Johnson County Community College
Adjunct Council Meeting
April 5, 2023
Attendees
Tom Heapes
Farrell Jenab
Elaine Sinn
SarahGrace McKasson
Joelle Spotswood
Ann Fielder
Tanya Griffith
Rebecca Kastendick
Minutes
- Topic: Review/Approve minutes from the last meeting
Discussion: Minutes from the March 1, 2023 meeting were approved and are already posted in the Adjunct Faculty Canvas site.
Action: Rebecca will post the 3/1 minutes on the Adjunct Council blog so that they are accessible to all JCCC faculty and staff.
- Topic: Welcome New Division Representatives
Discussion: Tanya Griffin from Academic Support, SarahGrace McKasson from Business, and Joelle Spotswood from Arts and Design, Humanities, and Social Sciences have volunteered to serve and support their fellow Adjunct Faculty by participating in the Adjunct Council 2023-2024.
Action: A big welcome and thank you!
- Topic: Report from Dr. McCloud meeting—Rebecca
Discussion: Kim and Rebecca met with Dr. McCloud on March 20. Rebecca brought up the difficulty in finding Adjunct Faculty volunteers who are willing to donate their time to work on the Adjunct Council to Dr. McCloud. Many Adjunct Faculty members work multiple jobs. They have limited time to donate outside of work responsibilities. When asked what would happen if no Adjunct Faculty were available to work on the council, Dr. McCloud replied that the council “can become defunct.” When asked where Adjunct Faculty could share issues and explore recourse options if the council were defunct, he said that “no one has recourse” at JCCC. When asked how no Adjunct Council would affect shared governance, he replied that it would not have a bearing on shared governance. When asked about the 8/3/18 letter from the Higher Learning Commission [that required an Interim Report from JCCC “outlining the academic governance structure including academic leadership, academic and faculty committees and faculty including adjunct faculty to include communication processes and protocols between committees, leadership, and faculty…”], Dr. McCloud replied that the letter “did not mean that Adjunct Faculty were included in shared governance.”
The report sparked discussion about Adjunct Faculty forming a union. Farrell reported that she had just attended the Pullias & AAC&U Webinar where the winners of the Delphi Award (which presents a $15,000 cash award to two universities annually that support non-tenure-track, contingent, and/or adjunct faculty in pursing strategic priorities such as student learning and community engagement) were announced. All winners came from institutions where Adjunct Faculty were unionized. Another topic discussed was the importance of the Adjunct Council to have a clear purpose and find evidence for the value and fulfillment of that purpose. One idea was to look at JCCC’s return on investment for Adjunct Faculty and how Adjunct Faculty improve the student experience at JCCC.
Action: This topic requires further discussion.
- Topic: Report from ABC Representative—Joelle
Discussion: At the 3/6 meeting, the responsibilities of the new CAO were discussed. Joelle was unable to attend the 3/20 ABC meeting, but Farrell reported to the ABC that the Adjunct Council was having difficulty finding representatives because of no payment for time served.
Action: Joelle will report at the next ABC meeting.
- Topic: Recruiting New Adjunct Council Representatives—Rebecca
Discussion: While we have three new representatives for 2023-2024, we still are lacking representation from seven divisions.
Action: When Rebecca sends out these minutes to all Adjunct Faculty, she will also ask for volunteers to serve on the council.
- Topic: F23 SynergizED Event
Discussion: It was agreed that this event should happen. The F22 event had about 40 attendees and received very positive feedback.
Action: Planning will start with the May 3 meeting.
- Topic: Fall Meet and Greet
Discussion: Ann expressed her willingness to help organize this event even though she won’t be able to participate in the Adjunct Council in the fall.
Action: The Adjunct Council and Ann will continue contact about this.
- Topic: March 8 Ed Camp—Rebecca
Discussion: 10 Adjunct Faculty attended the Ed Camp and shared ideas about Redesigning your Canvas Course, Yuja, and Crucial Conversations.
Action: The next Ed Camp could be planned for the fall.
- Next meeting date and time: Wednesday, May 3 from 3:15-4:15 pm via Zoom