Faculty Advisory Council
January 17, 2018
8:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Panera – 500 S. National Ave
Minutes
In attendance: David Hough, Tammi Davis, Kim Finch, Jeni Hopkins, Robin Koerber, Kayla Lewis, Annice McLean, Tuesda Roberts, Melissa Schotthofer, Michele Smith, Becky Swearingen
- COE Faculty Research Funds Proposal – Submitted by Mandy Benedict-Chambers, Tammi Davis, and Chloe Bolyard
Tammi Davis explained their proposal for $3,500.00 and mentioned they received funding from FCTL and their department. The proposal came about from discussions during department meetings. Regarding research, faculty will study their own practices, record conversations with each other and how change in coursework comes about. A motion was made to approve the proposal and seconded. Discussion about the proposal:
– 12 faculty involved
– Faculty would receive a stipend of $200 each
– Faculty would participate in a book study this semester and have $100 each for book purchases
Voting was conducted and the proposal was approved. Teresa Steele informed Sharon there is only $5,000 left in the Dean’s Research Fund.
- Draft Faculty Mentorship Guidelines
This document started with a subcommittee in FAC of which Michele Smith was the chair. A motion was made and seconded to adopt the guidelines. A discussion followed:
– The guidelines do not dictate how mentors are assigned.
– A mentor could be formal or informal and is flexible.
The motion was voted on and approved. The guidelines will be added to the COE web under policies.
- Research Active Policy
A couple of faculty had concerns with the document and since not all FAC members were present, the discussion was postponed until the February meeting.
Dean Hough informed the group that the Code of Ethics is now on the COE website. He asked members to bring it up at one of their faculty meetings for discussion along with other documents such as the Travel Policy.
Dean Hough may get an update on next year’s budget at the ALC meeting this afternoon. Prior to the holiday break, every cost center was required to turn in specific staff positions that could be cut if need be. The dean turned in two, as required. Most cost centers were required to turn in more than two. We should be informed by the end of February if this plan will need to happen. This would give those
effected until June 30 to try to get another placement on campus. All five college budget officers will be moved to Financial Services around the end of February. Financial Services had three open staff positions that were not filled. The five staff will conduct some of the work from their colleges and split duties from the three positions that were not filled.
COE faculty will need to complete their travel paperwork through their department before it comes to the dean’s office. He reminded everyone to review the COE Travel Policy first.
As a part of budget savings, deans have been asked in the past to identify things we are no longer doing. The dean has eliminated the fall and spring faculty meetings. He will still have the August college meetings. As of July, we are losing $80,000 from our budget that was given to us when an administrator became COE faculty. The faculty member is no longer here. The money was used for extra travel for faculty, faculty research requests and start-up funds for new faculty. He asked FAC what ideas for budget savings they could come up with. They were, in rank order:
- 1. Program Support Funds
- 2. Research Funds
- 3. Start-up Funds
The group then asked the dean if there would be any salary savings from the four current searches and he replied there would be some. FAC members stressed the need to keep travel and start-up funds, but limit them. These are two items that draw new faculty to our college.
The dean asked if there were any new items. Becky brought up RFT designated classrooms in Hill Hall. She and others have not been able to schedule classes in Hill Hall for the fall because they were told there would be 48 desks in the rooms. She and other faculty agreed, need to have round tables with chairs in order to work with their classes. She suggested having eight tables with four chairs each. Apparently, the designated classrooms for CEFS have round tables. The dean will look in to this matter.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:12 a.m.
Submitted by Sharon Lopinot, Executive Assistant