Tri-County Technical College
Faculty Senate Minutes
Introduction
& Recognition of New Members
Senate President Jeremy
McCracken
Senate VP TBD
Senate Secretary TBD
Past President Pam
Goodman
Member-at-Large Amy
Roberts
Member-at-Large Tonia
Faulling
SSE/Learning Commons Som
Linthicum
A&S Jim
Deloache
A&S Rhonda
Whitten
BPS Meredith
Dickens
BPS Shallin
Williams
A&C Foundations Corey
Evans
A&C Foundations Melinda
Hoover
E&IT Stan
Compton
E&IT Bill
Leverette
Health Education Susan
Curtis
Health Education Malisa
Looney
Adjunct and Lecturer
representatives from requisite divisions will be seated in the fall, followed
by selections for VP and Secretary.
Constituent Concerns
1)
Impacts
on employee budgeting
2)
Administrative
costs incurred by additional payroll cycles
3)
Calendar
considerations and disparities in pay periods per month
4) Payroll lag
If the Senate would like to discuss further, the President has offered to visit in the Fall. Doug asked a clarifying question regarding faculty contracts – do TCTC faculty typically work on a 9-month contact? Pam advised that salaries for instructional faculty are based on Fall & Spring semesters (August to May) with summer sessions staffed as needed, depending upon enrollments and numbers of available sections. Faculty have the ability to opt out of summer courses, as well.
Committee Updates
Academic Calendar Committee has been
developing the 2020-21 calendar for Fall, Spring, and Summer sessions. Final details, including withdrawal dates,
are being added now. The calendar will
soon be presented to ALT for final review and publication is expected soon. Pam did advise that certain challenges may
mean that holiday time for Memorial Day may not ultimately coincide with the
actual date. The committee has been
wrestling with how best to maintain consistency with breaks between summer and
fall sessions, and how to avoid impacting start times in January.
Meredith asked a clarifying question – in
regards to “mini-mesters,” like summer sessions B & C, would it be possible
to better streamline those terms and provide greater scheduling consistency in
length of term? Pam suggested that
Senate might reach out to the registrar and committee chair to explore options
when we return in the fall.
Curriculum Committee, Placement Committee,
and Service Excellence Committee have not meant during this period.
21st C Skills Committee has largely
suspended its work during the closure, but is beginning to plan for 2020-21.
The Faculty Choice SOAR Award sub-group [Pam, Meredith, Amanda, Gerald, Deborah, and Som]: A portion of the group were able to meet on March 23rd and began to consider possible selection criteria building off literature on student success attributes. The group asked for Senate approval to continue their work over the summer session, and such approval was granted.
The Faculty Competencies sub-group [Jeremy, Meredith, Jimmy, Gerald, and Amanda]: Jeremy reported that work on the faculty competencies initiative had been suspended during the closure and would likely be renewed in the Fall.
PAC & ALT have been largely quiet during this period.
Division Updates
A&S: No major updates
BPS: The Business Technology Advisory Committee was forced to temporarily cancel its popular Steps-to-Success event, which focuses on student professionalization and typically features sessions from industry partners and past graduates. They are hoping to reschedule the event for the fall.
EIT is working to convert labs to an online environment. EIT has also provided significant community support developing and distributing nearly 400 mask-extenders during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Health Education: Jackie offered that HE has also had considerable impact on the community effort to stem the Covid-19 outbreak, donating masks, gloves, and gowns from the Associate Degree Nursing Program to Prisma Health and DHEC.
SSE - Learning Commons has continue to operate and support students during the closure. Resources from Health & Wellness and the ARC remain robust. Virtual tutoring appointments have numbered more than 400 since the end of March and will continue into the summer session. While PASCAL delivery service has been suspended until June, virtual support for research and resources remains strong with access to digital collections and ebooks being unaffected by the campus closure. Research support is also available via real-time chat or via email at tutoringcenter@tctc.edu or library@tctc.edu. Migration to the PASCAL-wide ALMA/Primo LMS will go-live in June. The Learning Commons will be reaching out to department heads to offer introduction and training to the new interface.
Adjournment
All business completed for the day, the meeting was adjourned.
Next meeting: Tentatively scheduled for 12:30pm on August 28, 2020
in SSC 205
Addendum – Proposed 2020-21 Senate Meeting Schedule
Faculty Senate – Key Takeaways
Meeting Date: April 30, 2020
· The 2020-21 Senate was formally seated
·
The proposed Senate meeting calendar was
distributed for comment to the membership
·
A constituent concern was brought forward to
Senate, inquiring about the possibility of a bi-weekly faculty payroll cycle.
o
While the possibility has been considered in the
past, factors militating against it include…
§
Impacts on employee budgeting
§
Administrative costs incurred by additional
payroll cycles
§
Calendar considerations and disparities in pay
periods per month
§ Payroll lag
· Academic Calendar Committee reports that, due to timing considerations, the college may need to be in session on the 2021 Memorial Day Holiday. Credit for that time would be moved to an alternate date on the academic calendar.
§ Several areas of the college have contributed significantly to the community effort to stem the impact of Covid-19, including EIT distribution of nearly 400 mask-extenders and HE’s donation of masks, gloves, and gowns to Prisma Health and DHEC.
§
Digital supports from the SSE remain in place
during the closure for faculty and students (see the minutes for further
details).
