Faculty Executive Council Meeting Minutes

FACULTY EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Approved Minutes
July 25, 2000

Business Meeting

I. General

A. Call to Order

Rosemary Kesler called the meeting to order at 2:40 p.m.

Members Present: Jeff Andelora, Janice Comer, Rosemary Kesler, Ann Lindner, John Nelson, Mark Richard, and Sandra Stuebner.

Minutes were taken by Carrie Taylor.

A quorum was not present at the call-to-order. Therefore, Rosemary Kesler called the meeting to order noting that no votes could be taken without a quorum.

B. Approval of Agenda

Sandra Stuebner added Salary Placement as Item C. under Information. Rosemary Kesler added Governing Board Retreat as Item D. under New Business. Rosemary Kesler added Other as Item D. under Information. The agenda was approved as amended.

C. Approval of the June 27, 2000, Minutes

The June 27, 2000, minutes were approved as written.

D. Treasurer’s Report – June 2000 and Year To Date

Rosemary Kesler reviewed the Treasurer reports with Council.

E. Committee Reports

1. Legislative

Rosemary Kesler told Council that the school tax bill will be put on the ballot for a vote in November.

2. CEC

Rosemary Kesler stated that CEC worked on two items at the last meeting. The first was putting together an administrative evaluation with Art DeCabooter, Ron Bleed and Linda Thor specifically working on the project. The second was discussing one of Dr. Gaskin’s top priorities, recruiting new faculty to teach in the District. Rosemary said that Dr. Gaskin wants Council’s input and assistance with this project. Council discussed some factors and reasons for the current low hiring pools for faculty.

II. Old Business

A. Professional Growth Funding for 2000-2001

Rosemary Kesler informed Council that six votes from Council members were received via MEMO, to add to those members already having voted, regarding the recommendation to place the fifty thousand dollars in the Projects account. Five “yes” votes and one “no” vote were received. The recommendation was approved, and the fifty thousand dollars will be put into the Projects account.

B. Faculty Association Legislative Committee

Council did not discuss this item.

C. Meet and Confer Team Co-Chairs

Rosemary Kesler reported to Council that six “yes” votes were received via MEMO for the recommendation that Linda Larson and Jim Daugherty co-chair the Meet and Confer Team. With those votes, the recommendation was approved. Council briefly discussed the Professional Growth Survey comments. Council was reminded to send any concerns and comments to Linda Larson and/or any Professional Growth MOU subcommittee member.

III. New Business

A. AAUP Membership

Council was reminded of the discussion at the June 27th Council meeting. Janice Comer said that she will talk with other AAUP members while at the Summer Institute.

B. Meet and Confer/Mike Napier

Janice Comer stated that she and the Meet and Confer Team would like to speak to Mike Napier regarding the topic of mediation for inclusion in the indemnification proposal. Janice said that the Cerritos handbook has a section on mediation, and she will seek information on mediation from the AAUP as well. Council was informed that mediation could be used in the grievance process as well as for faculty versus faculty issues. Rosemary Kesler asked if this item should be voted upon via MEMO. Janice asked that any action be postponed until she returns from the AAUP Summer Institute.

C. 2000/2001 RFP Draft Changes

Rosemary Kesler informed Council that she and Phil Randolph had met regarding the RFP Draft, and both will sign an agreement to make the technical and grammatical changes needed to “clean up” the RFP draft. She continued that faculty will receive a printed copy of the RFP and the Common Policies as soon as the final draft is completed.

D. Governing Board Retreat

Rosemary Kesler told Council that the retreat with the Governing Board on September 6th is cancelled. Therefore, Council needs to think of another date to meet with the Governing Board. Mark Richard will contact Frank Topper to ask if he will be available any other date in September. Rosemary Kesler asked what dates would be the best for Council. Fridays and Tuesday afternoons were suggested. Council discussed who would be invited to attend the retreat. Another suggestion was to start the retreat with a luncheon and then hold the meeting.

Rosemary Kesler reminded Council that the purpose of the retreat would be to find a common issue on which all parties would work together for the good of the District. She said that one of Dr. Gaskin’s top priorities is the recruitment of faculty to work in Maricopa. Two issues related to the faculty recruitment topic could be faculty salary placement and flex scheduling which will be big topics in Meet and Confer this year. Another topic for the retreat could be the future one- half billion dollars bond issue. Council discussed the procedure for submitting topics for discussion at the retreat and deciding which one was the most important to all parties concerned. Rosemary Kesler stated that Frank Topper has a process for quickly determining which topic would be the best one to work upon. Mark Richard informed Council of the procedures used in the MRAP committee this past Spring. He said that Topper uses a “spur of the moment” strategy to find the issues that are foremost on people’s minds. Council again discussed finding a new date and time in September or early October for the retreat and a date of a regularly scheduled Council meeting was suggested.

IV. Information

A. Peerpoint Procedures Proposal

Rosemary Kesler stated that Carmela Arnoldt had prepared the proposal for Council. Council reviewed the proposal. Rosemary requested that Council send comments to her and Carmela. Council discussed putting the Peerpoint on the Web to reduce the amount of paper. Council was informed that the content of last year’s Peerpoints were already on the Web, however, there were no pictures or graphics. It was suggested that Vernon Smith be asked to assist with pictures and graphics that would be included in Peerpoint on the Web this year.

B. 1999-2000 Tax Return

Council agreed to ask Chuck Milliner to prepare the 1999-2000 tax return.

C. Salary Placement Issue

Council was informed of an issue regarding the salary placement for an OYO faculty candidate who has taught one subject for 27 years. However, since his teaching load was split between high school level and middle school level, Human Resources will not count them and would place the faculty candidate on Step 0 (zero). Human Resources said that there are no exceptions to the rules, but exceptions have been made in the past. Council was asked for its input and interpretation on this matter. Council was told that the faculty candidate may not take the faculty position at Step 0 (zero), and the college may lose an experienced person to the private sector. It was stated that the faculty candidate can ask for a review after being hired. Council discussed the proper step at which the faculty candidate should be hired. The point was made that the time of teaching experience should be totaled for the number of whole years and then any fraction of a year be dropped. It was suggested that this issue be addressed in the Meet and Confer process this year. Council discussed the candidate’s experience and the appropriate job description as well as another example of faculty being placed at lower steps than what their education and experience would command elsewhere. Council agreed that the candidate should be given Step 6 (six) which is the highest level allowed. It was stated that Council will support the Dean of Instruction’s request to hire the candidate at a higher step. Rosemary Kesler stated that Phil Randolph, who is staying longer as Interim Vice Chancellor, is aware of the problem. Council was informed that he is using the RFP as a guideline to get people hired initially, and then they can request a review to get the higher step. Council discussed concerns with this procedure.

D. Other

Lunch with Dr. Gaskin

Rosemary Kesler told Council that Dr. Gaskin wanted to invite the Council to lunch. Council discussed a date and agreed on the date of Friday, September 8th. Rosemary will arrange the date with Dr. Gaskin and send a MEMO confirming the luncheon.

FEP Release Time

Rosemary Kesler informed Council that, currently, there is no official release time for FEP representatives for 2000-2001. She stated that for the past two years the FEP representatives have received reassigned time. Council discussed the funding of FEP representatives for the past two years. Council was informed that only two colleges had asked for reimbursement of reassigned time given to their FEP representatives. Rosemary continued that she has discussed funding for next year with Dr. Randolph who indicated that he would try to find money in the budget for the FEP representatives. Council discussed who would fund the reassigned time and discussed concerns of what would happen if the FEP representatives are not compensated.

It was suggested that Rosemary Kesler write a formal letter to Dr. Randolph, Dr. Glasper, and Dr. Gaskin on behalf of Council stating that release time for the FEP representatives was promised to Willie Minor this past Spring. It was noted that the May 9, 2000, FEC minutes indicated that release time would be given for FEP. Council discussed the original idea that the FEP representatives would be funded for the first three years so that all faculty will understand how to do a FEP. Rosemary Kesler stated that she would talk to Dr. Glasper first before sending a letter from Council if necessary.

Forty-Nine Percent Issue

Rosemary Kesler reminded Council of the recent discussion regarding Gene Eastin’s proposal that administrators be paid at the highest faculty rate if they retire and then teach under the forty-nine percent, or active retiree, program. She distributed a draft of Eastin’s proposal for changes in the Active Retirement Program policies, and Council reviewed the document. Council discussed concerns with the proposed changes in Paragraphs V.2 and VI.4. One speculation was that the changes are intended to keep faculty in the classroom. The point was made college presidents determine what the active retirees or forty-nine percenters do, and the proposal would take away those decisions from the college presidents and faculty. Rosemary Kesler was asked if this draft could be shared with other faculty at the campuses to get their input. Rosemary Kesler responded yes. It was suggested that this drafted proposal be sent to Freddie Anttila for review.

MEMO/Chat Room

Council discussed the recent MEMO discussion on prescription benefits. Rosemary Kesler stated that Phil Randolph had an idea to set up a Chat Room for such discussions. Those who were interested could participate in the discussion, and thus, not every employee’s MEMO would be hit with a large amount of messages. Rosemary said that the prescription drug discussion has drawn the interest of the Governing Board who has asked EBAC to look into the cost of getting lower drug co-pays for Maricopa employees. Council discussed the problems of MEMO downloading a large amount of messages that are sent to everyone in the District. Council agreed that setting up a chat room would be a good idea.

Faculty Contracts

Rosemary Kesler stated that she sent Phil Randolph an e-mail asking about the faculty contracts, or notices of assignment, since some faculty have called her asking of their whereabouts.

District Strategic Planning Committee Meeting

Jeff Andelora informed Council that the committee had recently met. The new committee will have twenty people including six representatives from faculty. Rosemary Kesler will be one of the chairs and Pat Case will be the facilitator. Other faculty representatives on the committee so far are Jeff Andelora, Janice Comer and Doug Sawyer. Jeff stated that he would ask if Rosemary and Pat would be included in the count of the six faculty representatives or if more faculty were needed to sit on the committee. Jeff Andelora was asked if the MRAP results would be part of the discussion. He responded yes. Rosemary Kesler gave a brief history of the strategic planning committee from last year, which was disbanded, and a new committee with faculty was formed.