Faculty Senate
February 26, 2016
Table Rock Campus, Room 126
Present (in bold):
Bob Bagwell
Lynn Black
Karl Brake
Andy Childress
Tiffany Clarkin
Sandy Contreras
Kevin Culhane
Curt Erikson
Mandi Feetham
Robert Felthousen
Kiersta Fricke-Gostnell
Doug Gardner
Joyce Graham
Michael Grutchfield
Jeanine Henriques
Ralph Henderson
Charlotte Hutt
Bryan Jeffs
Felishia Jenkins
Kenneth Jones
Jessica Kitchen, co-chair
Alex Kozlowski
Victor Matoush
Kristi Mersino
Kathy Meyer
Glen Moulton
Diana Moynahan, recorder
Deb Murphy, co-chair
Carolyn Oates
Cyndy Patterson
Tom Pike
Kathleen Salinas
Erin Schibel
Jim Shaw
Midge Shaw
Curtis Sommerfeld
Lori Sours
Serena St. Clair
Dorothy Swain
Announcements and updates
Deborah Murphy explained the professional dialogue process and requested note takers. The Professional Dialogues around Process Improvement Guide says: Faculty Senate representatives will participate in discussions with programs with the intended outcome of engaging in peer conversations about program goals and practices. These conversations are confidential and the notes taken by senators will be given directly to the program presenters to capture what was discussed. No part of the faculty senate professional dialogue will be reported on with any other audience.
Volunteers are needed for the following subcommittees: May Faculty Senate Luncheon and the Faculty Senate Awards Review and Process.
The task forces were directed to connect via email or phone to accomplish their work since time is not always available at Faculty Senate meetings and there isn’t a meeting in April.
Deb reported on her conversationwith Kirk Gibson, VP of Instruction, about the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and the issues for students and faculty. He said the surveys, CCSSE and Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE), are required by an agreement of RCC, CCWD (Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development) and the 17 community colleges in the state. RCC doesn’t pay for the surveys, but they are used at the state level to compare one community college with another, and it’s used in the state and RCC’s strategic plan. Some classes may be excluded from taking the survey in certain situations. The list of classes surveyed isdone by random selectionbased on certain criteria. The CCSSE survey alternates with the SENSE survey every other year. It is one of the only surveys that deals with student engagement, and because of that survey the College hasput more emphasis on clubs, student government involvement, and athletics. We need to communicate better with faculty and students about why the survey is important and what is done with the results.
The survey results are located on the Y Drive (AllofRCC) under the “Student Satisfaction Surveys” folder. Curtis Sommerfeld noted that analysis is a weakness of the surveys; that’s why they appreciated Tracy Davenport’s analysis of the last survey. We need some form of data analysis, and with Faculty Senate’s help, this is a way to meet that need. Curtis also noted that the agreement for these surveys is fracturing and that several community colleges have opted out. We need to make survey results more useful for faculty and students. Deb asked Curtis if we can find out which colleges opted out and what they are doing instead. Since more discussion was requested by several people, the topic will be on the next agenda.
RCC Security Update – Curtis Sommerfeld, Vice President of College Services
After the Umpqua Community College shootings, there was anincident at Redwood Campus, and we found out what worked and what didn’t with our emergency procedures. We are addressing the gaps we saw. We did a three-campus drill recently to test our systems for a lockdown. The drill went well, in general, and we learned a few things.
In Josephine County, the College is in conversationwith the Sheriff’s Office to provide armed security on campus. Retired deputies would provide sheriffpatrols in various locations for two- to four-hour shifts. In Jackson County, the Medford Police Department has a two-minute response time to the college. Police response time to Table Rock Campusis a little slower.
To make sure staff are aware of emergency procedures, we provide information, hold drills, and present information at Inservice. Best practice is to focus the training on faculty and staff since students come and go. For instance, the order of operations in “run-hide-fight” with an active shooter is: run (1st option); hide (2nd option); and fight (3rdoption). Find something to defend yourself. Do anything you can to distract them and get away. Encourage people to defend themselves; do as a group, the more people involved the better.
At the RCC/SOU Higher Education Center, the police were chasing someone recently and we wanted staff and students to hunker down (shelter in place); we have to think about what do with each situation.
The phone system will not work as an intercom when the volume is turned down. At night, custodial staff re-adjusts the phone volume in classrooms, and Media staff is also checking when they are in the classrooms. Our phone system is our weakest link. The state offered dollars in a special session, and we applied for $350,000 for a public address system and to fix phone towers at RWC. Unfortunately, we did not get the money.
Kiersta Fricke-Gostnell said it was good to have these kinds of presentations in person. She noted that staff who work in the evenings are a little concerned about being alone in the lower level of Riverside Campus, G Bldg.
Jim Shaw pointed out a vulnerability he saw in the classroom doors at HEC – the strip of glass by the door could be broken to get into the classroom.
Bad guys are on a time clock (the average has been three minutes – from first shot to apprehension or death of the shooter). UCC’s incident was eight minutes. Anything you can do to delay the perpetrator they tend to move on. The vast majority of incidents are non-targeted and random. If you turn off lights and lock the doors, they typically move on.
What about allowing staff and students, who have a concealed handgun permit, to carry a gun on campus? Curtis commented that Faculty Senate has a standing agenda at the Board meetings and can talk aboutthose issues. It’s a board policy (Art. II.B.040 – Possession of Firearms).
Apparently, our vendors at the coffee shops didn’t know the emergency procedures or that they could get alerts. On the Alert Sense site, there wasn’t a place for non-employees to be notified (like at the RWC childcare center), but now there is.
Serena St. Clair often has a security person escort her to her car in a parking lot in Medford in the evening. She asked what is their role in our emergency procedures, and why did we change companies. Curtis said we have contracted security in Jackson County. There were concerns about the company and their contract was up. The College decided not to get armed security in Jackson County. AtRWC we had a bad experience with armed security; we tried to work with the out-of-state company to correct issues,and now we have contracted with a local company, Concierge Watch. At this point, they are not armed.
The bomb threat at Redwood Campus was deemed credible; there was a report of six explosive devices and four armed men coming to campus. RWC was shut down, but it’s hard to just shut down a single campus so all three campuses were shut down. Locking down all three campuses doesn’t work in all situations we found out. Some faculty in classrooms were conscientious about assisting students, while others were not aware of this expectation. RCC staff should be expected to help students, and Curtis asked for Faculty Senate’s help to write expectations for faculty in emergency situations.
Students who are walkers are in a different situation when it comes to a campus evacuation. The College now has an agreement with a church on Redwood Highway to use their parking lot as a gathering place in the event of an emergency. The role of RCC’s security guards is to observe and report; there are no rules of engagement for them in emergencies, unlike with the police department or sheriff’s office.
Alerts are an issue, because the word slowly gets out about emergency situations. People monitor scanners and word spreads like wild fire. The College normally can’t lock campuses down because something was posted on Facebook; we need more credible information. Making a decision to shut down a campus is not something the College takes lightlywhen dealing with the safety and security of our students and staff.
Program Presentation and Professional Dialogue – Felishia Jenkins, Library
Felishia Jenkins and Robert Felthousen did a program presentation about Library Services. Faculty Senators took notes and shared feedback with them.
Deb Murphy will do a professional dialogue on Early Childhood and Elementary Education at the April meeting.
Next meeting
April 22, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the RCC/SOU Higher Education Center, Room 117 (Medford)