Minutes Faculty Senate Meeting

March 5, 2003

Wednesday - 3:00 PM

SCI. Bldg. Room #208

 

Members Present:

Members Absent:

Ed Beaty                  

Diane Bellinger  

Larry Duron    

Herman Hauschildt

Mary Hays

Tim Nealon                

Sylvia Phillips

Ken Poff

Eleanor Seiferth               

Sandra Snavely

Emily Staats 

David Weaver

Lester Hall

George Johnson                                      

Dee Joseph

Van Lopez

Sean Nighbert

James West

 

Guests:

 

·         none

 

 

 


Call To Order

 

  • Tim Nealon called the meeting to order at 3:04 p.m.

 

Approval and Correction of Minutes

 

  • Minutes for the January 29, 2003 meeting were approved.

 

Treasurer’s Report

 

  • Sandra Snavely stated that the treasury currently contains $1500.  The budgetary account of the Vice President of Academic Affairs paid Sylvia Phillips’ expenses for the October TCCTA Conference for faculty leaders.

 

Old Business

 

Committee Reports

 

     Faculty Hearing Committee    

 

·         This committee has not been called.

 

     Professional Concerns Committee

 

·         A Blue Ribbon Committee has been appointed to work on the Faculty Handbook.

·         Tim Nealon feels our professional concerns committee did a “bang up” job on the Faculty Handbook.

·         In the opinion of the Faculty Senators, the names of the Professional Concerns Committee should be included in the final Faculty Handbook.

·         Ellie Seiferth, a Faculty Senator, felt the Professional Concerns Committee deserved to be praised.

·         Herman Hauschildt, a member of the Professional Concerns Committee, said it was very hard to “tear apart” the documents.  He and other Senators stated the need for an up-to-date Faculty Handbook so we have proper guidance on procedures such as dropping students and other day-to-day operations.

 

     Faculty Development Committee

 

·         Faculty Excellence Award

·         In two weeks, a letter will be distributed requesting nominations for the Faculty Excellence Award.

·         Tim Nealon requested the names of one or two new committee members for the Faculty Development Committee.

·         Phil Raue, a former Faculty Senator, just stepped down from this committee, while Dee Joseph, Faculty Senate Vice President, will probably not be returning this semester.

·         Ellie Seiferth volunteered to replace Phil on the committee.

·         The current committee consists of Lester Hall, Ed Beatty, Dee Joseph, Tim Nealon, and Ellie Seiferth

 

Ceremonial Mace

 

·         Dr. Runnels has agreed to fund the ceremonial mace.

·         Sandra Snavely, Interior Design, Cipriano Gonzales, and Robert Porter, all from the Southwest Campus, are working on the materials for the ceremonial mace.

 

Handicapped Parking

 

  • When attending the President’s Cabinet Meeting for Tim Nealon on February 18, Sylvia Phillips mentioned that one of the Faculty members was concerned about the need for more handicapped parking spaces in the faculty and staff parking lot at the corner of Mittman and Dakota, directly across the street from the Sutton Learning Center.
  • Members of the President’s Cabinet said that St. Philip’s is currently compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

·         An allied issue raised was that neither the faculty/staff nor student parking lots have enough wheel-chair accessible slots.

 

Monday through Thursday Class Schedules

 

  • Tim Nealon predicts that this initiative probably “will not fly” because attendance slows down too much on Fridays.

 

Leave Deductions without Faculty Consent

 

  • A faculty member has complained that a chairperson forwarded leave forms to payroll without the signature of the faculty member, a practice which is illegal.
  • The faculty member has been advised to

·         Prepare a written statement of the incident and present to Don Kraft of Human Resources

·         If the results are unsatisfactory, then speak with the Professional Concerns Committee of the Faculty Senate, which consists of Ed Beaty, Tom Davis, Herman Hauschildt, and Emily Staats.

  • One of the senators expressed concerned about leave deductions.  He feels that if, indeed, we are professionals, we should not be on hourly duty and should be able to come and go as needed.

 

New Business

 

Faculty Senate President’s Report

 

     President’s Council Meetings

    

·         Since our last Faculty Senate meeting of Wednesday, January 29, two President’s Council meetings were held Tuesday, February 18 and Tuesday, March 4. 

·         Sylvia Phillips attended the February 18 meeting for Tim Nealon, whereas Tim attended the March 4 meeting.

 

     February 18 Meeting

 

·         In addition to discussing the handicapped parking situation, Sylvia Phillips also forwarded the faculty complaint that there were not enough support services available to faculty on weekends.

·         After the meeting, Dr. Byrd told Sylvia that he would speak with Mr. Harris about the problem.

·         Don Kraft of Human Resources said the hiring freeze is being handled “very carefully.”

·         An administrative planning session is being planned to discuss new hires and the hiring freeze.

·         Since St. Philip’s has 37 1/2 vacant and frozen positions, more than any of the other ACCD colleges, the state deficit is having an extreme impact on us.

·         The upcoming reduction will be between $850,000 to one million dollars.

·         We must reduce the use of temporary full timers.  Furthermore, vice presidents are asked to work with budget managers to look at budgets for temporaries and part-timers.

·         The $400,000 growth fund will not be used to offset reduced college expenses.

·         A meeting was scheduled for February 28 to further discuss the budgetary situation.

·         Despite budgetary challenges, Dr. Runnels says that we are not in a financial crisis, nor should we communicate that we are in a financial crisis.  We will maintain or improve our current level of service with the money remaining.  There is no reason why we cannot continue to serve and respond to opportunities.

·         Dr. Runnels encouraged us to attend the San Antonio Symphony Concert at St. Philip’s Watson Fine Arts Center Saturday, March 8, at 8 pm.

§         Guest conductor Michael Morgan from the Oakland Symphony Orchestra was scheduled to oversee the San Antonio Symphony.

§         Guest performers were to include Aimee Puente, a soprano, and David Phillips, a pianist.

§         Due to the budget situation, this 15-year-old program may have to be discontinued because St. Philip’s pays approximately $50,000 for the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra residency at St. Philip’s.

·         A question arose about the adequacy of support services at St. Philip’s.  Let’s say that someone visits the nurse and the nurse is not available.  What does the college do under such circumstances to make sure the service is met?

·         Dr. Crow of Records and Registration said that 195 students marched in the December 2002 graduation and that 315 have applied for May 2003 graduation.  St. Philip’s encourages its students to attend the ceremonies and march, even if the students lack enough credits for the degree itself.

·         Dr. Byrd was extremely pleased with the Adjunct Faculty Workshop held Saturday, February 15.  “It was so good that no one wanted to leave!” he said.

·         The Fisk University Singers performed at the Empire Theater Sunday evening, February 16.  The singers worked with our college choir.  Members of the Learning Resource Center (Library) and Financial Aid served as college ambassadors.

·         Pat Williams of the Learning Resource Center (Library) won one of the NISOD awards.

 

March 4 Meeting

 

·        Faculty positions remain frozen.

·        The San Antonio Symphony will have its residency at St. Philip’s March 4 to 8, with a culminating performance at 8 pm March 8 at the Watson Fine Arts Center.

·        Administrators were to meet March 5 to discuss the budget situation.

·         The Texas State Performance Review report, written under the direction of Carol Strayhorn, the State Comptroller, is expected to be prepared in early June.  Once completed, this document can only be read by a select few, not by everyone at the college.  Recommendations stemming from the report will not be required to be acted upon.  If the community college receives recommendations from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges, for example, such recommendations would be regarded as requirements.  The ones stemming from the TSPR need not be regarded as requirements.

·         Input for the college-wide strategic plan will be gathered.  The next step will be to forward the information to a consultant who will prepare the final document.

·         Employee Development Day for Staff is Monday morning, March 17.

·         Alvoid Bennett is recuperating from an illness.

 

Academic Affairs Meeting

 

·         Sean Nighbert attended the Academic Affairs Meeting of Monday, February 24, on behalf of the Faculty Senate.

·         The meeting opened with a presentation from the Natural Sciences department.  Some of the department’s initiatives include Mitchell Lake, service learning, a project in Washington state, and global issues.

·         There will be personnel cuts.  Cross training may help us function on reduced resources.

·         Current enrollment is 11.024 students for Spring and Flex II.  Enrollment could be reduced if students must leave to fight in the war.

·         The goal for Spring Flex II is to have at least 15 students enrolled in each class. 

·         For the greatest classroom efficiency, classes with large numbers of students will be moved to the ASB Building.

·         In the future, travel funds will be very difficult to obtain.