Minutes of the Faculty Council

January 20, 2006

Present: Dave Baggett, Charlie Brooks, Joan Coffin, Jim Dolhon, Howard Fedrick, Bernie Healey, Jayne Klenner-Moore, Marc Marchese, Jennifer McClinton-Temple, Fred Sauls (Chair), Trent Snider. Guest: Nick Holodick.  

The meeting was called to order at 2:05 PM in the Lipo Room.

 Dr. Sauls welcomed Dr. Bernie Healey, who will be replacing Dr. Claire Gilmore as representative of the Business Division for the Spring semester. Dr. Sauls also welcomed Dr. Nick Holodick, who was attending the first meeting of the semester in his capacity as Dean of the Faculty. 

 Announcement:

 Dr. Sauls reported that he had been contacted by Dr. Lisa Marie McCauley, CFO, regarding the pay schedule for fiscal year 2006-2007. Next year there will be 27 two-week pay intervals. Dr. McCauley asked if the pay schedule should be adjusted to accommodate for the additional pay-week (resulting in 27 two-week pay intervals), or maintaining the 26 pay cycle with one pay reflecting a 4-week interval. Dr. Sauls indicated that the 27 two-week pay intervals should be implemented.

 Dr. Holodick requested that faculty evaluation of administrators be implemented on a trial basis this spring, beginning with the evaluation of the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Associate Vice President of Enrollment and Academic Services.

 Dr. Holodick requested that the Faculty Council consider developing a policy for allocating student travel money. The issue was referred to the A&P committee.

 Old Business:

 Dr. Sauls announced that the Board of Directors has requested additional information prior to their consideration of a proposal to improve the employment security of professional specialists by offering them multiyear appointments. Dr. Sauls will gather information about the issue from other academic institutions.

 In a related matter, Dr. Sauls requested the A&P committee readdress the issue of converting the appointments of Professional Specialists to tenure-track appointments. Dr. Marchese (chair, A&P) indicated that the issue had been on the agenda for the fall semester and would be considered during the current spring semester.

  Faculty Council continued their discussion of the proposed Senior Faculty Development Program (formerly Senior Faculty Review). The discussion centered on the allocation of funds for resources needed to support a faculty member’s professional development and whether resources must be tangible items. The current draft establishes “…a faculty development account containing $3500 for the faculty member’s exclusive use”, the use of which the committee would oversee.  However, the criteria to guide the committees need development. Dr. Sauls suggested that council invite Dr. McCauley to a future meeting to discuss the issue.

New Business:

 In anticipation of division meetings for the Spring semester, it was proposed that elections for vacancies on committees be done using computer-ballots for voting versus the traditional paper ballots. Several Council members who are advisors for student organizations remarked that their organizations have successfully used computer-ballots for recent elections. The Council agreed that the issue should be discussed with Mr. Paul Moran.

With respect to the formation and election of members to committees, a Council member noted the ‘disconnect’ between the new and old models of the Constitution. Dr. Sauls noted that we are using the old system only in those cases where an individual faculty member’s contractual rights might be involved.  He suggested that we accumulate some experience with the current system before making changes and returning to the Board.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:10 PM.

 Submitted by,

Joan Coffin