By | July 13, 2021
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THE SENATE STANDARD – ISSUE 2.41

ACC Full-Time Faculty Senate Website 

ACC Coronavirus page

Dear Faculty Colleagues,

Many thanks for the response to the last call for hiring committee and Class Zoom pilot volunteers.  Looks we’ll have great full-time faculty voices representing us.  Just a reminder the call for Shared Governance councils and committees and standing senate committees is open until Friday, July 16th.  See the Current Action items below for the details. In that section you’ll also find final calls for Faculty Handbook feedback and applying for the Teaching and Learning Academy.

Stay cool.  Stay safe.

Wayne

Senate Meetings / Minutes / Agendas

The July 9th Full-Time Faculty Senate meeting minutes are currently in review. They will be posted once approved.

Newsworthy

The July College and Community Resource Series (CCRS) will take place this Friday, July 16 at 10 a.m. and will focus on Economic Assistance. We will hear from ACC’s Financial Aid on the many ways they support students and help them pay for college, including facilitating access to substantial Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (e.g., CARES, CRRSA) and the Student Emergency Fund (SEF) in collaboration with ACC’s Student Advocacy Center (formerly Support Center). We will also have a representative from Every Texan bring to life federal and state economic benefit programs available to the ACC community. 

ACC Student Success Report, 2020-2021 is Now Available: Download Provost Cook’s presentation to the board.  As the Provost noted in his cover email to the association presidents, “The report documents the amazing success of ACC students during this past very difficult year.  I emphasized to the Board that this success would not have been possible without the incredible dedication of our faculty and staff and the countless hours you have all spent in terms of professional development, adaptation of pedagogies and technologies, and acts of empathy and care for our students.”

Zoom is now integrated with Blackboard! To get started, add the Zoom tool link to your courses. Training and how-to resources are on the way, but in the meantime, support is ready to answer any questions you or your students may have. Visit the TLED blog for more information.

Web Conferencing Update: The Faculty Communications team has updated TLED’s web conferencing webpage here: https://tled.austincc.edu/faculty-support/tools/web-conferencing/   The web conferencing page and updated features table result from a collaboration among stakeholders from Distance Education, Academic Technology, Student Affairs and the Full-Time Faculty Senate and the Adjunct Faculty Association.

Faculty Communications Archive: Tired of asking yourself “what did that email say again?” Need to catch up on the faculty messages you missed while on break? See an archive of all communications sent to ACC faculty and instructional leadership. Watch this video for more information and email comments or feedback to [email protected].

TLED recap of the April 23rd Faculty Evaluation Forum. Check out the recording of the forum at https://instruction.austincc.edu/tledupdates/2021/05/11/faculty-evaluation-forum-outcomes-april-23-2021/

TLED Summer Software Day [Friday, July 23]: Summer Software Day is an annual event that offers workshops for all ACC faculty and staff. The event provides you with an opportunity to keep up to date with your tech skills and learn new ones to implement in your classrooms and day-to-day tasks. This year, Summer Software Day will be delivered entirely online on Friday, July 23, 2021. Click here to get event reminders. More details are available at austincc.edu/softwareday

HR Compensation Announces Annual Educational Adjustment Process for Qualifying Full-Time Faculty [Deadline, July 31, 2021]: The Annual Educational Adjustment Process for Qualifying Full-Time Faculty is now being conducted by HR Compensation. If you have completed a higher degree or completed additional graduate hours (either 24, or 45 or more) in your teaching discipline or in the discipline of Education in this academic year (FY21), those additional hours or degree qualifies your salary to be reviewed for a higher salary level. See attached for more details. Contact Carla Dykstra at [email protected] with questions.

Current Action Items (These are reminders for things I’ve already sent out):

ACC Faculty Handbook Open for Comments [Due July 15th ß LAST REMINDER]: In 2018, faculty identified the need for significant revision and updates of the ACC Faculty Handbook, and TLED subsequently became process holder for this document. TLED invites faculty to review and offer feedback on the content by July 15, 2021. The DRAFT Faculty Handbook, feedback form, as well as more detailed information about the Faculty Handbook timeline, can be found on this TLED website –  Faculty Handbook Review Project.

Internal Job Posting for Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in Instruction [Due July 16th ß LAST REMINDER]: Faculty can go to the job postings link here, (you’ll see the position highlighted), or you can go directly to the posting with more information here. The deadline to apply is July 16, and details about how to apply are in the posting.

Call for Shared Governance and Senate Standing Committee Volunteers [Deadline: 5:00P Friday July 16th ß LAST REMINDER]: ACC’s shared governance structure and various committees are the primary ways ACC Full-Time Faculty can have a significant voice in college policies and procedures, budgets and technology allocations, and all the other decisions that go into running the college.  Here is your chance to let your voice be heard as a volunteer on one or more of the various shared governance and senate committees. Please visit the form here and let us know your preferences by 5PM on Friday, July 18.

Teaching and Learning Academy (TLA) [Application deadline August 1]: Registration is now open for the Fall 2021-Spring 2022 cohort. Watch Samantha Croft’s short video for her take on why now is the right time to join this program. You have plenty of time before the deadline to apply, but please keep TLA in mind over the summer. Please mark your calendar to submit your application by August 1, 2021. Learn more and apply here.

Best,

Wayne