By | October 2, 2019

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THE SENATE STANDARD – ISSUE 6

Dear Faculty Colleagues,

Buckle in y’all, this one is a biggie. There is a LOT of important information to share. Please, get comfy, and read through to the end. Thanks for your time and attention.

Senate Meetings / Minutes / Agendas:

  • 10/11/19 Senate Meeting – Our next meeting will be noon-2pm in HBC 301. I will be sharing the agenda soon. Please join us if you are able. I’d be thrilled to meet you in person.

New Action Items [deadlines to handle items are in brackets]:

  • Interview Opportunity! [October 8, 2019] – Austin Community College Guided Pathways Technology Assessment – Austin Community College is looking to evaluate how its software tools and related processes can best support strong and equitable student outcomes. The College is also in the midst of guided pathways reform, the early stages of an ERP upgrade, and decisions regarding IT governance. As a result of this evolving environment, The Ada Center has been asked to conduct a Guided Pathways Technology Assessment in partnership with Sova across October – November 2019. The goal of this assessment is to help prepare Austin Community College to strategically leverage technology in support of its guided pathways goals. Interviews with faculty will be conducted on Monday, November 4 from 11:45am to 12:30pm. If you’d like to be interviewed for this project and are free at that time, please submit your name on our volunteer form to be considered.
  • New Process for Registration [review ASAP] – Today, the college released its plans for a new “Pay as you Go” registration process. Please take a moment to review the materials they shared if you haven’t already. This will impact all students, and it is important that we do our part to get the word out. Ensure that you are informed, and let me know your thoughts.
  • ASAC Meeting this Friday [Deadline 10/3 to contact senate representatives on this committee] – The next two items are important agenda items for the next ASAC (Academic and Student Affairs Council) meeting on October 4. Please review them, and if you have concerns, contact a Faculty Senate representative on that council and share your perspectives. You can find the representatives’ names on the ASAC page. They are listed as “FT Faculty (One from different dean areas)”. You can also see the entire agenda online, to determine if there are any other issues of concern to you.
    • Proposed Changes to the Distance Education Committee – Learn more about the DE committee HERE. This committee will be proposing changes to their membership. Currently, the committee has 13 FT faculty and 2 ADJ faculty. They will be adding some new positions, so to maintain the status quo of having more faculty on the committee than any other job role, they need to add 3 more faculty. They propose a new arrangement of 13 FT faculty and 5 ADJ faculty.
    • Proposed Changes to Faculty Requirements for Professional Development –  Also at the ASAC meeting, there will be the second and FINAL reading on new professional development requirements. This means that any changes approved at this meeting will be made FINAL. The specific requirements are listed on the agenda.
    • PLEASE REVIEW BOTH OF THE ABOVE CAREFULLY AND SHARE CONCERNS WITH A SENATE REPRESENTATIVE ON THE COMMITTEE. 
  • New Senate Website! [review ASAP] – Our senate communications officer, Eva Thomsen has been hard at work updating our website. Please take a peek! There is so much to see! Agendas and minutes for all Senate meetings are up, and we’ve created spaces for all other meetings too, along with starting the process of archiving meeting materials from previous years. There are links to important forms, copies of emails that we send out, a calendar with all Senate events, and more. Please share your feedback on the changes, and look for more in the near future! Bookmark us! (You know you wanna…)

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

  • PLEASE HELP us raise money for student scholarships! Boots and Bats Donations [deadline October 11] – The Senate has been invited to create a basket to be auctioned off at the Boots and Bats Silent Auction on November 2. Any money earned will go to supporting ACC Student Scholarships. Senate Treasurer Beth Frye has agreed to coordinate our efforts. PLEASE donate an item for our basket! WE ONLY HAVE TWO ITEMS, AND THAT IS A SAD BASKET!!! To learn more about Boots and Bats, including how to donate, please read THIS LETTER from Beth.
  • Questions for Presenters at our next Meeting – [deadline October 8 @ 11pm] – Mike Midgley will join us at our next meeting to discuss the “campus master planning” process, and how faculty can get involved. In addition, we’ll be joined by Amanda Dean, of our new ombuds office to learn about how that office can serve faculty who have grievances or concerns. To facilitate these discussions, I’m making a second call for questions now. If you have questions about anything to do with space allocations on our various campuses, OR if you have questions about grievances and the ombuds office, please submit them HERE by October 8 at 11pm. This will ensure that our guests have time to research them and address them at our meeting on the 11th 

Newsworthy:

  • Parking Enforcement – Dr. Molly Beth Malcolm let me know that parking will soon be enforced more aggressively. Be sure you have a current parking permit and that you park in spots that match to avoid getting ticketed.
  • What about Scantrons? – With the closing of bookstores on some campuses, there was a concern that students would struggle to get scantrons for their exams. ACC administration has decided to fund the purchase of “emergency” scantrons. Students will soon be able to pick up a scantron or two from any campus manager’s office, testing center, learning lab, library, and some other locations. Keep your eyes peeled for an email from administration with more information, and then direct your students to the proper places so they can get scantrons for your exams.
  • Want to be a Senator??? – If you are a faculty member on the Elgin or San Gabriel campuses, please consider running in the December Special Election to represent your colleagues. If you have questions about what service is about, take a peek at the “Faculty Senate Handbook” and email questions to [email protected].
  • Meeting with the Cabinet and all Employee Associations – Our next meeting is this Friday, October 4. This meeting is only open to Senate Officers. The Faculty Senate has added its agenda items of the new “pay as you go” registration plan and the campus “master planning process” for space allocations on campus. We’ll share any newsworthy items from this meeting in the next Senate Standard.

Whew! That was a long one. Thanks for sticking with me!

Best,

++missi patterson