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1. Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved as written.
2. Dialogue with Dr. Fonte A motion to allow Full-Time faculty in the audience who are not senators to participate in the discussion was made and seconded. The motion passed.
Dr. Fonte began this portion of the meeting by speaking at some length about his November 21 response to the Senate's resolutions of October 31. He reiterated his belief that the reorganization was not yet fully implemented, and so adjustments to loading of specific positions at this time would be premature. He did indicate that he thought that the roles and responsibilities of specific positions should be reviewed this Spring, and adjustments made for the Fall semester. He also noted that, in hindsight, the implementation of the reorganization had not gone as smoothly or as quickly as he had expected, and that in a structural change of this magnitude, that was probably unavoidable.
He also talked about his rationale for the reorganization. He said that, to him, the point of the reorganization was to allow faculty to focus their time and energy on curriculum renewal. He indicated that while he believed that we had many good programs, he also believes that all of our programs can be improved. He said that when model programs or curricula are discussed, other schools, such as Dallas, tend to be mentioned as having the best programs. His goal is that ACC be recognized as the best community college in Texas.
In keeping with this, he said that his goal is to have faculty spending as little time as possible on administrative type tasks. He also noted the release time currently available for curricular projects, and indicated that both this and the related travel/professional development budgets seemed small, and would likely be adjusted upward for next year.
Dr. Fonte also discussed his response to the Senate's resolution dealing with Developmental Education. He said that he agreed that we should not simply adopt the Kaplan curriculum, or any other packaged curriculum. However, he did say that he thought that we should review their programs, with the next step being our faculty meeting with faculty currently using the Kaplan system. He also said that Kaplan should not be the only curriculum that we reviewed. He specifically mentioned the ACT company and the Center for Developmental Education (Appalachian State group) as other possible consulting groups, as well as sending our faculty to other colleges to review their programs. He said that what we should be doing is finding good ideas from a number of sources that could be used to improve ACC's developmental education program.
He also discussed the Committee on Developmental Education (CODE), a workgroup created to enhance dialogue about developmental education with the college, and distributed the committee's charge and membership.
A question and answer period followed. Senators and Full-Time faculty members in the audience had many questions. Some of these follow. Additional information was requested on ESL's role in developmental education, and why this program apparently reports through a non-academic channel now. Dr. Fonte referred this question to Dr. Freidman. Another question related to the provosts' roles in scheduling. Some Senators reiterated the view that decisions on scheduling should be made through the Academic structure, rather than through the provosts. One Senator asked about the process of room allocations and room charts (room charts are now available on the Web). Dr. Fonte said that he wants us to go toward a system where our system itself is able to do the room charting, based on the classes we schedule. However, he recognizes that we do not yet have such a system. He also indicated that we would be posting additional full-time faculty positions in January, but that some of these might not actually be hired, depending on budgetary considerations and the budgetary review process. He was asked what we could expect in the way of salary increases this year. He indicated that he is familiar with our proposal, and that Janis Koenig is responsible for working with us to gather comparative information (this process has been discussed in the minutes of earlier meetings) and that our request will then go to the budget review priorities committee. One Senator asked why the Counseling Task Force had been disbanded. Dr. Fonte indicated that that had not been his decision, and suggested that this question be addressed to Maggie Culp. One Senator asked whether the administration is going to tell the developmental task forces what specific issues they are concerned about. Dr. Fonte indicated that Dr. Freidman would deal with this issue. A number of other questions, on a variety of issues, were asked.
3. Discussion of the dialogue with Dr. Fonte
Senators discussed alternative formats for future meetings with Dr. Fonte, to foster more dialogue between the Senate and the President. After that, discussion occurred on several topics. One of these was the disbanding of the Counseling Task Force noted above. This Task Force was disbanded this Fall, one week after the arrival of Maggie Culp, and several "sub-committees" based on specific functions or issues were formed to replace it. The following resolution was made and seconded:The Senate protests and requests an explanation for the dissolution of the Counseling Task Force without formal input from faculty.
The resolution passed.
Senators also provided suggestions on topics for discussion during the next Officers' meeting with Dr. Freidman.
4. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the October 31, 1997 meeting were approved with correction of two typographical errors, including Al Slivinske's name being misspelled.
5. President's Report
Mike said that he has been contacted by a reporter from the Austin American Statesman who is doing an article on the reorganization. He said that the reporter has asked that the Senate give Dr. Fonte a letter grade. The consensus view of the Senate is that this is not an appropriate action for the Senate to participate in.
6. Policy & Procedures Committee
Saad reported that the committee had reviewed an administrative rule dealing with administrators who had taught at another college assuming faculty status at ACC. The committee recommended additional wording in the policy requiring at least three years of prior full-time teaching experience, that the administrator be qualified to teach in the discipline, and approval by the appropriate ACC task force. This amended rule was approved by the Senate. However, a Senator then raised additional concerns on this item. Consequently, a motion was made and seconded to rescind the earlier approval, and table the rule for additional study. This motion passed.
The committee also reviewed three proposed Board policies: B-5, Policy Development; C-12, Open Communication; and a new policy, Planning Principles. Drafts of these policies can be found on ACCnet in the Board of Trustee's area. The committee's recommendations were accepted for proposed policies B-5 (see attached) and C-12 (no changes recommended). However, significant discussion ensued on the proposed Planning Principles policy. These primarily centered on the first three paragraphs of this proposed policy, with several Senators believing that these paragraphs, and particularly paragraph 3, were more appropriate to a values statement than a policy. Various alternate wordings were proposed, but the Senate was unable to reach consensus on any particular rewriting of these paragraphs. The following resolution was made and seconded:
It is recommended that the Board rewrite Planning Principles such that they will focus only on Planning Principles and in particular write paragraph 3 such that it reads "the College will provide high-quality instruction which closely matches students and community needs."
The motion passed
The Senate also directed the Officers to request clarification of item 2 in proposed Policy C-4. Specifically, will an administrative rule be developed outlining confidentiality criteria?
7. Academic Affairs Committee
Hazel presented the report from this committee. Hazel indicated that her report should be considered a draft, due to the time constraints placed on the committee, and the breadth of their charge. The committee will continue working on this charge during the Spring semester. Various components of this report were discussed by the Senate. During these discussions, it became apparent that some of the issues were such as to require additional study by the Senate as well, in order to formulate effective solutions. However, it was also felt that some immediate steps could be taken to alleviate some of the problems engendered by the implementation of the reorganization.
The following resolution was made and seconded:
During the Spring 1998 semester, a committee should be charged with the responsibility for writing clear and effective job descriptions for College wide program directors (Program Coordinators and Task Force Chairs), Assistant Deans, and Deans.
During the Summer 1998 term, Task Force leaders should be offered a course load reduction and a stipend, commensurate with duties expected to be required for the summer. Assistant Deans should be offered a three month contract and/or stipend for administrative duties that must be performed throughout the summer.
An additional one course release should be granted to Task Force leaders and Assistant Deans for the Spring 1998 semester.
The resolution passed.
Charles Nafus was a substitute for Cathy Angell.
Meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
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