PVCC FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
Disclaimer

Guests: Bob Bendotti, Joyce Janiga

Members Absent: None

1.   Call To Order/Approval of Agenda

The Senate meeting was called to order at 3:00pm
Additions to the Agenda:  Campus Reports: Employee Development, Old Business: Senate Committee Membership, New Business: Staffing Committee
Deletions to the Agenda:  Information: Senate Committees
Agenda was approved as revised.
 

4/23/98 minutes for the 1997/98 Senate were approved as written.
4/23/98 minutes for the 1998/99 Senate were approved as written.

Enrollment Management - Bob Bendotti/Fred Wieck
A formal PVCC Recruitment Plan has been developed by the Enrollment Management team and approved by Dr. Cardenas.  A Recruitment Coordinating Team has also been formed to provide leadership in the area of recruitment.  This team will be working on developing recruitment activities to be initiated during the Spring semester this year.  Fred said that faculty involvement is needed now to help develop these activities.  If you would like to contribute to this effort, please contact Fred Wieck or Bob Bendotti.

For the Fall semester, Shirley Green will continue to provide leadership in our recruitment efforts.  All faculty have been asked to support the high school visitation and recruitment effort this semester, and the Enrollment Management team encourages all faculty to get involved.  To volunteer to support our high school visitation program, please contact Shirley Green.

Bob also reported that a PVCC Retention Plan and Coordinating Team is being created.   PVCC is launching an ongoing, systematic way of dealing with retention.  This plan and the Coordinating Team will be heavily faculty driven.

Employee Development - Bob Bendotti
Feedback on the All Employee Meeting, the All Faculty Meeting, and the various workshops offered during the first two weeks of accountability was very positive.  A report on this feedback is being prepared for President's Cabinet.  It is believed that we have found a model that seems to work well for both faculty and staff.

Bob reported that the Employment Development Committee now has a budget ($36,000) to support a variety of employee and faculty development activities.  It is now possible for faculty to access monies to support travel and registration for development activities.  After each faculty member has exhausted his/her professional growth and travel funds, we can request up to an additional $500 from Employee Development.  This process will be user friendly. The committee will also ask recipients to think about ways to share their learning experience with colleagues.

Treasurer's Report - Larry Burgess
Larry reported that the combined balance in the Association checking and savings accounts is $5,617.28.  This represents an addition of $55.36 from interest and a disbursement of $640.00 which had been encumbered for the 1998/99 scholarship.  Of the total dollars in the account, $2,040.50 is in the Faculty Association Scholarship Fund (revised by an addition of $25.00 by donation), and $3,576.78 left in unencumbered Association General Funds.  The Treasurer's Report was approved as revised.

Secretary's Report - Jeanne Franco
Jeanne reported that the senate web site has been updated to reflect the new senate and has a revised link to the 1998/99 RFP.  The 98/99 Campus Committee listing will be published next week along with the revisions that have been made to the "New Full-Time Faculty Position Request Form."  Jeanne asked that all faculty visit the site and send any changes, revisions or updates to her as soon as  possible.

President-Elect's Report- Tom Butler
Tom reported that he shared with the Faculty Executive Council an article concerning LA County Community College Teacher's Union being seen as too powerful.  If anyone would like a copy of the article, please contact Tom.

President's Report - Steve Platte

Executive Council
a.  The Meet and Confer proposals were approved by a vote of 430 for and 25 against.  This past year the faculty joined the Employee Alliance to negotiate the monetary package; the effect of that approach is being analyzed.  The revised RFP is available on the web and is being printed by the district.

b.  The Professional Growth Guidelines are being review by the FEC and will be finalized next week.  PG procedural language is being removed from the RFP and put into the Greenbook so that changes can be more easily made.  PG policies and definitions will remain in the RFP.  Another issue is how travel money is handled on the different campuses and some consistency is being sought.  Other issues are increasing support for sabbaticals and rolling over unused funds to the next year's budget.

c.  AAUP Committee V on community colleges will be meeting in Phoenix on October 22-24.  The AAUP National President will be attending the meeting.  AAUP has invited the FEC to attend the ACCT (Association of Community College Trustees) meeting in San Francisco at the end of September to discuss the unique Meet and Confer process in the district.  The District Governing Board also of course will be there.  Bob Galloway is nearing completion of negotiations with AAUP in order to obtain a 30% rebate in AAUP dues this year.  The rebated money will be used for local political action in the state legislative process.  FEC held a retreat on 9/1/98 to analyze the relationship with AAUP.  The cost of membership versus the services received were discussed.  Beyond cost there is the issue of membership in a national organization devoted to protecting academic freedom and employment conditions, especially when a new chancellor is being hired.  More information will be coming after the results of the retreat are compiled.

d.  FEC is considering selling ads in Peerpoint in or to help with the production costs.

e.  Faculty Association dues will be $225 this year.  Payroll deductions for faculty who elected that method of payment last year will automatically roll over unless they specifically cancel direct with District payroll.

President's Cabinet
a.  Over the summer the main issues were enhancing enrollment and the status of the construction.  The Enrollment Management Committee report is covered below.  A contingency plan for backup classrooms was discussed but the lack of many options and the optimistic assurances of the contractor led to an emphasis on getting the buildings completed.

b.  The Deans are preparing a report on how we were able to hire 14 new faculty members this year.
 

Senate Committee Membership - Steve Platte
After lengthy discussion and review of the discussion that took place last year, it was moved and seconded that beginning with the 1999/2000 academic year, membership to Senate Committees (Travel, PR&R, Staffing) be limited to Faculty Association members only.  The motion passed with a vote of 14 in favor and 1 abstention; Tom Butler.
 

Membership Drive - Steve Platte
Steve passed out membership information sheets and applications.  It was pointed out the Association Membership Dues have increased from $195 to $225.  Faculty who used payroll deduction to pay their dues last year will not have to do anything this year to continue their membership and payroll deduction.  If a returning faculty member wishes to  pay in one lump sum instead of payroll deduction, they must notify the district payroll office themselves to discontinue their  payroll deduction.  All new faculty and faculty new to the association, wishing to join the association, must fill out an application form and designate their method of payment.  It was also discussed and decided that we will handle membership recruitment as we have in year's past; each senator will speak to new faculty members within their division and encourage them to join the Faculty Association.  Steve will send an A-1 to all faculty encouraging the same.  Larry will bring an updated membership list to each of the next two senate meetings so we can identify faculty members that should be encouraged to join.

Scholarship Fund Raiser - Steve Platte
Alan Tongret has requested that the Faculty Association plan to conduct their yearly scholarship fundraiser in March this year when the black box theatre is in full operation.  The senate agreed.

PAC - Steve Platte
Steve announced that the Faculty Political Action Committee is looking a treasurer.  Ron Brooker volunteered his services.

Faculty Seniority - Steve Platte
Steve pointed out that as PVCC grows, issues about faculty seniority and what that means at PVCC will become more important especially in areas of class scheduling.  The RFP defines seniority in terms of district hiring timetables and then refers to the word "seniority" in relation to retrenchment  policies only.  After much discussion it was brought to light that different divisions at PVCC handle class scheduling issues in different ways and use different definitions of seniority.  It was decided to take this issue to the Faculty Executive Council for further discussion and then bring this issue back to the senate.

Senate Goals - Steve Platte
Steve asked each senator to review last year's Senate Goals and be prepared to discuss our 1998/99 Senate Goals at the next Senate meeting.

Staffing Committee - Hank Mancini
Changes to the PVCC Request for New Full-Time Faculty Position Division/Department Justification form was made by the staffing committee to improve the information gathering process and help the staffing committee make more informed decisions.
Question H was changed to the following wording:

How will the addition of this position impact campus services - the
library, learning assistance center, computer labs, and other support
areas?  Please consider both staff and collections in these departments.
(revised 8/98)

Question I  was changed to the following wording:

How will the addition of this position impact capital equipment,
facilities needs, or the operational (non-salary) budget? (revised 8/98)

Questions L and M were added as follows:

L. Is there a previously funded position that has not been staffed within
your division?  Have you included this position in your request? (added
8/98)
 
M.  Is there an impending retirement or resignation in your division?
Will this line remain in the same discipline or be assigned to another
discipline within the division?  (added 8/98)

It was moved and seconded to accept the changes as written.  Motion passed.
 

AAUP Affiliation - Steve Platte
Steve reported that the discussion at the Faculty Executive Council concerning the Faculty Association's affiliation with the AAUP continues.   Senators were asked to give any opinions on this subject to Steve.

Board Election - Steve Platte
The MCCCD Governing Board seat now held by Nancy Stein will appear on the ballot in November.  Nancy Stein is running for reelection.  Marilyn commented that the most important thing that faculty can do in policy making is to work toward the election of Governing Board members that are student advocates and who will listen seriously to the concerns of faculty.  Marilyn also announced that Nancy Stein's campaign is in need of both workers and financial support.  This election year each individual contributor is limited to a $300 contribution to any one candidate's campaign.

RFP to be Printed - Steve Platte
Steve announced that the district office has decided to print copies of the RFP for every faculty member even though they have made it available on the WWW.  The date of this publication is not yet known.

Senator Handbooks - Steve Platte
Steve asked new senators if they were interested in having a hardcopy of the Senator's Handbook.  All of the information contained in the handbook is now readily available on the web.  New senators voted to use the web instead of being issued a hardcopy.  Steve will bring one hardcopy to all senate meetings for quick reference.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:14pm

Respectfully Submitted by
  Jeanne Franco
  Senate Secretary