Faculty Association
Meeting Agenda 5/1/08
WCC, Clearwater/Snake Room
2:30 – 4:00pm Social and Meeting – refreshments will be served
(the All-Campus meeting will follow from 4-6pm)

I.                   Call to Order

II.       Introduction of visitors

Consent Agenda

III.              Consent Agenda (In an effort to move business along efficiently, the
“consent agenda” presents items of routine business that do not require
discussion. The chair will ask for adoption of the consent agenda. If
there is no objection, all items and recommended action will be considered
in the motion to adopt the consent agenda. If a member objects, then
the item(s) under objection are removed, discussed, and managed by
specific motion)

A.     Approval of the minutes from the 03/06/08 Faculty Association meeting

B.      Treasury Report (as of 4/22/08)

a.      Faculty Senate Appropriated account: $ 1,286.59

b.      Faculty Association account: $ 4,125.09

c.      Faculty Benevolence account: $ 4,031.90

Regular Agenda

IV.               Informational Items

A. Standing Committees reports (attached)

B. Promotion and Tenure awarded this year: Congratulations to Chris
Alhman, Randal Ericksen, and Debora Lemon who received Tenure this
year; Congratulations to Brian Kolstad, Teresa Sadorus-Kalco, Stephen
Staab and Janet Wyatt on their promotion to Assistant Professor;
Congratulations to Diane Driskill, William Frei, Randal Ericksen and Debora
Lemon on their promotion to Associate Professor; Congratulations to
Lynne Bidwell, Harold Crook, Lori McCann and Virginia Weber on their
promotion to Professor!

C. Tentative Fall 08 Faculty Senate and Association meeting dates
(attached)

D. SCE PG – Spring SCE pilot project in process. The website to view
all SCE meeting minutes can be linked off the Senate webpage.
http://www.lcsc.edu/faculty/sce/sce_task_force_2007-08.htm

V.                 New Business

A. Presentation of revised Constitution – the Senate requests approval
by the Faculty (see separate constitution attachment)

B. Graduation List – Request approval by the Faculty (see separate
attachment)

C. Nominations for Professor Emeritus status The following nominations
have come forward from the Divisions, having been proposed by a
majority of the members of his or her Division. These three outstanding
and respected faculty will be retiring at the end of this semester.

Julie Sage (BTS), William Johnson (HUM), Lynn White (T/I)

                   D. Faculty Chair-elect – Nominees Joni Mina

E. Webmaster – nominee Lynne Bidwell; Faculty Senate/Association
Secretary – nominee Debbie Goodwin

F. Hearing Board new members for two-year terms: election from the
following slate of candidates: Stan Wilson, Teresa Sadorus-Kalco,
Joni Mina, Verna Studer (ballot vote)

G. New Committee members for the 08-09 General Education Committee,
five-year terms: election from the following slate of candidates: Sheila
Watkins, NHS; Teresa Sadorus, T/I (ballot vote) 

H. New Committee members for Standing Tenure and Promotion Review
Committee: election from the following slate of candidates: Tom
Urquhart-nominee for Chair; committee nominee – Mary Lou Robinson,
NHS (ballot vote) 

I. New Committee members for Standing Promotion Review Committee:
election from the following slate of candidates: Clarence Griffin-nominee
for Chair; committee members-Stan Wilson, Rik Brosten, Jim Bowen,
Nancy Williams, Janice Raykovich (ballot vote)

J. American Federation of Teachers: Resolution on collective bargaining
for higher education – the Senate requests approval by the Faculty
(attached)

VI       Good of the Order

          Announcements:
          Rachel Jameton
          Brian Christenson

Thanks to the Faculty Affairs Committee, Lynne Bidwell and Debbie
Goodwin for planning this Faculty Association Social

Thanks to Brian Christenson, Lynne Bidwell and Debbie Goodwin for
their Service to the Faculty Senate and Association this year.

Fall All-campus meeting date

Senior Research Symposium May 7-8

VII.            Adjournment

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Faculty Senate Standing Committee Reports 5/1/08

Faculty Affairs Committee – Chair Brian Christenson

• Faculty Affairs has met six times this year
   
• Student Course Evaluation Initiative Update/Discussion

A  presentation was provided by Howard Erdman and Lynne Bidwell pertaining to
the Presidential Guidance Initiative, SCE PG08-57. The SCE task force
recommendations and draft tool are linked from the Senate webpage. The SCE
administrative procedures were also presented by the task force.  Paper versions
will be available for faculty to use in classes. Hybrid and online classes will have
the online version for their classes available. Live classes may not have the option
to use the online version, depending on available resources.  Comments will be filled
out on a separate piece of paper and provided to the faculty member. The tools
will be piloted this spring and there will be an individual customized evaluation
section for instructors to utilize. The committee provided feedback to Howard and
Lynne on the tool. Elect w courses need to be explored. Frequencies, percentages,
and summary sheets will be provided through the Dean to the Division Chairs then to
faculty. Updates to the pilot forms will be made from the feedback provided by the
committee prior to pilot implementation. SCE Timeline: Updates will be made and a
pilot will be conducted this semester and revisions made (if any), from the pilot.
Once the provost funds the needed equipment, the pilot changes have been
implemented, and administration and the faculty Senate have approved the
changes, a full rollout will happen this coming Fall. More information to come.

• Plagiarism/Academic Honesty Initiative

Library services has provided a website pertaining to plagiarism and academic
integrity as well as a bibliography of resources for faculty. Thank you to the Library,
Barbara Barnes & Lynne Bidwell.  The direct links are at: http://www.lcsc.edu/library/faculty/instruction.htm#Plagiarism http://www.lcsc.edu/faculty/faculty_affairs_plagiarism_bibliography.htm. The
committeeprovided a thinking through lunch with support from Academic Programs
and Dean Pharr.  This workshop took place in February.  Student code of conduct/
honor code update from the Chair. Brian met with Andy Hanson.  The updated
student handbook will reflect the recommended changes approved by the Senate
this past Fall. Student training update: Brian met with Andy and the plagiarism
module will be connected to SD107 & SD307. A brief overview of the module will be
presented in orientation and students will be enrolled in the blackboard course
to complete the module.  Logistics are being worked out at this time.

• Tenure for PTE Faculty

Divisional stakeholders brought back information to the FA committee and a
thorough discussion.  FA supports tenure for PTE faculty, but moved that no
action be taken at this time

• Promotable Rank for Lecturers Initiative
  
  An updated report was provided by Brian Christenson and Craig Steenberg. Craig
  sent the information from other schools regarding promotable rank to the Provost. 
  Some schools in Idaho do have promotable rank for lecturers. Administration is
  not supportive of promotable rank for lecturers at this time due to the description
  of the position provided to LCSC from the State Board of Education. The letter/
  description from the board is clear about the non-promotable rank. Lecturers are,
  by definition, to teach introductory courses and are on one year temporary
  appointment without promotable rank.  Lecturers can be negotiated to move
  to an instructor levels position if the “position” should be changed in consultation
  with the Chair and administration.  For example, if the “position” requires upper
  divisional teaching, then the position may need to be reviewed for reclassification.
  This is typically facilitated through the UAP process. Faculty would still need to
  apply for the new position upon reclassification (if approved). Due to the current
  position classification and not having administration support, the FAC recommends
  that promotable rank for lectures not be explored any further at this time.  
  
   
• Stipends for Directed Studies Initiative

An updated report was provided by Brian Christenson. Debra Lybyer worked with
the Registrar to obtain data from other schools in Idaho.  Many schools do pay
faculty for directed studies, but it is not consistent, and they do not charge
and added amount to the student for them. For example, at NIC: faculty are
compensated $75/credit for directed study and $125/credit for independent
study; BYU Idaho: Any directed study course counts toward faculty load,
however, it is at a significantly reduced rate compared to standard classes;
BSU pays $50 per credit for summer directed study, but does not have a
defined Fall/Spring semester amount, but It was thought that it comes out
of individual budgets. Brian has obtained concrete data from Howard Erdman
for analysis with the committee and will present the information at the April
meeting. Brian and Susan continue to discuss the issues with administration. 
An update will be provided at the April meeting. 

Faculty Development Committee: Chair Alan Marshall

• The Faculty Development awards monies to faculty to support their work in
  professional activities/development. It also reviews and ranks faculty sabbatical
   applications, sending them to the Provost for a decision on funding the
  sabbaticals. It is also responsible for informing the faculty of application
  deadlines and criteria for making the awards.
• The committee included the following members: Claire Davis (Humanities),
  Heather Henson-Ramsey (Natural Sciences), Ella-Mae Keatts (Nursing &
  Health Sciences), Alan Marshall, Chair (Social Sciences), Cliff Matousek
  (Education), Mike Owen (Business Technology & Service), Teresa Sadorus-
  Kalco (Technical/Industrial), Samantha Thompson-Franklin (Library), Robert
  Thorson (Business).
• The committee met 4 times in Fall semester 2007 and once in Spring semester
  2008. Requests for support totaled $42,289.00. The committee awarded a total
  of $29,725 (the amount available in the Provost's budget). Awards were primarily
  for travel to professional meetings for making presentations or for participation
  in training. The travel requests were most often supplementary to travel funds
  offered by divisions. A few awards supported research travel and projects.
• Nine sabbatical applications were made: 8 from faculty in academic programs,
  1 from a faculty member in technical/professional programs. The sabbaticals
  were ranked and sent to the Provost.
• The committee requested that the Provost attempt to increase the budget
  for Faculty Development awards because of the clear need for more support
  for increasingly active faculty.

Technology Advisory Committee: Chair Holly Patterson McNeil, Co-Chair
Marilyn Heckendorn

• The new student email system was chosen and is now being implemented
• Because the new email system has no classroom management system, LC will
  be using LECW classes through BlackBoard through no additional cost to students
• While nearly $100,000 of materials and equipment were requested via the
  Infrastructure Grants, the Committee recommended the limit of $25,000 in
  awards to a total of six different Divisions.

General Education Committee: Chair Eric Martin

This has been an extremely busy year for the General Education committee.  Below
is quick review of matters we have discussed.  Proposals that have come to us via
the Curriculum Committee are not included below.

• Several committee members attended the Association for General and Liberal
  Studies (AGLS) conference in Maine in Fall 2007.  The impact of this conference
  is still being felt as we discuss ideas developed from the conference and work
  LCSC into a network of other institutions with similar General Education issues.  
  The committee has secured funding from various sources at LCSC to send the
  entire committee to the AGLS conference in Fall 2008.
   
• The General Education Committee recommended that Service Learning be
  supported at the programmatic level, but that it not be included in the overall
  goals for general education at LCSC.  This decision was made after organizing
  a ‘Thinking Through Lunch” on the matter, soliciting faculty feedback, and
  having LCSC service learning coordinator meet with the committee.
• The General Education Committee has met with Andy Hanson to discuss
  developing a “first year experience/seminar” appropriate for LCSC.   This is
  still in development.
   
• The General Education has met with Kristy Roberts to discuss the role distance
  education plays and should play in the General Education Core at LCSC.   This
  is an ongoing discussion.
• The General Education Committee organized a cross-campus retreat to discuss
  the assessment of the General Education Core in January.  The results of this
  retreat are still being processed, but the ideas generated from it related to
  assessment are in the process of being implemented. 
• The General Education Committee has been working on developing assessment
  tools for the General Education Core.
• The General Education Committee is still developing a way that thematic “strands”
  could be utilized in LCSC’S Core.
• The General Education Committee has discussed revising the “philosophy goal”
  to be incorporated into the broader humanities goal as well as the “culture goal”
  to be incorporated into the broader social science goal.
• The General Education Committee asked for faculty feedback and organized a
  ‘Thinking Through Lunch” related to the proposed wellness goal.  There has
  been some degree of confusion over this goal since it was included in the LCSC
  catalog as part of the institutions goals for General Education without being
  approved by the senate.   Each time the committee discussed the wellness
  goal we believed we were closer to developing an appropriate recommendation,
  and it seems in the process other potential problems related to the goals are
  revealed to the committee.

For example at the thinking through lunch it became apparent that some folks
at the institution are thinking of this as a goal that would be met through an
academic course, perhaps a 351.  Others are thinking that if adopted this goal
would be met through an activities course.  

Faculty feedback on the matter indicates support for encouraging “wellness”,
but little overall support for including a “wellness” oriented course in the
current 38 credit General Education Core.

Additionally the institutional history and politics related to this goal have been
slow to reveal themselves to the committee – and thus the committee has
proposed no specific action on this matter as of yet.

The committee considered simply putting the matter to a Senate vote without
any recommendation from the General Education Committee; and then decided
to table the matter until Fall 08 hoping that discussion of other changes in
the core might help present a solution to this matter.

The committee has also generated a bit of an agenda for the future which include
all of the above that are left unresolved:

·         Resolving the matter of “wellness”

·         The possibility of merging the separate philosophy goal into the
broader humanities goal.

·         The possibility of merging the separate culture goal into the broader
social science goals

·         Developing a first year experience/seminar

·         Developing a portion of the core organized by thematic strand

·         Continuing to examine the role distance education plays in the
General Education core.

·         More assessment issues

… as well as the following which are not addressed above:

• The possibility of recommending that 6 additional credit hours be added to
  the LCSC General Education core in order to more align the nature of the
  core with overall Faculty wishes.
• The possibility of developing separate General Education cores for BS and
  BA degrees
• Dealing with the matter of Foreign Language
• Developing a series of speakers/workshops to address issues of General
  Education at LCSC
• The possibility of including a student representative as a non-voting
  member of the committee
• The need to publicize the role of General Education on campus – perhaps
  through the pathfinder to encourage student awareness of its role in their
  education.

In conclusion, the committee would like to emphasize the tremendous amount of time
each member of the committee has invested in this slow process. Depending upon the
institutions desire for speedy resolutions to the above matters, in an age where more
and more time is spent in assessment, it may be worth considering a one course load
reduction for the chair and vice chair of the committee as there is only so much time
one can spend in “institutional service” while teaching four courses and attempting
to stay current in one’s academic discipline.

Curriculum Committee: Chair Chris Riggs

During the 2007-2008 academic year, the Curriculum Committee has accomplished
the following:

• Reviewed and approved approximately 110 curriculum proposals.  These included
  significant changes to the Radiography program, a major revision of the Social
  Sciences’ Sociology Emphasis, and the addition of several new courses in
  Business.
• Discussed issues related to the prospect of creating a double major for LC
  students.
• Suggested revisions to the policy manual’s section on the Curriculum Committee.
• Worked effectively and collegially with the General Education Committee, the
  Registrar’s Office, the Writing Across the Curriculum Committee, the Faculty
  Senate, and the Provost’s Office.

Budget Liaison Committee: Chair Susan Odom

• The BLC met five times this year
• The BLC met with Trudy Alva, Budget Director, about the budget process and
  is awaiting more information about the upcoming FY 10 budget and use of
  salary savings
• A recommendation was approved by the Faculty Senate and forwarded to the
  Compensation Review Committee and Administration for FY 09 Change in
  Employee Compensation to include a market adjustment of 2.0% for satisfactory performance and a merit adjustment of 0-2.0%. The recommended range in
  CEC for faculty was 0-4.0%.

Student Affairs Committee: Chair Rachel Jameton, Co-Chair Jacob Hornby

• The Student Affairs Committee focused our attention on two major tasks this
  year:
• Discussions regarding the structure and content of the new student orientation
  at LCSC. We discussed issues such as how many days, the mandatory nature
  of the orientation, inclusion of information on plagiarism, student code of conduct,
  and an honor code. We looked at issues related to students that must work all
  the way up to the beginning of the semester and how their employment might
  affect their ability to attend multiple mandatory days of orientation. In sum,
  together with Dean Hanson, we have suggested faculty members that might
  serve as a productive group to discuss this structure in the future. We will
  await word from Dean Hanson on further action.
• The SA Committee assisted in the drafting of a new student code of conduct
  by submitting preliminary suggestions to Dean Hanson and Ernie Williams during
  the Fall semester. In the Spring, further recommendations were offered after
  reviewing a second draft. The committee offered a number of suggestions and
  Student Services and the Student Conduct Administrator (Ernie) were very
  receptive to these suggestions. The committee made strong urges to the
  students to consider developing a Student Honor Code in which they might
  decide what they expect from their college community, however the student
  government representatives have opted the position of being told how to act
  by the Student Code of Conduct, rather than formulating their own
  expectations of themselves.
• These are the issues that have been addressed by Student Affairs this year.
  We believe we have addressed the points we highlighted during the Retreat
  in the Fall (plagiarism, orientation, and code of conduct).

Administrative Procedures Committee: Chair Leanne Parker

• Reviewed and made recommendations for revision to Faculty Constitution
  to reflect current practices and missing processes/procedures
• Recommended examination of our lack of availability of double majors be
  taken up by appropriate committee(s)
• Recommended examination of course calendars at an appropriate upper
  administrative/statewide level to address wide discrepancies between
  higher education institutions in Idaho

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FACULTY SENATE PRIORITIES
2007-2008
(developed at the Senate Retreat, August 2007)

SCE Considerations  (Faculty Affairs)

·         faculty vs. student responsibility for response rate

·         possible consequences of not completing (e.g., “View Grade” computer function
not available until SCE submitted)

·         student education re. SCEs (e.g., orientation)

·         relationship of SCEs to faculty evaluations

Plagiarism Considerations (Student Affairs, Faculty Affairs)

·         parameters/guidelines/criteria – what is it?  degrees of it?  etc.

·         student code of conduct/honor code

·         software – limitations, uses, mandatory vs. optional, all or nothing, privacy
concerns, logistics, security issues

Student Basic Skills (SD 107) Considerations (Student Affairs)

·         study skills – time management, research, etc.

·         code of conduct/honor code

·         plagiarism

·         computer skills

·         financial aid

Faculty Evaluation/Merit Pay Considerations (BLC)

·         faculty evaluation form/process – tied to merit pay

·         scaled approach vs. “Adequate/Inadequate”

·         factors in evaluating – SCEs, peer reviews, advisee feedback, etc.

Other Considerations

·         PTE tenure (Faculty Affairs)

·         Gen Ed goals/courses (General Education, Curriculum)

·         stipends for directed study (Faculty Affairs)

·         Warriormail (TAC)

·         Distance Education committee (subcommittee under TAC?)

·         Faculty workload (Faculty Affairs)

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

ABOUT COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

What is collective bargaining and how does it work?

Collective bargaining is representative democracy in the workplace.  The Idaho
Department of Labor would hold an election and the ballot would list various
bargaining agents (AFT and perhaps NEA and AAUP) as the choices.

"No Agent" would also be a choice.  If a given agent receives a majority vote, it
would be authorized to negotiate with the administration on salaries and working
conditions.

What is the relation between Idaho's Right-to-Work Law and collective bargaining?

Right-to-work laws prevent unions from requiring paying dues as a condition of
employment. Nearly all faculty unions in the nation operate on the basis of
voluntary dues payment, so there is no conflict.

What is the relationship between faculty senates and faculty unions?

Faculty senates are not allowed to negotiate for salaries, pensions, or health
benefits, so there is no conflict there.  Faculty unions and senates have cooperated
very successfully in improving working conditions.

Unions have the right to strike.  Would not that be disruptive to the educational
atmosphere?

Just as employers have the right to shut out their workers, so do employees have
a right to withhold their labor.  Faculty unions have had the lowest number of
strikes of any other labor organization.

Some say that unions are not for professionals. What does the AFT say to that?

Nurses, musicians, screen writers, and others have bargained for decades and have
improved their respective professions. Even doctors are now forming unions. Nearly
80 percent of America's school teachers (including Idaho public school teachers)
are unionized.  Internationally, teachers in virtually all of the top-ranked educational
systems are unionized. There is no conflict between professionalism and unionism.

Have any other campuses in the Idaho Higher Ed system addressed this issue?

Faculty Senates at ISU, BSU, and North Idaho College have all voted overwhelmingly
in favor of this same resolution.

Will Idaho legislators accept collective bargaining for higher ed faculty?

They will if they see that faculty across the state feel strongly that such an
arrangement would serve over the long run to strengthen Idaho's higher ed
system as well as Idaho's economy, families, and communities.

RESOLUTION ON COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

(Revised April 2008)

Whereas, every person has a right of self-determination in all areas of his/her life;

Whereas, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "everyone has the
right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his [or her] interests"
(Article 23.4);

Whereas, 319,000 American higher education faculty enjoy union representation
on 1,125 campuses, one third of the nation¹s total, even though 19 states still
deny bargaining rights;

Whereas, union representation on these campuses has led to increased compensation
and better working conditions and the lowest number of strikes in labor history;

Whereas, faculty unions work very well within existing faculty governance structures,
primarily because their tasks are quite different;

Whereas, public college and university faculties in Oregon, Washington, and Montana
have bargaining rights and labor contracts now exist on 33 campuses in Washington
State, 44 campuses in Oregon, and 20 campuses in Montana where some faculty
have been bargaining collectively for over 30 years;

Whereas, the number of unionized campuses would be far more if 19 states allowed
higher education faculty the right to self-determination;

Whereas, nearly 3,000 higher education faculty are excluded from Idaho's Teachers
Negotiation Act;

Whereas, in 1976 higher education faculties or their representatives at the University
of Idaho (by a 99-51 vote), Lewis-Clark State College, Boise State University, and
Idaho State University voted for collective bargaining legislation;

Whereas, all Idaho faculty would have the right to vote against bargaining as well as
for it;

Be it therefore resolved that the LCSC Faculty Senate support the higher education
collective bargaining bill in the 2009 Idaho Legislature.

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2008-2009 Senate Meeting Schedule
3:15PM-SUB143