2004_2005 Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

First meeting of the 2004_2005

Faculty Senate

Sept. 2, 2004

3:30 p.m. Room B

Approved Minutes

1.   Call to Order/Approval of Agenda

      A.  Members Present:  Jon Storslee, David Rubí, Steve Nicoloff, Larry Burgess, Sue Van Boven, Lori Anonsen, Harry Birkmann, Tom Powell, Lynn McClelland, Reyes Medrano, Paul Cornell, David Bradley, Shelle Witten, Carmen de Miguel.

      B.  Non-members Present: Marilyn Cristiano, Tom Butler, John Nelson, Jane Marks.

      C.  Lynn McClelland moved to accept the agenda, after an additional item (3.A.9) was added to the agenda. Larry Burgess seconded.  No discussion.  Passed unanimously.

2.   Approval of the Minutes of April 29, 2004.

      A.  The minutes of April 29, 2004 were unanimously approved pending corrections. 

3.   Committee Reports:

      A.  HLC: President Storslee reported that the final HLC report should be finalized by November of this year.

      B.  Travel: There will be $310,100 available for travel this year; however it was noted that last year, some faculty travel was not funded.

      C.  Professional Growth: Tom Butler

3.   Officers Reports:

      A.  President, Jon Storslee:

               1.   Arizona Board of Regents: Pres. Storslee reported on the proposed changes to the Arizona University System.  One of the changes that would take place would have a direct impact on transfer articulation if the “regional university” plan were to be adopted.  This would end articulation between ASU Main and UofA and only allow it between the new, regional universities.

               2.   12-month pay: will be implemented for the next fiscal year.

               3.   Background checks: are on hold right now.  Still being assessed by Risk Management.

               4.   All Employee Meeting: there was minor discussion about the All Employee meeting held in August on the first day of faculty accountability.  There were particularly favorable comments about the new president of PVCC, Dr. Mary Kay Kickels.

               5.   PLC and Strategic Planning: No report.

               6.   FEC: No report.

               7.   New from the Trenches: Pres. Storslee committed to continue publishing these reports.

               8.   PVCC President and MCCCD Chancellor: Pres. Storslee sought the Senate’s opinion on inviting Pres. Kickels and Chancellor Glasper to future Senate functions.  No vote was taken, but there seemed to be a consensus as to exploring the possibility of such meetings.

               9.   Change in Procedures for Division Chair Elections: the Senate discussed holding division chair elections earlier in the year so that the chairs-elect would have time to work with current chairs and thus be fully prepared at the beginning of their terms.  Marilyn Cristiano agreed to bring up this issue at the next division chair meeting.

      B.  President Elect, Reyes Medrano: nothing to report.

      C.  Treasurer, Sue Van Boven:

      D.  Secretary, David Rubí: nothing to report.

4.   Old Business

      A.  Charity: the idea of the faculty’s supporting a local charity was raised again this session.  There was no vote taken, but the consensus seemed to favor exploring such an activity.

      B.  Professional Growth for All Faculty (Specially-Funded Faculty): the Senate discussed the possibility of obtaining professional growth funding for one-year-only and other faculty members.  Pres. Storslee agreed to bring this issue up to Pres. Kickels and reintroduce to the FEC.

5.   New Business

      A.  New Program Proposal: There was some discussion about the administration’s plan to implement a new approval process for new programs.  Most comments centered on asking why such a procedure was necessary, as there is already a procedure in place.  No action was taken.  Discussion will continue.

      B.  Shared Governance: the MCCCD governing board requested that faculty fill out an “Evaluation of Shared Governance” survey; however, members of the Senate were concerned about the type of questions asked and the overall purpose of the survey.  The consensus of the Senate was to have the Senate President find out more about the survey before proceeding with its distribution.

      C.  New Alma Mater Song: Sue Van Boven proposed changing the current Alma Mater song used at PVCC graduation ceremonies.  The Senate discussed having a competition for a new song.  Sue Van Boven moved for such a competition, which included a $200.00 prize to the winner.  Larry Burgess seconded.  The motion carried with all votes for and one abstention.

      D.  Committee Assignment Problem: Lori Anonsen brought up concerns about the reappointment of Gary Quick as faculty coordinator for the FEP and also mentioned that some faculty had had their committee assignments changed without their approval or knowledge.  Pres. Storslee responded that he did not reassign Mr. Quick as faculty coordinator for the FEP because of certain extenuating circumstances, about which he did feel he could discuss at present without the administration’s approval.  He stated that it was one of his privileges as Senate President and he was following precedent established by earlier Senate presidents in appointing the FEP coordinator and, as such, he was assigning the position to Sue Van Boven.  Larry Burgess noted that the RFP stated that it was the Senate that appointed the FEP coordinator, not solely the president.  However, no one could remember if the Senate had ever taken action to appoint an FEP coordinator so a consensus was reached to investigate how previous FEP coordinators had been appointed.  Pres. Storslee also noted that, as far as committee assignments were concerned, that he had not received the finalized committee assignments, that he had found errors in early drafts of the assignments, which he had corrected, but that he had not made any changes in committee assignments of his own volition.

6.         Adjournment: the meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.