January 13, 2015 Meeting
Agenda
Taft College Faculty Association Agenda
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
- Welcome and Lunch
- Approval of Minutes from November meeting
- Treasurer’s Report
- Cash balance
- TCFCBC Update
- Division Chair Compensation
- Club Advisor Compensation
- Retiree Health Benefits for new employees
- Stipend for Accreditation Self-Study editing
- Student Evaluations
- Other
- Next Meeting: Wednesday, February 25, 2015, 12:10pm, Location: Cougar Room (Lunch will be provided)
Minutes
Call to order
President Diane Jones called the meeting to order at 12:08 p.m..
Approval of Minutes
Mike Mayfield made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Dave Layne. The motion was unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s Report
Cash Balance
Treasurer Ruby Payne reported a balance of $10,896.17 before lunch.
TCFCBC Bargain Update
A). Division Chair Compensation:
President Diane Jones reported that this issue is still in the subcommittee. Greg has met without Mark with the chairs to produce more ideas on potential options, and Greg plans to have one more meeting with the chairs and Craig Johnson, who is also on the subcommittee, before planning another meeting with the subcommittee and Mark, who plans to have this issue on the February agenda.
B). Club Advisor Compensation:
President Jones summarized the last bargaining meeting as a continuation of the December meeting where the District expressed an interest in deferring a decision to research club compensation, which became the subject of the January meeting. President Jones reported that the District introduced alternative projects with mentorships attached to student success as an alternative to club advisor compensation. The faculty team felt this was an entirely different issue. The District then suggested an option of $500/semester, and our team proposed an option of $1,500/semester. Additionally, the District wanted to reduce the clubs from twelve to ten. President Jones mentioned a compromise of piloting the club advisor compensation for a year. However, the bargaining meeting ended with the District’s suggestion to take a break.
Discussion followed President Jones’s report in which six faculty reported that they currently advise these clubs: The Psychology Club, PTK, ECE, Dental Hygiene, Literary Club, Drama Club). Additionally, several members expressed an interest in starting these clubs: STEM, Art Club, Transfer Club, History and Current Event Club, and The Music Club.
President Jones asked Association members what amount of compensation they would be willing to have. After some discussion on whether Student Success and Support Program (3SP) funds could be used, Jones clarified that according to Darcy, it would be a stretch of interpretation to use those funds. Kelly Kulzer suggested that Basic Skills Initiative (BSI) funding might be used to fund advisors if they served the basic skills student population. Current club advisors revealed that their workload already surpassed 1 hr/week and expressed concern over the potential to build enough membership if a one-year pilot were implemented. Members offered various options for compensation. Some showed a preference for volunteering to avoid being monitored while offered such a small stipend amount, and others favored negotiating for some compensation. President Jones offered that the Association could maintain the status quo, be compensated for 1.5 hrs/week with a minimum of 25 hours/semester, or be compensated for 1 hr/week per semester paid at the end of the semester.
Other members queried over compensating faculty for using their funds and how that factored into compensation. President Jones responded that ASB provides clubs with $200 seed money. Association members mentioned the following points: club advisors serve the needs of the campus beyond the athlete and dorm population, and therefore, contribute to retention; compensation incentivizes faculty who are already overloaded with other commitments; ASB has entertained raising its fee from $5 to $10, which may cover some of the costs; the International Club Advisor should have a budget of $70,000 since no one has filled that position for some time. President Jones mentioned an interest in clarifying whether ASB funds pay for the current ASB Coordinator’s salary.
- C) Retiree Health Benefits:
President Jones reported that this issue has been tabled and that the bargaining team is still at the information gathering stage. Mike Mayfield shared that the consultants told Taft College (TC) it was ahead as it already has a trust fund that it has been contributing to in contrast to the state of California’s retirement plan, which operates under a pay-as-you-go plan with lifetime benefits, whereas TC has capped benefits at age 65 and doesn’t provide full coverage like the state’s plan. President Jones ended the discussion with the reminder that the faculty only represents 25% of this potential liability.
D). Stipend for Accreditation Self-Study Editing:
President Jones thanked Eric Bérubé and Tony Thompson for helping to convince President Maloney to compensate two faculty members up to 25 hours rather than arbitrarily selecting them and offering them release time from two committees.
E). Student Evaluations:
President Jones requested feedback on the new student evaluation process. Various respondents from the teaching, tenure-track mentioned a delay in receiving student evaluations in January when the Self Evaluation was due January 12th. Tenure-track non-teaching faculty relayed that they had not received evaluations. Those teaching online classes indicated mixed receipt of evaluations. Additionally, faculty teaching compressed classes had problems receiving evaluations in a timely manner. Furthermore, one suggestion was that faculty would prefer receiving evaluations with aggregated results rather than scanned.
Other
President Jones mentioned Brian Jean’s request to make the retirement chair equitable to the scholarship amount. Sharyn moved to approve this motion; Kelly seconded it, and it was unanimously approved to donate $400 rather than $200 to a scholarship in honor of Linda West’s retirement. President Jones also reported that a CTA memo indicated the Governor’s proposed budget includes a 1.5% COLA, which the District normally passes along to the employees. Joy Reynold’s reported that she attended the board meeting where Linda West received the emeritus distinction.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 1:14 p.m.
Supporting Docs