Meeting of
Approved Minutes
(Please note: General interest issues or meetings & notifications are listed below in bold to allow them to be located more easily.)
I.
General
A.
Call to Order: A
quorum being present, President Carmela Arnoldt called the meeting to order at
B. Introduction of Guests – including, but not limited to, Ruth Callahan and Lyle Walcott.
C. The
proposed meeting agenda was adopted as amended.
D. The minutes
from the
E. Treasurer Daugherty reported a balance
of $18,749.29 for all accounts.
To provide Senate with expenditure history and help
Senators decide on amounts to spend on scholarships and initiatives throughout
the year, Jim also presented information regarding the treasury’s annual
starting balances of the past six years, as well as details of the amounts
Senate typically authorizes each year between 2/15 and 8/15.
F. President Arnoldt reported:
·
The usual Spring activities are in
full swing at GCC and District.
·
President Arnoldt encouraged Senators to pay close attention
to information, initiatives, and policies sent by District Office personnel.
·
Meet and Confer is going fairly well.
·
The Legislative Committee is following several bills. To be informed of legislative activity,
Arnoldt encouraged Senators and Faculty to send their home (non-GCC) E-mail
address to Doyle Burke (doyleburke@cox.net)
·
The new Faculty Association logo was
reviewed by Senate.
G. FEC Report
President Arnoldt, Vice President Griggs, Councilor Reed and Senate Representative Dwyer reported:
·
The Faculty Association logo and web page, both created by
MCCD students, including a former GCC student, have been
approved by FEC.
·
FEC canceled its contract with public relations firm
R&R.
·
A Legislative bill concerning the number of signatures
necessary to place a candidate’s name for Board member on the ballot has been
under review; however, this will not occur in time to be used
in November 04.
·
FEC is still trying to determine the use of 12.5% of the
annual salary held during a one-year faculty sabbatical; it is
known that the money remains at the college and is used to fund faculty
replacements in some way.
·
FEC is planning an end of the year retreat for incoming and
returning FEC representatives on
·
FEC has decided to keep Faculty Association dues at the same
rate for 2004-2005.
·
The District is seeking a definition of shared governance;
FEC is actively engaged in this discussion.
·
A situation at a college where a new job description was designed without the input of faculty within that
department has spurred activity on the part of FEC. It is important to make sure that job
descriptions are created in such a way as not to duplicate other positions,
exclude or circumvent other accreditation requirements, and include the input
of faculty directly affected, e.g., supervised by the change.
·
ASU and MCCD are working to produce more
extensive connections between the university and the colleges. FEC members emphasized that community college
faculty must be involved in the discussion and planning of new links between
the institutions.
H. Governing Board Report. President Arnoldt reported:
·
The new District 4 Board Member, Scott Crowley, was installed at GCC the previous week.
·
Mr. Crowley met with GCC MEChA students the following
day. Senate asked President Arnoldt to
invite Mr. Crowley to attend a future meeting.
·
Decision about the bond will be made/announced at March 23rd Board meeting. The Bond could be #278 out of 300 on the
November ballot.
·
President Arnoldt informed Senate that Board Member Nancy
Stein will not be seeking reelection in the upcoming election but will be
running for the District 2 seat in the Arizona House of Representatives.
II. Old Business
A. Retirement & Health Insurance
·
At the first reading of the 2004-5 budget 600,000 was earmarked for “retirement benefits.” It appears this would even out 49% positions
among the colleges.
B. October
·
Senators Reavis and Dunnagan presented Senate with a list of
the topics and suggestions discussed at the January meeting. This information was
presented to Councilor Reed to pass on to the students in ASG
(Associated Student Government).
C. College Plan Review Committee –
· Senators received a revised draft of the College Plan showing all of the proposed changes in language.
· Senator Daugherty visited with Department Chairs regarding the evaluation process outlined in the revision; the Chairs asked for the ability to add additional questions if necessary.
· Senators had been sent links to the new survey prior to the Senate meeting; Senators agreed that the layout looked good.
· Additional discussion ensued about administration of the survey and review of the results. Senators were informed that the process is secure and that only the Department Chair could review the final results.
· Senator Daugherty and FEC Rep. Reed reported that job descriptions for the administrative positions, similar to the one being used to design the Department Chair survey, had not yet been located. If available, Senate suggests that similar assessments be created for administrative positions.
·
The following motion was made and
seconded: “Move that the current draft of the College Plan be accepted with the
inclusion of parallel language regarding the evaluation of administration to
that of evaluation of Department Chairs.”
The motion passed unanimously.
D. Constitution Review Committee – Jim Reed
·
Senators received a new draft of the
Constitution. Senators were asked to
review the document at their earliest convenience.
·
Changes to the Constitution must
be approved by a full Faculty vote.
The goal is to get the language ready to include in this Spring’s election ballot.
·
Changes regarding a provision for E-voting have not been made in this draft.
·
A question was raised about whether electronic
balloting could be used to collect votes for the Senate elections this Spring.
E. Scholarship Committee Report - Griggs
·
Senate was provided with Senate Scholarship
selection criteria under consideration: mandatory essay, financial need (not
necessarily Federal guidelines), and completion of 12 hours of course work, GPA
of 2.5 or higher, Mentoring Program student with plans to transfer to 4-year
institution.
·
The Committee recommended an award of $500 per
semester from the Senate Treasury to be awarded to a
Mentoring Program student.
·
Senate was informed of
$700 in a scholarship account set up in the name of former GCC President Dr.
Tessa Martinez-Pollack. The GCC
scholarship committee would like these funds to be directed
by Faculty Senate.
·
Senate was informed that the John Waltrip
scholarship fund has about $300 of usable interest that could also be awarded
this Spring.
·
The following
motion was made and seconded: “Move that two awards of
$350 each from the Pollack fund be awarded to Spring Mentoring Program students
using the criteria set up by the GCC Senate Scholarship sub-committee. Further move that two awards of $500 each be
awarded each year (one per semester),
beginning in academic year 2004-2005, from the GCC Faculty Senate Treasury also
using the criteria set up by the GCC Senate Scholarship sub-committee.” The motion passed unanimously.
F. Travel Regulations - Griggs
·
Input from Senator Reavis was passed on
to District for inclusion in the revised draft.
·
The revised draft will be re-posted
for all employees to review.
G. Election Committee - Ottenberg
·
An Elections Committee has been
established: Senators Ottenberg & Rivera will serve with Non-Senate
Faculty Association members Mark Floor, Pam Joraanstad and Richard Shortridge.
·
The slate of persons running for Spring
positions will be presented to Senate at the March meeting.
·
GCC Faculty Association members will be
allowed one week for voting.
H.
Faculty Association PAC Treasurer – Arnoldt
·
FEC is reviving the PAC (Political Action Committee). A treasurer for the group is
needed; President Arnoldt has asked the chair of the Math Department,
·
Mark Klobas from SCC, has agreed to
chair the
III.
New Business
A.
Faculty Recognition/Employee Picnic - Reed
·
The following motion was made
and seconded: “Move that the GCC
Faculty Senate sponsor an Employee Picnic, to be held Friday, May 7th,
with a budget not to exceed $1000.00.”
The motion passed unanimously.
·
Food to be served at
the picnic was discussed.
B.
ASU Fingerprint Policy - Arnoldt
·
Bill is in AZ Legislature that would require all
University employees to be fingerprinted as a
condition of employment.
·
President Arnoldt informed Senate that certain
industries and employees already have to do this, but that this would mandate
it for all employees.
·
Policy would most likely “trickle down” to
community college level.
IV.
Information
A.
Commencement Speaker - Arnoldt
·
Dennis Green, coach of the Phoenix Cardinals,
has agreed to be the Keynote speaker for the May 2004 commencement.
·
The Faculty Comment will be
presented by George Wittenberg.
B.
Invitation to Chancellor Glasper - Arnoldt
·
President Arnoldt asked if Senate wished to
extend an invitation to Chancellor Glasper to visit to an up-coming Senate
meeting.
·
Senate requested that President Arnoldt check on
Dr. Glasper’s availability to visit at its March or April meeting.
Meeting
was adjourned at
Next meeting of the GCC Faculty
Senate will be held on March 25th at