Faculty Council Meeting

Minutes for Meeting on January 23, 2006

12:15 PM, Woolworth Room

 

 

President:  Noreen Naiman                     Vice President:  Julie Graves               Secretary:  Tamar Castelloe

 

 

1.      Approval of Minutes from November & December

      Motions were made and seconded to approve each of the minutes from the November and December Faculty Council (FC) meetings.  There were votes to approve them, and the motions were passed.

 

 

  2.  Announcements:

 

a. NASA Downlink-Myra Halpin

Myra Halpin announced that there would be a live downlink from the International Space Station to our school the morning of February 15th.  She asked teachers to consider allowing their classes to attend.  [Secretary’s note:  In the days after this meeting, it was announced that classes would run on an altered schedule to accommodate the event.]

 

b. SLI "class parents"-Alison van den Berg & Tammy Parks

         Alison van den Berg and Tammy Parks expressed their appreciation for teachers’ involvement in students’ lives outside of the classroom (supporting sporting events, attending dances, etc.).  They announced a few ideas they have been considering that they referred to as contributing to a “cultural exchange.”  They include:

·         Alison and Tammy will attend FC meetings.

·         They would like to attend classes to get an idea of what students’ experiences are in the classroom at NCSSM.

·         Select SLI class sponsors who would write notes of encouragement to students on test days, be drivers for class field trips, attend any presentations students give in class, etc.

·         They would like to invite faculty members to “shadow” an SLI so that faculty can observe what it’s like to be “on hall” after hours.

    A faculty member added that SLI’s could also “shadow” teachers.  Alison and Tammy stated that they would

    send out an e-mail with more information.

 

   c.  Academic Technology Committee (ATC)-Jim Litle

   Jim Litle stated that the ATC has been discussing the academic honesty issue with the open-share T: Drive.  NCSSM scored 1.5 out of 5 on a security check by UNC.  It is being considered that students who want to share documents would have to physically set permission and allow others to view them.  The ATC would like to recommend that the T: Drive be locked down.  Jim invited any thoughts and asked that faculty members let someone on the committee know of their ideas of how to deal with the situation if they have any.

 

   d.  15th Annual Native American Powwow-Joe Liles

   Joe Liles announced that the Native American Powwow will be held on February 18th in the PEC.  He asked that anyone who would be willing to help on that day contact him.

 

   e.  Wellness-Lifestyle Initiative-Joan Barber

   Joan Barber talked briefly about the upcoming Wellness-Lifestyle Initiative, which promotes a healthy and fit lifestyle for everyone in the NCSSM community.  She encouraged faculty to get involved and be strong role models for the students.  The “event” will begin February 6th, and more information will be sent soon.

 

   f.  Unfortunate event in Thailand involving NC Couple-Gail Hudson

   Gail Hudson announced that a couple linked to the NCSSM community through an alum was slain in Thailand during a visit there.  The following is a portion of the message Gail sent to all faculty with regard to the incident:

 

Phillip and Ashley McRowan, from NC, were shot to death at a Buddhist monastery in northeastern Thailand.  An alum from NCSSM, Gabe Cade (brother to Emily Cade and Jason Cade who also graduated from here) and his wife were invited to Thailand, by the McRowans to teach English in a small school in Thailand, and had moved there.  At the time of the shooting, Gabe and his wife were not with the McRowans for the first time since they had moved to Thailand.  Gabe and his wife are back in the US and, although unharmed, are devastated by the violent and tragic loss of their friends.  

 

g.  Flower Sale-Jane Shlensky

   Jane Shlensky thanked the faculty for supporting the Asian Culture Club’s flower sale and stated that the official sales have ended.        

 

 

3.    Report from Faculty Welfare Committee-Ray Church, Dot Doyle, Jerry Boarman

 

a. 2006-2007 Calendar

         Dot Doyle stated that the Faculty Welfare Committee met with Jerry Boarman last year to work on the academic calendar, and they are working on it again this year.  Dot stated that on next year’s calendar, both supplemental and midterm progress report due dates are identified, and they are well spaced apart (~3 weeks).  The Faculty Welfare Committee asked the administration to consider a number of recommendations with regard to the calendar.  A summary of the comments that they forwarded to the administration is available under the following link:    ../Documents/Faculty Welfare Committee-2006-2007 Calendar Recommendations.htm

                   

         Joan Barber passed out Draft 7 of the calendar for next year to give us an idea of what it looks like.  It contained a summary of all work days and holidays, which goes to the Board of Trustees (BOT).

 

         A faculty member asked whether the administration would consider having NCSSM’s Spring Break holiday coincide with the NC public schools.  Joan stated that the holiday coincides with that of the Durham Public Schools next year.

 

b. Contracts

         It was stated that the Faculty Welfare Committee met with Steve Warshaw and Jerry on January 2nd to discuss faculty contracts.  The committee focused on two issues:  1) the criteria for Section II and Section III appointments, and 2) whether the number of Section II appointments matches the number of state-funded positions at NCSSM.

 

         The committee received clarification from Jerry that faculty members who serve on 1-year contracts for at least 2 years as of the end of the 2005-2006 academic year will receive a 2-year contract, provided that Steve, the deans, and discipline and department members deem it appropriate.  Faculty who were hired at the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year will be eligible for such a contract after the 2006-2007 school year.  The department would advertise the position and may offer it to an individual off-campus, but if the position is filled by that person, they will be offered a 1-year contract.

 

         The committee made three recommendations to the administration:

·  In future years, the number of multi-year contracts should match the number of state-funded positions.  They discourage the filling of positions funded by “soft money” with multi-year contracts.  The administration agreed.

 

·  Newly hired faculty should be offered a 2-year contract if sufficient funds (not including soft money) are available. 

 

·  Beginning this year, if faculty members on 1-year contracts are offered a position to continue on a 1-year contract, they should be provided with a written contract as early in the school year as possible, preferably by mid-March.  It is understood that at this time, all contracts are expected to be offered by April 1st.

After Dot’s report, Jerry stated that the Board “makes the policy” on faculty contracts, and the institution creates the “procedures”.  He said that the Board is giving latitude to creating the procedure.  The Faculty Welfare Committee asked the administration to put the procedure in writing.  There was discussion about why 2-year contracts aren’t offered to newly hired faculty, and Jerry expressed that they essentially are.  He stated that, unless a faculty member fails at their job and their dean recommends that their contract not be renewed, they will receive a second 1-year contract.  He added that a considerable amount of documentation would be necessary to prove that a faculty member not offered a second 1-year contract was given resources to improve, but continued to perform poorly.

 

A faculty member asked whether a newly hired teacher from off-campus would ever be hired for more than a 1-year contract.  Steve replied that they would not.  He added that this is not a change in policy but an option in procedure that the administration has chosen to take.  For the last few years, the administration has been operating under Section III of the Faculty Regulations on Employment.

 

A faculty member recommended that the Board be approached to clarify the wording in the policy on faculty contracts.  Steve stated that if we go to the Board about making any changes to the policy, it would open things up to anything else they may want to change.

 

Another faculty member addressed how this policy is presented to potential employees and that they need to be made fully aware of it.  Steve replied by saying that Jerry met with each 1st year faculty member in January to corroborate that they were offered a 1-year, 1-year, 2-year progression in contract.

 

There was continued discussion regarding offering new positions with multi-year contracts.  It was also expressed that it is unclear how many positions are vacant and how many positions are actually available.

 

Jerry added that the procedure currently being followed is not out of line of other institutions that give tenure or other such contract progressions.  He “believes firmly that people should be able to prove themselves and be rewarded for that with another contract.”  He added that faculty are being given a 1-year opportunity to do that.

 

Dot encouraged all faculty to read the regulations carefully and react to the document that Steve and Jerry provided us during the meeting (which will be posted on this site as soon as it is finalized by the administration).  The Faculty Welfare Committee needs the faculty’s input.

 

 

4.    Research Program-discussion of 3 proposed research options

There was insufficient time to address this topic.

 

 

The meeting adjourned at 1:25 pm.