TSTC WACO
FACULTY SENATE
Minutes of Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting held on Friday, September 18, 1998, 3-5PM at Food Service Technology
Ben Matus, President, Present
Homer Jones, President-Elect, Present
"Tinker" Clift, Treasurer, Present
Jim Drysdale, Secretary, Present
Jerome Carter, Personnel Committee, Absent
Sandy Kleypas, Committee-on-Committees, Absent
Sid LeNoir, Academic Committee, Absent
Bob Larsen, Communications Committee, Absent
Chris Perales, Scholarship Committee, Present
Dave Thomas, Ombudsman, Absent
Mike Huneke, Parliamentarian, Present
Minutes of the previous meeting were reviewed and approved with minor corrections.
Treasurer Clift reported that the current budget printout shows $3,970.00 in the Faculty Senate budget. Clarification of status of the travel line item and other details will be researched and reported the next meeting.
OLD BUSINESS
A. The Faculty Senate Office will be located in the Food Service Technology Bldg. An inexpensive computer with network capabilities will be sought.
B. A review of the Faculty Senate Constitution continues--with the goal being a revision which will reflect several constitutional actions taken at the end of the last academic year.
C. President Matus will be communicating soon to all faculty via letter to outline major issues and concerns.
D. Deliberation continues on prospective dates for Faculty Senate general sessions.
E. President Matus has been appointed to the Institutional Effectiveness Monitoring Committee.
F. Proposed election of new Faculty Senators was discussed.
G. TSTC Waco Campus remains in excess of the 25% student loan default rate as we enter the third (and critical) year. Discussion centered on the implications and possible cures for
the potentially disastrous loan default rate.
NEW BUSINESS
A. The Faculty Overload Policy (7.34) will remain the unchanged--as per a President's Management Council decision.
B. Tentative Faculty Senate Executive Board Meeting dates for FY 98-99 are the following: (Meetings are held from 3-5PM at the Food Service Technology Bldg.)
September 11, 18
October 2, 23
November 6, 20
December 4, 18
January 8, 15
February 5, 19
March 5, 9
April 9, 16
May 7, 21
June 4, 18
July 2, 16
August 6, 20
C. Faculty compensation is currently under active review by Systems.
D. Stringent remediation requirements will be reviewed at the Dean of Instruction's Council meeting on Monday--Sept. 21. Chances appear good for a policy revision which will allow more flexibility for certificate students.
E. The President's Council Meeting on Sept. 14, 1998 included the following items of discussion:
1. Student grievance policy--students will be required to follow the administrative chain-of-command when filing a grievance. "Leapfrogging" to the Dean of Instruction or the Campus President will not be allowed.
2. Children will be allowed in classrooms only with the instructor's approval.
3. The TSTC Waco refund policy was reviewed and discussed.
4. Budget coordination of the instructional programs was discussed by Dean Stuckley. Special emphasis is being placed on insuring that program budgets are not exceeded. The monitoring role of Cluster Chairs will be critical.
5. Dr. Williams discussed the Fall enrollment decline of the Waco campus—of approximately 32 students over last year.
Research into the dynamics of the decline will be on-going.
6. The next Board of Regents meeting will be on October 30th in Sweetwater. President Matus has committed to attend.
7. President Williams voiced concern about over-staffing in some instructional programs. The Campus will be lobbying Austin for an increase in the number of allotted slots allowed for our campus--since the freeze was implemented at a time that reflected much lower enrollment levels and did not reflect the need for and use of student workers.
8. President Williams voiced concern regarding the lack of distance training being offered by this campus. Faculty Senate Executive Board discussion expressed frustration at the seeming over-emphasis of computerized distance learning--while up-linked video presentations seem to be under-emphasized. A very nice campus facility and capability remains under-utilized.
F. The Faculty Senate e-mail address remains fsentate@tstc.edu
G. The Faculty Senate Executive Board unanimously agreed with the recommendation of President Matus that the registration fees of 20 TSTC faculty to attend the Baylor 5th Annual Community College Faculty Conference on Act. 16, 1998 be paid out of the Faculty Senate budget.
H. The need for a faculty survey regarding the implications of the possible change to the semester system was discussed.
I. The possibility of the Faculty Senate conducting its own campus climate survey was considered. This issue will be discussed at a later meeting after additional study.
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