Officers attending: Cindy Beckett, President; Jackie Myers, Vice President; Fred Thomas, Secretary
Senators attending: Derek Allen, James Brooks, Susan Callender, Frank Clay, Ryan Murphy, Amanda Romero, Art Ross, Marti Shapiro, Tom Singer, Marsha Wamsley
Senators not attending: Myra Grinner, Charles C. Williams
Others attending: Dona Fletcher, Ann Hall, Laurel Mayer, Ned Young
Cindy called the meeting to order at 2:30 in Room 6142
1. Approval of Minutes
Marsha moved to approve the minutes from the Senate meeting of February 9th with corrections suggested by Jim and others. The motion passed.
2. Officers’ Report
None.
3. Committee Reports
None.
4. Special Orders
None.
5. Unfinished Business
5.1.
Ellen’s Memorial
Cindy provided an update on plans for a paver.
5.2.
Strategy for Office Hour Policy
Cindy and Jackie referred to the revised draft questionnaire about how and when
students communicate out of class with their instructors. Derek and Jim made
additional suggestions which Cindy and Jackie will incorporate into the final
version. Cindy will distribute the final questionnaire to all Senators, who will
give it to students in their classes. Senators are to report the results at the
Senate meeting on March 9th.
5.3.
Merit Proposal Results / Next Steps
Cindy reported that the Personnel Committee will meet on February 24th
to review and summarize comments from faculty about the proposed changes to
merit. Once tallied, the results will be distributed to Senate.
5.4.
Faculty Workload and Lab Hours
Data on the opinions of ALH faculty about increasing the maximum workload to 72
payhours were not available in time for the previous meeting. Marsha reported
12 ALH faculty were in favor of increasing the maximum load, 6 opposed the
increase and 7 were “on the fence.” She also reported that 20 faculty favored
changing lab and clinical hours to be paid at 1:1, none opposed this change and
4 were undecided.
6. New Business
6.1.
Place of Remembrance
Tom read a recommendation from Forrest Cope:
“That Sinclair Community College, in concert with Sinclair Faculty Senate, design and build a place of remembrance for our faculty who have passed away while employed as full time faculty.
Consideration for the ‘place of remembrance’:
1. Be located on or is a permanent area.
2. Be of material that represents beauty and durability.
3. Be of a size and stature that brings respect and dignity for our deceased colleagues.”
Marti moved to accept the recommendation and Tom seconded. The motion passed.
6.2.
Contact with OEA/NEA Representative
Jim said a faculty member in his division had talked with a representative of
the Ohio Education Association (OEA / NEA), who is interested in meeting with
Sinclair’s Faculty Senate. Jim said he was not making a formal motion but
wanted Senate to discuss the idea. There was a brief but vigorous discussion.
Several Senators wanted more information about what Senate might gain by
talking with this representative. Tom suggested that it might be more
appropriate to ask the representative for a written position statement rather
than meeting directly. Fred expressed his support for talking with the
representative as a way for Senate to learn more about faculty salaries and
related matters at other Ohio colleges. Cindy described some of her
interactions with members of Ohio Faculty Senate who teach at community
colleges with collective bargaining and said she saw no reason to hear or read
information from a representative of OEA. Cindy also made it clear that there
should be no invitation in the name of Faculty Senate for either a meeting or a
written statement from this person unless a formal motion is approved by
Senate. Cindy expressed her strong opinion that Senate should not talk with
anyone associated with a potential bargaining agent without first having
extensive discussions with faculty and then only if a majority of faculty
support the invitation."
6.3.
Committee on Committees
Cindy welcomed Hank Dunn, Vice President for Student Services, to the meeting.
Hank explained that Sinclair is reviewing all College-wide “organizational
entities” to create a better database, to promote broader participation and to
help ensure that the business of the College is carried out efficiently. All
College-wide groups with the exception of Faculty Senate and Staff Senate will
expire on June 30, 2005, and these groups need to be reauthorized if they are
to continue. The necessary form is available at http://ourold.sinclair.edu/sites/committees/docs/organizentity.pdf.
The reauthorization includes requirements that each entity specify its
membership in terms of positions (e.g., “two chairpersons”), not in terms of
individuals, and that each have a sponsor who reports to Sinclair’s President.
President’s Council will review submissions and authorize the entities that
will continue.
Amanda asked if current committee members will continue on the committees after
June 30. Hank replied that the membership generally will continue as planned
for the 2005-06 academic year. Frank noted that there are many division-level
committees that impact faculty workload and asked why those were not included
in the policy. Hank expressed sympathy for including division-level committees
but explained that the current effort is limited to College-wide entities.
6.4.
FITs Strategy / Discussion
Cindy welcomed Ned Young to the meeting. Ned explained that there is a very
good relationship between Faculty Senate and the FITs team and that he had
requested additional time with Senate to build still closer cooperation, to
share information and to plan strategy. The administrative members of the FITs
team have agreed to let the faculty FITs members prepare a proposal, and Ned
wants to develop a process under which faculty can use this proactive approach
every year.
Ned reviewed the on-going efforts to collect information important to the FITs
process, including a survey that has been sent to over 40 colleges. The team is
also planning to visit several Ohio community colleges to collect information
about how they are similar to or different from Sinclair in their overall
compensation systems. In the past it has sometimes been difficult, for example,
to know how merit, summer and overload pay and health benefits might impact
Sinclair’s relative standing among Ohio colleges. The information collected will
not be a substantial factor in the 2005-06 FITs agreement, but it could help
lay the foundation for major changes in 2006-07 and beyond.
Ned distributed summary data from the fall faculty survey, including
spreadsheets showing the ratings of tenure-track faculty (attachment
FSMA20050223-01)
and ACF faculty (attachment FSMA20050223-02) and a record of written comments
(attachment FSMA20050223-03). He also distributed copies of the FITs agreement
that was implemented for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 academic years (attachment FSMA20050223-04).
In response to questions, Ned reported that the latest data available (from
2003-04) shows Sinclair ranking fifth in average salary, behind Cuyahoga, Lakeland,
Lorain and Cincinnati State. Columbus State and Terra complete the list of
the top community colleges in Ohio in terms of faculty salaries, with all other
colleges rather far behind this group of seven.
There was extensive discussion related to FITs, and Senate agreed to hold a
special meeting on Wednesday, March 2nd to continue the discussion.
Cindy also encouraged Senators and other faculty to send their comments
directly to Ned.
7. Announcements
None.
The meeting adjourned at 4:03.
Submitted by Fred Thomas
Approved by Senate, March 9, 2005