I.
Call to order
President
Amina El-Ashmawy called to order the regular meeting of the CCCCD
Faculty Council at 1:02 pm on January 12, 2007 in C104 at SCC.
II.
Approval of
minutes from last meeting
A)
Secretary Mary Weis began to read the minutes from the December 8th
meeting.
B) Mike
McConachie moved to dispense the reading of the minutes and accept the
minutes as distributed. A second to the motion was made by George
Jackson
C) Motion
passed and the minutes were approved as distributed.
III.
Approval of
Treasurer’s report
Treasurer John
Glass reported that an additional $17.00 was collected at the December 8th
meeting bringing the budget balance for Sunshine fund = $288.22 (271.22
+ 17)
Expenses for
the FC Presidents Account:
Today’s Pizza =
~$215.00
December
luncheon paper products = ~ $32.00
Collection for
the FC Student Scholarship was conducted by passing a brain cap.
Historically we have given $1000.00 in scholarship monies. We will need
approximately $200.00 to add the $800.00 in the old FC account before it
is transferred to the Foundation Scholarship from the Faculty Council.
IV.
Vice
President’s Report
A)
Nothing to report at this time.
V.
President’s
Report
A) Announcement
of voting results for the proposed FC models. Proposal #1 received the
most votes. The FC Policy & Procedures committee will be working on the
details of this proposal. Please consider working on the committee.
The next committee meeting will be Tuesday, Jan 16th, 3:45
p.m.
VI.
Committee
Reports
Committee
Reports were electronically circulated and will be placed on the FC
website.
VII.
Guest Speaker:
Dr. Thom
Chesney, VPAA was invited today to discuss the VPAA overview and
specific topics that were forwarded via email.
A)
Topic: Transfer vs.
Occupational Program Balance Philosophy.
Summary of Response:
There is no target % or ratio for a balance, but we probably need to
move toward courses that transfer to bachelor degree programs. We still
need to be responsive to the needs of industry and be aware of workforce
changing requirements. The target is being responsive and reactive. We
see the change coming and focus on what we can do now and in 5, 10, 20
years, adjusting as needed and staying dynamic.
1) Questions
relating to planning and growing (facilities, hiring, and catching up)
were asked.
Summary of Response:
Construction is happening at all the campuses, but we still need to look
ahead and consider other options as we continue to grow. We will be
caught up after the construction finishes. Comments regarding hiring
ration and how some areas are stable and hiring new faculty to fill
vacancies. This semester, 15 new FT faculty have joined us. We will
have ~ 300 by fall 2007 semester. We need to be more thoughtful about
managed growth.
2) Question:
Talk of hiring FT faculty only during base funding years.
Summary of Response:
That will not happen this semester. Some colleges do that, but this
will not happen to us this semester. It depends on the discipline area
and our growth semester by semester. We are the fastest growing college
in the state.
3) Question
regarding limited applicant pool for associate faculty and the
possibility of more overloads for good associates.
Summary of Response:
Not always an option to do, but there may be a need to have options in
place such as hiring ABD candidates to teach and gain experience. We
need to look at this issue discipline by discipline and also in those
hard to hire areas.
4) Question
about the split between workforce and transfer. Do we have any way to
determine ratios or is it the nature of community colleges?
Summary of Response:
There is no typical community college because it is reflective of the
community and service area. Transfer has gone up over time due to
changing demographics in this area. Even 15 years from now, we still
can’t predict.
5) Question
about tailoring classes to student needs for intro vs. declared majors.
Summary of Response:
Perhaps engage majors students in research projects and look to national
organizations and honor societies for help with ideas and creative ways
to capture these students.
B)
Topic: Retention,
SLO, Academic Excellence and the interplay. How can we improve one and
not risk others? What is the State, College, Division average target
for retention?
Summary of Response:
There needs to be a context and operational definition of retention
based on broad college discussions and also workshops for each area to
identify specific needs. If we are below state average, it may not be
bad, or if we are higher, it may not be good. There are three classic
definitions for retention: How many students from census date to end;
students who attended in fall and then again in spring; students who
came to us for transfer and did so. All three deal with retention. Do
we have a standing college wide committee on retention? No. Then
retention is not a college initiative. We need a collaborative and
district focus.
C)
Dual and Concurrent
Enrollment Topic
Summary of Response:
Dr. Chesney read a newspaper article he wrote focusing on this topic. We
need to do it for the right reasons and it is done differently across
the country. Students in dual enrollment should come to the college, if
at all possible.
HB1 states that
there needs to be up to 12 college credit hours available for students.
We need to be
organized and on the same page and the state mandate will help. We
should be proactive in this area.
VIII.
Announcements
Reminder about
the TCCTA Feb 22nd, Community College day at the Capitol to
visit legislators and senators. Please consider going as we need a
strong showing.
IX.
Adjournment
Mike Cohick
motioned to adjourn; Second by John Glass
Amina El-Ashmawy
adjourned the meeting at 2:08 pm
Minutes
submitted by: Mary Weis
Preliminary approval of the minutes by: Amina K. El-Ashmawy
Final approval of the minutes by:
Faculty Council on February 9th, 2007