FC EC Minutes October 13, 2017

Introduction

Meeting Date: October 13, 2017.

Meeting Location: CoBE 2nd Floor Conference Room.

In Attendance: Jan Ray, Amy Saxton, Lari-Anne Au, Leng Chee Chang, Linda Connelly, Philippe Binder, Steve Herman, Tracy Thornett
Absent: Tom DeWitt, Brian Wissman (on sabbatical), Doug Mikkelson.

Recorded By: Tracy Thornett

Call to Order: 4:00 PM

Adjournment: 5:26 PM

Topic: Faculty Government Housekeeping

Report: Reviewed minutes from prior FCEC meeting (09/08/17) and FC general session (09/15/17). Corrections suggested.
Standing committee reports/minutes submitted from: Faculty Development Committee minutes (09/28/17).

Action: Motion to accept FCEC minutes (09/08/17) with corrections. The motion was seconded and approved with 7 votes in favor, 0 opposed, and 0 abstained. Tracy to edit minutes as suggested.

Topic: Updates from FC Chair (Jan Ray)

Report: Jan provided FC agenda for 10/20/17 along with drafted motions to discuss.

Action: As below.

Topic: Old Business

17-18-001 Motion for the Development of a New, Updated Strategic Plan

Report: Reviewed motion (see attachment).

Action: Philippe to look for policy regarding process.

17-18-002 Motion for the Approval of Wording for Incompletes Policy

Report: Steve Herman revised policy to make undergraduate and graduate incomplete policies look similar. Will run draft by Misaki and Graduate Council (see attachments).

Action: Steve will follow up with Misaki and Graduate Council.

17-18-003 Motion for Changes to Distance Learning Policy

Report: Kirsten made suggested changes. Recommend second reading in FC. (see attachments).

Action: Second reading of drafted policy and motion to occur at next FC (10/20/17).

Topic: New Business

17-18-004 Motion to Request Policy for Unregistered Students Attending UH Hilo Classes

Report: Some unregistered students have been allowed to attend class. There is no policy available for when issues arise.

Action: Academic Policy Committee to review for consideration and recommendations.

17-18-005 Motion to Accept Two New Campus-Wide Advanced Placement Tests for UH Hilo Credit

Report: Reviewed motion. Question: What CRN would students get credit for? Mahealani says students would get 3 credits of Lower Division Elective. She also gave background for motion. In short, it is a recruitment effort. She described the specifics of how the courses are evaluated and provided handouts/links to further information.

Action: Academic Policy Committee to review for consideration and recommendations. Steve will follow up. Mahealani will modify motion to reflect “3 credits of Lower Division Courses”.

17-18-006 Motion to Assist in Removing Sabbatical Barriers for DKICP

Report: 15 faculty in CoP are currently eligible for sabbatical, but they feel concerned that if they apply there will be retaliation from administration. Linda (department chair) welcomes applications for sabbatical. Ken Hon requests removal of motion and have it handled by the Dean’s office.

Action: Motion to defer for one month so Jan can work with Ken Hon to address issue internally. The motion was seconded and approved with 7 votes in favor, 0 opposed, and 0 abstained.

17-18-007 Motion to Develop Guidelines for promotion for Instructors (Per the New UPHA Collective Bargaining Agreement)

Report: New UPHA collective bargaining agreement includes in-rank promotion process for I-2 faculty. Recommend that each Faculty Senate review to make guideline draft for their own college and forward to FC. FC recommend that guideline be created, distributed, approved, and submitted to VCAA before the end of spring semester.

Action: FC will delegate to Faculty Senate for development and submission.

17-18-008 Request for the Creation of the DKICP Faculty Senate Executive Committee for Representation on the UH Hilo Faculty Congress

Report: Corrections needed to motion. Strike 4th paragraph. Linda states representatives are voted on at department meetings without any administrators present. May strike 5th paragraph, but Linda will get clarification.

Action: Linda will follow up with Jan regarding motion revisions.

17-18-009 Request for the Formation of an Ad Hoc Committee to Develop Guidelines and Criteria for the Transition from Instructor to Assistant Professor

Report: Discussed motion. Problems that have arisen in the past. Criteria can be set, but ultimately administration makes these decisions. Ken Hon welcomes guidance from faculty on this issue, hence the need for an ad hoc committee.

Action: Will read “as is” at FC.

17-18-010 Request for the Appointment of a Distance Learning Liaison

Report: UH Hilo is not being represented at state-wide meetings. It would be good to know how much has DL grown over the past few years.

Action: Jan will look for data on DL growth.

17-18-011 Request to Arrange a Faculty Vote of No Confidence

Report: After meeting with Senator Kai Kahele, there was a question about why there is no faculty vote of “no confidence” if the faculty are so displeased with administration. Discussed that Straney is already gone and the interims haven’t been there long. Consensus was that the interims need to be given time to learn and adjust to their new roles. Suggest a timeline for accountability for administrators, instead of going straight to “no confidence.”

Action: Motion to strike request and instead invite issue to be raised during Vox Populi so FC can get more feedback on direction as to what people want to do. The motion was seconded and approved with 7 votes in favor, 0 opposed, and 0 abstained.

Change of date for next FCEC Meeting

Report: Nov 10th is Holiday. FC EC to meet on Nov 13th (Monday) at 4-5 pm.

Action: All FCEC members are in agreement with date change.

Compensation for FC Committee Chairs

Report: Clarified process for securing course release. Apparently a new MOU needs to be negotiated every year. UHH is the only campus affected by the loss of course release for FC committee chairs. Chairs are usually given a 3 credit course release (or overload). There is a 2014 MOU that has list of releases.

Action: Jan will follow up with Marcia. FCEC unanimous vote to grieve if no progress is made on this.

Review Chancellor Search Committee Nominees

Report: Reviewed nominees. Selected 6 nominees based on rank and diversity of departments.

Action: Jan will submit the 6 nominees to President Lassner.

Topic: Vox Populi

Report: None.

Action: None.

Topic: Adjournment

Report: None.

Action: Motion to adjourn; motion seconded; all in favor.