1.    Approval of the minutes from the January 13, 2011 meeting

2.    Hiring Practices – Cherry Nelson, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources
       PPM 8-6, IV C and PPM PPM 3-5

3.     Academic Calendar – David Ferro

4.     Faculty Governance Award

5.     Other Items

MINUTES

PRESENT
Shelly Costley, Colleen Garside, Ed Hahn, Sue Harley, David Malone, Ann Millner, Brian Rague, Peggy Saunders, Kay Brown, Secretary

EXCUSED
Azenett Garza, Michael Hernandez, Michael Vaughan

GUESTS
Barry Gomberg, Warren Hill, Holly Hirst, Cherrie Nelson

MINUTES
Colleen Garside: Moved to approve the minutes from the January 13, 2011 meeting.
Second: Ed Hahn
Outcome: The minutes were approved.

PPM 8-6 and PPM 3-5

PPM 8-6 Faculty Appointments, IV Procedure, C - When positions are approved and qualifications are determined, a screening committee of at least three members will be elected by department faculty. The screening committee may also contain persons from outside the department.

The policy states that members of the hiring committee are elected by faculty. Departments are forming the hiring committee, some through elections, some through appointment, some on a rotation of faculty, and some departments are small enough that all faculty in the department are included on the hiring committee.

Dean Hill is concerned that departments are not following policy. He felt that most hiring committees are appointed by the Department Chair and/or the Dean. One of the problems with members of the search committee being elected is it limits persons outside the department. Dean Hill wants to make sure that search and screening committees are composed of people who will provide the best decision.

Some departments have very little turnover and, therefore, have very little experience in writing a position description and putting together a hiring committee. HR can help with the position description format, but it is the department that does the content for the position description.

The policy needs to reflect current practice. The current policy is not being enforced. When we do not conform to policy we open up the institution to grievances. Everyone needs fair access to the hiring process. We need to avoid a systematic tendency to hiring inside track people. We need to value diversity. All department faculty need to be involved in the process.

HR could propose wording for the policy. It could then be sent to the Faculty Senate for endorsement.

CALENDAR
Academic Calendar - David Ferro reporting

A web page will be created showing options to the calendar. A scale from 1 to 5 could be used to rank calendar options. This will give faculty a last chance to view calendar options and express their views. Included in the options will be "no change" from the current calendar.

There is a monetary value to students to have a full 15 week semester in the summer. This is the driving force behind the trimester calendar. Dollar amounts for Pell Grants are based on the number of weeks in the semester.

There are faculty concerned about compressing the semesters even more than they are now compressed. Many faculty do not want to teach in the summer. Some faculty are concerned about being forced to teach during the summer. Could there be a financial incentive for faculty to teach in the summer? Faculty are required to teach two semesters.

Feedback from faculty on the calendar options will be collated and come back to the Faculty Senate. The Salary, Benefits, Budget & Fiscal Planning Committee can discuss whether to consider an incentive for faculty teaching in summer.

Suggestions were made to include in the web page some historical information on the calendar and the financial impact on students when a semester is shortened. Changes to the summer calendar were initially requested by the students.

It was suggested that rather than a survey faculty could be asked which elements of the calendar they want included: Spring Break, trimester system, 14-week semester, etc. The Faculty Senate could approve that list. The administration could then design a calendar that included the elements faculty want in the calendar.

Spring Break comes late in the semester (10^th week). Could it be move to a week in February so that it falls in the middle of the semester?

If the calendar is approved this Spring, if would go into effect summer 2012.

GOVERNANCE AWARD
Information will be sent out for the Faculty Governance Award. The deadline for nominations will be February 24.

FACULTY TITLES
The catalog gives titles to Department Chairs (Dr.), but faculty in the department are not given titles. This came about several years ago as a Faculty Senate action. Executive Committee members felt the title for Department Chairs could be removed as faculty names and degrees are listed in the back of the catalog. The catalog is ready to go to press. No changes will be made to the 2011-12 catalog. This item can be revisited again next year if the Executive Committee feels Senate action is needed to change the current practice.

ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m.