Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes (Draft)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
SGC 41

I.         Call to Order

          The meeting was called to order at 3:20 p.m. by the Chair.

      Present:  Susan Odom, Tony Fernandez, Brian Christenson, Debbie Goodwin, Barbara
Barnes, Scott Brainard, Rik Brosten, Dave Massaro for Wayne Carroll, Mike Collins,
Rhonda Combs, Linda Coursey, Tim Doty, Diane Douglas, Rachel Jameton, Brian Kolstad,
Debbie Lemon, Dave McCullough, Joni Dickinson Mina, Leanne Parker, Holly Patterson-
McNeill, Joe Pergola, Tim Petersen, Amy Richardson, Eric Martin for Chris Riggs, Mark
Sanders, Tom Urquhart

       Absent:  Randy Eriksen, Tracy Flynn, Kathleen Grussing, Alan Marshall, Nan Miguel,

      Visitors:  Chris Norden and Mike Owen

II.        Approval of Consent Agenda

      Consent agenda (April 10 minutes and treasury report) approved with change to be
made under “Administrative Procedures” from Faculty Affairs to Faculty Association.

III.      Provost’s Report  

SBOE:  Met in Moscow.  Approved faculty teaching position in dental hygiene. 
Received permission to make an offer (if LC wants) on Clearwater Hall.  LC would
pay the appraised value ($3.8 million) or less.  Received permission to sell The
York House.  There have already been two nibbles, and LC will officially put it on
the market soon.  Received permission to acquire 4^th Street properties to vacate
for parking.  Finals week is approaching.  Chairs will be discussing with faculty the
need to be available through that week and commencement even if courses are
completed.  LC is attempting to make its calendar consistent with other institutions’
calendars.

IV.  Chair’s Report

SBOE:  Idaho Technology Incentive Grants (ITIG) awarded, with a total of $1.4 million
available.  In the past, these were based on a pro-rated basis.  The SBOE decided to
base them this year on merit of proposals.  LCSC rocked!  Six LCSC faculty members
(listed on the agenda) submitted proposals and all were approved, receiving a total
of $336,000.

Email vote:  The email vote conducted for the April 10 Curriculum proposals were
unanimously approved with 26 yes votes.  The April 10 BLC proposals were approved
with 25 yes and 1 no votes.  This includes a 2% market increase and a 0-2% merit
increase.

Regarding compensation, President Thomas has recommended 1% for satisfactory
performance (market adjustment) and 2% for merit. The recommendation includes
an overall possible salary range of 0-5%.  Divisions have worked on their salary
worksheets.

Retirement and health benefits:  Some testified about and against benefits. 
Will be hearing more about health benefits in the future.

V.    Ongoing Business

Update on LCSC committees:  There are nominations for every committee. 
These will be voted on at next week’s Faculty Association meeting.

Chair-Elect position:  There is a nominee to be voted on at next week’s Faculty
Association meeting.

VI.   New Business

Collective bargaining resolution:  A proposal and short presentation were provided
by Chris Norden, Tim Doty, and Joe Pergola regarding a collective bargaining resolution. 
Also in attendance was American Federation of Teachers Idaho Chair Nick Gier.  Two
handouts were provided (see attached).  Discussion ensued.  A motion was made to
accept the resolution as set forth in one of the handouts (LCSC Faculty Senate
support the higher education collective bargaining bill in the 2009 Idaho Legislature). 
Question was raised as to whether there are any legislators ready to sponsor this
resolution.  There are two (one Democrat and one Republican).  It was also noted
that the bill is going forward no matter what, but that it would have a greater
chance of passing if support is shown.  The motion passed with two no votes.  The
handouts will be attached to the Faculty Association May 1 meeting agenda so that
divisions have a chance to review them before voting whether to approve at the
Faculty Association meeting.

May 8 Senate meeting:  Will elect a division chair and two alternates for the
Hearing Board.

VII.     Standing Committees

A.        Administrative Procedures (Leanne Parker) – Need to vote on constitutional
changes proposed at the last Faculty Senate meeting.  BTS provided a handout
of comments/concerns regarding the changes.  The Chair expressed the hope
that this revised constitutional version would be sent to the Faculty Association
meeting next week so that LC can work with a clean document in the fall that
has been approved by the SBOE.  In the fall, some of the bigger issues could be
reviewed and addressed.  One concern regarded accepting a document that is
imperfect.  If other changes needed to be made next year, then the Constitution
could be submitted to the SBOE again.  A motion was made to approve the
constitutional changes as set forth by the APC at the April 10 meeting, seconded,
and further discussion ensued.  A point was made that substantive items need
serious discussion and could be addressed in the fall.  LCSC is currently working
with a version that does not meet what has been approved by the SBOE in the
handbook.  In reality, we do what we are supposed to, but the current version
of the Constitution does not reflect that.  It is believed that there are no legal
concerns.  Vote:  16 for, 4 opposed.  Motion carried:  the current revised version
will go to Faculty Association for a vote.

B.        Budget Liaison/CRC (Susan Odom) – See BLC proposals vote under “Chair’s
Report.”  Will meet once more this semester to discuss with the budget director
the upcoming year.

C.   Curriculum (Eric Martin for Chris Riggs) – (see attached) Moved to accept (no
second needed).  No discussion.  Unanimously approved.

D.   Faculty Affairs (Brian Christenson) – No new report.  Will meet Monday.

E.   Faculty Development (Alan Marshall) – Final yearly report will be attached to
the Faculty Association agenda next week.

F.   General Education (Eric Martin) – (see attached)  Will also be attached to the
Faculty Association agenda.  No proposals in the report, so no motion needed
to accept.

G.   Student Affairs (Rachel Jameton) – No report.

H.   Technology Advisory (Holly Patterson-McNeill) – (see Attachment A to
Faculty Senate April 24 agenda)  Motion to accept as set forth in Attachment
A (no second needed).  No discussion.  Unanimously approved.

VIII.  In-Service (Diane Douglas)

       The after-commencement event will once again be at the Registrar’s home. 
Invitations will be sent soon.

      Is still looking for FA08 grad apps.

IX.  Other/Good of the Order

      Faculty Association proxy votes:  when the agenda is posted, faculty can email
their votes; however, these will not count toward a quorum for next week’s meeting.

      The Senior Research Symposium is May 7-8.  There will be 108 presentations.

X.    Adjournment

      Meeting adjourned at 4:28 p.m. by the Chair.

Lewis-Clark State College
Curriculum Committee Senate Report
04-17-08

The Curriculum Committee has approved the following proposals.

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 r
ight 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 nation’s 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.

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.

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