Faculty Senate Minutes
ACCD
Board Question and Answer Forum
Tuesday,
February 24, 2004
3
p.m.
Gallery
100
Watson
Fine Arts Center
St. Philip’s College
Start Time |
3
p.m. |
Stop Time |
4:45 p.m. |
Introduction |
Faculty Senate President Dee Joseph gave a warm welcome
to Dr. Gene Sprague, Mr. Denver McClendon, and Mr. James Rindfuss, three
members of the Alamo Community College District (ACCD) Board. |
|
Gene
Sprague |
Dr. Sprague complimented the ACCD board and the
colleges for their excellent performance.
He also stated that the board is working on a strategic plan. |
|
Denver McClendon |
The newest ACCD board member, McClendon described
St. Philip’s as “the jewel of the East Side.” He also stated that the public might be under the mistaken
notion that the trustees report to the chancellor. Actually, the board serves the entire ACCD system—students,
faculty, staff, administrators, and taxpayers. Our goal should be to educate the largest number of students
for the least amount of money. |
|
James Rindfuss |
Rindfuss notes that this was the first invitation
for the board to meet on the St. Philip’s Main Campus in the seven years he’s
served. Salaries are not set by the board but by a “bottom
up,” as opposed to a “top down,” process.
Although the district exists for the students, not the faculty,
students do need the best possible faculty.
If tuition increases are too high, students will not enroll, just as
if cities charge too much for taxes, people will no longer want to live in
those locales. Without students,
there would be no faculty. |
|
|
ACCD does more for the economy than several other
industries. Among other
accomplishments, it provides support for the San Antonio hospital and medical
community. Rindfuss believes
education will help put America “over the hump.” |
|
Step Increase |
The board is in the midst of the strategic
planning process. A tuition increase
is planned for Fall 2004. Another
source of revenue will come from the federal government because President
Bush plans to increase funding for community colleges. A goal of the board is to increase salaries. Most staff increases are a straight four
(4) percent. Sprague disagrees with
this compensation system. In approximately three months, Phase I of a new
salary compensation system should be implemented and in approximately eight
months, Phase II should be implemented. According to The Higher Education Coordinating
Board (THECB), ACCD graduates who become juniors at four-year institutions
earn higher grades than non-transfer students. |
|
Medical Benefits |
ACCD employees received a $600- (six
hundred-dollar) increase to offset the rises in healthcare costs. It was also
noted that faculty are deducted sick leave without their signatures. |
|
Procedures
Manual |
The ACCD policy manual is now online. A procedures manual, which could improve
governance, will be available online in the future. Amendments to policies must be approved
thirty(30)days prior to being published.
Policies need to be followed. |
|
ACCD
Departments |
There have been complaints that the ACCD hiring
process is too slow. The inclusion of
more automated process may speed up the processing of applications. The ACCD must also strive to function as division
serving the entire district, not as divisions serving themselves. |
|
Teaching Loads |
There is a complaint that Applied Science
instructors at St. Philip’s have teaching loads as high as 18 to 24 semester
hours. The board and the chancellor
feel teaching loads need to be consistent across the district. The board was under the impression that club
sponsors receive a reduced course load.
The faculty said that the faculty currently does not receive a reduced
course load for such activity. |
|
Improper
Deduction of Leave Time |
The board recommended that a bulletin board be
posted where faculty can air grievances about various issues similar to the
board’s bulletin board for increasing board member awareness prior to board
meetings. A new computer program
could help improve this process. Problems should be solved at the lowest possible
level. There are times when employees
do not feel they can speak with their supervisors and must move up. If something is wrong with the chain of
command, the chain needs to be fixed. |
|
Pro-Rated Pay
for Summer Classes |
The board said that even though pro-rated pay is
legal when there are fewer students and when there are more students than the
required number, the district does not have an official policy about this
issue. On the other hand, adding just ONE more student to
each class roll could improve district revenue considerably. |
|
New Northeast
Campus |
There is a concern that the Northeast Campus will
reduce funding at St. Philip’s. The
board assures us that funding for the Northeast Campus falls under a separate
budget category. Since St. Philip’s offers several vocational/
technical courses, more money is spent per student, as such classes must
limit enrollment to ten students. At the Northeast Campus, most of the
courses will be academic. It is
easier to have larger class sizes in such courses and spend less money per
student. Revenue generated from
Northeast Campus will be used for the entire district, not just the Northeast
Campus. Some of this funding and that
from San Antonio College can offset losses from vocational/technical courses
at St. Philip’s and other ACCD colleges.
Faculty |
|
|
Senate President Dee Joseph said St. Philip’s
makes most of its money through contact hours. St. Philip’s supercedes any sister college in this area. |
|
|
ACCD has a “central” style of organization. Instead of four human resources
departments, the district only has one. |
Questions from the Floor
|
Board Approval
for Purchases over $25,000 |
A member of the faculty expressed concern that
college departments requesting purchases over $25,000 must seek board
approval. The faculty member was
wondering if this dollar value could be raised. The board responded that the state of Texas
established this policy. |
|
Community
Partnerships |
Another question concerned community
partnerships. Specifically, a faculty
member wanted to know how St. Philip’s could go about obtaining additional
funding from the community. A board member responded that St. Philip’s
received $2.5 million during the month of February. St. Philip’s is also participating in various functions
throughout the city. |
|
Remodeling
Plans |
When making remodeling decisions, it can sometimes
be better to build anew than to renovate older buildings. New facilities must be large enough to
accommodate larger classes. A board member says libraries occupy too much space. There is a possibility that libraries in
newer buildings will occupy fewer square feet. New Braunsfels has a Central Technology Center
which does not compete with the main St. Philip’s campus. There are currently four construction projects,
and progress on them is going quite well.
|
|
Retirement
Package |
A retirement package will be available, but the
exact time has yet to be determined.
Such a package will not be available every year. Such plans are
created to help the District. An early retirement package reduces costs because
long-term employees, who usually earn the highest salaries, are eliminated
from the payroll. A drawback of an
early retirement packages is that it creates faculty shortages until retirees
can be replaced. Replacing faculty is
further complicated due to a national shortage of teachers. |
A videotape is on reserve at the St. Philip’s
College Library, 3rd Floor, Sutton Learning Center.
S
i g n a t u r e s
|
___________________ _________ |
___________________ _________ |
|
Sylvia E.
Phillips, Ph.D. Date Recording
Secretary Faculty Senate
2003-2004 |
Delia P.
Joseph Date President Faculty Senate
2003-2004 |