• Printer Friendly Version
  • Decrease Text Size Increase Text Size
  • Download as PDF
*<b>Important This ad serves Breadcrumb Trail | Icons | Mobile Menu atop page</b>Advertisers

The Word - 2010/10/04

Posted On: 10/4/2010


The Word from CSEA

Columbus State Education Association Newsletter of October 4, 2010

PRESIDENT INVOLVES CAMPUS IN SEARCH FOR NEW PROVOST

CSEA welcomes Dr. Harrison’s announcement that the work of the Provost will be divided into two positions: Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Vice President for Student Affairs. We believe that this is an insightful move that could help create a strong relationship between the administration and faculty. It will also provide a cabinet-level administrative position that will more effectively address the needs of our ever-increasing student body and provide more focused leadership for our student-support administrators and staff.

Forums to provide input on what qualifications applicants for the Senior V.P. of Academic Affairs should have are scheduled for this Wednesday, October 6, from 9:45 - 10:45 and again from 12:30 - 1:30 in the Franklin Hall Board Room. Faculty at the Delaware Campus can participate via videoconferencing from Room 129 at the Delaware Campus. We encourage as many faculty as possible to attend one of these meetings. The selection of the next chief academic officer will provide the College an opportunity to discard the existing top-down, dictatorial model in which the chief academic officer is unable or unwilling to work in a contract environment, routinely shows contempt for the faculty, and academic decisions are frequently made without faculty input, and move to a collaborative model in which faculty input is valued, respected, and routinely sought out.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO FACULTY APPLYING FOR TENURE

Faculty applying for tenure this year should use College Procedure 3-01(B) [dated July 1, 2006] that is listed in the Faculty Promotion and Tenure Handbook, and NOT THE PROCEDURE 3-01(B) THAT IS CURRENTLY POSTED ON THE INTRANET. CSEA is trying to determine how revisions were made to this procedure without consulting with faculty. The Intranet revisions violate Article 38 of our Contract, and the process of revising them violates Article 49 of our Contract.

STUDENT SUCCESS: MORE OF AN ADMINISTRATIVE PRIORITY

Since starting at the College July 1, Dr. Harrison has demonstrated his desire to focus resources and efforts on the issue of student success. CSEA welcomes this new focus, a matter on which faculty have always focused (e.g., Tutoring/Title III grant; Adjunct Connectivity projects), but have lacked the administrative resources to make needed changes. Financial support for many of the existing projects came only after CSEA pointed out to the Board that the previous administration was sitting on millions of dollars of unspent, board-approved dollars.

In late September, Dr. Harrison and three members of the Board of Trustees joined presidents and trustees from some of the other Ohio community colleges at a Governance Institute for Student Success (GISS) retreat here in the Columbus area. This new institute, supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is intended to bring community college leaders together "to share best practices, experiences and data on how the community colleges of the University System of Ohio can more effectively support students through degree completion."

CSEA is pleased that Columbus State leadership chose to participate in this institute and thanks Dr. Harrison and Board members Michael Flowers, Richard Rosen, and Poe Timmons for their attendance at the institute.

Another upcoming initiative that faculty will be asked to participate in, and likely take leadership roles in, is the Foundations of Excellence (FoE) in the First College Year program. FoE includes a campus audit of the first-year experiences of students, followed by a process of evaluation of the data that culminates in development of a strategic action plan to improve student success (retention, degree completion, transfer rates, etc.). Dr. Harrison has communicated his desire to have an honest and open evaluation of the data ("the good and the bad") and to use the data to drive the College's efforts to improve student success in an informed and strategic way.

This approach is a breath of fresh air for faculty who have toiled in the AQIP reaccreditation process for the last several years. The AQIP process has been controlled by an administration intent on controlling all aspects of the process. This top-down control included changing the original 4 projects selected by employees in an open forum (remember “Conversation Day"?) so that they would no longer address the real concerns of faculty (e.g., full-time/part-time faculty ratios and faculty governance). Instead, AQIP would address issues unrelated to the actual concerns (e.g., "hiring processes" and "communication issues") and determine which new issues would become action projects. This disgraceful process included altering committee reports to show the College in a better (but unrealistic) light.

While the FoE project can be utilized as part of the AQIP accreditation process, it is not a requirement of AQIP, nor is it utilized only by AQIP colleges. In fact, approximately 75% of the schools who participate in the FoE project and who use the project as part of an accreditation process use the more traditional PEAQ accreditation process. Furthermore, the data gathered from the FoE project and the resulting strategic action plan can be used in meaningful ways apart from any accreditation process.

Undoubtedly, additional student success initiatives will emerge in the coming months. We encourage all faculty to become involved in opportunities to improve student success on a college-wide basis as they present themselves.

CSEA ELECTIONS THIS MONTH

Elections for CSEA President, Secretary, Treasurer, nine Association Representatives, and up to four delegates to the Representative Assembly will be held later this month. Anyone who is interested in running for one of these positions should contact CSEA Vice-President Kevin James atkjames1@cscc.edu or at x5008. We encourage all CSEA members to consider taking a leadership role in your Association. Much of the work that our leadership team does is also considered as Service to the College/Profession for tenure and promotion purposes.

OPPORTUNITY FOR SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION

CSEA leaders are members of the Ohio Faculty Senate of Community and Technical Colleges (OFSCTC). The group, comprised of faculty senate presidents from across the state, meets several times a year at the offices of the Ohio Board of Regents to share concerns and to discuss issues with the Chancellor and members of his staff.

The OFSCTC needs faculty (preferably those faculty who are U.S. veterans) to help review applications for experiential credit by veterans under provisions of the GI Bill. The goal of this project is to encourage those veterans who have served our country honorably to consider enrolling in college, knowing that their military experiences may already count toward some coursework.

The work of the committee will likely include reviewing military training and education that veterans may have received and seeing if credit for some college classes may be awarded based on that training/education. The recommendations of the committee may include taking proficiency exams in some areas (e.g., mathematics, sciences), demonstrating proficiency in skilled professions (e.g., automotive maintenance, aviation maintenance, EMT, nursing), or other ways of earning credit for courses based on their military training.

This work offers an opportunity to both help veterans and provide service to the profession, a part of promotion activities. If you are interested in being available to help in this important work, contact CSEA President Darrell Minor at dminor@cscc.edu or x5310.

EXCESSIVE (AND EXCESS) LAB FEES?

A recent article in the Columbus Dispatch examined lab fees at Columbus State, raising serious questions about the extent to which these fees reflect any actual costs. Of greater concern is whether lab fees are being used to bring in money without raising tuition.

Higher lab fees began to be implemented in many courses in the late 1990's. At that time, faculty questioned the ethics of (and need for) such fees in some courses, but these concerns were ignored. Last year, Provost Dr. Judith Scherer was the first academic administrator to acknowledge this unethical practice, but was dismissed from the College before being able to address the matter.

It’s past time that the College review the need for such fees and the excess funds that have accumulated in some program budgets. (One program currently has nearly $200,000 in collected lab fees sitting unused in its budget.) If students are going to be required to pay lab fees, there should be some relationship between the fees and the maintenance or replacement of equipment that contributes to their coursework. The review of this matter is a welcome development, and provides the College with a long-overdue opportunity to reform this practice.


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
Kevin James, Vice-President / x5008
Judy Anderson, Secretary / x5453
Phil MacLean, Treasurer / x5308
Ingrid Emch, Parliamentarian-elect / x5824

Gil Feiertag, Senior Association Representative, Career & Technical / x5861
Health, Dental and Veterinary Technology
Allied Health

Steve Abbott, Senior Association Representative, Arts & Sciences / x5096
Business

T.J. Duda / x5309
Construction Science
Automotive
Engineering Technology

Gilberto Serrano / x3863
Mathematics

Beth Barnett / x2593
Hospitality, Massage Therapy and Sports & Exercise Studies

Bill Cook / x5364
Communications

Mort Javadi / x5635
Physical Sciences

Jackie Miller / x2601
Nursing & Related Services

Mark Mitchell / x3612
Justice & Safety

Keith Sanders/ x5288
Humanities

Mike Schumacher / 5482
Social Sciences
Psychology

Cindy Evans / x2435
Human Services

Dr. Antoinette Perkins / x5754
Marketing & Graphic Communication
Computer Information Technology

Eric Neubauer / x5698
English

Amy Brubaker / x5068
Developmental Education
Modern Languages

Dr. Sue Longenbaker / x2430
Biological Sciences


Popularity:
This record has been viewed 2396 times.

Comments:

Be the first to leave a comment.
Please Login to post comments.
Default record used by all modules and when the given DataId cannot be found.Comments
The WordNavigation ArticlesModule The Word - 2010/10/04Articles
NEW CSEAStyles CSEA Official SiteAudience Advertisers Sponsored Keywords Splash Pages