• Identify & provide essential services at all campuses
• Connect services to learning, teaching and student success
• Evaluate services regularly
• Flatten the organizational structure
• Reallocate existing resources
• Involve faculty and staff
• Implement, evaluate, fine tune, or deep six

She is a Psychomotrist with a background in institutional research. She has recently been informed that she is in charge of the registration process. She noted that in different places there are three different dates listed for current students to register. She says this won't happen again. When asked what she thought about the Kaplan developmental program, she indicated she was not familiar with this program, only their testing program. She thinks the Kaplan program needs longitudinal tests to see if it works. She also said the solutions to our developmental issues are inside, not outside, the college. When asked about her views on the Counselors and their task force being disbanded, she said she was told the first week she was here that it was to be disbanded. Even though she delivered the news to the Counselors, how could she possibly have decided to disband it on such short notice? She agrees that counselors should be working with undecided majors and at-risk students. When asked about some memos about counselors and counseling that came from her office, she said the first document was about her perceptions on what she was hearing. The second document involved what she thought was important. She reminded everyone that she does not supervise the counselors. She plans to keep counselors and all staff in student development informed of what her office is doing by sending out a 3-5 page letter on Mondays.

The minutes were approved as written with the exception of some misspellings corrected.

In regard to the recent article in the paper about ACC, the reorganization, and its programs, Mike Midgley indicated that with the officers' approval, he sent a letter to the editor to clarify two points. One was that department heads had always been faculty (not administrators returning to the faculty) and that most of our vocational programs are very current; some are even nationally known for their excellence. This letter was not published by the newspaper, but is, at the request of several senators, included here:

Last Sunday morning I read with interest your article, "ACC in Transition." Some of the points raised in the article, such as ACC's having the second lowest tax rate among Texas community colleges, were very informative. I also noted your mention of Dr. Fonte's goal to hire additional full-time faculty. This is certainly needed since ACC currently has Texas' lowest ratio of full-time faculty to classes taught.

I would, however, like to clarify some points made in the article. For example, you say that in the current reorganization "Former department heads were returned to teaching positions," thereby "thinning a bloated administration." I would point out that the former department heads were always primarily classroom teachers, usually receiving a one course reduction (out of the standard five course requirement) in exchange for performing such duties as scheduling and staffing courses, hiring and evaluating other faculty, and advising students. Most of these functions are still performed, as they must be, by faculty members.

Another comment in the article which caused me some concern is that ACC "has not kept current with educational and workplace trends." It is certainly true that in a college with programs as numerous and diverse as ACC's, some of those programs will lag behind. However, this is the exception, not the rule. As anyone familiar with ACC's programs will attest, many of them are recognized as being among the best in the state and, in some cases, the nation. This does not mean that we should not constantly strive to improve our programs. In fact, increased emphasis on curricular activities is welcomed by the faculty.

I appreciate this opportunity to clarify some of the issues raised in your article.

Mike Midgley

President, Full-Time Faculty Senate

Austin Community College

Mike announced that a committee to review significant aspects of the reorganization had met. Members of the committee are Frank Friedman, Donetta Goodall, Barbara Bolin, Hazel Ward, Dolores Segura and Mike Midgley. Much of the first meeting was spent in discussing the current method of assigning adjunct faculty to courses. There was a general consensus that modifications to the current system should be considered. For example, Assistant Deans might have a greater role in this function. All agreed that the committee should also review the current duties and compensation of Assistant Deans, Task Force Chairs, and Program Coordinators.

Mike reported that it was time for the nominations committee to solicit nominations for the FY 99 Senate. As specified in the bylaws, the number of faculty at each campus has been tallied. Because several faculty members were moved from PIN to RVS in the fall, there is a reapportion of senators from PIN to RVS. The determination of the number of senators at each campus for FY 99 is:

PIN 1 CYP 1 NRG 6 RGC 6 RVS 7

After some discussion the following motion was made and passed:

Full-Time Faculty Senate

Position on Proposed Administrative Rule Regarding Administrators Being Eligible to Assume Faculty Status

The Full-time Faculty Senate has reviewed the proposed Administrative Rule that would give an administrator who has previously not held faculty status at Austin Community College the right to assume faculty status. The Senate does not believe that such a rule is in the best interests of the College.

We readily concur that a faculty member at the College, hired through our normal faculty hiring process, who later serves in an administrative position, should be eligible to return to the faculty, should his/her services in an administrative capacity no longer be required. Our concerns are with an administrator who has not previously held faculty status at Austin Community College.

The College has evolved a formalized faculty hiring process that requires a careful screening of applicants on a number of factors. This process is designed to maintain the quality of our academic programs. One concern is that administrators hired from outside the college, regardless of whether they have ever had faculty status in the past, may not have interviewed in a manner consistent with this process for hiring faculty. Certainly, they were not chosen for their administrative position based on their teaching ability or expertise in a specific academic area.

A related concern is the long-term effects on our programs caused by administrators being given faculty status, and joining the faculty ranks. For many of our programs, the opportunity to hire a full-time faculty member is a rare chance to add to the overall expertise of the program, or expand into new areas. When a potential faculty position is filled with an administrator, the program might well be precluded from this real improvement and program enhancement for a number of years.

For these reasons the Full-Time Faculty Senate believes that Administrators who have not previously held faculty status at Austin Community College should not be able to assume that status, other than through the normal faculty hiring process for a posted faculty position.

Carol Hitzfelder and John Cise reported on the way the FY 99 budget is shaping up. Last year three Board Policies were passed which allocate a certain portion of the budget for Building Maintenance, Technology and Capital items, and maintenance of the Fund Balance. The effect of this is that employee salaries are considered after other big items are more or less automatically decided. Because of this, Mike asked the Senate for their views on beginning discussions on a Compensation Policy, probably in conjunction with the other employee associations. The consensus view of the Senate was that we would support such discussions. John Cise distributed a copy of a Compensation Policy recently passed by Houston Community College.