Faculty Council Meeting –12/8/08

Council met to consider AP 667, Assignment of Grades I, W, and Y, and AP 133 (Draft), Release of College Information and Public Access to Records. Matters of particular interest to Adjunct Faculty include:

• AP 667 – For those who may consider the assignment of these grades, please review the AP. Of specific concern in our discussion was the assignment of an “I” grade without the student being aware of the full implications. For any of these grades, however, it was emphasized that the student must initiate the request. For the assignment of an I or Y grade, it is important that the student clearly understand what is expected and what will occur if they do not complete the actions required on their part. A contract form is presently required for the Y grade; a similar optional contract form is proposed for the I grade. It was pointed out that the contracts could be completed electronically, with e-mails attached to the forms.
• AP 133 (Draft) – Developed in response to the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, this AP is being created to enable the college to conform to the law. This task is made difficult because the State has not completed action on regulations necessary to implement the law, and these regulations are not expected to be completed before the law goes fully into effect on January 1, 2009. The bottom line for all faculty is that any record not specifically excluded by law must be provided by the college upon request. This includes any published work and electronic communication created and maintained using the college systems (i.e., syllabi, network files, GroupWise e-mail, etc.). This may include release of faculty home address. Unclear is the protection of content in restricted access systems like WebCT, including discussion board threads, lecture notes, etc. Specifically protected are unpublished works and information protected by laws such as FERPA and HIPPA. This will require the College to review and adjust or establish as necessary strict business rules for record retention and protection. The President has designated Patrick Early as the Right-to-Know Officer for the College, charged with administering compliance with this law.

Ron Young stated that his objective remains to complete the decision making process and publish the reorganization plan by December 17.

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, and Happy New Year to all.

Dan Moseler

FPPC Meeting November 24

The FPPC met last week on Monday. Committee members discussed AP 145, College Compensation Committee, and suggested further review as it was felt that language should clarify responsibilities in a more specific manner. The committee then examined AP 454, Faculty and Staff Salary Standards, and entertained comments and questions. Both AP 145 and AP 454 were being reviewed by the same subcommittee, and the APs were returned to its members for further review.

AP 886 (Corrective and Disciplinary Action for Full-Time Faculty), AP 888 (Corrective Action for Regular Full-Time and Part-Time Employees and Adjunct Faculty combining APs 886, 888, and 891), and AP 888 (Disciplinary Action for College Employees combining AP 886 and AP 888) were also discussed by the full committee. After some explanation and clarification, it seems that AP 886 is nearing completion of its review by the subcommittee. The AP 888 that combines AP 886 and AP 888 does not appear to be up for further review as the AP seems unable to address the many difficulties it encountered in its attempt to combine both APs. The AP 888 that addresses full-time employees, part-time employees, and adjunct professors, however, was the subject of much discussion and resulted in a full-committee recommendation. All members supported the subcommittee’s recommendation to remove item III G from the AP (III G outlines a corrective and disciplinary process that is quite different, and unique to Adjuncts) as they felt that adjunct faculty members should not be treated differently from full-time faculty when corrective and disciplinary action is involved. The AP was referred back to the subcommittee with the full committee’s recommendation to remove item III G from it.