On Tuesday, October 26 the Faculty Executive Council (FEC) took a unanimous vote of no confidence in Governing Board President Linda Rosenthal.  This step was not taken lightly, but was a result of several recent interactions with Mrs. Rosenthal.  It is the opinion of the faculty leadership that Mrs. Rosenthal's behavior reflects a lack of respect for faculty and our role in collegial governance. 

The Faculty Executive Council is hopeful that Mrs. Rosenthal will be willing to participate in collaborative discussions regarding shared governance in the future, but that decision is certainly not ours to make.  We do recognize, however, that members of FEC and the faculty association will no longer tolerate a dismissive attitude regarding faculty concerns.

Visit the Maricopa Faculty Association webpage to read the full text of the letter sent to the Governing Board and the Chancellor's Executive Council.

 The voters' overwhelming approval of Proposition 401 supports the primary mission of Maricopa - teaching and learning.  The faculty should feel great pride in the fact that voters recognize the importance of higher education and trust that students will benefit from the educational programs that Maricopa offers.  Congratulations to Dr. Glasper for leading this district into a new era of growth and innovation. 

Two Governing Board seats were on this November's ballot as well.  Mr. Scott Crowley from District 4 and Mr. Jerry Walker from District 2 were elected to 6 year terms.  The Faculty Executive Council has congratulated them and look forward to sharing ideas with them soon.

 January 7, 2005 is the date of this year's convocation and the focus of this year's program will be to recognize and celebrate the faculty of Maricopa for their commitment and to student success, scholarly teaching and innovative practices.  There will be opportunities for faculty to meet with colleagues and share the work that many faculty carried out last year through sabbaticals, summer projects, and learning grants.  In addition, workshops will be held to assist faculty in understanding the process for applications to these programs. 

In addition there will be over $1,500 in gift certificates available in a raffle that will be held during lunch time.  Remember...you can't win if you don't play!

Most of our colleges are in the midst of advertising for the new faculty hires for 2005-2006.    The number of new faculty positions has almost doubled since last year, a result of the new "matching" program that was a recommendation of a sub-committee of FEC.    This new program encourages re-allocation of college budgets for the sole purpose of creating new faculty lines.   Thanks to all of the faculty who serve on these very important hiring committees, as we continue to recruit the best faculty to join us at Maricopa.

October 6 IC Dialogue:
Instructional council and articulation task force chairs met for  a faculty-sponsored dialogue on October 6.  The faculty discussed the strengths and challenges in the current instructional council structure, policies and procedures.    A number of recommendations came forward including the addition of two FEC members to the District Curriculum Council(DCC).  President Sandra Stuebner met with the DCC on November 1 to deliver this request.  Changing the composition of the DCC is now under consideration.  Click here for the notes from the dialogue.

October 12 Strategic Conversation:
The faculty  led a Governing Board Strategic Conversation about shared governance.    Shared governance is critical to the underlying concept that teaching and learning should drive all decision-making for Maricopa Community Colleges.  President-Elect Jamie Moore and faculty Senators Barry Vaughn, Naomi Story and Jeff Ricker  presented the history of shared governance and led the discussion about the importance of distributive shared governance in creating  positive, collaborative relationships and decision-making.    Click here to read Dr. Barry Vaughn's paper on this topic.

For more information about these issues and more, check the Faculty Association website

Have a Terrific Thanksgiving!