Members Present: Susan Curtis, Deborah DeMino, Meredith
Dickens, Penny Edwards, Mary Gibson, Pam Goodman, Tracy Kilgore, Eleanor Leverette,
Som Linthicum, Malisa Looney, Jeremy McCracken, Robin McFall, Julia Seligson,
Gregg Westmoreland, Derek Williams
Members Absent: Stacey Frank, Justin Herndon, Michael Oates,
Cynthia Swaney, James Walker
Guests: Scott Jaeschke
Presider: Mia Tensley
Welcome and Agenda: Mia called the meeting
to order at 12:31 pm and directed all in attendance to the agenda for the
meeting.
Standing Items:
1. Approval of minutes from February 15, 2019 – Robin
McFall
Robin referred everyone to the
minutes from the February 15 meeting and displayed the minutes for senators to review.
These minutes had been posted in the Teams folder for all to review. Robin
noted that she had made the changes suggested by Penny Edwards and Pam Goodman
and had uploaded a new document in Teams. She asked if there were any changes
other than those noted. There were no other recommendations. Julia made a motion
to approve the minutes, and Pam seconded. The minutes were unanimously
approved.
Penny asked if there would be
minutes from the March 1 meeting. Robin said she was currently working on those
and would have them posted my March 12.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Robin will submit the
approved minutes to the committee blogspot for posting and will upload the
approved minutes in the Faculty Senate Teams folder.
2.
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 the committee has finished
interviewing new potential members and have selected ten people from across the
country to join the Faculty Advisory Council. She noted one new representative
is from Midlands Technical College. She also stated that John Roueche will be
the keynote speaker for the Awards Reception. Distinguished faculty will
receive awards at that banquet.
B.
Academic Calendar Committee – Pam reported the ACC has received
approval for spring and summer 2020 calendars. She also noted that Scott Harvey
has asked for input on the exam schedule. Currently, the ACC is running into
issues with having enough times for the hybrid exams. The problem is that a
student could have one hybrid course that meets at 9:05 M, another that meets
at 9:05 W, and another that meets at 9:05 F. So, we would need three different
exam times. When it was suggested that the hybrids have online exams, Pam said
the ACC discussed that possibility, but some of the hybrid instructors have
already stated they would like face-to-face exams. Pam asked that we all return
to our constituents and get input. She said any of the input could be shared
with her, Robin McFall, or any of the ACC members (each division has a
representative on the committee).
C.
Curriculum Committee—The committee has not met, so
there is no report.
D.
Placement Committee – The committee has not met, so
there is no report.
E.
Service Excellence – No one from Faculty Senate is on
this group, so there is no one to report.
F.
21st Century Skills – Som stated he thought
Professional Development Day was successful for the 21st Century
Skills group. Penny shared with Faculty Senate that during the morning session,
the committee held a training session for the technical divisions. During that
session, subject matter experts from A&S provided information about written
communication and problem solving skills. The faculty from the technical
divisions then worked to ensure their assignments would allow them to assess
skills using the rubrics.
G.
Physical Learning Environment Team—Som noted he is a
member of this team as are several other senators, and all faculty should have
received an email requesting input. He said the group received a number of
responses, and he wanted to thank everyone.
H.
Common Blackboard Shells – Penny noted that Arts and
Sciences is planning to roll out common course shells for online and hybrid
classes taught by full-time faculty this summer. She stated that because of its
size and the number of course sections/faculty involved, A&S is staggering
implementation of the common shell.
I.
Blackboard Migration Committee – Penny stated that the
College has a committee working on incorporating an updated version of
Blackboard (Bb). The migration is tentatively scheduled to be in place
for the fall 2019 semester, but this date is not confirmed. She said Bb will be
hosting the servers instead of TCTC being responsible for the servers. She
stated the current plan is to have some scheduled "downtime" in
August during the week faculty are normally off campus for this implementation.
She reported that Cathy Saidat, a member of this committee, has said there
should not be a significant impact. She suggested if we have questions, we
should talk to our division representative on this committee. Julia asked if
the differences would be significant. Penny said multiple people have told the
transition should be seamless. Pam asked if this would be a cloud based
version, and Penny said she thought it would be, but she was not positive. She reminded everyone this was a tentative
timeline.
J.
President's Advisory Council – Mia stated that the
College is in the middle of developing its new 10-year vision and strategic
plan. PAC met earlier this semester to discuss where we currently stand as a
college and to review the results of the College's Environmental Scan. The
members then brainstormed some responses to the question, "What would TCTC look like in 5 years if we
were a thriving organization that generated student success & economic
mobility in our community?" Each member was then asked to discuss the
results of the Environmental Scan with faculty/staff. Then, the PAC members
will be involved in consensus workshops to share the information. All of the
information from each workshop will be given to Executive Staff to help with
the development of the 10-year vision and strategic plan.
K.
Academic
Leadership –The committee has not met, so there is no report.
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 and will also share information from these committee reports with their
constituents.
3.
Leadership Clemson Project – Mia Tensley
Mia shared that she has been a member of Leadership Clemson
this year. The group has worked in conjunction with the city of Clemson and is
planning a celebration for the 50th Anniversary of Calhoun Bridge Center. The
building is currently home to Clemson Area African American Museum (CAAAM), Clemson
Child Development Center, and The Arts Center of Clemson. Specifically, the
group is working on revitalizing CAAAM and is planning a landscape project
around the Calhoun Bridge Center. Mia wanted Faculty Senate to know that this
is an opportunity for faculty and staff to get involved in a community project.
She said she does not have the final information on when the landscaping will
occur, but it will be by mid-April. She stated the celebration will include local
artists including Leo Twiggs, Petro Ulmer, Herman Keith, Damion Johnson, and
Tenniel James.
Mia also stated that the TCTC Student Government is planning
to get involved
Malissa asked what projects Leadership Clemson helps
support. Mia stated Leadership Clemson works with non-profit groups, such as
AIM, the free clinic, and CAAAM, to help meet their needs. Penny asked if TCTC
had donated to help. Mia stated not yet. Penny confirmed TCTC had previously
assisted with a Leadership Pickens project when she was on that group.
Action
to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
Mia will keep senators update about this opportunity. Senators should share the
information with constituents.
4.
Division Updates – various senators
Mia asked senators from each division to provide any relevant updates for
Faculty Senate.
A.
Arts and Sciences – Penny shared that A&S has been
working for almost two years to develop curriculum roadmaps—advising guides—for
students. Each document is truly for a "metamajor" clustered around a
specific group of majors (such as education or human services) to help provide
more guidance for students. Penny stated that these documents are not intended
to replace advising. Instead, they are simply there as a supplement. Robin
shared that she brought forth the issue of faculty not having printers in their
offices (a concern Meredith had previously shared in Faculty Senate from
B&PS). Robin said that Tom Lawrence has spoken to Luke Vanwingerden who has
stated he will look at the historical reasons why faculty do not have printers.
Luke has stated that he is willing to reconsider based on what he finds to try
to meet faculty needs.
B.
Business and Public Services – Pam shared that the
Business Technology department has been hosting area high school students who
have expressed interest in programs in the department. Meredith shared that the
Early Care and Education program in the Public Services department is hosting a
Celebration of Learning even in Oconee Hall from 10-12:30 on Saturday, April
13. She asked senators to come support this event. She also invited senators to
participate in exit interviews for students in ECE. At these interviews,
students must present and defend a portfolio. Meredith will send more
information about the dates. She also reminded everyone that Criminal Justice
has an interactive simulation lab and stated that local law enforcement offices
send officers here for training in that lab. In addition, the Media Arts
program will soon be hosting its Media Mashup event near the end of the
semester.
C.
College Transitions – no updates
D.
Engineering and Industrial Technology – no updates
E.
Health Education – Susan reminded senators that Dr.
Lynn Lewis will soon be retiring, so the division is searching for a new dean.
She also stated that while not a Health Education division issue, the elevators
in Fulp Hall had been having issues, so she encouraged everyone who used those
elevators to be careful.
F.
Learning Commons – Som said the Learning Commons is in
the middle of the Vanguard processes he mentioned at an earlier Senate meeting,
working toward a unified PASCAL system. He stated there is a spring 2020
"go-live" date for this system. In addition, he shared that Student
Support and Engagement has several events over the next few weeks:
a.
Voices Week – March 11-15
b.
Story Share—open to students, faculty, and staff
c.
Enrichment Committee "Ain't I a Woman"
performance on March 13
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. Senators
should share the information from each division with constituents.
OLD BUSINESS:
1. Update on Article III – Julia Seligson and Robin McFall
Julia reminded everyone that the Article III revision had
been completed and ratified at the March 1 called meeting. Robin stated Galen
had given his support for the revised Article III ratified at the called
Faculty Senate meeting on March 1. She clarified this support includes the
request to add the duty of serving as a member of the Academic Leadership Team
to the Vice President's role. Robin reminded everyone that she had sent the
final version to all senators. She also stated that she had added it to the
Constitution and Bylaws and would put the document in Teams.
Penny asked if the Faculty Senate project charter needed to
be updated. She said the ad-hoc group from 2018 had recommended changes. Julia,
Robin, and Mia stated they would look into any necessary changes.
Action
to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Robin
will place the updated version of the Constitution and Bylaws in Teams folder.
Julia, Robin, and Mia will determine if the project charter needs to be updated
and let Senate know.
Before
we could begin New Business, Penny asked to make a motion. Her motion asked
that we change the order of the items listed under New Business so that
nominations of candidates for Faculty Senate President for 2019-2020 and
discussion of those candidates came before the other items listed. She stated
she made this motion to ensure we were able to meet the established timelines
in the newly revised Article III. Julia seconded. The motion passed.
New Business:
1. Nominations and Vetting for 2019-2020 Faculty
Senate President
Mia
reviewed the processes outlined in Article III for nominations. She then opened
the floor for nominations. Robin McFall
nominated Julia Seligson. Penny stated Stacey Frank also wished to nominate
Julia, but Stacey was out sick and could not attend. Penny nominated Pam
Goodman. Meredith nominated Laura McClain. Mia asked if there were any other
nomination. There were no others. Mia asked Julia and Pam if they agreed to be
nominated and understood the responsibilities. Both confirmed they did.
Robin
made a motion for the nominees to step out of the room for the discussion. She
stated she was doing so to avoid any awkward feelings for the nominees and the
other senators. Penny seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Once Julia and Pam left the room, Mia asked if there were
any concerns about the three candidates. No one expressed any concerns.
Meredith explained that she was still confirming with Laura about her
nomination*. Som made a motion to put forth all three candidates.
When Julia and Pam returned, Mia brought up a timeline. The
candidates will need to have their candidate profiles completed and submitted
no later than March 25. She stated those could be sent to her or to Robin for
distribution to faculty. Voting will open on March 27 and will close on April
5.
*At the conclusion of the meeting Meredith stated that Laura
did not wish to run for President and asked to have her name removed from
consideration.
Action
to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Julia
and Pam will send their candidate profiles to Mia or Robin no later than March
25, 2019. Robin and Mia will work together to distribute those to all faculty.
Mia will work to develop the online voting process and have it ready to open by
March 27.
2. Divisional Academic Policy Appeals
Mia stated there is an increase in the number of students filing
appeals, claiming the inappropriate application of policies. However, when the
appeals are heard, faculty have been appropriately applying their departmental/divisional
policies and procedures. Students are simply appealing, hoping to get to
someone who will overturn the decision.
Penny asked why this issue is being brought to Senate. She
stated it is a chain of command issue that does not truly belong in Faculty
Senate. Other senators agreed. Mia stated that she had been asked to bring this
issue to Senate to gather input. We would not be involved in making any
changes. Instead, we would just serve the role of collecting input. Meredith
stated she was confused as to why we needed to serve in that role. Mia asked
Senate to go through the process, and she would hopefully clear up confusion.
Scott Jaeschke explained a bit more about the appeals
process to help everyone understand the various stages. He also stated that
when students apply to the College, they must "sign off" stating they
have read and understood the College's policies and procedures, including the
appeals process.
Mia referred senators to the list of questions she had
handed out at the beginning of the meeting. She asked senators to get into
divisional groups to answer the questions. Pam stated while she could answer
questions for herself and some members of her department, she could not answer
the questions for her division and did not feel comfortable doing so. Tracy
Kilgore asked if all faculty were required to give their class policies to
division secretaries to keep on file. No division requires that faculty do so
with the exception of College Transitions. Many senators stated discomfort with
answering the questions, speaking for an entire division. Mia asked that we
take five minutes to at least try.
Next, Mia asked senators to take these questions back to
their divisions and gather information.
Susan Curtis explained what happens in Health Education, saying that
division does have a number of appeals because students can be dismissed from
programs for various reasons. However, students still appeal simply because
they do not like the policies that have been established. Mia stated this is
the kind of situation we are being asked to gather information about to share.
Some of the questions we need to consider: What procedures are currently in place to
notify students of academic policies? Are students required to sign these
policies? Are the policies consistently implemented? Are there scheduled
reminders of these policies? If students are removed from a program, is there a
procedure for re-entry?
Action
to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline: Senators
will gather input from their divisions and be prepared to share at the March 29
Faculty Senate Meeting.
Adjournment
A motion was made and seconded
to adjourn. All approved. The meeting was adjourned at 1:54.
Respectfully submitted by Robin McFall
Next Meeting: Friday,
March 29 at 12:30 in SSC 205
