Tri-County Technical College
Faculty Senate Minutes
Meeting Date: October 9, 2020
Location: Bb Collaborate
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Members Present: Jeremy McCracken, Amy Roberts, Tonia Faulling, Som Linthicum, Jim Deloache, Rhonda Whitten, Rachel Glanton, Meredith Dickens, Shallin Williams, Jonathan Chastain, Melinda Hoover, Sharon Yarbrough, Ellen Hudson, Stan Compton, Susan Curtis, Micah Bolin, Malisa Looney
Members Absent: Pam Goodman, Bill Leverette, Tracy Byrd, Jeremy Pickens
Guests: Justin Baggott, Amoena Norcross
Welcome & Review of the Agenda:
Jeremy called the meeting to order at 12:30pm and briefly introduced the meeting’s agenda.
Approval of Minutes:
Quorum achieved, the Minutes from September 18th were reviewed, and the Senate approved the minutes without further amendment. Som has forwarded them for posting to the Blogspot and updated the TEAMS folder.
New Business:
Digital Faculty Resource Center
Justin and Amoena introduced the Senate to the newly developed Faculty Resource Center in Bb. The Resource Center builds off an initial effort by the Academic Development team to consolidate information for Adjunct Expo, as well as the efforts of the Covid-19 Crisis Response Task Force. The site has now expanded and is envisioned as a central hub for faculty resource sharing. The site includes pages for Covid-19 Updates, Bb and Starfish Training, Professional Development Resources, IT Resources, Teaching & Learning Supports, Learning Commons Resources, and Discussion Board for posting and sharing issues, ideas, and concerns. Directions for how to access the site were provided by Justin and are appended below.
Ongoing Business:
Safety & Sanitation Concerns
During our September 18th meeting, Senators had raise constituent concerns about safety and sanitation practices in and around classroom areas -- including supplies, signage, regularity of and responsibility for cleaning those spaces – and the group had moved to invite Ken to our next meeting. Unfortunately, Ken was unable to attend, but Jeremy emphasized that each division should have a pre-defined representative responsible for safety and sanitation issues. This would include supply ordering and distribution, along with communication of faculty, staff, or student needs and concerns. Department heads are also deemed to be primary points of contact for safety and sanitation concerns. In order to alleviate some confusion or hesitation about who to contact under what circumstances, the Senate proposed that we compile a comprehensive list of division reps and department heads to be disseminated via the Weekly EDGE.
In addition to the list of representatives and contacts, Senate also proposed at our September meeting that additional signage be distributed in and around classrooms to help drive home the message of mutual responsibility. Jeremy reported that that proposal was well-received, and an effort is currently underway to create and distribute additional signage.
Faculty Forum
During our September 18th meeting, Senate had proposed an open faculty forum in order to address confusion and possible inconsistency surrounding the matrix and loading model. We are still working towards an October 30th as the date for such a session with Jeremy those efforts. Based on further research about the history and reporting of the matrix and loading model, Jeremy offered some points of possible clarification on communication structure…
· The President establishes the weighting criteria and communicates to the VPAA
· The VPAA communicates to the Deans
· The Deans communicate to the Department Heads who work with individual faculty to establish load
In this sense, the actual load born by each faculty member is considered an academic decision, rather than an administrative one. HR purportedly enters the picture only at the conclusion of this process, but, as several Senators pointed out, HR does appear to have responsibility for “signing off” on the load and any concomitant compensation agreements that might be required. Further, several Senators opined that the application of the matrix and loading model seems to be interpreted differently, and inconsistently, from one division or department to the next and, hence, the confusion.
In order to gain greater clarity on the process and its interpretation across the college, the Senate proposes that both the VPAA and the AVP of HR be invited to the open forum as primary interlocutors in order to best respond to faculty questions.
Logistically, the Senate proposes that…
· The forum be held via Zoom link
· That Deans & Department Heads be intentionally included in the conversation
· That the forum be announced in advance via the Weekly EDGE along with a request for questions from the faculty at-large
· That those questions be submitted in advance to Senate in order to maintain a level of anonymity for the questioner
· That those questions be vetted by Senate officers in order to eliminate unnecessary duplication
· That, during the forum, we follow a procedure of Question – Response – Follow-up from the assembly
Jeremy will lead take the lead on logistics and reach out to officers and Senators for support, as needed.
Standing Items:
Committee Updates
Academic Calendar Committee – Jeremy has been added to the committee and will provide updates on developments going forward.
Curriculum Committee – focused predominantly on clearing from the books a number of courses that are no longer pertinent since the demise of the honors program.
Placement Committee – no report was available
Service Excellence Committee -- working on several eTC initiatives with IT, including the creation of an employee celebration and recognition portal, as well as links to SCTEA resources and educator of the year.
21st C Skills Committee – currently working to construct a faculty/staff survey to broadly gauge perceptions of the skills. The committee anticipates that the results of the survey will inform listening sessions anticipated in the Spring. The committee also offered its support for the upcoming Tech Talks on October 28th via Zoom. The Tech Talk will be hosted by TCTC’s Katy Hardy and gather representatives from four diverse industry partners to focus on Written Communication and its impact in the workplace.
PAC – no report forthcoming
ALT – working on communication and reporting streams in order to better inform the college community at large
Faculty Choice SOAR Award – will be participating in the upcoming ConTribute campaign. Submitted a brief video at Tammy’s request intended to highlight the award and drive support for the fund.
Division Updates
A&S -- No major updates
BPS -- No major updates
E&IT – Reported some concerns among new and adjunct faculty concerning Bb support and training. Noted the potential timeliness of the Faculty Resource Center introduced by Justin and Amoena earlier in the day.
A&CF – I-Best recruiting continues apace. Reaching out to college and community partners to identify potentially underserved or returning students who might benefit from an I-Best connection.
HE – No major updates
SSE - Learning Commons -- highlighted ongoing skillshops with upcoming guest speakers – Jessica Kahout-Tailor, Ed.D, Undergraduate Experience, Clemson University, and Eric Hamilton, Assistant Director, Writing Center, Clemson University. Working with the orientation team to support students and set the stage for successful elearning, as well as with marketing on the virtual resource fair for incoming students.
Adjournment
All business completed for the day, the meeting was adjourned at 1:45pm
Next meeting: October 30, 2020 at 12:30pm, online, link forthcoming
Key Takeaways
· The folks in Academic Development, in concert with the Covid Response Task Force, have devised the Faculty Resource Center, a centralized hub for a range of faculty resources and supports, with particular emphasis on eLearning and Covid-19. Housed in Bb, the Faculty Resource Center provides training modules for platforms like Bb and Starfish, instructional ideas for increasing student engagement in online courses and restructuring assignments for eLearning, technology supports from IT, and artifacts from the Learning Commons. The discussion board allows faculty to share insights and observations to support one another as we continue to adapt to new and challenging circumstances.
· Noting a number of reporting concerns around safety and sanitation in this Covid moment, Jeremy emphasized the presence of defined division reps, along with department heads, as the primary points of contact for such Covid concerns. In order to inform and facilitate reporting, Jeremy will compile a list of division reps to be published in the Weekly EDGE.
· The ConTribute Campaign should be kicking-off in the near future. Faculty Senate supports the Faculty Choice SOAR Award and works to increase charitable support for the fund.
§ A variety of initiatives and events will be happening in October, including I-Best recruiting, Tech Talks, Skillshops, new student Orientations and virtual resource fairs.
· Senate reaffirmed its desire to facilitate a public forum, open to the full-faculty and focusing on the impacts, understandings, and, perhaps, inconsistent applications of the loading model and matrix, with particular reference to Covid-related concerns. The target date for the forum remains October 30th, and the Senate will extend invitations to both HR and the acting VPAA to field faculty generated questions.
Instructions for Accessing the
Faculty Resource Center in Bb
