Minutes of the EC 1

Faculty Association

SuffolkCommunity College

Minutes of the Executive Council

June 9,2005

Ammerman Campus at Selden

Southampton 22

Present:

Officers: Ellen Schuler Mauk, Kevin Peterman, Joyce Gabriele, Sean Tvelia

Adjuncts: MaryAnn Ellinger, PA/Specialists Instructional Labs; Maureen Sandford, PA/Specialists in any PA/Specialist category; Charles Grippi, Christopher Gherardi,SCC full-time retiree/full-time Guild member on overload; Theodora Mamatas, English/Lib/Speech/Theatre Broadcasting/Communication;Arlene Cassidy, Econ/Hist/Pol Sci/Criminal Justice/Psych/Counseling/Student Activities

PAs: Kathy Massimo, Programmatic; Josephine Pignataro, Technical Areas/Instructional Centers; Deborah Kiesel, Instructional Labs;

Ammerman: Vacant, Music and Fine Arts; Michael Bonanno, Math; Kevin McCoy, Library; Kevin McNamara, Accounting, Business Administration, Business Information Systems; Adam Penna, English; Valerie Parks, Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences; Karen Pepe, Counseling; Bob Sardegna, Engineering, Computer Science, Industrial Technology; East: *vacant, Counseling, Science, Math and Business; Grant: John Burgess, Natural and Health Sciences, Math and Technology; Gayle Sheridan, Liberal Arts, Counseling, Library; Mohini Ranta, Liberal Arts, Counseling, Library;

Peterman called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m.

The Executive Council welcomed new members Mohini Ranta and Michael Frost and returning members Michael Bonanno, Valerie Parks and Gayle Sheridan.

Approval of Minutes

The following corrections to the minutes were made:

  • On Page 3, removal of an apostrophe in the term “PAs”. Peterman motioned to approve the minutes of May 12, 2005 as corrected; Grippi seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as corrected unanimously.

Ratify election results of EC Members:

  • Ammerman Campus

Social Science

Val Parks

Math

Mike Bonanno

Acct/Bus Admin/Info Syst

Kevin McNamara

Adjunct Rep. for Econ/Hist/Pol Sci/Crim Just/Psych/Counseling/Student Activities

Michael Frost – Votes 9 out of 17

John Zaher – Votes 8 out of 17

  • Grant Campus

Liberal Arts/Counseling/Library

Mohini Ranta

  • Elections that still need to be held are:

Ammerman Campus –

Nursing/Health & Human Services

Music/Fine Arts

Grant Campus –

Business Programs

BOT Update

  • Meeting was scheduled for June 9th at 9:30 am. Website stated meeting date & time as such. Peterman was advised at Angie Carpenter Fundraiser that meeting date was moved to June 30th.

Negotiations Update

  • ESM sent letter on May 13th to County that the FA was prepared to begin bargaining. Peterman reported that AME reached settlement on Friday before Memorial Day. Grippi asked how our increases compare to AEM’s in the past. Peterman said we are very different. We have no direct relationship between AME and FA. Pignataro asked if there would be any changes to medical benefits. Peterman responded that the FA doesn’t negotiate health package. Health benefits are negoatiated separately in a coalition with eight other County unions.

Resolution on e-mail policy

  • Parks put together updates with Sardegna. There are four separate resolutions.

Resolution 1: Motion made by Gabriele, second by Burgess.

Clarification wanted in what College is saying:

-WantCollege to clarify all communications to avoid confusion (i.e. student email could be considered official college communication.)

-Standardize format: specify if email is a college brief, forwarding, Katopes email, etc.

-Sardegna stated he did not want to mandate a specific size of mailbox. Prefers to have College do everything possible to increase size. The present size of mailboxes is 20 MB.Need to provide courses in Outlook and Outlook Exchange. McCoy suggested continuing education for training. Peterman said if people knew how to manage email, size of mailbox is not an issue. Sheridan recommended encouraging people to use tutorial.

-WantCollege to date & time stamp sensitive material. Post timely: within five working days (Monday-Friday) before effective date of communication.

-Give Faculty two weeks notice of dump date.

-College should send communication directly to us and do not forward to us through Dean.

-Policy changes – request 15 working days notice.

Vote was unanimous.

Resolution #2: Motion made by Sandford, second by Burgess

Address problem with working at home July & August:

-Amendment to deal with adjuncts. Gabriele suggested stating “10 Month or adjunct”. Address problem with working at home July & August. We run the risk of losing mail and still bear the responsibility of replying to e-mail. Some do not work in July & August. Access from remote sites differs depending upon the browsers used. WantCollege to correct access from remote sites and resolve problem for ten-month employees not to be held responsible or lose messages if box is full.

-Sardegna asked how adjuncts are notified that they received e-mails? Adjuncts need to know NORA availability and when they receive assignments. Peterman suggested that adjuncts should have a separate resolution detailing the need for adequate notification.

Vote was unanimous.

Resolution #3: Shifting of Clerical Responsibility.

-Most adjuncts print out their own mail on their printers at home due to a paper crunch in department, lack of printers, or difficulty in getting emails printed through communal departmental printes. Arlene Cassidy suggested reimbursement for printer and paper or department budgets be allocated for additional costs for paper. Parks requested that adjuncts write a resolution requesting College to provide additional printers in academic areas and adjunct offices to accommodate adjuncts, comparable to those for departmental use. Schuler Mauk suggested that adjuncts can have email printed and copied by department secretary in the interim.

Vote was unanimous.

Resolution #4: Burden of constantly being on top of e-mail.

-Need to define responsibility. Computers are shared with officemates. One of three line items at bottom of NORA form requests a statement that the mailbox will be maintained. It must be clicked for Form to be accepted. What if this is not accepted by individual? Request FA to address. ESM suggested inserting wording to resolution “FA will take the measures necessary to address these with College …”

-Parks asked what happens if we don’t know of new e-mail? E-mail policy crafted by college should deal with the impact of communicating issues in a paperless work environment.

Vote was unanimous.

Officers’ Reports:

President’s Report:

Schuler Mauk reported that:

  • In addition to the letter sent to the County/College regarding negotiations. ESM spoke with Tempera and he has spoken with College. They will get back to the FA with dates for negotiations meetings within the next two weeks.
  • Two Chancellor Award winners are Kevin Peterman for Excellence in College Service and Joyce Gabriele for Excellence in Librarianship.
  • Union officers attended UFT Rally at MadisonSquareGarden on June 2nd. ESM and Peterman walked around MSG carrying FASCC banner. MSG was full, except for top tier, well attended by politicians (except Mayor Bloomberg).
  • Met win Canniff also with NYSUT Effective Teaching Program representatives regarding New Faculty Orientation on Tuesday, August 23rd and Wednesday, August 24th. Orientation will be a full day workshop on “Critical Thinking” to show that the College wants to encourage quality classroom instruction. This orientation will be mandatory for all new faculty as a pre-employment requisite.
  • Received an e-mail from Pippins asking for permission for a PhD candidate at Univ. of Albany to conduct a survey with Faculty for his dissertation. Pippins believes people should be encouraged to allow them to do research. ESM feels this is acceptable as long as e-mail addresses are not provided to the individual. His survey can be sent to the College and the College could forward it to faculty. Concerns were raised that if one were to respond to his e-mail he would know who you are. ESM said there is no obligation to respond. Also, one could send the response anonymously via US Mail.

Vice President’s Report:

Peterman reported that:

  • FA PAC Committee – Angie Carpenter not running for Legislature. Adam Penna, Kevin McCoy and John Burgess joining FA officers in August political screenings for SuffolkCounty legislative candidates. A letter to invite candidates will be sent in two weeks for August 10, 11, 16, and 17 screenings to take place at the NYSUT Regional Office in Hauppauge. The location was chosen as a reminder to the candidates that we have a database of over 50,000 NYSUT members in SuffolkCounty. Motion to approve by Valerie Parks, seconded by Grippi. One abstention.
  • “A” Form has been changed. It now includes a description of promotion committee criteria. This is an update to a 20 year old form. Guidelines were not reflected in old form. Canniff is amenable to an extension to July 29 for faculty to complete their “A” forms. A letter will be going out detailing what the promotion committee is looking for. The new form will specifically ask, “How do you meet the criteria”. The form is available for download on the FA website. Additional time to complete their “A” forms will be given to those eligible faculty members who are out of the country this summer.
  • Legislature met Tuesday, June 7th. Capital projects approved were East Library, Grant Library and improvements to SmithtownBuilding. The Legislature approved funding for Library, 17-1.

Treasurer’s Report:

Gabriele reported that:

  • No report. Bank records not in mail before meeting.

Secretary’s Report:

Gabriele* reported that:

  • On June 13th, Sabbatical Reports will be reviewed and accepted by the Sabbatical Committee. The deadline for Sabbatical applications is October 15, 2005, acted upon by Board of Trustees by March 1, 2006.

*(Hanna absent due to a prior professional commitment to conduct a workshop within her academic department.)

Grievance Officer’s Report:

Tvelia reported that:

  • Issues within departments not formal grievances.

DE Courses – Tvelia asked EC members to let him know if numbers are different than those published. If so, he will make sure they are corrected.

Unfinished Business:

  • Penna announced that the Community Outreach Committee is participating in an MS Bike-a-Thon in September. The Community Outreach Community was informed that the 2 day Breast Cancer Walk-a-Thon did not need additional volunteer coordinators as the event already had enough. The Community Outreach Committee will have a meeting the first week of September and only one meeting per semester. There will be a booth set up on opening day in September.
  • ESM downloaded Jim Banks’ report concerning an earlier memo from Steve Schrier re; the incorporation of diversity issues in their courses. Schrier’s request was made on behalf of the Diversity Committee. It was not an attempt to force people to deal with diversity. Schrier was impressed with faculty responses to his memo which indicated many faculty already incorporate diversity issues in their courses.

New Business:

Sandford said it is harder to be promoted due to requirements and limited resources to pay for it when funds for Faculty Development are exhausted. If StonyBrook doesn’t have what we’re interested in, is there something we can do to address this? ESM answered that the first priority for Faculty Retraining & Development is retraining. Development was never intended to provide credit hours for promotion. It is meant for faculty members to keep up with technology or emerging issues in their disciplines.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of Maria S. Hanna by Anita Greifenstein.