August 19, 2016 Meeting

Agenda

Taft College Faculty Association Agenda

Friday, August 19, 2016

 

  1. Welcome and Lunch

 

  1. Introductions
    1. New Faculty
    2. Officers
    3. TCFCBC Team

 

  1. Approval of Minutes from May meeting

 

  1. Treasurer’s Report
    1. Cash balance
    2. New member forms

 

  1. Faculty Evaluations and FSA

 

  1. Sick Leave/Flex Statements

 

  1. Meetings with Admin/Exit Interviews

 

  1. TCFCBC Update
    1. 2016-17 Compensation and retro pay
    2. Voluntary Severance Package
    3. Club Advisor Stipends
    4. Sabbaticals
    5. 2016-17 Agenda Topics

 

  1. Other

 

  1. Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 28, 2016, 12:10pm, Location: Cougar Room (Lunch will be provided) (Every 4th Wednesday)

Minutes

Taft College Faculty Association

Minutes of August 19, 2016

 

Call to Order

President Diane Jones called the meeting to order at 12:21 pm and introduced new faculty members David Mitchell (Math), Carly Flowers (Health/Kinesiology), and Amar Abbott (Hi-Tech Specialist). She also re-introduced officers—Diane Jones (President), Mike Mayfield (Vice President), Ruby Payne (Treasurer), and Jessica Grimes (Secretary)—and the bargaining team, which includes the officers as well as Greg Golling, Adam Bledsoe, and Joe’ll Chaidez.

 

Approval of Minutes

President Jones explained that future minutes will be delivered electronically. Mike Jiles made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Dr. Jennifer Altenhofel. The minutes were unanimously approved.

 

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Ruby Payne reported a balance of $7,533.98 before lunch and gave an update on the membership fee amount of $104/mo for 10-month employees. Anyone interested in joining the Association was encouraged to contact her. Vice President Mike Mayfield clarified that members interested in ensuring their monies remained non-political could designate this option on the card.

 

Faculty Evaluation and FSA

President Jones reminded everyone that non-tenured faculty should expect to be evaluated and notified by their peer team soon regarding evaluations; additionally, some tenured faculty on a 3-year cycle will be evaluated. Tenured and non-tenured faculty should expect HR to organize the evaluation. In addition to facilitating the evaluation process, HR will contact new employees regarding the Faculty Service Area (FSA). If one wants to qualify in more than one area, then the process includes submitting transcripts and a curriculum vitae. President Jones explained that the FSA is used if the District is facing layoffs.

 

Sick Leave/Flex Statements

President Jones encouraged members to keep track of sick leave and flex hours, including May in-service and roll-over flex hours to ensure accuracy, a point reiterated by several other faculty. Faculty qualify for Personal Necessity Leave (PNL) by the following breakdown: 10-month employees, 70 hours; 11-month employees, 77 hours; and 12-month, 84 hours.

 

Meetings with Admin/Exit Interviews

President Jones mentioned that a representative from the bargaining team is available for meetings, meetings of a disciplinary or otherwise, with an administrator and that the Administration supports this policy. Also, she reported that in the interest of gauging why some positions have experienced high turnover, HR is now conducting exit interviews; however, since the content of these meetings may result in a complaint against someone in a supervisory role, Association members are still entitled to have a TCFCBC representative. Exit interviews are conducted as a survey and are not mandatory but used as a tool to retrieve information.

Taft College Faculty Collective Bargaining Committee (TCFCBC) Update

 

2016-17 Compensation and Retro Pay

President Jones reported that, based on the state budget, the District passed a 0% COLA but that the bargaining team reached consensus on an increase in pay of 1.59% based on the Frey Report, used to ensure congruence with other college districts across California. This raise, which will be retroactive to July 1st but enacted in October with the retro pay in November, will affect the current salary schedule as well as stipends for 10-, 11-, and 12-month employees. She encouraged members to pay attention to the August paycheck to ensure accuracy. David Layne made a motion, seconded by Tori Furman, to approve the increase in compensation. The motion was unanimously approved.

 

Voluntary Severance Package

President Jones reported the District indicated it would not be offering the voluntary severance package for 2016-17.

 

Club Advisor Stipends

President Jones asked for feedback on the current application process for club advisors, a process that requires advisors to re-apply annually. Members responded that while the current process is working, they would like the bargaining team to bring the following issues forward: an increase in stipend, currently $1,600/year, and an increase in the advisorships offered.

 

Sabbaticals

President Jones explained that while one sabbatical was offered last year, there are no guarantees and that Dr. Daniels will probably reach her decision in September.

 

2016-2017 Agenda Topics

President Jones summarized current topics in the queue—tuition for students whose family members work at TC, clarification of the part-time head coach stipend to allow more flexibility for teaching classes. She also asked for a list of topics, and Association members generated the following: increase in club advisor stipends and advisorships, professional development hours for adjuncts, 1-1 non-credit to credit course compensation, and an increase adjunct hourly rate to attract more competitive adjuncts.

 

Other

President Jones reported that Billy White, president of the Taft College Board of Trustees, wrote a letter requesting an endorsement for Kal Vaughn and him for the upcoming election. She asked faculty to consider its position for the next meeting.

 

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 1:03 pm.

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