HCC FACULTY SENATE

July 10, 2020 @ 1:00 pm; Virtual Meeting

  • Call to Order: Desmond Lewis
    • The WebEx meeting begins at 1:01 pm.
    • A reminder to please mute microphones if not speaking
  • Approval of June 2020 Minutes.
    • The voting mechanism for approving the minutes is on the Senate MS Teams site. Desmond Lewis allows time for delegates to look at the form and vote.
      • Laurel Lacroix makes a motion to approve the minutes. It is seconded by Charles LaMendola.  
      • The minutes pass as-is.
  • Standing Committee Reports:
    • Compensation, Benefits, & Workload: Tod Bisch
      • Adjunct Professional Development: Stipends – Jennifer Vacca
        • Questions about the process – several met with Norma Perez (NP) to discuss answers. Stipends for Adjunct Academy and Canvas training now slated for 7/15.
        • Stipends for Nathan Smith’s OER training – forwarded to NP
        • Stipends will continue, but could be removed based on funding.
      • Adjunct Caucus
        • Stipends and letters of reasonable assurance
      • Next meeting – August 7 at 1pm via WebEx or MS Teams
    • Finance & Treasurer’s Report: Mary Lawson
      • Up $350 in Operating Account from faculty / staff donations
    • Professional Development: Mia Taylor
      • No report: yields time to Linda Graham for Bedichek-Orman
    • Educational Affairs: Nikky Boutte-Heiniluoma
      • Joint meeting with Policies and Procedures: yields time to Laurel Lacroix
    • Policies and Procedures: Laurel Lacroix
      • In process of working out voting for Senate elections for upcoming year. That could also translate into virtual voting for the upcoming chair elections.
      • NP and Jerome Drain (JD) have mentioned there will be FT and PT training for WS and FC.
      • Pay for adjunct professional development
        • NP is in talks with Janet May. Could possibly use CARES funding, but it is up to Talent Engagement.
    • Student Success: Kathy Najafi
      • No report
    • Graduation: Darin Baskin
      • No report
  • Instructional Technology: Stacey Higdon
    • Renewal of the LMS Advisory committee in some form
    • Strong discovery for a replacement of LW with a goal for an AY 2021-RFP
    • Next meeting: August 11 or 12 / Tim Snyder, Lorah Gough will be guests.
    • If interested in joining committee, email S. Higdon.
  • Diversity and Inclusion: Helen Graham
    • The committee met this past week.
      • Creating ideas for action plan on the webinar on police brutality and systemic racism / email any suggestions by COB, Monday, July 13
      • Conference on October 15 and 16, the 2nd annual “A Way Forward: Healing Racism” hosted by the Center for Healing Racism and HCC: the committee has been tasked with some of the heavy work for the conference.
    • Please email H. Graham, if interested.
    • There will be another committee meeting in the next week.
  • Special Reports, Committees and Caucuses:      
    • Past Presidents: Darin Baskin
      • No report; however, we would like to acknowledge the passing of a colleague, Judy Hogan Cantwell.
    • Chair Caucus: Nikky Boutte-Heiniluoma (NBH)
      • Met with NP and JD for Chair Advisory on Wednesday, July 8. Re: fall
      • Met for Chair Caucus on Thursday, July 9
        • More questions will go to NP, so please email those to NBH.
    • Adjunct Caucus: Charles LaMendola
      • Met for the first time virtually today; Daniel Dylla was present.
        • Compensation issues: unemployment and stipends
        • Bylaws
        • Fall 2020 survey under development
    • Bedichek-Orman Auction: Linda Graham
      • Thank you to HCC Foundation for all it has provided.
      • Accepting donations
      • Auction will be completely virtual.
      • Meeting on Tuesday, July 14 at 2pm.
        • Will discuss donations and drop-off points among other things.
      • Contact L. Graham or Erica Stevens if interested in attending the meeting.
    • Faculty Conference: Debra Schultz and Keitha Robinson
      • No report
    • All-Faculty Retreat: Helen Graham
      • No report
    • HCC Foundation: Antrece Baggett & Mary Lawson
      • As of May 2020, the Foundation has awarded over a million dollars to students.
      • Remind students that the scholarship application is open.
  • President’s Report: Desmond Lewis
    • Planning
      • Ongoing for fall modalities 
      • Working to bring students back to complete Spring 2020 labs
      • Nothing on campus right now
    • Reading circles, part of QEP 
      • More information forthcoming
    • Enrollment
      • 35% down for fall; this is aggregated and includes all different variations.
    • Layered protections on campuses
      • Policing of process
      • Working with Microsoft for a solution for a real-time method to track students in the classroom
      • Masks are mandatory on campus.
    • TSI
      • Cannot administer, so using transcripts and other methods
    • Federal order for international students
      • More FC will be added—enrollment in existing courses will not be expanded.
    • Learning Glass
      • JD working with Richard Gosselin on something similar to Learning Glass
    • Space Utilization
      • At last Board meeting: space study at different colleges, but data was pre-COVID. The group will re-evaluate recommendations.
    • Commitment to equity
    • Judy Cantwell’s passing
  • Old (unfinished) Business:
    • None
  • New Business:
    • Proclamation Regarding Foundation Support of Faculty
    • WHEREAS the annual Houston Community College Bedichek-Orman auction raises money for adjunct and full-time professional development and memberships to professional organizations, and

WHEREAS the annual Bedichek-Orman auction cannot be held in person this year due to Covid-19 concerns, and

WHEREAS the Houston Community College Foundation has supported the Bedichek-Orman auction for many years through outreach, community partnerships, logistics, and money management, and

WHEREAS this year, the Houston Community College Foundation has generously gifted the Bedichek-Orman auction with technology to support an online auction platform and items to auction

THEREFORE, Faculty Senate would like to recognize and laud the Houston Community College Foundation for its generous support of faculty and faculty interests.

  • The proclamation passes unanimously.
  • Announcements:
    • Because of issues with the Chat function, the Announcements turn into a Q&A session.
      • Question about quality of air filters on campus
        • Desmond Lewis will check with Marshall Heins.
      • Question from supplies being denied based on vendors and addresses
        • Desmond Lewis will check on this.
      • Will HCC provide PPE for FT faculty that are required to teach FC classes?
        • Yes. If faculty have their own, they could use those and will be given one, if needed. Right now, this information is only for masks.
        • Will there be face shields for faculty?
          • The priority for face shields is for those with hearing-impaired students. Desmond Lewis is working to find out more about this.
      • Question about the requirement for all FT faculty to teach at least one FC
        • Desmond Lewis says discussions are still ongoing. NBH of Chair Caucus says that that scheduling is at the discretion of the chairs.
      • Will there be hazard pay for FC and WS?
        • No
      • Will the number of students in a classroom change because of the increase in positive cases?
        • Unknown
      • Will the faculty overload policies be relaxed?
        • Perhaps because of all the guidelines. Unknown  
      • What about students who refuse to wear a mask?
        • Unknown. They must have a mask to get on campus, though.
      • Pre-existing conditions, process, ADA 
        • Preferred Schedule form from Janet May’s tool kit: the ADA process should be secondary.
    • Announcement: Linda Koffel’s retirement
  • Adjournment (no “second” required)
    • The meeting ends at 1:54pm

NEXT MEETING: August 21, 2020

1PM Virtual Meeting