In accordance with the terms and provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, the Board of Trustees of the Austin Community College District convened in public session on Monday, October 5, 1998, at 6:05 p.m. in the Board Room (201) of the Highland Business Center of Austin Community College located at 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Austin, Texas, with the following members present: Beverly Watts Davis, Chair/Presiding Officer; Allen Kaplan, Vice Chair; Hunter Ellinger, Secretary; Lillian Davis [arrived at 6:10 p.m.]; Della May Moore; Carol Nasworthy; Beverly Silas; and John Worley [arrived at 7 p.m.]. Trustee Rafael Quintanilla was absent.

It is further found and determined that in accordance with the policies and orders of this Board, the notice of this meeting has been posted and return thereof made pursuant to the terms and provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, and there has been full compliance with the terms and provisions of said act, including the timely posting of the subjects of this meeting.

Ms. Davis welcomed the following participants for dialogue with the Board of Trustees: Dr. Dana Marable, Superintendent, Marble Falls Independent School District; Doug Coleman, Assistant Superintendent, Marble Falls ISD; Andrew Shell, Director of Student Services, Marble Falls ISD; Linda Ross, President of the Marble Falls School Board; Dr. Richard Fonte, ACC President; Dr. Steve Kinslow, ACC Vice President of School Relations and Provost of Open Campuses and Northridge; Janis Koenig, Provost of Cypress and Pinnacle Campuses; Sharon Ziegler, Director of Support Services, Cypress Campus; Cecile Sanders, Dean, Health Sciences; and ACC Trustees. Vice Chair Allen Kaplan stated the purpose of dialogue sessions is to exchange information to assist ACC and area school districts in meeting school-to-college and school-to-work needs of high school students. Dr. Fonte provided an overview of ACC programs and opportunities. Dr. Kinslow distributed and discussed general information concerning Austin Community College's service area, educational challenges, regional planning, coordinating K-12 and post-secondary linkages, A Student's Guide to Early College Start, and A Parents Guide to Early College Start. Participants identified the following needs: immediate information regarding the availability of courses to assist students with long-range planning; availability of classes during the day; advanced placement/dual credit, health-related, criminal justice, technology/CAD, and continuing education courses.

Mr. Kaplan expressed appreciation to participants and asked for continued input regarding assistance which ACC can provide.

Ms. Davis introduced the following Consent agenda items:

Mr. Kaplan read the following order:

STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF TRAVIS
AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT

To: The Commissioner's Court, Travis County

WHEREAS, this process will call for the circulation of petitions requesting that the Commissioner's Court of Travis County call an election to determine whether or not the area whose boundaries coincide with the Manor Independent School District, as shown on the attached map, shall join the Austin Community College District; and

WHEREAS, the citizens of the area have declared their desire for the benefits and educational opportunity available to them through a comprehensive community college; and

WHEREAS, those benefits include but are not limited to economic development through the development of a trained workforce and provision of direct services to local businesses; affordable access to academic, technical and community service programs as well as comprehensive facilities and the technological infrastructure to support such programs;

THEREFORE, the Board of Trustees officially approved the area defined by the same boundaries of the Manor Independent School District, as shown on the attached map, to become a part of the Austin Community College District, for junior college purposes only, subject to the approval of the voters in the area.

PASSED, RESOLVED, ADOPTED by the Board of Trustees of the Austin Community College District as a meeting in which a quorum was present and a majority of the trustees voting for and at which this resolution, in written form, was before the Board at the time of its adoption on the 5^th day of October, 1998.

AUSTIN COMMUNIY COLLEGE DISTRICT

_______________________________________
Chair, Board of Trustees

ATTEST:

_______________________________________
Secretary, Board of Trustees

A map showing the boundaries of the Austin Community College District and the Manor Independent School District was viewed.

Hunter Ellinger, Secretary

While faculty whom the College employs on a multi-year basis and who have additional mandatory non-instructional duties (referred to in this policy as full-time faculty) have the central role in organizing and delivering its instruction, adjunct faculty also provide essential services in most instructional areas. Among other benefits, use of adjunct faculty permits the College to schedule flexibly, to provide students direct access to working professionals in the fields they wish to enter, to refresh the instructional dialog with new perspectives, and to achieve for each area an appropriate balance of overall faculty effort between direct instruction and other needed faculty work.

However, care is required for the best use of adjunct faculty. The President shall maintain systems which ensure that use of adjunct faculty by the College meets community standards for responsible employment and that it does not result in diminished or uneven instructional effectiveness or violation of accreditation criteria.

[1] priority of instructional effectiveness: The foremost consideration in hiring and scheduling all faculty shall be to ensure that instruction systematically meets high standards for effectiveness both in imparting needed skills and in successful student completion of programs.

[2] evaluation: Adjunct-faculty evaluation, which shall be coordinated by task forces and/or program coordinators in the discipline, should be multi-faceted, based on published criteria, include appropriate observation, and determine whether the course syllabus and the skill levels covered by tests match the standards established for the course. Adjunct faculty shall be promptly and fully informed of the results of their evaluations, which shall be used to develop plans for improvement of performance where needed.

[3] appropriate balance of adjunct and full-time faculty: The President shall develop and implement plans, subject to Board approval, to hire the number of full-time faculty required to ensure quality, provide needed academic support activities throughout each area, and meet accreditation standards, and shall make rules to limit use of adjunct faculty to a level which does not jeopardize these goals.

[4] faculty work assignments: The College shall maintain a clear delineation of duties for adjunct and full-time faculty. Standard adjunct-faculty duties relate to areas of direct instruction, including needed preparation and grading, and the associated section-specific student consultation. The College shall generally place at least as high a value on such direct instruction as on other faculty work. The College shall usually rely on full-time faculty for further required faculty work, such as subject-area advising, instructional planning, curriculum innovation, program and personnel evaluation, supervision of adjunct faculty, and shared-governance responsibilities. For appropriate liaison or specialized tasks, or when there are not enough full-time faculty in an area, adjunct faculty may be selected to work in these areas.

[5] assignment of adjunct sections: Consistent and comprehensive effectiveness in serving student needs will require, in addition to specific individual teaching skills, connection of the College to all parts of its diverse community and predictability of employment for successful adjuncts. Adjunct sections shall be assigned so as to [a] provide a controlled but sustained influx of new people into each area of substantial adjunct-faculty use, [b] make extensive use of multiple-semester appointments for adjunct faculty, and [c] make best use of individual adjuncts in light of the skills revealed by evaluation and supervisory observation; an annual report on the performance of the College in these areas shall be made to the Board. Adjunct faculty shall not be scheduled for workloads which are excessive in combination with their other commitments at the College and elsewhere. Individual adjunct-faculty preferences as to location and time of work shall be accommodated as much as is consistent with College and student needs. Scheduling of adjunct faculty shall be generally understandable.

[6] adjunct-faculty compensation: Adjunct faculty shall be compensated at professional rates for all work expected of them. Appropriate allowances may be made for courses with unusually high or low workloads and for difficult-to-staff courses. Allowance should also be made for relevant experience and education at the College and elsewhere, but recognition of such experience or education should generally be made after a two-year initial probationary period.

It is a goal of the College that adjunct faculty whose total work for ACC equals half-time or more annually have adequate health-insurance benefits. The President shall, in each budget, provide a plan to implement this goal; the FY2000 budget proposal may plan for partial implementation as long as it makes substantial progress toward the goal.

[7] professional development: The College shall encourage professional development for adjunct faculty. Such professional development, which may be mandated and be an element in the adjunct-faculty compensation scales, shall be appropriate to the teaching tasks and prior professional competence of adjunct faculty members.

[8] new faculty: Special systems for effective orientation and supervision of new faculty shall be maintained, including immediate course evaluations whenever a faculty member has not previously taught a particular course at the College. People applying to work as adjunct faculty who may consider ACC as a potential source of full-time faculty employment shall be frankly informed of the small number of full-time faculty openings at the College and of the large number of applicants from inside and outside the College for such positions. ACC adjuncts who do apply for full-time faculty jobs shall be given equitable consideration, with the quality of their performance as adjunct faculty considered in the hiring decision process.

[9] access to instructors: The College shall provide operational support, including voice and electronic mail, sufficient to ensure good student access to adjunct faculty as well as good communication between adjunct faculty and their supervisors. The College shall also decide its schedule early enough that adjunct-faculty names are generally available to students by the beginning of registration.

[10] integration into the College: Each adjunct faculty member shall be provided a contact person in the teaching faculty in his or her discipline to provide needed consultation and assistance. Adjunct faculty shall also be informed in writing of who has primary responsibility for their evaluation, to whom they should refer students who have unresolved complaints about their class, to whom they should direct requests and questions about their scheduling, and how they should handle the provision of a substitute if they are unable to meet a class session due to illness or other causes.

[11] community/industry connection: The College shall use the connections of adjunct faculty with their other employers and/or community activities to enrich and improve services to students.

[12] diversity: ACC values diversity in its adjunct faculty. The hiring and retention of adjunct faculty shall be subject to all provisions of policy F-1, Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action. The College must establish programs to actively seek out and recruit minority candidates for adjunct-faculty positions. ACC employees must avoid practices that tend to exclude consideration of minority candidates for adjunct-faculty positions.