Meeting Minutes
December 5, 2008
1. Call to order: Regular meeting of Faculty Council was called to
order by President, Dr. Sonja Andrus, at 1: 20.
2. Roll call: Absent: Greg Sherman; Bill Ardis-substitute,
Sukanya Subramanian; Doug Boliver-substitute,
Rodney Boyd; Kyle Wilkison
3. Minutes: Dr. Andrus asked secretary for minutes. Motion to
dispense with the reading by Mary Weis and seconded by John Glass. None
opposed. Motion passed.
4. Treasurer’s Report: Marilyn Massey. There is $2,350.00
in scholarship fund. Scholarship and sunshine funds are still being taken.
5. Vice President’s Report: George Jackson reported on hybrid course meeting and
confusion on blended and hybrid courses. Blended means that
some part of the course is on campus, perhaps half. Hybrid indicates
that it combines an online and ftf course. Could be used for low enrollment courses. Also
advised to see the retention committee meeting minutes for ideas being
considered. Some deans are using retention numbers in the evaluation
process, creating concerns about faculty potentially compromising standards.
Retention will be on division meeting agendas in January.
6. Foundation Presentation-Margaret Yates was introduced by Sonja Andrus. Ms.
Yates gave an overview of the Foundation fundraiser, the Collin Cabaret, the
goal of which is to raise $300,000 for scholarships, as financial need is still
not being met. Contributions go to the general fund, but some donor funds have
criteria that preclude many students from receiving. She noted that faculty
participation has been noticed and sends a positive message to the community.
a. Faculty raised questions on the cost, structure and
location of the event itself, the cost of a table for faculty, and the
percentage of the donation that directly goes to scholarships. Ms. Yates
advised that the Cabaret will be held at the Frisco Embassy Suites at a cost of
$70,000, which is covered by pledge donations. The evening follows a 1940s
variety hour theme and will showcase student and staff as entertainment and to
generate publicity. Faculty funds would be split, such that half goes to the
faculty scholarship and half to the general fund, and
all funds go to scholarships, except what is required to be deducted by IRS for
attendance at the event. Possibility of tickets at cost being made available to
faculty who attend faculty table to allow full amount to be applied to
scholarships, but that cost is unknown at this time.
b. Following committee reports, a discussion on the
costs and particulars of the faculty donation to the general fund and table
purchase was held. It was noted that a faculty table was donated in the past,
and also that fund collection was represented to the faculty at large as going
to scholarships and not non-deductible expenses. Paula Miller made a motion not
to participate in the Collin Cabaret as presented, and Mary Weis seconded.
Motion passed with one opposed.
7. Committee Reports
a. College Policy-no report
b. Faculty Council Procedures- no report
c. Teaching and Learning-Martha Chalhoub
advised on SOBI online training.
d. Technology-Tebring Daly reported that there is no campus license
discount for Adobe Writer, so faculty must go through department for funding as
individuals due to high cost. There is a free software program to create pdf files. Email Tebring for
copy. Collin is working with SunGard on problems with Blackboard. There is
concern about both retention and evaluation, due to problems with both
Blackboard and Banner. Vicky Putman from IRO advised that faculty evaluations
online have not yet changed and faculty input will be solicited prior to any
changes. There are very low numbers of students who are filling out
evaluations. Questions were raised concerning the ability to have a default to
the evaluation page upon log-in and also about the timing of evaluations in
online sections, which differ from ftf courses, as
well as having multiple sections in one shell, which can be done, but payroll
divides into two sections for faculty load. Sonja Andrus asked that committee
track history on timing of evaluations and gather data about changes and
upgrade questions
e. Collin Community-no report
f.
Academic Freedom-no report
8. Council on Excellence- Martha Tolleson reported
on issues with UTD faculty scholarships, of which only four of the 10 are
currently being used. Leadership Team would like to enact a four year time
limit on these and change the composition to eight faculty
and two administrative. Also, if a recipient receives a scholarship and then
leaves Collin’s employ, the recipient must reimburse $2,000, which would go to
the Foundation. Martha advised Kim Russell that four
years was not sufficient, especially as many faculty need the 14% summer
formula pay, as well as noting that UTD does not offer programs in areas
appropriate for many Collin faculty, and also that new guidelines might
decrease applications.
9. All College Council- -no report
10. President’s Report:
a. The Leadership met and discussed the ad hoc
committee proposal. APT is the body for vetting academic issues,
and Leadership Team has said that they will follow their procedures, but
reserves the right to speak with faculty on some items if the need arises.
b. SLOs action plans-Kathleen Fenton is working on these
and faculty can expect to see data in spring division meetings
c. Master calendar-please reply
to email inquiry concerning All College Day format. Options are: leave as
stands, except to hold discipline meetings after; have ACD, division and
discipline meetings on three different days; or leave as is.
d. The six drop withdrawal policy is underway, and new
Collin students are coded now and “Ws” from other institutions will begin being
coded next semester. Recommendation was made to change wording so students will
know about this, and also to send an email to Nick Geller and Gary Hodge on the
retention committee to move to require new students to see an advisor.
11. New business
a. Late registration will be permitted in spring until
third class hour, but it was unclear whether this was class day or class hour.
Sonja Andrus will check on this and report back.
b. Banner caused a situation with Developmental Express
courses. These had been locked and linked, which ensured enrollment, but now
process has become complicated. Technology committee will check on this.
c. Stellar Students program has been stopped and
reasons were not communicated, but it will return in other form.
d. Advisors are needed for student organizations. See
your dean if you are interested in assisting.
12. Announcements
a. Martha Chalhoub advised
that ACC is collecting funds for a family whose house burned.
b. Next meeting January 16th at .
13. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Mary Weis and seconded by John
Glass. One opposed. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by: Val Smith
Preliminary approval of the minutes by: Sonja Andrus
Final approval of the minutes by: The Collin Faculty Council
Representatives on .