Faculty Executive Council Meeting Minutes


FACULTY EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Approved Minutes
February 26, 2002

Guest:  Gerry Bradshaw – EEO/AA Office

Gerry Bradshaw, manager of the District’s EEO/AA office, introduced herself to Council.  She
informed Council of her duties in heading up the EEO/AA office.  The EEO/AA office takes care of
internal investigations for issues of discrimination based on gender, race, age, national origin and
veterans’ status as well as other things.  Gerry stated that she must investigate each complaint in an
unbiased and objective matter.  She stated that her office received sixteen formal complaints and
twenty-two informal complaints last year and she has been the only person in the department until
January 2002 when a secretary was added.  Gerry addressed the concerns of timeliness in the cases
that she handles.  She stated that it takes time to perform a thorough investigation for all the
interested parties and things such as holidays, vacations, and other leaves of absence can hold up an
investigation.  Gerry told Council that there is a timeline of five days for her to notify a respondent
once a complaint has been filed and then the respondent has fifteen days to respond to the
complaint.  Gerry explained that she tries to have cases/investigations completed within ninety days.

Gerry Bradshaw next told Council that she is doing an analysis of on the demographics of the
current workforce in the District and hopes it will help faculty in recruitment in areas of deficiency.
Gerry stated that the faculty reports would be separated into nine different fields.  Those fields
would be broken down demographically and compared to the private sector.

Gerry Bradshaw was asked how the District was doing in general in EEO efforts and was the
District in any risk with FIPP.  Gerry responded that the District is doing reasonably well EEO-wise
but it does need to target some areas.  She stated that the District needed to be very careful with
FIPP in regards to the EEOC law, Title Seven.  Council discussed this issue further.

Gerry Bradshaw explained the procedures she follows if she finds issues during the course of an
investigation that are not related to the investigation.  Gerry distributed brochures regarding
discrimination complaint procedures for employees and offered further discussion with those who
were interested.

Business Meeting

I. General

A. Call to Order

Janice Reilly called the meeting to order at 2:35 p.m.

Members Present: Karen Chalmers, Joanna Chamberlain, Hazel Davis, Amy Goff, Mark Gooding,
Alan Haffa, Karen Hardin, Patricia Keener, Rosemary Kesler, Hank Mancini, Jane Marks, Larry
Miller, Saundra Minckley, Ricardo Provencio, Jim Reed, Janice Reilly, Karen Schmidt, Dennis
Shaw, Gail Shay, Linda Smith, Vernon Smith and Barry Vaughan.

Carrie Taylor took the minutes.

B. Approval of Agenda

Adjunct Faculty Loading was added as Item A. under New Business.  OYO was added as Item B.
under New Business.  The agenda was approved as amended.

C. Approval of February 12, 2002, Minutes

The February 12, 2002, minutes were approved as written.

II. Old Business

A. FIPP

Council was told of the discussion at the recent Faculty Recruitment Commission meeting.  Faculty
discussed the hiring process and conveyed a willingness to work on FIPP.  One option for FIPP
was to make it an internship or post-graduate program instead of a “grow your own” program with
a stronger emphasis on the no guarantee of employment after the program.  With this option,
recruitment could take place nationally.  Council discussed the need for a definition of diversity and
the potential problems of finding diversity within Maricopa itself for a “grow your own” program.  A
question was raised if the administration was looking at the diversity needs at the individual
campuses.  The response was that there was no clear answer to that question.  Council discussed
the ambiguity of guidelines for this issue.  Council was told that there was discussion of having the
campus faculty senate presidents involved in FIPP on the campus level.  Council discussed the
minimum qualifications of the FIPP program, the lack of diversity in Maricopa for some of the
positions and the possibility of recruiting outside of Maricopa.  A point was made that moving up the
hiring process might help with the diversity issue.  Another point was made that this year the faculty
senate presidents need to make certain that FIPP is run fairly and make sure that the hiring
committees are not pressured into hiring FIPP “graduates.”  A suggestion was made for Council to
develop a concise statement for next meeting of what Council wants/expects for FIPP.

Council learned of a situation where a position for which a FIPP person was qualified was taken out
of the order of ranking done by the staffing committee and placed at the top of the ranking list.
Council expressed concern with this situation and advised the faculty senate president to send a
memo to the college president asking for the reason for pulling that position out of the staffing
committee’s ranking order.  Council discussed this issue further.

Janice Reilly reminded Council that anyone who wished to join the Faculty Recruitment Commission
could do so.  A point was made that Council has not endorsed the FIPP program, but is just trying
to fix the program.  Council was told that it needed to stay vigilant and make sure that no one says
that Council endorses FIPP.  Council discussed the need for faculty representatives on District
Committees need to report back to Council about the committees’ discussions and activities.

B. Dues

Dennis Shaw reviewed the projected expenses for the 2002-2003 budget if all categories were
included.  Council discussed cutting costs versus raising dues.  Council was reminded of the new
services offered by Mike Napier and informed that Mike would include lobbying services for the
same price.  Council was told that national AAUP staff would come to visit with Council about their
services and that the Faculty Association did not have to belong to AAUP’s Collective Bargaining
Congress.  Janice Reilly told Council that she was waiting for a call from AAUP.  Council discussed
the big expense items further.  One previous suggestion offered was paying only for the AAUP
memberships of the Faculty Executive Council and faculty senators from the colleges thus reducing
the expense of AAUP.  Council discussed the concerns about the dues for those who would not be
members.  A motion was made and seconded to offer the compromise to AAUP or terminate the
Faculty Association’s membership in the AAUP.  The point was made that those who wanted to
stay AAUP members could join individually.  Council discussed options for dues further and the
new legal and lobbying benefits.  The point was made that the discussion needed to be taken to the
Faculty Senates for further discussion.  The motion and second was withdrawn.

C. State Board Certification

Council was reminded of the proposed language sent to them via MEMO regarding the new hiring
requirements since the state’s certification requirements will be terminated.  Janice Reilly informed
Council of a MEMO discussion where a suggestion was made to use the language from Section
2.11.4., deleting the part about the state certification requirements, for the new hiring requirement
language.  This would then include requirements developed by the instructional councils.  Janice
offered to send that suggestion to Anna Solley.  Janice asked for additional feedback.  Council
members will take this issue to the Faculty Senates for discussion and will report back to Council.
Janice Reilly said that any discussion could take place over MEMO.

D. Forty-Nine Percent Program

Janice Reilly stated that she would like to discuss the forty-nine percent program at the Chancellor’s
Executive Council (CEC) meeting.  Ricardo Provencio informed Council that he received
approximately twenty-five comments on the MEMO he sent to faculty.  Council discussed the
responses.  Ricardo Provencio offered to send the comments to those who request the comments.

E. Chair Compensation

The Chair Compensation Subcommittee will meet on Friday, March 1, 2002.

F. Strategic Planning

Rosemary Kesler asked Council members to contact her if they wanted Pat Case and her to visit a
campus to get faculty comments to include in the District’s strategic planning process.

III. New Business

A. Adjunct Faculty Loading

Council received copies of a new proposal for adjunct faculty loading to be counted in the hiring
process.  The current proposal in the Meet and Confer process would count thirty hours of adjunct
teaching as one year.  The new proposal would count eighteen hours of adjunct teaching as one
year.  Concerns were raised about reducing the number of hours for adjunct teaching experience
since adjunct faculty do not have the same responsibilities as residential faculty.  Council was
reminded that it had already approved the initial placement proposal language.  A suggestion was
made to bring the new proposal back next year.  Concerns were raised that Council had not seen
the proposed language.  Council was reminded that the language was sent to all council members via
MEMO on December 3, 2001 along with the monetary proposals.

B.  OYO

The faculty of Rio Salado asked that the OYO proposal submitted to the Meet and Confer process
be rescinded since it would take away probationary period, sabbatical eligibility and seniority
benefits for residential faculty who held previous OYO contracts.
Council discussed the request.  Council again discussed the request and the option of delaying the
new proposal language.  Council discussed the issue of residential faculty versus OYO faculty as
well.  Council was reminded that the first proposal was discussed at the Faculty Senates and
brought back to Council who approved the proposal for submission into the Meet and Confer
process.

Council briefly discussed the issue of dividing the ratification ballots into sections for approval or
disapproval.  Concerns were raised of the message that would be sent to the Governing Board in
doing so.

IV. Information

A. FAC (Financial Advisory Committee) Budget – Non-Faculty

A concern was raised that the libraries’ request for funding of the database connection was not even
considered by FAC.  Council was asked for its support for the same request next year.  Council
discussed how the colleges’ library databases are funded.  A suggestion was made for the libraries
to get on the District’s strategic plan so that all databases will be funded.  Council discussed the risk
of the colleges losing specialized databases rather than the generalized databases.  Council then
discussed the hierarchy of funding proposals: first the Chancellor’s requests, then District requests
and then college requests.  More suggestions were offered for the librarians to either contact the
FAC subcommittee members who handled the proposal or Anna Solley to request that she puts the
databases funding requests in through her office.  Council discussed the importance of the library
databases.  Some suggested to bring the requests to Council for its support.  Concerns were raised
about setting a precedent for all faculty requests to come to Council.

B. Faculty Executive Council Meetings – March 12, 2002 and May 14, 2002

The March 12, 2002, Council meeting is canceled since the meeting would occur during Spring
Break.  The May 14, 2002, Council meeting has been moved to May 7, 2002, since the last day of
accountability for faculty is May 10, 2002.  The May 7, 2002, meeting will be held in the Governing
Board Room.

C. Faculty Hiring Process

Council discussed its retreat last August on the issue of the hiring process.  Janice Reilly informed
Council that CEC had agreed with Council’s recommendation to move up the process and that the
subject was on the Governing Board’s agenda later in the evening.  The Chancellor will speak to the
issue at the Board meeting.  Janice Reilly stated that funding for new faculty positions would be
taken up front so FAC would have less money to work with for other requests.  Janice Reilly said
that items such as advertising that are related to moving up the hiring cycle would be addressed
soon.

D. Other

Ad Hoc Committee

Council learned that an ad hoc committee had been created in CEC (Chancellor’s Executive
Council) to review the faculty line allocation process.  The members of the ad hoc committee were
Linda Thor, Tessa Martinez-Pollock, Art DeCabooter, Rufus Glasper, Debbie Thompson and
Janice Reilly.  The ad hoc committee will review the three categories in the faculty line allocation
process: the policy that no college gets more lines than it requests; the FTTE to FTSE ratio; and the
factor of developing campuses.  The deadline for recommendations from the ad hoc committee is
before the September 15th posting cycle begins.   Council discussed the need for more faculty to be
on the committee.

V. Committee Reports

A. Meet and Confer

Council was informed that the Meet and Confer Team would meet with the Board Team on March
1, 2002.  Council received copies of a revised draft of the textbook policy from the Intellectual
Property Rights Committee.  Council reviewed and discussed the proposed language.  Council was
told that the Meet and Confer Team would like to include the language in the Intellectual Property
Rights proposal and to give that language to the Board Team on March 1st.  Council discussed the
proposal further.  Council also discussed the issue of using commercial publishers versus vanity
press.  A point was made that the language needs to be reviewed in the Faculty Senates.  Council
agreed that the language would be taken back to the campuses for further discussion.  Rosemary
Kesler stated that she would relay Council’s questions to the Intellectual Property Rights Committee
for their answers.

B. Professional Growth

Janice Reilly told Council that she had sent a MEMO on dispersing to the campuses an additional
sixty thousand dollars for travel funds.  The same allocation formula was used to determining what
amount each campus would receive.  Council was told that Janice Reilly received some positive
comments on the changes in the Professional Growth program.  Saundra Minckley stated that the
Faculty Association logo would be placed on the Faculty Professional Growth web page.

C. EBAC (Employee Benefits Advisory Committee)

Janice Reilly informed Council that she attended the recent EBAC meeting and relayed Council’s
message to EBAC.  EBAC voted for increases in costs for co-pays, and prescription drugs as well
as adding a hospital deductible for next year.  There will be no increase in the premiums paid to Blue
Cross/Blue Shield.  All employees will be informed of the increase in out-of-pocket costs.  Janice
Reilly told Council that she had asked Diane Johns if co-brokering and self-insurance were being
reviewed.  Diane Johns had responded yes to Janice’s question and informed Janice that those
options would be on the next EBAC meeting agenda.

Jim Reed informed Council that the Retiree Benefits Subcommittee had met and accomplished its
work in two days.  Jim complimented the staff at the District Office who had helped the
subcommittee with resources and information.  Jim stated that a web survey had been forwarded to
Phil Randolph who sent the subcommittee to Anna Solley.  Council learned that it would cost 1.8
million dollars to cover just the active retirees.  Janice Reilly told Council that she learned in EBAC
that the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) would pay a subsidy to the District for benefits
costs for retirees so benefits for those people would not cost the District and the employee as
much.  Council discussed this issue further and was told that the subcommittee was discussing a
number of incentives.

D. FAC (Financial Advisory Council)

The next FAC meeting is March 5, 2002.  FAC is waiting to hear from the state.  Karen Hardin
was asked if the adjunct faculty rate would be increased to $630.00 per credit hour next year.
Janice Reilly responded that the amount was unknown at this time.

E. Legislative

No report.

F. Intellectual Property Rights

Council is waiting to hear from Mike Napier regarding the Intellectual Property Rights language.
Janice Reilly will ask the Meet and Confer Team to get Mike’s comments to Council.

G. Common Pages

The Common Pages Committee will meet on Friday, March 1, 2002.

H. Peerpoint!

Carmela Arnoldt will send Council a report via MEMO regarding Peerpoint.
 
VI. Significant Happenings/Presidents’ Reports

CGCC
CGCC received 62 applications for the open college president position.  The search
committee narrowed the number of applications down to ten applicants.  Interviews are scheduled
for March 25-26, 2002.  Forums for the finalists are scheduled at CGCC on April 1-2, 2002.

EMCC
EMCC is in the middle of the NCA visit.

GCC
Libby Riddles was a guest speaker at GCC.  GCC hosted visitors from its sister
university in China.  The visitors presented in some GCC classes.  GCC is looking forward to the
NCA visit.

GWCC
GWCC hosted a couple of faculty presentations.  One was from a Fellow from China
and the other was from a Fulbright Scholar from Moldova.  GCC faculty are concerned about the
erosion of faculty making decisions.  The outgoing College President and Dean of Instruction were
invited to the Faculty Senate meeting to discuss this concern.

MCC
MCC hosted the All Academic Team last week.  Many people came for the event.

PC
No report.

PVCC
PVCC held its fifth annual President’s advance (retreat) Friday, February 22, 2002.  A
morning session was held as was a duplicate afternoon session for those who taught in the morning.
The program was very nice and a six-minute video was shown.  The web address for the video can
be given to those interested in viewing it.

RIO
A RIO student made the national first team in the All Academic Team competition.  Two
students from RIO made the Arizona first team.  One hundred percent of RIO faculty are Faculty
Association members.  The NCA consultative visit is Monday through Wednesday of next week.

SCC
Amy Goff participated in an ecotourism exchange trip to Canada done through NAFTA
and hosted the Canadians participating in the exchange.  One SCC faculty member went to Mexico
for this same program.  SCC received a four-year federal grant for this program.

SMCC
No report.

VII. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 6:10pm.

VIII. Executive Session

 The Executive Committee met to discuss personnel issues.

                 ** The next Council meeting is March 26, 2002. * *