May 14, 2021 @ 1 pm; Virtual Meeting

  1. Call to Order: Daniel Dylla
    1. Meeting begins at 1:03pm.
  2. Approval of April 2021 Minutes
    1. Tod Bisch moves to accept the minutes as presented. Mary Lawson seconds. 
    1. The minutes are accepted. 
  3. Special Guest: None
  4. Standing Committee Reports:
  5. Compensation, Benefits, & Workload: Tod Bisch
    1. Met on May 7, 1pm via WebEx
    1. Stacey Higdon is leading the MFA as Terminal Status—with others from the committee. Report will be forthcoming. 
    1. Charles LaMendola will have more from the Adjunct Caucus at his report.
    1. Overload discussion will be under New Business. 
    1. Compensation proposal (Administration): currently, only advocating for 2% step – not raise of scale.
    1. Next Meeting: June 4, 1pm via WebEx
  6. Finance & Treasurer’s Report: Mary Lawson
    1. Some money is coming out of funds for Professional Development.
    1. The Adjunct Emergency Fund is getting donations; there is the one at the Foundation and the one that is out of Talent Engagement.
    1. Finance is working on a process for payment for requesting a speaker through funds generated by the Endowment. 
  7. Professional Development: Jennifer Vacca
    1. Met April 27 for the last meeting of the spring. 
    1. Bedichek-Orman Review committee will meet over the summer. 
    1. Launched Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards: 6 winners will be announced at the Bedichek-Orman auction. 
  8. Educational Affairs: Nikky Boutte-Heiniluoma
    1. No report
  9. Policies and Procedures: Laurel Lacroix
    1. No report
  10. Student Success: Kathy Najafi
    1. Equity document and form were sent out in advance. 
      1. This is a self-evaluation the committee created for faculty; it is about equity in the classroom and could be helpful when putting a syllabus together. There is nothing required with this. 
    1. The goal would be to send this out three times a year. This will be presented under New Business for a vote for Senate backing.
    1. Send any proposed changes to wording to Kathy Najafi. 
    1. K. Najafi thanks the committee. 
  11. Graduation: Darin Baskin
    1. Daniel Dylla: the event is happening now with some pre-recorded material. Thank you to those who participated in any of the events.   
  12. Instructional Technology: Stacey Higdon
    1. No report
  13. Diversity and Inclusion: Nikky Boutte-Heiniluoma and Mary Lawson
    1. Reminder about Parish Conkling’s Canvas module for resources.
    1. There is a link that will be sent out about SafeZone trainings in June and July.
    1. The committee did not meet last week. Will meet in June and July.
      1. Upcoming discussion: priorities for moving forward and for on-campus return. 
  14. Special Reports, Committees and Caucuses:         
  15. Past Presidents Caucus: David White
    1. No report, but the Caucus continues to monitor the situation with the Trustees.   
      1. There may be an in-person Board meeting soon—possibly at West Loop. 
  16. Chair Caucus: Nikky Boutte-Heiniluoma
    1. Laurel Lacroix:  Caucus met yesterday. 
      1. Newly elected Chairs and Associate chairs were invited. 
      1. Jerome Drain was present. 
  17. Adjunct Caucus: Charles LaMendola
    1. Met today, 11am. 
      1. Daniel Dylla and Jennifer Vacca attended. 
    1. Meetings will continue in summer. 
    1. Essay winners: 1st place: Laura Lark from Fashion Design at Central; 2nd place: Trina Walker in History; 3rd place: Liza Powers in History. 
      1. Essays will remain on the Senate website. 
      1. Thanks for gift card donations and to the judges.  
    1. Caucus has made a formal request for a definition of an adjunct beyond what is in the Faculty Handbook.
  18. Bedichek-Orman Auction: Erica Stevens and Marcelo Gonzalez
    1. Erica Stevens: Met on May 6.  
      1. Discussed costs for Handbid.
      1. Donations are already coming in for the auction. 
      1. Reminder that auction is November 6. Theme is Masquerade.
      1. The event will likely be hybrid. Registration is open now at https://hcc.events.idloom.com/2021bo
    1. Next meeting: June 3, 4pm 
  19. Faculty Senate Conference: Keitha Robinson and Debra Schultz
    1. Debra Schultz: Recordings of sessions are ready and will be added to the Senate website. Alternatively, you can search Edutube for Micro-Conference. For now, the certificate links are still active in the videos. 
  20. HCC Foundation: Antrece Baggett & Mary Lawson
    1. No report
  21. Concourse Update: Karen Saenz
    1. Thanks to all those involved.
    1. Let the team know about necessary adjustments for Concourse moving forward. 
    1. Now available at Course Syllabus for summer Canvas shells.  
      1. Help documents and on-demand training also available. The first round of live trainings – ongoing until May 27.
      1. Concourse is required for Fall 2021. Working on it early (for summer classes) is advisable. 
      1. Goal is to have the Course Syllabus in place for faculty 4 weeks before classes begin.
  22. President’s Report: Daniel Dylla
    1. Board and Admin updates 
      1. The proposed budget has been presented to the Board.
    1. Chancellor updates 
      1. The Chancellor is interested in meeting with the Senate to present updates on organization and budget. There could be a special meeting for this. 
    1. President updates
      1. HCC reopening guidelines for Summer 
        1. May 24, 2021: Faculty return with safety protocols
        1. June 7, 2021: Student return with safety protocols
        1. Up-to-date information about locations opening: https://www.hccs.edu/locations/   
      1. Elections
      1. Request for Trainings Calendar 
        1. In Progress
      1. Hybrid Meeting Model
        1. In Progress
      1. Maxient 
        1. Student academic complaints will go to relevant Deans in the programs. 
        1. Grade Appeals will also be handled in Maxient. 
      1. 50 new Temp FT faculty in high-demand areas
        1. These positions will be from HEERF funds
          1. Alan Ainsworth: there is an issue as these positions are separate from other Temp FT (from resignations, retirements, etc.).
          1. Jerome Drain is also proposing that these facuty have a different workload than regular Temp FT. 
            1. Workload would be greater; they would also not be required to do other parts like service, advising, etc. 
  23. Old (unfinished) Business:
    1. None
  24. New Business:
    1.  Resolution from Student Success, Kathy Najafi
      1. Re: promoting equity in the classroom. Asking Senate to approve sending out self-evaluation to faculty. Since this is from committee, no second is needed. 
      1. Discussion 
        1. Comment, Mary Lawson: Definition of Equity needs to be more detailed. 
          1. K. Najafi would collect feedback and edit the draft document before the final version goes out.
        1. Question, Donald Parker: Are these mandates / requirements? 
          1. No. These are suggestions for promoting equity. It is a self-evaluation tool. 
        1. Question from the Chat: Will this be part of measures in PEP evaluations? 
          1. No. This is self-evaluative. 
        1. Question: How often it should be sent out? 
          1. Ideally before each semester when faculty are preparing syllabi. 
        1. Laurel Lacroix moves to close discussion. Marjorie Brown seconds.
          1. After a vote, discussion is closed. 
          1. After another vote, the resolution to formally recognize the document passes.
    1. Resolution from Overload Cap Workgroup, David Ross 

DRAFT STATEMENT BY FACULTY SENATE ON HCCS POLICY CONCERNING OVERLOAD ASSIGNMENTS. 

By David A. Ross
Pursuant to discussions at the April 2021 meeting of the Faculty Senate 

Recent discussions about HCCS policy on overload teaching assignments for full- time instructors have caused considerable concern among HCCS instructors. This discussion began at recent meetings of the Board of Trustees and has caused apprehension among faculty that the HCC Administration will feel pressure to restrict opportunities for teaching overload classes. In response to this apprehension, the Faculty Senate would like to articulate a policy on overloads which will guard faculty interests while maximizing assurance of quality instruction. 

  1. The current policy on overloads leaves most of the decisions in the hands of department chairs. The college has established an overall cap of 12 hours (i.e. 4 courses, or fewer in the case of 4-hour or 5 hour courses), but the decision to award overloads up to that point is a staffing decision made in most cases by the chairs. 
  2. An overload course is paid at the per-course adjunct rate. Therefore, affording overload opportunities imposes no extra financial burden on the college. 
  3. Hiring full-time faculty to teach overloads is not an alternative to hiring adjunct instructors. Even with overload assignments, in most departments, the number of courses offered far exceeds the capacity of full-time faculty. In the high-enrollment departments, the number of courses taught by adjuncts is considerably greater than those taught by full-time faculty on overloads. 
  4. Teaching overload classes does not exempt full-time faculty from non- teaching elements of their job description, including professional development and academic advising. The department chairs have the responsibility of making sure that those teaching overload assignments are fulfilling all aspects of their contractual responsibilities. 
  5. Administrators who contemplate restricting the number of overload courses available to full-time faculty must take into account that such a move will entail finding an equivalent number of well-qualified adjunct instructors, whose supply cannot be guaranteed, or additional full-time faculty, which are not currently budgeted for.

For these reasons, the Faculty Senate does not favor a change in our current policy on overload assignments for full-time faculty. 

  1. David Ross provides context about the feelings from current Board members—that a few faculty are making “too much” in overall pay.
    1. There is also a Board belief that overloads allow faculty to, again, make “too much” and that this can only lead to a decline in quality. There is some Senate discussion that perhaps the Board can only frame the idea of academic rigor in fiscal terms. 
    1. Ross outlines the resolution (presented above) that advocates keeping the current overload policy. 
      1. Comments how such a drastic proposed policy change (from the Board and Administration) could cause a staffing crisis.
      1. Ross moves to adopt the 5 points as a proposed overload policy for HCC. Another seconds the motion.
    1. The resolution is open for discussion. 
      1. Carlos Bohorquez is recognized and has the floor.
        1. From Adjunct Caucus: There have been some concerns to the response to the proposal. There has not been enough time to talk about this.  
        1. There is a lack of transparency in teaching assignments and the appearance of favoritism for FT. Propose this as an opportunity to address those concerns and develop a unified response that includes FT and PT perspectives.
        1. Question, Daniel Dylla: Does that proposal make sense in the scope of this document? 
          1. No, but this is the only opportunity to discuss our concerns for a transparent policy.
          1. Point of Order, Alan Ainsworth: This is a worthy discussion, but it is not relevant to this one. 
          1. Comment, Daniel Dylla to Carlos Bohoquez: Please stay after the vote and we can talk about this.
          1. Comment, David Ross: Anyone who proposes a need for transparency in hiring practices should come forward with a resolution.
          1. Comment, Daniel Dylla: We are going to discuss D. Ross’ resolution, and we will return to this. 
          1. The question was called in the Chat. 
            1. There is further discussion.
          1. David Ross, Point of Order: The question was already called. This is seconded by Kathy Najafi. 
          1. There is discussion about Robert’s Rules of Order. 
          1. There is a vote to end discussion. It does not pass. Discussion remains open. 
            1. Bennie Ables is recognized and has the floor. 
              1. Discusses staffing in History and overall difficulties when there are not enough faculty.
            1. Antrece Baggett is recognized and has the floor.
              1. Echoes staffing in History.
              1. (1) Comments that there is an unsubstantiated idea that Chairs and Associate Chairs must be doing something behind closed doors to not assign classes; Instructional Leaders are doing the best they can to complete a task. 
              1. (2) Asks those unfamiliar with Robert’s Rules of Order to get a copy to better understand meeting progression. 
                1. Notes from Chat and discussion: there is a Robert’s Rules cheat sheet on the Senate website. There are also online resources elsewhere.
            1. Further discussion from the floor about current policy. 
            1. David Ross reclaims discussion but yields to Meghan Roddy.
              1. Meghan Roddy is recognized and has the floor.  
                1. Question to Alan Ainsworth about the proposed workload change. Comments that these two things (overload policy changes and 50 temp FT hires) seem timed in concerning ways.
                1. Comment, Alan Ainsworth: Believes there should be time to address this, but it is not germane right now.
            1. Jaime Hernandez is recognized and has the floor.
              1. The current policy is for 12 hours of overload, yes, but this is not an absolute. It is based on need.  
            1. Dan Flores is recognized and has the floor. 
              1. Comments on the Board’s overall attitude towards money. 
            1. Etta Smith is recognized and has the floor. 
              1. Furthers Flores’ point. If the Board is concerned that certain FT faculty make too much money within HCC, what about PT faculty with FT jobs elsewhere? Why, then, is the Board targeting / minimizing FT income? 
            1. David Ross calls the question, and Kathy Najafi seconds. There are no objections to this. 
            1. Some think that the resolution should go back to committee. However, that is not what is being voted on at this time. This is a vote to close discussion. 
              1. The vote passes. All discussion on this topic is closed.   
            1. There is a vote to pass the resolution. 
              1. Motion passes, and the resolution will be presented to Norma Perez
            1. Daniel Dylla, Point of Privilege: The issue from Carlos Bohorquez is not New Business; therefore, Dylla and Bohorquez will discuss it outside of the meeting.
              1. Comment, Charles LaMendola: Perceived bias in staffing PT vs. FT overload. Policy for transparency in staffing needed. 
              1. Daniel Dylla refers this idea to Compensation. Melissa Miller-Waters will assist. 
              1. The issue of the 50 Temp FT faculty in high-demand areas / workload would also go to Compensation. However, there is not enough information about this. 
  2. Announcements
    1. Jennifer Vacca: The deadline for Adjunct Academy Facilitator applications is this Monday, 5pm.  
    1. Charles LaMendola: Nominations for Adjunct Caucus Chair are open.  
  3. Adjournment (no “second” required)
    1. Laurel Lacroix moves to adjourn.
    1. The meeting ends at 3:09pm. 

NEXT MEETING: June 11, 2021

1 pm – Virtual