Faculty Senate Reports 2015-2016

• Faculty Senate Report from Andrea Broomfield, Faculty Senator, English-Journalism Division for Sept. 17, 2015, 3:30-5:30

The meeting began with a visit from President Sopcich who reported on, among other items, JCCC’s new partnership with KU.  Students will now be able to enroll simultaneously at JCCC for general education courses and at KU for degree-specific courses. President Sopcich also noted that credit enrollment rebounded  slightly this semester.  He called attention to the Oct. 3 Board of Trustees retreat which will focus on campus building upgrades.

Trustee Greg Musil also made a guest appearance.  He briefly outlined the role of Collegial Steering and its importance as a “sounding board” and place where college issues will be discussed. The objective of Collegial Steering will not be to make decisions, however. Board members are committed, Musil also noted, to being more actively involved in daily life at JCCC, participating as schedules will allow in President Sopcich’s coffee chats with students and other events that put them in among faculty, students, and staff.

Reports from College-Wide Committees included updates from College Accreditation and Collegial Steering.  Ron Palcic, President of the FA, also noted the formation of a new committee that includes several faculty who will be working with Larry Reynolds and Barbara Larson to discuss the use of classroom space and how to make the space more conducive to teaching and learning.

Irene Schmidt discussed Campus Equity Week, which focuses attention on the ratio of Full-Time to Part-Time faculty and what it means to the quality of student education and adjunct well-being, both in terms of adjuncts at JCCC and also nationwide.  Campus Equity Week begins in October.  Their website is available at http://www.campusequityweek.org/2013/

• The Faculty Senate from Lorie Paldino, Thursday, Sept. 17 in RC 270 from 3:30 – 5:30.

Below are the highlights.  The last one in red asks for your feedback!  I could use some ideas, and I would like to know who is interested in participating:

President Joe Sopcich:  JCCC and KU introduced a new degree partnership program which helps students chart a path to their goals early in their academic career, enabling them to earn both an associate’s degree from JCCC and a bachelor’s degree from KU.  The program will allow students to be fully admitted at both institutions. Students can enroll in core classes at JCCC; at the same time, they can take upper-level, program-specific courses at KU, either in Lawrence or at the Edwards campus in Overland Park.   This is exciting news.  We are the only ones that KU has partnered with in such a way.

The latest demographics show an increase in Hispanic students (9%).

The college is moving forward with plans to renovate old classrooms and spaces which have not been updated in years, including the Carlsen Center.

Finally, the college is asking the Board of Trustees to pass a “metro rate” for students living just over the MO line to entice them to come to JCCC.

Trustee Greg Musil visited with the senate.  He said it is part of a culture shift with the Board of Trustees.  Their goal is to get out and be seen.  Note that they are a volunteer board, so it is a challenge for some to get to campus during the day.

Reports from College-wide Committees:

College Accreditation Report:  Sheri Barrett visited the senate to update us on the accreditation report due in June of ’17 and the ’17-’18 multi-day visit by an accreditation team.  They will need volunteers for teams in 6 categories, the largest of which is “Helping Students Learn.”  The visiting team will also want to meet us.  If you would like more information on the 6 categories and opportunities to volunteer, let me know.

Space Committee:  Ron Palcic reports that there are 6 faculty members on the space committee.  They are looking 50 years ahead to plan for space use.

Collegial Steering:  Traci Putnam, adjunct in Math, is the new rep on Collegial Steering.  She reported that Chair Greg Musil set out the guidelines for the group, which are fairly open and meant to promote discussion and honest questions.

Faculty Voices:  Irene Schmidt, adjunct Communications, attended the first meeting.  Faculty Voices is a national initiative which looks at student retention rates.  The group is gathering information for its national report.

Reports from Senate Committees:

Chairs Special Committee:  Andrea Broomfield reported that they are just waiting on a few more faculty chairs to return their surveys so the group can compile their report.

Communications:  Patrick Lafferty reported that the committee has revised the blog http://blogs.jccc.edu/facultysenate/  If you are looking for more information (or official minutes), you can check that site.

Elections: The committee is working to address a quick response to requests for committee members by administration and other faculty groups. They will provide a form for the requesting individual to submit.  They also have a standard questionnaire to be used in any election.  In-house elections of senators to committees will test Poll Everywhere for effectiveness and ease of use.

Student Privacy vs. Classroom Safety:  An issue was brought to the senate’s attention:  a professor was teaching a student who became hostile and harassing over time.  The situation became dangerous.  It turns out the student had behavior issues which were known to Access Services but not faculty.  The faculty member is asking why there was no notification of the problems.

Counseling stated that FERPA prevents them from revealing what students tell them.  What is put in an Access Services plan will only be shared with faculty if the student approves it.  In this case, the student did not.

Senators suggested that counseling look into revising the form that the student fills out to include a check box which states something like “I am okay with Access Services disclosing this information to my professors.”

Counseling will bring this suggestion to the director and let us know.

Campus Equity Week:  Campus Equity Week is a national movement to support adjuncts in higher education.  Check out their website:  http://www.campusequityweek.org/2013/  A stated principle of CEW is “that quality education depends practically and ethically on professional and just working conditions for all faculty.  The crisis of contingent faculty at colleges and universities is at the core of the inequities that pervade higher education.”

Irene Schmidt put forth a motion, which was passed unanimously, that the senate would support her letter to the editor to celebrate adjunct faculty achievement, raise awareness of the FT/PT ratios, and reference the national campaign.  Furthermore, the senate discussed ordering buttons to support the cause.  That issue was not voted on, but will be discussed further via email.

• Synopsis of the Faculty Senate Meeting, August 20, 2015