President's
Council Minutes
October 9,
2000
9:15
a.m.—10:15 a.m.
Present: Charles Reed, Elton Stuckly, Dr. Joe Green, Rich Morris, Richard
Wheet, Toni
Herbert, Rick Gauer, April
Strickland, Butch Ruesch
Absent: Dr. Martha Ellis, Flo Darwin, Jay Teakell, Jan Osburn, Kelly
Craine
Meeting
facilitated by Dean Charles Reed
DR. MARTHA ELLIS
1. Professional Development Day: It was the consensus of the Council that
Professional
Development Day, the staff development event held
Friday, October 6, was highly successful.
Dr. Ellis' morning remarks were informative and well received; lunch was
good; and most of the afternoon sessions went very well. Suggestions for next year included having
more afternoon sessions lead by non-TSTC personnel, and working the bugs out of
the room assignment process ahead of time, to the extent possible.
2. Unit Action Plans: The deadline for submitting UAPs to IERP was last
week. Leland
Redding, recently appointed self-study chair, heard
oral presentations of UAPs by Student Services Staff last week. Other Deans and Departments are urged to
submit UAPs to IERP as soon as possible.
3. Campus Operating Procedures: Dean Reed suggested that the
review and revision of COPs be completed within the next week, that copies of
all proposed revisions be distributed to each member of the President's
Council, and that the Council be prepared to take formal action on revisions at
the next PC meeting (13 November). This process was approved by the Council. Rich Morris pointed out that System
Operating Standards are intended to be general while COPs should provide more
detail; therefore, COPs usually need to be maintained even in areas of overlap
with System Standards.
Action: PC members will review COPs and recommend revisions. The Council will
take action on revisions at the 13 November
meeting.
CHARLES REED
1. Student Attendance Forms: Some faculty members have
refused to sign the attendance forms required under a variety of student assistance
programs (e.g., the Women's Resource Center childcare program). According to Richard Wheet, Faculty Senate
President, this is because many instructors have been told not to take
attendance, consequently, they have no record of the student's attendance.
Action: Dean Reed and Student Services staff will
meet with Dean Stuckly and the
Cluster Directors to resolve the apparent
contradictions and make sure
all instructors have clear, consistent
information.
2. Official Default Rate: The official default rate
for the FY '98 cohort was 12.5%. This
represents a significant decrease from the 27-28% rates of previous years. The FY '99 rate is expected to be even lower—perhaps
a low as 8%. Credit for this
improvement was given to the contractor hired to collect loans and work with
former students to avoid default.
3. Parking and Traffic
Committee:
(Minutes of the most recent P&T Committee meeting were handed out.) Dean
Reed reported that the P&T Committee has recommended that its responsibilities
be limited in scope to hearing employee appeals for traffic and parking
citations. Currently the committee
hears all traffic- and parking-related concerns—most of which are more
appropriately handled by the Dean of Student Services, the Dean of Administrative
and Financial Services, or the Chief of Public Safety. The recommended change will require an
amendment to the committee's official statement of purpose and action by the
Deans' Council or President's Council.
Action: Motion by
Dean Reed—to approve the request to limit the scope of
responsibility
of the Parking and Traffic Committee and to reflect that
change in an amended statement of purpose.
Second by Dean Stuckly.
All voted yes. Motion carried.
Butch Ruesch, Student Government Association President,
reported finding several unused pedestrian safety signs behind a campus
building and suggested that they be used to replace smaller signs currently in
use. Dean Reed acknowledged problems
with drivers who do not yield to pedestrians. He has directed campus safety officers to increase patrol near
main entrances and to coordinate their efforts in order to apprehend and ticket
offenders.
Jan Osburn is the newly-appointed chair of the Parking and
Traffic Committee.
4. Campus Crime Report: A recent brochure regarding
crime on the TSTC Waco campus did not include information related to the
Marshall campus. Letters requesting
crime statistics for TSTC Marshall were mailed to law enforcement agencies in
Marshall, but there was no response.
Dean Reed pointed out that if it is found that a college has failed to
provide crime information or has under-represented crime on campus, significant
monetary penalties could be assessed.
Action: (Per Dr. Green and Dean Reed) Jack Miller is assembling crime
statistics for the Marshall Campus; upon completion, the information will be
published and distributed as required.
RICHARD WHEET, FACULTY
SENATE PRESIDENT
1. Faculty Workload: The faculty is concerned about
the standard 18-24 hour workload requirement. The Faculty Senate recommends that workloads be customized to
individual instructors' situations—taking into consideration circumstances
which may justify a workload that does not fall within the currently mandated
18-24 hour range.
Action: None. This recommendation will be taken up at a
future Deans' Council meeting.
MICHAEL (BUTCH) RUESCH, STUDENT GOVT. ASSOC. PRESIDENT
1. Personal Observation: Mr. Ruesch related a personal
experience demonstrating that a technical education at TSTC is an excellent
value. He went on to predict a
significant increase in enrollment over the next decade.
2. Recommendations for
Increasing Awareness of and Participation in the SGA:
a) A letter to department chairs asking them to recruit a student
representative from each department-related club as well as a student to
represent the department in general.
These students could be appointed by the department chair or chosen by
some other means. (A draft letter was handed out.)
b) Monthly newsletter
- to be upgraded from two to
four pages
- to include information,
questions and answers, sports news, and a cartoon
- 3,500 copies to be
distributed by mail and from Tech Times
racks.
c) A parking space at the Student Recreation Center designated for
the SGA president.
The intent would be to emphasize the importance the
administration places on student government leadership and to send the message that
the president should be someone who is committed to the job and spends a
significant amount of time working on behalf of the student body.
Discussion:
Rich Morris pointed out that we are making a conscious effort to do away
with assigned parking spaces in an effort to model a more democratic
attitude. Toni Herbert suggested that a
space could be reserved for the Student Government Association rather than
specifically for the president. Mr.
Ruesch felt that this would not achieve the desired result. Dean Reed suggested that the Council delay
action on the recommendation until the next meeting (13 November).
Action: None.
Further discussion and action will be scheduled for the next
PC meeting.
RICK GAUER
1. Campus Map: An updated draft of the
campus map was presented and discussed.
Several changes/ additions were recommended. Mr. Gauer noted the recommendations, and asked that PC members
notify him of any additional changes by noon today so that the map could be
printed in time for College Preview next Saturday.
TONI HERBERT
1. Proposed Change in Job Title: Ms. Herbert reported that Dr. Ellis had asked
her to suggest a more descriptive job title for her position. Rich Morris explained that Ms. Herbert's
current title—Executive Assistant to the President—is common to other TSTC
campuses, but doesn't include supervisory responsibilities and doesn't
adequately describe the Waco position.
Ms. Herbert has recommended (to Dr. Ellis) the title "Deputy to the
President for Responsiveness and Development" as a reflection of her
duties and areas of supervision. The
only concern raised was that the title might be too long.
ELTON STUCKLY
1. Meeting Minutes: Dean Stuckly requested that copies of the past
several Deans' and President's
Council meetings be distributed immediately, and
that future minutes be made available in a timely manner.