The Word from CSEA

Columbus State Education Association Newsletter of October 19, 2009

REMINDER — CSEA MEMBER MEETING WEDNESDAY

CSEA’s Autumn Quarter member meeting will be held this Wednesday, October 21, from 3-4:30 PM in FR 104.

TThe agenda will include discussion of issues related to semester conversion and increased enrollment, discussion of the presidential search process, as well as election of CSEA officers, Association Representatives, and delegates to the OEA Representative Assembly.

To date, the candidates include:

Anyone else who is interested in running for one of these positions should contact a member of the Elections Committee (Beth Barnett; Mary Ann Canter; Greg Goodhart; or Alesa Mansfield). Nominees will also be accepted from the floor, at the meeting.

If you are unable to attend the meeting and wish to cast an absentee ballot, contact Greg Goodhart (x5431; ggoodhar@cscc.edu) by the end of the day Tuesday, 10/20/09.

We encourage all CSEA members to attend, share your insights, express your concerns, and vote. Drawings will also be held for the four faculty who will have half their dues paid this year by choosing to be continuous payroll deduction members. Refreshments will be served, and door prizes awarded.

DEPARTMENT CHAIR CLAIMS AWARD SHE DIDN’T EARN

Q: When is a Distinguished Teacher not a Distinguished Teacher?

A: When she’s a department chairperson who has never been a full-time faculty member, evidently has a disdain for the work that faculty do and a lofty view of herself, and who claims an honor she’s not entitled to and has a sign erected (at the College’s expense) to announce it.

Several faculty, staff, and administrators were surprised, confused, and offended at the beginning of this quarter to see a sign designating a parking space east of Davidson Hall (and later north of Franklin Hall; and later east of Franklin Hall) as reserved for “Distinguished Teacher Mary Vaughn.” Ms. Vaughn, chair of the Integrated Media & Technology Department, has never been a full-time faculty member, nor has she been nominated for (or received) a Distinguished Teaching Award.

The annual Distinguished Teaching Awards recognize full-time and part-time faculty who have distinguished themselves in the classroom. Annual recipients are first nominated for the award based on their teaching performance; then evaluated by a committee of administrators and previous honorees; and finally four winners are selected from all the nominees. The award includes recognition at each year’s Employee Recognition dinner, a $2,500 cash award, and a reserved parking space for one quarter during the following year.

In an effort to keep the concerns relatively discreet, CSEA President Darrell Minor sent an email to Ms. Vaughn inquiring about the situation, expressing concerns about her claim to be a Distinguished Teacher, as well as the ethical issues raised by what appears to be her use of a reserved parking space earned by a faculty member whom she supervises, evaluates, and recommends or does not recommend for promotion. The email indicated CSEA's willingness to handle this matter in a collegial fashion, but also indicated that if an agreement about how to handle it couldn't be reached, then we would raise the issue in other venues.

She never responded to the email. Instead, the sign magically disappeared from its original location, only to re-appear on a new parking space elsewhere. Still not satisfied with the location of the second spot, she continued to direct employees of the Physical Plant to the precise location where she wanted the reserved spot to be. She informed members of the Physical Plant that the parking space assigned to her was “in the wrong space”, and told them exactly where she expected it to be. It appears that the sign was moved to at least three different locations before she was satisfied with her spot. In the wake of the confusion at least one parking space remained unused for the first three weeks of the quarter, with a sign erected at the beginning of the quarter near her first space indicating "Reserved Space", but one in which no one has parked since she moved to the second space.

For an administrator to present to colleagues, students, and members of the community that she has earned an award that she never received is a level of falsification that in most professional and academic circles would result in disciplinary action and even formal censure.

There are many other unanswered questions here. Who initiated the appropriation to have the personal sign made, with the name "Mary Vaughn" on it? Who authorized it? What account did the funds come from? Who arranged for the sign to be erected, using College (Physical Plant) employees on College time? How much wasted time, energy, and labor costs were spent moving the sign to at least three different locations before Ms. Vaughn was satisfied with the spot? Did Ms. Vaughn misrepresent to employees of the Physical Plant her status as a Distinguished Teacher, for the purpose of fraudulently achieving personal gain? Why would Ms. Vaughn, either eagerly or reluctantly, agree to use a reserved parking space that was awarded to one of her subordinates? These are questions that CSEA was hoping would be answered in a collegial fashion, but which Ms. Vaughn chose to have addressed in other venues.

Regardless of the answers to the above questions, Ms. Vaughn’s baseless claim to a Distinguished Teaching Award is an affront to every faculty member so honored and suggests conduct that would be considered on par with padding a resume and possibly professional fraud. It’s time for an investigation into the chair’s actions.

2 FULL-TIME FACULTY, 1 ADJUNCT FACULTY, TO SERVE ON PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE

Full-time faculty members Steve Abbott (English) and Antoinette Perkins (Massage Therapy) have been selected to serve on the Presidential Search Committee. Adjunct faculty member Ann Ziegel (English) has also been selected to serve on the committee. Other committee members include Beth Bates, Charles Dawson, Dr. Polly Owen, and Tim Wagner (all employees of the College); Nurikram Engel (student at the College); Suzanne Stilson Edgar, Michael Flowers, Dr. Richard Owens, and Poe Timmons (members of the College's Board of Trustees); and Dr. Gene Harris and Kyle Katz (members of the community).

NO FLU SHOTS FOR ADJUNCT FACULTY?

The College has shown foresight in undertaking a variety of actions and initiated processes to deal with a possible flu outbreak this academic year. Faculty have been asked to establish processes to ensure that instruction can continue in some form if CSCC would have to shut down in response to a flu pandemic, particularly one resulting from the H1N1 flu virus.

According to a recent Institutional Advancement Update, flu shots will be made available to all full-time employees on In-Service Day, October 28. It seems strange, however, that adjunct faculty are not included in this process.

Although it’s true that adjunct faculty are not included in the College’s health insurance coverage, it seems shortsighted to rely on adjunct/contingent/temporary faculty to deliver almost 80% of all instruction yet not include their health safety as part of a larger planning process to deal with outbreaks of illness that have the potential to shut down the institution. After all, no amount of administrators, staff, or full-time faculty will sustain CSCC’s operation if adjunct faculty are unable to meet their classes.

The Word is produced by the Communications Committee of the Columbus State Education Association. We welcome your comments, news, and insights.

Darrell Minor, President/ x5310
Amy Brubaker, Vice-President / x5068
Judy Anderson, Secretary / x5453
Phil MacLean, Treasurer / x5308
Kevin James, Parliamentarian-elect / x5008

Steve Abbott, Senior Association Representative / x5096
Gil Feiertag, Senior Association Representative / x5861
Beth Barnett, Association Representative / x2593
Liz Betzel, Association Representative / x5329
Dave Busch, Association Representative / x5079
Dr. Bill Cook, Association Representative / x5364
T.J. Duda, Association Representative / x5309
Cindy Evans, Association Representative / x2435
Dr. Charlie Gallucci, Association Representative / x5499
Dr. Mort Javadi, Association Representative / x5635
Dr. Sue Longenbaker, Association Representative / x2430
Jackie Miller, Association Representative / x2601
Mark Mitchell, Association Representative / x3612
Eric Nuebauer, Association Representative / x5698
Keith Sanders, Association Representative / x2588
Gilberto Serrano, Association Representative / x3863
Leslie Smith, Association Representative / x5302