General Review of Board Policy -- 5/2/00 draft -- ACC Board of Trustees

B-1. BOARD POLICY PRINCIPLES

[1] The Board governs primarily through written policies. The College President shall cause all sectors of the College to be informed of the Board policies relevant to their activities and shall ensure the compliance of College activities with Board policies. The College President may set additional administrative rules, as long as they are consistent with and supportive of any Board policies to which they are related.
[2] The Board may use resolutions rather than policies for limited-term decisions or directives. Resolutions are limited in effect to the specific items and time periods they address, or for one year if no period is stated.
[3] There are no unwritten Board directives. The only policies, decisions, authorizations, or limitations in effect at the Board level are those explicitly listed as policies or active resolutions in the Board minutes or web site after a public vote of adoption. Individual or collective statements by Trustees in any other form have no authority in College operations. All trustees shall be informed whenever the administration takes actions that address a request or suggestion from a trustee. When an administrator attributes an action to a Board directive, the relevant written directive(s) must be identified.
[4] To the extent activities in an area are not covered by a current Board policy or resolution or an administrative rule, employees should use their own best judgement to act in the interest of the community and students.
[5] Board policies are to be used only to directly express the decisions of the Board; they are not to be used to simply repeat or ratify either administrative rules (which do not require Board approval) or external laws and regulations (which the Board has no power to change).
[6] When a Board policy or resolution (except one related to Board procedure) has more than one reasonable interpretation, the College President may specify which interpretation the College shall follow, with notification to the Board of any significant policy ambiguities revealed by this process.

B-4. BOARD OF TRUSTEES BYLAWS

1. General Delegation of Authority for Board Procedure
The Board Chair shall decide any questions of Board procedure that are not addressed by, or that require interpretation of, law, Board policy, or specific Board resolutions.

2. Board Officers
The Board shall elect from among its members a Board Chair, who shall preside over Board meetings and shall coordinate policy-development activities and the Board-President relationship; a Board Vice-Chair, who shall coordinate the community-linkage activities of the Board and shall preside in the absence of the Board Chair; and a Board Secretary, who shall oversee and certify the records of the Board and shall coordinate monitoring of compliance with Board policy. These officers shall be elected at the first Board meeting after a Trustee election is completed, a year later, and when a vacancy in an office exists or is created by Board vote. No trustee may serve in the same office for more than two of any four consecutive years.

3. Board Meetings
3.1 Official meetings of the Board can be called, within the notification limits imposed by law, by the Board Chair or by any three Trustees. The Board will normally take final votes on items only at its first meeting in a month, and only on items that had been discussed at a previous meeting. Except for special meetings called as emergencies in accordance with state law (and then by a 3/4 vote), the Board will not take a final vote on a topic at the first meeting at which it is discussed or at other than the first regular meeting of a month or its recessed continuation.
3.2 The College President and Board Chair shall develop proposed agendas for Board meetings in accordance with priorities set by the Board, with final authority on what is included in the agenda and agenda packet lying with the Board Chair. Subjects for meetings shall also be placed on agendas as requested by any Trustee, provided that the proposed action and its rationale are submitted in written form at least 12 days prior to the meeting. A motion to place an item on a particular future agenda shall, at the request of any trustee, be placed on the next agenda for determination by Board vote. The College President shall cause all Trustees to be sent the agenda and all supporting materials at least 5 days before the meeting, and shall cause all required legal postings of Board meetings. Only subjects on the agenda shall be considered at a meeting.
3.3 Robert's Rules of Order shall be used to conduct meetings of the Board and its committees, subject to these bylaws and applicable law. Final approval of any non-procedural motion requires affirmative votes in a public session from a majority of the full current membership of the Board. For procedural motions, amendments, and committee votes, the majorities required by Robert's Rules of Order shall be of members present and voting.
3.4 The College President shall cause to be kept all legally-required records of Board meetings. Minutes of the full Board shall accurately reflect the actions taken by the Board and the vote of each Trustee on those actions. When approved by the Board and signed by the Secretary, the minutes shall become the official record of a meeting. The Secretary shall have authority over how the decisions and activities of the Board are presented by the College.

C-6. ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION/AUDITING

The President shall ensure that each significant function, sector, and process of the College is evaluated (including feedback from the people dependent on it) for effectiveness, efficiency, and policy compliance according to an announced schedule. The administration shall consider suggestions from students, employees, and others as to evaluation format and content. For each such evaluation, the administration shall publish a report summarizing its analysis of current performance, any improvements it plans, and the feedback it received. The administration shall also provide the Board summaries of the status of activities designed to address any weaknesses previously identified by either this system or by the external auditors, and a list of any unusual major College practices or conditions, with justifications or plans for improvement.
The Board shall engage external auditors to conduct the annual financial audit and to perform such other services as may be deemed appropriate by the Board or the Board Secretary in furtherance of Policy B-6, Monitoring Policy Compliance. Such auditors shall have complete access to any institutional records or information they deem needed for their work. The auditors shall report to the Board any significant inappropriate practices they detect in College activities. The same firm will not be chosen as auditors for more than 5 out of any 10 years.

C-7. LEGAL COUNSEL

The Board of Trustees shall designate an attorney(s) to serve in the capacity of legal counsel for the Austin Community College District and to provide the Board independent advice and representation in all legal matters affecting or potentially affecting the Board or the College District.
The attorneys shall be reasonably compensated and shall serve at the pleasure of the Board. The attorneys shall be available to handle all legal matters for the Board and administration of the College District, and shall be responsible to the Board.
The attorneys shall attend Board meetings when requested by the Board or by the College President and shall be available for consultation with members of the Board, the College President, and individual staff members designated by the College President, and shall undertake to represent the Board and the College in all matters referred by the Board and the College President. When a request for a legal opinion comes from a trustee, the attorneys shall inform all Trustees of the request.
The College President, in coordination with the College legal counsel, shall cause to be maintained and distributed a College Legal Manual that explains the important legal provisions covering College operations, including those related to the use of copyrighted material. The President shall keep the Board informed of the status and disposition of any official notices, complaints, and decisions related to College legal, or accreditation issues.

C-9. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The College President shall establish and enforce rules to keep college resources from being inappropriately used for personal gain. The rules shall forbid, in addition to activities forbidden by law, at least these activities:
[1] the acceptance of personal gifts from College vendors.
[2] participation of authors in decisions about use of their textbooks by the College.
[3] employment of a person under the supervisory jurisdiction of a close relative.
[4] the provision of college business to College managers or Trustees, or to their immediate family members. Provision of College business to firms in which such people have a substantial interest (as defined by Chapter 171 of the Texas Local Government Code) shall also be forbidden except when the President finds a compelling benefit for the College and the manager or Trustee publicly recuses themselves from the decision.
[5] significant use of College facilities, resources, or duty time for activities for which an employee is paid by anyone other than the College, except when such activities have been approved in writing by an authorized supervisor and appropriate compensation is made to the College.
[6] acceptance of compensation for referring students to vendors.
[7] resale of materials (e.g., textbooks) provided due to an employee's role at the College.
The rules shall also establish procedures by which College officers, and other employees when designated by the President, shall report any outside employment or paid consulting work. The President shall annually report to the Board a summary of enforcement activities associated with this policy.

C-10. PURCHASING

A. General Objectives
[1] To support the instructional mission of the College by procuring in a timely manner the specific equipment, services, and materials needed for effective College operations.
[2] To secure work and materials at the best value for the College.
[3] To provide opportunities for individual vendors, contractors, historically underutilized businesses, and small/local businesses to compete for College purchases/contracts in a fair and competitive environment, and to create an open process for procurement through competition.

B. Board Approval: The requirement for specific Board approval of vendor and price for purchasing, consulting, or contracting expenditures or commitments for related groups of items depends on the cost and on the extent of prior Board review. For multi-year purchases, the stated limits apply to total costs.
[1] Expenditures costing less than $25,000 never require such approval.
[2] Expenditures costing over $100,000 always require such approval.
[3] Expenditures costing between $25,000 and $100,000 require such approval unless either: [a] the Board has previously approved, after a public review period of a month or more, a budget or other written plan listing the items and their approximate cost, or [b] the expenditure is primarily to repair or replace an existing capability that has been unexpectedly lost, or [c] the expenditure is necessary to meet an emergency and is reported to the Board at its next meeting.
For items that require Board approval below $500,000 that are not design-build contracts, the administration shall provide a summary and evaluative judgments of vendor responses with a recommendation of a single vendor. Such items should be submitted to the Board early enough that it does not have to make its final decision at its first consideration of the item if it has unresolved questions or decides not to accept the administration's recommendation at the first meeting the item is on the agenda. In cases where the administration's recommendation is not accepted, consideration of alternatives shall occur at a subsequent meeting.
For items in excess of $500,000 and for all design-build contracts, a limited number of well-qualified vendors shall make presentations to the Board. The administration shall provide the Board with appropriate evaluative criteria or questions for use by the Board in the review process. The administration shall provide a summary of the proposals and provide evaluative judgment concerning strengths and weaknesses of these well-qualified vendors.
The Board shall generally assess the administration's recommendation by whether it and the process leading to it are in accord with Board policy and the General Objectives set forth in Section A of this policy, giving due deference to the administration’s expert judgment on whether a recommendation will meet General Objectives [1] and [2].

C. Reports: The administration shall provide quarterly reports and annual summaries on purchasing activities. Such reports shall include:
[1] purchase orders and contracts awarded to HUBs;
[2] purchase orders and contracts awarded to local vendors;
[3] state contract and state catalog purchases made;
[4] all contracts over $10,000; and
[5] an explanation of consulting fees in excess of $5,000 to a single vendor in a fiscal year.

D. Responsible Contracting Practices Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs)
[1] In all purchasing and contracting decisions, employees shall make diligent efforts to include historically-underutilized-business (HUB) vendors and shall, where practicable, avoid practices that tend to exclude HUB vendors. ACC shall develop, maintain, and enhance the participation of minority-owned and women-owned firms in all phases of its procurement processes, supporting their efforts to compete for College business.
[2] The College shall encourage all vendors, suppliers, contractors, and professionals with whom it does business to support the common goal of equal opportunity and economic participation for all citizens. In expenditure of College funds, neither the College nor its contractors and suppliers shall discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, creed, religion, national origin, age, or sexual orientation, or on the basis of disabilities that do not significantly effect the quality of work.
[3] In deciding which functions to accomplish via external contractors, the administration shall take care not to support patterns of employment that fail to meet community compensation standards.
[4] Contracts shall be opened for bid on an equal basis by all qualified vendors at least once every five years (or on completion for contracts longer than five years).

C-13. COLLEGE-COMMUNITY LINKAGES

It is important that the College create and maintain strong community linkages at many levels. Such linkages should be part of coordinated plans based on principles and priorities adopted by the Board or President. Accordingly:
A. Communication Linkages:
[1] Staff-community linkages: The President shall ensure that the College maintains a system to receive external information and advice on how the College can best serve its community, especially from sectors that directly deal with the College’s entrants or graduates. This system shall be structured so as to promote productive College-community interaction. The President shall also ensure that the College has appropriate representation in relevant community organizations and events.
[2] Board-community linkages: In addition to the activities individual Trustees choose to undertake as elected officials, the Board shall have an organized program of interaction with the community. The Vice-Chair of the Board shall coordinate this program, aligning it with a priority list adopted annually by the Board. The College shall provide electronic dissemination of Board-meeting proceedings. [3] Citizen communications: Citizens may address the Board according to procedures published by the Board Chair, which shall be uniformly applied so as to provide fair access to all citizens.
B. Operational Linkages:
The College shall respond to community needs by creating appropriate partnerships or contractor-client relationships with community organizations. Negotiation of such agreements is the responsibility of the President, subject to Board approval if they are multi-year agreements or involve expenditures in excess of the approval limits established in policy C-10, Purchasing. Proposals for partnership agreements should include an economic analysis, and should ensure that each party bears an appropriate share of the costs.
C. Reports to the Board:
The President shall report annually to the Board on the nature and extent of linkage activities, on the financial terms and operational results of community partnerships, and on any plans or recommendations for changes in this area.

D-3. FACULTY WORKLOADS

A. Faculty Duties:
In this and all other Board policies, the term "faculty" does not refer to the adjunct faculty or faculty paid hourly unless specifically indicated.
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.

B. Faculty
[1] The total responsibilities of faculty positions shall require at least 40 hours per week on a full-time basis. Such positions are filled by the faculty appointment process described in Policy F-4. They will typically be on a full-time basis, but the President may establish fractional faculty positions when deemed appropriate, in which case both the salary and all the responsibilities described below are reduced proportionally. Faculty contracts are for a 10½-month period which generally includes Fall Semester, Spring Semester, and six weeks of the Summer Semester. Faculty have the option of choosing a nine-month contract at 6/7 of the 10½-month pay if they so desire.
[2] The workload for faculty will typically include a teaching courseload of 30 lecture equivalent hours (LEH) for an academic year (an average of 15 hours per week), and 5 or 6 additional LEH in a summer semester. Faculty members shall schedule at least five office hours per week for consultation with students, and shall make at least five additional office hours per week available by appointment.
[3] The President shall set equivalency rules for faculty workloads to determine how labs, unusual teaching situations, and other modes of direct student contact will be counted toward this courseload. These rules may also provide that only partial credit is given for sections substantially smaller than the target size for that course.
[4] The President shall specify workload and vacation rules for faculty whose primary responsibilities are other than classroom teaching, such as librarians and counselors with faculty status.
[5] Each faculty member shall be expected to share responsibilities related to the total concerns of the College. Such responsibilities include instructional development, faculty meetings, committee and task-force assignments, registration duties, student advisement, other assigned responsibilities, and appropriate self-directed professional activities. The President may correspondingly reduce courseloads and/or provide stipends to faculty members whose non-teaching assignments substantially exceed the typical amount.
[6] Faculty members who, with appropriate approvals, teach more than a full courseload (with appropriate additional office hours) shall be paid for the excess at adjunct-faculty rates.
[7] Each faculty member shall be consulted prior to the determination of his or her teaching schedule and work assignments; however, the administration may make work and class assignments as needed.

C. Adjunct Faculty
[1] Adjunct faculty are hired by the College on an as-needed basis for direct instruction. Their course-based compensation, which is proportional to the number of lecture hours taught (or equivalent), covers the time used for direct instruction, course preparation, grading, and at least one office hour per course per week for individual consultation with students. Any additional work asked of people serving as adjunct faculty, such as service on official instructional or governance committees, task forces, or councils (including the Adjunct Faculty Council), is not part of the standard adjunct-faculty job and shall be compensated separately.
[2] The President shall ensure that the College's employment of adjunct faculty is not excessive or poorly controlled, and that the College does not usually permit adjunct-faculty workloads in excess of 9 credit hours or 11 LEH per week.

D. Reports
The President shall report to the Board during the annual budget process on the recent and projected pattern of faculty courseloads, including overloads and courseload reductions, and on the recent and projected level of use of adjunct faculty. This report shall describe the process by which courseload reductions are allocated, listing the justifications and the estimated hours of extra work beyond the standard expectation.

E-2. PROVISION OF COLLEGE FACILITIES

The President, in the context of a multi-year facilities plan updated and submitted for Board approval annually biennially as part of the integrated Master Plan called for in Policy E-1, shall ensure that facilities are provided and allocated so as to support effective instruction, reflect community needs and declared College priorities, and maximize long-term economic value.
[1] Facilities planning and allocation shall be driven by both economic considerations and responsiveness to the educational needs of students and of College employees engaged in providing services to students, who shall be consulted extensively during planning for facilities they will use. In addition to full provision for needed classrooms, laboratories, and learning resources, adequate space shall be provided for faculty offices, student activities, and administrative functions.
[2] The facilities plan shall discuss the extent of unsatisfied demand due to facilities limitations, especially when related to programs or functions previously identified as College priorities, and any geographic demand/supply imbalances.
[3] Facilities shall be built and maintained so as to give good long-term economic value, with a preference for owned rather than leased space. Care shall be taken to avoid practices (e.g., short-lived components, undersized classrooms) in which reduced initial construction costs are more than offset by increased operational costs. The facilities plan shall describe methods and plans to ensure that use of College space is highly efficient.
[4] The College shall develop analyses, based mainly on data from exemplary comparable institutions, to estimate the amount, type, and distribution of facilities appropriate for current and projected enrollments, program mix, and staffing levels.
[5] As part of the annual facilities plan, the Board shall be provided a report updating these analyses, comparing current College facilities usage with desired patterns, and recommending priorities for facilities development.
[6] The administration shall provide reasonable estimates, suitable for use in economic analyses of programs, of the typical annual costs of the various types of facility space used in College operations, including both operating costs and appropriate amortization of capital costs.
[7] College facilities-development activities shall be conducted so as to respect other community priorities, including environmental protection and respect for the City of Austin's desired development zone.
[8] Fundraising for facilities by the College and/or Foundation shall be for projects that have received Board approval.