Members Present:
David McGee, Tim Rhoads, Ernie Wade, Cynthia Deutsch (President), Tim Wilhelm, Marci Gale (Treasurer), Jim Atkinson, Juville Dario-Becker, John Lofaso, Charles Poff, Alison Moore, Deborah Harris, Jim Tuite (VP), John McCullough, Lorenz Chan (Secretary).
 

Members Absent:
Fifteen members were present.

Old Business:
1. Approval of Minutes from Tuesday, January 6, 2020, 1:00 PM. The minutes were unanimously approved. (Motion: David McGee; Second: John Lofaso).                                                                                                   

2. Learning Environment Awards (LEA) for adjuncts. Cynthia Deutsch provided an update on the recommendation to qualify adjunct faculty to be eligible for the LEA. On February 4, 2020, the College Governance Council approved this recommendation. This recommendation will be placed on the consent agenda at the next President’s Cabinet meeting.         

3. Faculty Advising. We are waiting for the next phase of training, which should occur later this month (February 2020).                                                                                                                           
4. Summer Pay.  No new information since the January 6, 2020, Faculty Association meeting.                   

5. Timing of IOTA evaluations.  Cynthia Deutsch has brought the Faculty Association recommendation to close student course evaluations on the last day of classes to Kris Ogden, Dean for Institutional Effectiveness and Planning. Kris provided assurances that the extension of the deadline for the IOTA evaluations during the Fall 2019 semester was a one-time occurrence and that it would not happen again.                                                                                                     
6. Compliance Statements.  After the January 6, 2020 Faculty Association meeting, Jim Tuite contacted the compliance program coordinators and posted the current Title IX, ADA, and Early Alert statements as well as the current Syllabus Review form to the Faculty Association Canvas site. He also presented the Faculty Association recommendation regarding compliance statements (Title IX and ADA) at the Vice President’s cabinet meeting. The recommendation proposed that any changes to these compliance statements be made available before the end of the semester preceding the semester in which they will take effect. This timeline enables faculty to submit the proper compliance statements in the first submission of their syllabi. Dr. Mickles concurred with the recommendation and instructed Student Accessibility Services to address any changes before the end of the preceding semester.

The ADA and Title IX compliance statements are required elements of the faculty syllabus for each class section. The requirement cannot be satisfied by attaching the Syllabus Attachment to the course syllabus. The Early Alert Statement has not been incorporated into CVCC policy on required syllabus elements and therefore remains recommended, but optional. 

Jim Tuite also raised the issue at the VP cabinet meeting that the current Syllabus Attachment contained an older version of the compliance statements.  Karen Alexander, the registrar, will be advised to update the Syllabus Attachment. 
 

New Business:

 
1. Faculty Book Orders.  Cynthia Deutsch and Charles Poff will participate in a meeting with administrative and bookstore personnel to improve communications and simplify the process for ordering books so that they are available at the beginning of the semester.  This meeting was scheduled to prevent the difficulties that occurred at the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester.  Cynthia requested that faculty who have had difficulty send her information about their experiences before the meeting. Marci Gale also recommended that program heads review book orders before the semester since, in some cases, adjunct faculty are not assigned to a class until immediately before the beginning of the semester. 

• Action Item:  Cynthia advised that she would report back to the Faculty Association on the progress made at the next Faculty Association meeting.

2. Attendance at Professional Development and other events.  As a result of a misunderstanding among full-time faculty over a scheduled professional development event that they were “expected” to attend, several faculty members received notifications that they were required to take leave for missing the event.  Cynthia Deutsch discussed this matter with Dr. Mickles. In the future, notifications will state that the events are “required” or that faculty “must” attend to avoid confusion. During the discussion, a suggestion was made that the rationale for attending the event be included in the announcement. 

There was additional discussion over whether faculty would have more input on the scheduling of the timing and topics addressed during professional development events.Allison Moore, Professional Development Coordinator, said that she continues to welcome faculty ideas for professional development events. Cynthia reminded us that professional development is intended to be a positive experience.
 
Other: The CVCC Foundation presentation has been postponed until the  March 24, 2020 Faculty Association meeting.  The presentation delay is due to a scheduling conflict.

The next Faculty Association meeting is scheduled for March 24, 2020 at 1:00 PM in Room 2123.

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 2:00 PM
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Recommendations to the College Governance Committee:
None at this time.

Suggestions/Items to be shared with other groups:
None at this time.

Submitted By:Lorenz Chan/Jim Tuite