2012 April 20

 

 

Pending completion of the official minutes, and in the interest of time and transparency, we are posting herein the text of the partial transcript of the discussions that took place during the meeting.  Although some portions were missing, this transcript reflects most if not all important points raised.  All errors in transcription are mine. – Rafael Pulmano

Date Posted: April 24, 2012

 

PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF FACULTY SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING

2012-APR-20 |  Friday  |  3:00-4:00 PM  |  MITC

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

 MEETING INTRO: APOLOGIES 

So one of the things I need to actually do is apologize because I did not understand the bylaws for the committee... the Faculty senate... fully. And I realize I did not have to have Resida to call a faculty subcommittee meeting.  Resida is the president of our Faculty/Staff Senate, so I was going through Resida, requesting her to have meetings without realizing I should actually be stepping up and fulfilling that role. So, I thought I was stepping on toes.  And I also apologize because directly I haven't done that for these reasons: I have not been really much of a faculty member this year as I have been an accreditation liaison officer.  I haven't been teaching courses but I am still on a faculty contract.  I have had a presence in other areas and made sure faculty were on committees, but in the whole change in governance structure Faculty Senate disappeared from the main role that it had before in terms of representing faculty.  And I noticed, in reevaluating the governance structure, Faculty Senate is the only one that has a presence on the President's Cabinet and allowed a presence in the Board of Regents' meeting.  We have not been actually meeting and using that link to the fullest. So I was sort of pressing for a meeting and I thought I was being rude by saying we need to meet regardless of whether Resida is here or not, we need to talk, without realizing that I was supposed to be the one doing them.  So, I apologize, again, for my ignorance in that area.  And I am hoping ... one of the things I see on here is a call for us (senate) to be stronger again and start meeting.  We probably need to start thinking of people who are willing and wanting to run, who have the time to take on this role and have a desire to do it, rather than perhaps putting in votes for folks who hadn't said at all that they want to do it, but they might feel it is discourteous to decline, although they may not have the time.  And I think these are good points.

 

 ABOUT THE SALARY FREEZE 

What I know, just from where I was sitting through the year, the freeze was tossed out as a possibility of surviving a $700,000 decrement.  Division chairs were invited to those discussions, and committee chairs were invited to those discussions.  Danny, our Comptroller, did present that this was one of the possibilities that they were looking at.  That it will definitely get us through this first year, but as a possibility.  And then Planning and Resources Committee also heard a little bit about this because they were involved in the budget process.  But it was tossed out, the senate did not get together and sort of make a stand at that point as to why it would not be a good decision because obviously it's gonna affect recruitment and retention of faculty here.  Also, when this went to the Board of Regents, no one discussed at the meeting (this was in Kosrae) how long this would take.  No one was even asking that, so when they approved the pay freeze no one said, "Is this just for one year? Or is this indefinite?"  So that question actually has not been answered and Resida drafted a letter and sent it to the Board meeting in March in Yap where this was addressed.  And on Resida's behalf I did bring that up also at the Board meeting.  And Regent Figir was also very supportive of how difficult it would be for us to retain and recruit faculty if we cannot tell people when this pay freeze will be lifted, if at all.  So, is this indefinite?  Is this for one year?  After one year, would they make up for that step increase to put us back to where we should have been?  No one has an answer to those questions.  And, we may get the $700,000 back from the government.  But even if we get that, does that mean we're gonna get the pay freeze lifted?  No one has asked that question or answered that yet either.  So it was briefly discussed at the Board meeting and Regents agreed that probably it was not helpful to retaining and recruiting faculty.  But there wasn't any decision to reverse that choice.  And that measure was approved in January.  Obviously you heard the president today.  If the $700,000 were to come back and even with the planning process that is underway, we may revisit the allocation of those funds.  So I would say we need to be very active in getting answers, forcing answers to those questions.  Because for those folks who are trying to hire people now, what do you tell them?  And for those whose contracts are up, it is going to influence their decisions whether to stay or not.

 

RICHARD WOMACK

Where would we address the correspondence to get some answers?  If we deal with these issues we need to get a little action.  Request from this body to the Board of Regents, is that appropriate?  Or through what committee?  Again, we don't know where we fit in the picture...

 

BRIAN LYNCH

We can go further than that.  We can make a recommendation to the Board ... (unintelligible)... given the ambiguity of the ... (unintelligible)...

 

RESIDA KELLER

After the Board meeting the president did send me an email.  He said that the chairman of the Board was going to send me a response, that they were drafting the response.  That was March 21st.  They said they will send it within two weeks or so.  I had told Rafael that when the response came we would post it on the wiki.  Then there was the Easter break, I haven't heard from them, and I haven't had the opportunity to follow up.

 

RAFAEL PULMANO

In other words, this was included in the minutes of the February Senate Executive Committee meeting, you included it in your (Resida's) memo to the Board, and the president's email said...

 

RESIDA KELLER

They will send their response by the end of March.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

So to answer your questions, one action was taken and we still haven't received a response.  Now it seems we need to maybe put some more weight behind that request.

 

BRIAN LYNCH

This is part of basically close to a four-year process.  It goes back four years when President Daisy wasn't around yet.  Does he have a feel for this? ... (unintelligible...)  It might be worth our effort to give him a little background on this. At least he will become an ally for this cause.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

So we're requesting for a special meeting, a special forum with the president to discuss these issues?

 

DANA LEE LING

To what extent does he (President Daisy) know about our attempt to remedy the low salary situation and the failure because the consultant used the wrong numbers?

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

He did... I'm not sure.  I know he is piecing that story together because among the same recommendations he was trying to figure out why all the restructuring and why the consultant's recommendations were blindly accepted without questioning at the level that, maybe, was necessary.

 

BRIAN LYNCH

... (unintelligible)...

 

SUE MOSES

(Bringing out her files of past faculty subcommittee minutes) ... (also unintelligible)...

 

RICHARD WOMACK

Because we haven't been meeting in so long we got waylaid, I mean, we got kind of hoodwinked a little bit.  Because it really didn't have so much to do with the wrong numbers they were fooling around.  We were kind of led along, you know, that things are working, uh, it's gonna be OK (job audit) and so forth, when all the time the issue was $500,000.  I knew that, we knew right at the beginning.  It didn't take a lot to know it was about that to get to Marshalls.  At least a little bit competitive with Marshalls.  So it's always been 500-600 thousand dollars just to get anywhere there.  But we never met and people kept believing the expectation, you know, like, the consultant's working on it, it's gonna be OK and so on.  Because we weren't kind of meeting together, we weren't able to articulate exactly what the issue was and keep it to the forefront.  So we kind of let it go and he used the wrong numbers and he came back and said here's the right numbers and still didn't make a difference.

 

DANA LEE LING

He miscalculated ... (unintelligible) ...

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

So we know all the issues .... (unintelligible) ... there is a couple of things that need to happen: Senate is probably missing, and we need probably a presence in the Council of Chairs, we probably need to be a part of that until we figure out in the new governance structure how it is gonna be working.  But I think Senate is missing pieces because they are not part of that forum.  So that is one option.  And also, that we request a meeting with the president but we will need a smaller group of folks who know the wretched long history, who could put this together in a reasonable presentation that could be given to Dr. Daisy to bring him up to speed as a result of where we are now and our serious faculty concerns and the ramifications of this:  We're not going to be able to bring in people, we're going to lose some of our talents, etc.  So if we have folks who would know that history better than I do because it started before I even came in, and would be willing to fill in those gaps and meet with the president on behalf of our faculty group, to 'clue him' (?) on what was happening and trying to fast-track (?), because we are not sure when this ends.  There has to be decisions because we have to tell people.  Will this be definitely next year? Is there possibility to be removed? Is it only for one year?  Or is there a possibility that this will continue indefinitely?  We need an answer.  And I feel that if we make it clear that we would like to present their history and ultimately Resida will get answered in a timely manner.  Because we have already been told a couple of weeks after the Board of Regents meeting and nothing has happened.  I think the focus is on accreditation.  After Wednesday, that is, I think asking for something after Wednesday, between Wednesday and Friday, should be prudent because we're all gonna get busy with the end of the semester.

 

DANA LEE LING

I'd serve on that because I did the presentation at the Senate about a year and a half ago on what this thing would do.  I looked it all up...

 

RICHARD WOMACK

I would serve with you folks.  I did some report, a presentation, with the Board .... (unintelligible)...

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

So is that Dana, Rich, .... and my question is, should that be Resida that goes in or is that supposed to be me that goes in on the subcommittee?

 

RICHARD WOMACK

You're both faculty, you both go...

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

Would you be OK?  OK.

 

RAFAEL PULMANO

Those  will be the same questions that will be asked by the staff....

 

.... (voices... unintelligible) ...

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

I haven't put a specific date because it should now... Everyone... Anyone else who wants to be part of that group? Is that large enough?  OK, so that's Dana, Rich, our secretary Rafael, Resida representing faculty/staff as president, and, should we have Reedson?  Or just faculty and....

 

RAFAEL PULMANO

Actually the staff-at-large is Joe Saimon.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

So we're Dana, Rich, Resida, Rafael.  And it would depend on your faculty schedules as to what day and time works.  And I am sure the president will work around times whatever you guys have open.  Do we need to have an official motion for the part of working group to meet, ask, request the time to have with the president and offer a presentation on behalf of the faculty subcommittee regarding the salary issue?

 

SUE MOSES

So moved what you just said.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

Alright.  

All in favor?  [Aye.] 

Any opposed?  [Silence]

Any abstain?  [Silence]

 

...... (Rich, Dana, Sue, others - unintelligible voices) ....... Friday, huh? ....

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

Ah, well, let's make a second.  And the second is during that presentation, I am carrying out a motion that we have a presence in the Council of Chairs.  I don't know how you feel about that.  That was just my idea.  Shall we discuss that?  It is primarily faculty who are there, but you're thinking there in terms of what your committee is doing, not necessarily in terms of faculty issues.  And I don't know if that is necessary but I get the impression that, you know, when you go you are probably focused on what you are doing specifically.

 

BRIAN LYNCH

Uh, now... What would be the difference between the Senate being there, since we're already in the Cabinet?

 

DANA LEE LING

We're in the Cabinet.  I think that is the most important.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

..... 

 

RICHARD WOMACK

The staff (?) senate president goes to the Cabinet and it may not be a faculty.  And when we look at the communication flow and so on, you have got to know what the Council of Chairs does.  If we desire direct access there at any time we all just gonna have it, huh?  As far as ..... (?).... and it is our concern.  Whether we have to sit there I don't know.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

Shouldn't we probably be doing better communicating among ourselves than adding another layer of bureaucracy?

 

DANA LEE LING

Yeah.

 

RICHARD WOMACK

OK then.  We are to construct a little presentation that goes around these questions and get those answers...

 

BRIAN LYNCH

Is it worth timing the whole summer pay issue to this, or is that a separate issue?

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

The summer pay is imminent.

 

ROSS PERKINS

I think that issue has been brought up in the Cabinet already in the last meeting.

 

SUE MOSES

It was mentioned by Joe that it was a one-time boost, it was gonna be one-time only... We are addressing the issue.... (unintelligible).... Isn't the big question is, I guess, what's it gonna be this summer?  Because nothing is gonna happen.  At least the minimum that we expected last summer (?) .....

 

RICHARD WOMACK

So you want a motion on that?  The summer contract issue be moved into the discussion?

 

ROBERT ANDREAS

I move.

 

BRIAN LYNCH

Second.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

All in favor?  [Aye.]

Any opposed?  [Silence.]

Any abstention?  [Silence.]

So moved.

 

 ON FACULTY WORKLOADS 

(There was extensive discussion on this issue, mostly among Gardner Edgar, Frankie Harriss, Dana Lee Ling, Richard Womack, Brian Lynch, Sue Moses, and Rafael Pulmano. Only the main points are included here.)

 

DANA LEE LING

We are paid based on contact hours, based on the Personnel Manual.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

For science with lab, 6 contact hours = 2 preps

 

GARDNER EDGAR

For applied science with lab, 6 contact hours = 1 prep

 

RICHARD WOMACK

Every three hours of teaching, every three contact hours is a prep.  That is how we look at it.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

There needs to be a consistent policy.

 

SUE MOSES

This is Curriculum and Assessment Committee (CAC) matter.  If you want to see the policy changed, you need to put together a document.  It could go to Kathy (Hayes), to the CAC.

 

KATHY HAYES

So if you give me the information... Put together a proposal and then pass that on to the CAC, and we can move from there.

 

RESIDA KELLER

This issue came up during a Division Chairs meeting.  Karen Simion mentioned that with the cut in resources and so forth, this may be something that administration will look at in order to save money.  We needed to be informed and so it became a Faculty Senate issue.

 

DANA LEE LING

Cutting the faculty pay is not a good idea at this time.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

Paying us by credit hours will mean no difference for some people but we'll be cutting pay even further for others.

 

 

 ON HAVING ONE INSTEAD OF TWO SENATES 

(Some discussions, with Dana explaining the rationale and advantage of having only one Senate. No action taken. Status quo stays - with One Senate (for unity) with two subcommittees, one for faculty and one for staff, to address each group's unique concerns.)

 

 ON COST CUTTING MEASURES - REDUCING THE COLLEGE SPENDING HABITS 

(Discussion led to the following conclusions and action:)

 

These are good cost-cutting measures from faculty perspective.

These are Finance related matters.

Moved to endorse to Finance Committee for discussion and action.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

All in favor?  [Aye.]

Opposed?  [Silence.]

Abstain?  [SIlence.]

 

 

 ON MANAGEMENT REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT 

(Discussion led to the following action:)

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

Resida as president of the Faculty/Staff Senate to represent this issue to Cabinet, Board of Regents, and the HR Committee

 

DANA LEE LING

Move.

 

FRANKIE HARRIS

All in favor?  [Aye.]

Opposed?  [Silence.]

Abstain?  [SIlence.]

 

 

 ON CALL FOR A STRONGER SENATE 

(Discussion led to the following conclusions and call for action:)

 

RICHARD WOMACK

Calling for a stronger Faculty Senate that is able to deal with contracts, benefits, working conditions, and such other union stuff.  One that should assume the responsibility of being guardian and protector of curriculum integrity, etc. (edit to complete)

 

On the election of Senate officers: This time when we have an election, a few people who might have the time, the energy, the leadership, would offer themselves for the election process.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

Thank you to Dr. Professor Womack, who ... (edit to complete)

 

Great to put on your CV.  For those of you who may have the time, the energy, if you like this kind of stuff.  Put yourself out there.  I think other people will be happy to see that there are folks who want to take it on.  It is a time where we need some more representation and we’re faced with challenging issues, and there will continue to be more challenging issues.

 

Note: Next election will be end of this semester.

 

BRIAN LYNCH

It's been several years since the Senate has had a representation at the Board meeting.  I think that might be an important move.  Even if we do not have a lot to have in this Board meeting, just so the Board gets in the habit of having us bring our issues to them.  When we did that several years ago, when we first brought up the whole salary issue, we almost see them seemed a little bit surprised.  "What are you guys doing here?"  Now the slack has happened again (I think we need to have a consistent presence in the Board meetings) (?) When the salary issue is brought up again and I think it will happen, it is good to have at least somebody to represent us.

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

It's a good point.  Where I have been before was at every Board meeting a faculty member puts in a 15-minute maximum presentation (you can't take up the whole meeting), and not to complaining alone; also for great things happening.  It is a chance to brag and show off talents.  We have faculty/staff representatives at each campus who can act in behalf of the FSS when the Board meeting is held in their state.  Someone should always be there as a presence.  I think it would be great to request that we showcase ourselves and establish the relationship with the Board a little better.

 

RICHARD WOMACK

If the faculty meets monthly and every few months we have these issues, we can summarize them and send it to the Board.  We could do that very easily.  I think that will help bring other faculty and staff a little bit together.

 

 ON COMMUNICATION ISSUE - PROTOCOL FOR HANDLING STUDENT DISCIPLINARY ACTION 

 

FRANKIE HARRISS

We have great policies for protecting our students but there are not policies protecting faculty.  More extensive discussion is needed here (to be tabled next meeting).  There is a need to insure that faculty is safe in their working environment.  We do not have policies when there is conflict with the students.

 

(Discuss further, recommend policies, then send to HR).

 

 ON THE REMAINING AGENDA ITEMS NOT DISCUSSED DUE TO LACK OF TIME 

 

RAFAEL PULMANO

So, these other agenda items that were not discussed in today’s meeting due to time constraint… Is it OK if I post these to our wiki for comments and inputs…? 

 

RICHARD WOMACK

Within the month we discuss amongst ourselves those who have an issue, whatever else is going... We then add more preparation.  Don't just table it for the next meeting.  We can toss our thoughts over by mail or through the wiki.

 

 ON THE RESULTS OF THE PLANNED MEETING WTH THE PRESIDENT 

It was agreed that there is no need to call another faculty meeting afterwards. Just share the results with faculty via email and wiki.

 

DANA LEE LING

Move to adjourn.

 

Meeting adjourned at 4:10 P.M.