia stated those concerns that applied to all faculty
and that had been definitively answered through appropriate channels.
After further
discussion concerning the concern Galen brought forth, including comments about
department heads' responsibilities and about the senator who emailed making a
good faith effort to find a resolution, Mia called for a vote on the amended
motion. There were no objections, so the motion passed by acclamation.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: 1. Galen Dehay will send
the PowerPoint used in his presentation to Faculty Senate to Mia Tensely. 2. Mia will create a folder for FAQs in the
Faculty Senate Teams folder. She will add the PowerPoint and the issue above to
begin the FAQ list. 3. Julia Seligson will maintain this folder for the 2018-19
academic year with issues that have been vetted through appropriate channels.
4.
Committee Updates – various senators
Mia asked for all senators who are members of other committees across
campus to give reports to keep everyone informed of happenings across the
College.
A.
AACU – Penny stated that she is in her final year on
AACU and there is little to report for now. She is still waiting on a response
concerning faculty competencies. She stated there is a possibility of a change
on the Council to have a staggered, mentoring approach for new representatives.
B.
Academic Calendar Committee – Robin reported the ACC
has completed calendars through the 2020 academic year. However, not all of
those have yet been approved by the Academic Leadership Team. She stated that
the committee minutes are posted in the College Committees link under the
Employee tab in eTC.
C.
Placement Committee – Julia stated we are in the
process of moving to the old version of Accuplacer to the new version.
Currently, the committee is working on data for new cut scores. She noted the
placement levels will not change, but the scores that feed into these levels
will. The new scores will be in place in the spring semester. Tracy Kilgore
added that the scores Comprehensive Studies has been considering are comparable
to those being established at other colleges in the state. James Walker stated
the math folks will be working together during the week of September 24 to
determine the new scores. All scores will be in place for new students with a
summer 2019/fall 2019 entry date.
D.
Service Excellence – Laura reported that this team is
broken into subsets to accomplish all assigned tasks currently, the sub-group
she is on is testing a portal in eTC by which thank you notes, apologies, and
gratitude notes can be sent to employees. The Service Excellence Team will
share more with faculty and staff soon. She reminded everyone of activities
currently in place such as ordering TCTC shirts and employee packets being
given to new employees. She stated the
team would soon be coming to department meetings to share/gather information.
E.
21st Century Skills – Penny shared that the
term "assessment" is no longer part of the title of this committee.
The committee is currently undergoing significant transformation as assessment
is now with Institutional Effectiveness and the committee no longer has any
responsibility for assessment (i.e., will no longer rate artifacts). The
committee will take on new roles as consultants to divisions. The committee
will focus on facilitating the process and on the relevancy and validation of
the skills for the College and for our students. She also stated the rubrics
have undergone significant modification.
F.
Common Blackboard Shells – Meredith reported that
Business and Public Services has been piloting a common shell for all online
classes. The department offering the course is responsible for creating a
master shell, and all faculty who teach the course must use the same shell. She
stated the pilot occurred in the summer with a full launch this fall. A
"Quality Matters" rubric will be applied to assess the success of the
pilot and to determine next steps.
G.
Academic Leadership – Mia reported that Jackie Blakley
made a presentation to the ALT on a B&PS pilot on Success Teams. This pilot
focused on analyzing success gaps, student monitoring, mandatory academic
recovery, and mandatory Leading Edge attendance. Students who did not attend
the mandatory events had holds placed on their accounts—registration is denied
until they complete these events.
Action to be taken as
a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: All Senators
who are members of other committees will give updates at each Faculty Senate
meeting.
5.
Division Updates – various senators
Mia asked senators from each division to provide any relevant updates for
Faculty Senate. Meredith asked if this would be the time to bring forth any
concerns from faculty. Mia responded that before concerns are brought to the entire
Senate, senators need to ensure they have followed all proper channels to try
to resolve the issue first.
Arts and Sciences – no updates
Business and Public Services – no updates
College Transitions – no updates
Engineering and Industrial Technology – no updates
Health Education – The Medical Assisting and Surgical Technology both had
a 100% pass rate for students who took certification exams.
Learning Commons – At the last meeting, staff discussed the Constitution
and By-laws.
Action to be taken as
a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Senators from
each division will give updates at each Faculty Senate meeting.
Old Business:
1.
Projects/Events/Initiatives – Mia Tensley
Chris Marino
will soon send a survey to Faculty Senators about possible ideas.
Action to be taken as
a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Chris will
send the survey, and all senators are asked to complete it.
2.
Email Signature and Logo – Meredith Dickens
At an earlier meeting, Meredith had made mention of "electronic
badges," so Mia asked her to clarify and share more information. Meredith
stated that many faculty members do not know who represents them on Faculty
Senate, so she was trying to think of ways we could more clearly delineate who
we are. She suggested adding "Faculty Senate Representative 2018-19"
to our signatures on email or perhaps having some sort of badge. We would
probably have to pay to have this badge created or perhaps ask Marketing to
create it. Would Faculty Senate be
interested in doing something like this?
After more discussion, Mia asked Meredith if she would be willing to
gather more information and report back to Faculty Senate. Meredith agreed to
do so.
Action to be taken as
a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Meredith will
gather more information about electronic badges and report back to Faculty
Senate at a later meeting.
Other Business:
1.
Agenda
Meredith asked if
we could have the agenda sent to us at least 48 hours before meetings as the
Constitution and By-laws state. Mia responded that it was posted 48 hours in
advance in the College Committees link under the Employee tab in eTC. Several
senators expressed confusion over the agenda being posted there, stating they
did not even know about that link. Mia explained that is where the agenda has
to be posted so that it is available for all faculty to see. Penny suggested
that an email be sent to Faculty Senators about the placement of the agenda and
that an announcement be sent out to all faculty as well.
Action to be taken as
a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Senators will
not rely on Teams for the agenda. Mia will post the agenda in the College
Committees link. Mia and Robin will work together concerning
emails/announcements.
2. Confusion
Meredith also
asked for a point of clarification. She is confused as to when she could bring
forth items from faculty in her division. She stated she emailed Mia asking for
time on the agenda for these items. Mia referred all senators to Article IX of
the Constitution and By-laws, stating that senators need to ensure they are directing
faculty to appropriate channels, that Faculty Senate should really be a last
resort for answering a question. She stated if a senator has an item to place
on the agenda, the senator should email her the issue, state the steps that
have been taken to direct the faculty member/find a resolution, and ask for
time on the agenda. Laura asked for a
point of clarification. She asked why we cannot bring an issue to Faculty
Senate if we know the issue is common across departments and division. Mia
responded that we must have due diligence first. We need to all be responsible
for helping faculty understand the proper channels for getting answers to
questions.
Action to be taken as
a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Senators need to ensure they have exhausted
appropriate administrative channels first, following Mia's directives, before
bringing issues to Faculty Senate.
3. Minutes
and Responsibilities
Mia reminded everyone
the minutes for the meeting would be in the Teams folder no later than October
23. She asked that all senators read the minutes and post any corrections in
Conversations in Teams. She also reminded all senators to keep their
constituents up-to-date on Faculty Senate meetings.
Action to be taken as
a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Robin will complete the minutes and post them
in Teams. All senators will review and post any corrections. All senators will
update constituents.
4. Adjournment
Laura made a motion
to adjourn, and Tracy seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 2:06.
Respectfully submitted by Robin McFall
Next Meeting: Friday,
November 2 at 12:30 in SSC 205
