Minutes

Pellissippi State Faculty Council

February 11, 2004

TWAV Rooms

 

    I.      The meeting was called to order by Business Manager Ely Driver at 3 p.m.

 

   II.      The minutes of Dec. 3 were approved as written.

 

 III.      Officer Reports

            Communications Officer            Cindy Alexander                       No report

            Secretary                                  Carol Luther                             No report

            TBR Representative                  Dave Vinson

                        D. Vinson has sent an e-mail detailing discussion and action at the TBR

                        Sub Council.  He briefly reported on ideas for an RODP Faculty Council.

            President                                  Kathy Byrd

·        From Learning Council

o       Fair Credit Reporting Act Disclosure and Authorization Form

The college has gone to an outside agency to check employee references.  The agency requires that applicants fill out the Fair Credit Reporting Act Disclosure and Authorization Form that seems to imply that employees will have their credit rating checked.  This is not the cause.  Only employees who have a fiscal responsibility would have a credit check.

o       Attendance Reporting

Attendance reporting must be accurate.  Veterans’ attendance will be reported monthly. At the end of the term, the LDA for veterans must be given.

o       Budget Issues and Enrollment

Enrollment in 04S is down.

Tuition will likely increase 5 ½ %.  A 2% pay raise is proposed.

A 1% one-time bonus will be state funded.

o       Advisor training

It is important to attend advisor training because there will be many changes in fall.

o       Financial Aid and Books

Faculty have concerns that students who are waiting on financial aid checks do not have access to textbooks for the first week of classes.  D. Vinson reported on how several other schools handle the problem of students’ needing books before they can pick up their checks.  Dr. Bruns is concerned that the school will lose money if checks are issued before attendance reporting.  Learning Council discussed the idea of book vouchers and the idea of continuous reporting.  Continuous reporting means that as soon as a student is reported as having attended 12 hours of class, he or she will get his or her check.  Faculty Council members present indicated that continuous reporting would not be a problem.

o       Civility

Learning Council asked if faculty perceived a lack of civility on campus.  The answer was yes.  Their next question was what to do about it.  Suggestions were made that a college-wide statement about civility be added to all syllabi and that an in service speaker be found to present some practical suggestions.

 IV.      Committee Reports

·        Steering                                    Kathy Byrd

No report

·        Nominating Committee Carol Luther

o       The following slate of officers for next year’s Faculty Council was presented.

President—Mary Monroe-Ellis

Secretary – Jonathan Fowler

Communications Officer—Cindy Alexander

There were no nominations from the floor.

The motion to accept the officers presented by the Nominating Committee passed. 

·        Adjunct Faculty                        John Fairstein/Kelly Waldrop

J. Fairstein and K. Waldrop met with adjuncts during the spring adjunct in-service.  Web CT for adjuncts is moving forward.

·        Promotion/Tenure                     Don Thomas/Janice Rowland

Notebooks are available in Goins 337 from Feb. 16-27.  Peer vote meetings will be from Mar. 1-5.

·        Faculty Forums             Paul Baxter/Elaine Oswald

No report.

·        Rules Committee                      Don Thomas

Faculty Senate versus Faculty Council is being investigated.

·        Evaluation Committee   Wanda Scarbro

A meeting of the committee will be held after the Promotion/Tenure Meetings.

 

  V.      Unfinished Business

            Motions postponed from Dec. 3, 2003, meeting:

·        That Faculty Council consider the documents supporting SPH 2400.

Don Thomas moved that the motion be tabled indefinitely. This motion to table passed.

·        That a statement concerning the privacy of instructors’ addresses be written to be considered by Faculty Council.

The motion passed.

·        Because the final exam period is not mandated by TBR or SACS, the faculty reserve the right to use their professional judgment to determine the manner in which the final exam period should be used.

There was much discussion of this motion.

The motion failed to pass.

 VI.      New Business               None

 

VII.      Announcements

            Departmental and site representatives are reminded that for some positions, an

            election is needed for new representatives.  K. Byrd will send an e-mail with

            details.

 

VIII.     The meeting adjourned at 4 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Carol Luther