Collin College Faculty Council

Meeting Minutes

August 22, 2008

 

1.      Call to order: Regular meeting of Faculty Council was called to order by President, Dr. Sonja Andrus, at 1:15.

2.      Roll call: Absent: None; substitution: Dr. Lauryn Angel-Cann for Dr. Debra St. John

3.      Minutes: Dr. Andrus asked secretary for minutes. A motion was to dispense with the reading and seconded. Motion passed

4.      Online teaching load: Dr. Andrus advised on new procedures and issues:

a.       Online courses can now comprise 60% of a faculty member’s load with proportional office hours in long semesters. In summer terms, faculty can teach their two course, 14%, load online and without maintaining an on-campus presence.

b.      The Leadership Team altered the online enrollment caps to reflect the face-to-face course caps. This was determined via a phone call to Toni Jenkins, but not verified in writing. Notice across campus was not uniform, as some deans notified faculty and others did not. Faculty may be paid a stipend for additional students resulting from the change this semester in the form of a per-head stipend.

c.       Comments: Faculty expressed concerns about workload issues (Mary Weis), necessary changes to the HR manual (Loren Miller), changing caps across the various disciplines(Dan Lipscomb), as well as potential misperceptions of the administration regarding the workload entailed in online instruction (Sonja Andrus). There was also concern about such a significant procedural change without consultation with faculty (Kyle Wilkison), as well as notice of increased workload with no time for preparation prior to the start of the semester. Sonja Andrus will request a written clarification of the new procedures from the Leadership Team to be sent out to faculty immediately.

d.      Resolution: Appoint a committee familiar with the issues of online instruction and technology and craft a resolution to present to the Leadership Team. Motion to accept by Sam Tullock and 2nd by Kyle Wilkison. Motion carried unanimously.

5.      Treasurer’s Report: See addendum

a.       Marilyn Massey advised to pay by cash, rather than check, when contributing to the Collin Faculty Scholarship so that FC is acknowledged for this donation instead of individuals. Discussion on the status of the name change from Collin College FC Scholarship to Collin College Faculty Scholarship indicated that the name change has been requested but not enacted. Faculty were aqdvised to see Marilyn Massey, Martha Tolleson and Lupita Tinnen to make donations to the scholarship and sunshine funds.

b.      Dr. Andrus read a thank you note from the student, Mark Duncan, who received last year’s scholarship.

6.      Vice President’s Report: George Jackson notified that Chartwell’s declined to cater due to a conflict with a student event. Lunch provided by Jason’s Deli.

7.      Academic Planning Team: The Testing Center has been repurposed effective Spring 2009. Course exams may no longer be given, except for some distance education courses, make-up exams or with Dean’s approval.

8.      College Service: Sign-up sheets for committees made available at front of meeting room.

9.      Honor Code Revisions: Academic honesty penalties and appeals process in the new student handbook. Penalties are now specified as having two parts: If a student is found guilty of an offense, the Dean of Students Office will assess the institutional penalty and the professor will assess the academic penalty.

10.  Board Meeting: Tuesday, August 26th, at 7PM at CYC.

11.  Next FC Meeting: Friday, Sept. 12th, at 1:15 in the SCC Conference Center.

a.       Have agenda items and committee reports to Sonja Andrus one week in advance.

b.      The October meeting will be with the VPPs.

12.  Other: Heather Darrow (Public Relations) requested student-faculty colloquia, an idea originated by Collin Thomas. This would be an opportunity for faculty and students to meet in an unstructured and casual environment. John Glass will meet with the Society for Independent Thinking at PRC to work on this.

13.  Committee Reports: A representative from each committee gave a brief description of the committee’s mission.

a.       College Policy- Mary Milford and Barbara Lusk-Monitor policies that affect teaching issues and load

b.      FC Procedures- Loren Miller and David Garrison-No report- Purpose described in procedures manual.

c.       Teaching and Learning- Martha Chalhoub and Cathy Donald-Whitney-Introduced new program, SOBI (Strategies of Behavioral Intervention) brown bag sessions, housed primarily under the Counseling Dept. The first meeting will the held Sept. 26th , at approximately 1PM, location TBA.

d.      Technology- Tebring Daly recapped the online teaching changes.

e.       Collin Community-Donna White and Lupita Tinnen- Goal of developing community-oriented projects and awareness of community issues. Open to all faculty. Last year held graduation parties for students and toiletries drive.

f.       Academic Freedom- Kyle Wilkison-increase consciousness related to importance of preservation of academic freedom and protect such from policy changes.

14.  Council on Excellence: Martha Tolleson advised that faculty eligible for multi-year contract should have been notified. Board reports need to be approved by CoE before being submitted to respective deans. Workshops coming on contracts. “Roll-over” contracts begin this year and do not require full review by CoE. Instead, deans will grant contract extensions. Travel funds are submitted for approval at the next Board of Trustees meeting.

15.  All College Council: Dawn Richardson-No report. First meeting is next week.

16.  New Business: Cathy Donald-Whitney asked that all new faculty members please introduce themselves. Dan Lipscomb asked for clarification of new Testing Center procedures. Amina El-Ashmawy introduced a concern about retention and the benefit of arranging a meeting between advising and faculty and inviting the new Vice President of Student Development.

17.  Adjournment: Motion to adjourn made by John Glass with a 2nd by Kyle Wilkison. Motion passed unanimously. Adjourned at 2:20.

 

 

Minutes submitted by:  Valerie Smith

Preliminary approval of the minutes by: Sonja Andrus
Final approval of the minutes by: The Collin Faculty Council Representatives on September 12th. 2008.

 

 

Addendum

Treasurer’s Report

August 22, 2008

 

 

Faculty Council Scholarship Fund

 

Date

Amount Collected

Transfer to Foundation

Balance

Explantion

7/1/2008

 

 

$195.00

balance brought forward

8/15/2008

$255.00

 

 

All-College Day

 

 

 

$450.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

                       

Faculty Council Scholarship                        details available Sept. 5

 

Faculty Council Sunshine Fund

 

Date

Amount Collected

Expenses

Balance

Explantion

7/1/2008

 

 

$202.00

balance brought forward

8/15/2008

$15.00

 

 

All-College Day

 

 

 

$217.00