January 20, 2011 - Spokane Community College

TOPIC DISCUSSION FOLLOW-UP
serving on the task force and were interested in continuing their service were
encouraged to respond to the faculty union request. Scott has already obtained a
list of willing faculty volunteers to serve on the Duplication Task Force, which he
and Joe have not yet had the opportunity to discuss.
Susan doesn’t agree with Joe, and doesn’t agree with the AHE having to assign
faculty members to College Alliance task forces. After a year and a half of hard
work, she wonders what will happen if College Alliance and the Curriculum
Committee chair don’t volunteer to serve on the DTF again.
The CA will have to look at all committees on campus who don’t appoint faculty
members through the AHE (e.g. Curriculum Committee), or get an MOU for specific
levels of faculty service on college committees and task forces. Joe stated that this
would be a reasonable solution to the issue, but the requested action from the
College Alliance didn’t include the possibility of an MOU. MOUs were not
mentioned in the January 6, 2011 draft minutes. Susan stated that MOUs were
discussed, but that part of the discussion didn’t make it into the meeting record.
For clarification, Scott stated that task forces are short-term, and committees are
long-term. CA members asked if there was a time limit spelled out in months and
years to clearly define the difference between a task force and a committee. No
one at the table remembered reading anything about that.
Peter stated that in the interest of getting things done for the college this issue
should be seen as a procedural matter. Joe agreed that this discussion was
necessary in order to process the information – it is important work. There is an
issue which needs further attention, but in the meantime we have got to pick up
and move on. Grievance is not a cooperative effort. Scott stated that he would
rather not write contract language for this issue, but it can be done. He agreed that
the Alliance needs to move forward, because its business isn’t just about faculty.
Personnel Concerns At an earlier meeting, Classified Staff representatives brought up the subject of
staffing and program changes taking place throughout the campus. Administrators
are not clearly articulating these changes to other offices on campus which may be
directly affected. For example: evening cosmetology services were cancelled and
the Office of Campus Security was not notified. As a result, people looking for
services were roaming the halls, Security Officers were not aware that they needed
to change their routines, and things got seriously out of whack. It makes the entire
college appear unprofessional when employees who provide public services are
not aware of changes occurring on campus.
2
Question in need of an answer:
was it ALL faculty members who
must volunteer, or only the
division representatives? Would
the College Alliance and
Curriculum Committee chair
continue to serve due to their
expertise in college-wide issues?