DRAFT Minutes of the November 13, 2009 meeting of the USGFC Advocates
(circulated among members of the USGFC listserv for review on 01-19-10)
Rooms 533 and 534 of The Macon Center for Graduate & Professional Learning
Georgia College & State University.
Web Presence for this meeting (including invitation, agenda, supporting documents)
Call to order and Introduction of Participants: Dr. Craig Turner of Georgia College & State University called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. and asked each of those present to introduce themselves.. USGFC advocates in attendance were:
Ellen Barrow; Georgia Perimeter College
Juone Brown-Johnson; Fort Valley State University
Stephen Burnett; Clayton State University
Adrian Childs; University of Georgia
Elizabeth Combier; North Georgia College & State University
Pamela Cook; Medical College of Georgia
Jessie Copeland, Georgia Gwinnett College
Gary Fisk; Georgia Southwestern State University
Nathaniel Gilbert; Middle Georgia College
Al Harmon; Atlanta Metropolitan College
Jeff Heck; Augusta State University
Susan Hrach; Columbus State University
Chris Huff; University of West Georgia (attending remotely via teleconference)
Pat Humphrey; Georgia Southern University
Beth Jensen; Georgia Perimeter College
Karynne Kleine; Georgia College & State University
Robert Lightfoot; Waycross College
Laverne Luster; Albany State University
Robert Marsh; East Georgia College
Barney Rickman; Valdosta State University
David Slutzky; Gainesville State College
Kelson Smith; Dalton State College
Craig Turner; Georgia College & State University
William Webster; South Georgia College
Douglas Williams Georgia Institute of Technology (attending remotely via teleconference)
Following the introductions, Turner introduced Dr. Mike Digby, Interim Associate VPAA at GCSU who welcomed the USGFC advocates present to GCSU at Macon on behalf of GCSU Provost Sandra Jordan (who had a last minute personal conflict that prevented her from being present to extend the welcome), provided a brief history of GCSU and governance, and encouraged advocates to become acquainted with the newly revitalized downtown in Macon where GCSU Macon is located. Turner then asked for a volunteer to take minutes. Bill Webster of South Georgia College graciously volunteered.
USG Faculty Council Bylaws: Dr. Elizabeth Combier of North Georgia College & State University gave an update on the endorsement status by USG institutions and “official recognition” by the USG/BoR. It was explained that the USGFC hopes to receive official recognition from the BoR by March 2010. The desire is for official recognition by the BoR and/or USG and a direct line of communication to the Chancellor or her/his designee. Bylaws need to be endorsed by every USG institution’s faculty (or its representative governance body) and should also receive the endorsement of the institution’s President and Chief Academic Officer. Combier needs only an email from each institution’s representative to the USGFC confirming that this has occurred.
Furthermore, it was pointed out that the process by which a representative to the USGFC is selected shall by USGFC Bylaws be determined by an individual institution’s faculty, not by a process devised by the USGFC. The relevant excerpt from Article V of the USGFC Bylaws is “Membership of the USGFC will be comprised of one voting representative from each participating system institution. The representative for a participating institution must be a member of that institution's faculty body and selected by a process determined by the faculty unit of that institution.”
It was remarked that a representative group for USG students, called the University System Student Advisory Council (USGSAC), has been officially recognized by the BoR/USG since 1968 (see section 4.9 of BoR Policy). In addition, the University System of Georgia Staff Council ( see http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwsen/usgsc/index.html ) exists as a representative voice for USG staff. The USGFC seeks official recognition by the BoR/USG as a representative body for USG faculty.
Only two schools, Macon State and Dalton State, have yet to consider the endorsement of the USGFC Bylaws and join the other institutions in the USG that have. It was pointed out that Dr. Susan Herbst expressed the sentiment that the request for official recognition of the USGFC by the BoR/USG would be strongest if it were accompanied by unanimous endorsement by the faculty, Chief Academic Officers and University Presidents of each institution. Dalton State representative Kelson Smith reported that endorsement by Dalton State was anticipated within the next calendar week. Macon State was not represented yet it was reported that their endorsement decision (to endorse or not) was anticipated by December 4, 2009.
In order to facilitate BoR recognition, the existing USGFC Bylaws will not be changed until such recognition is accomplished. There is interest in maintaining a file of proposed revisions to the bylaws, and all representatives were invited to submit such proposals at their convenience.
Two-Year Merger: Dr. Craig Turner introduced Dr. Beth Jensen of Georgia Perimeter to address the issue of the possible merger of USG two-year institutions with Georgia’s technical schools. Jensen distributed a DRAFT POSITION STATEMENT for consideration and reported on a 2002 study from the Center for Community College Policy that looked into the mission convergence of community colleges and tech schools. She went through a list of concerns that might precipitate a merger.
Jensen pointed out that the recommendation for a merger suggested by the Tough Choices or Tough Times committee is not supported by data. The data does not indicate that the merger would save money nor does the data support the points of the study. In 2002 while Thomas Meredith was Chancellor of USG, it was thought that Georgia was clearly not a candidate for a merger. The USG and DTAE (Department of Technical and Adult Education) have significantly different missions: the former to educate, the latter to prepare a workforce. In fact, according to Jensen, the Chancellor in 2002 thought that USG would absorb DTAE.
Jensen reiterated that Kentucky, a state that recently put two-year schools under the umbrella of the tech-school system, now has 32% less transfers to 4-year institutions. California is currently questioning the wisdom of having merged its two systems. Someone proposed that what the tech schools wish to do is become two-year transfer schools. Another said that duplication of offerings in both systems and the propagation of articulation agreements does not make sense for they counter each other.
It was indicated that the recent move to expand the “mini-core” was a gesture to prevent any merger. But another USGFC member suggested that the tech schools are trying to reduce the number of expensive technical classes and substitute in their place cheaper mini-core classes. Jensen offered a series of counter options that she proposed be brought before the legislators involved with this issue. They are as follows:
Jensen and others explained that perhaps Governor Perdue is more open to the desires of the tech schools. There was a general concern that merging could have a snowball effect, leading to mergers of schools within the entire USG system.
In January 2010, according to Jensen, a group of legislators will meet to discuss the proposals of the Tough Choices or Tough Times committee and will then make recommendations to the Governor. It was generally agreed that it is time, once again, to petition the Governor and legislators with statements of opposition.
Mini-Core and USG Core Framework: Documents connected with this portion of the meeting are attached.
USG Core Framework (as part of Executive Secretary of the Georgia Conference AAUP Report)
Shared Services Discussion: ADP (including a power point presentation by Juone Brown Johnson) and Peoplesoft were discussed specifically. It was brought up that shared services is an initiative of the Chancellor designed to centralize Human Resources and payroll functions, to create continuity and consistency with the ability to change rapidly and reduce workload of payroll personnel.
But, in fact, there seems to be a general consensus that the “new” system (ADP) has created frustration and increased workload. It would be interesting to know how the 32 schools implementing ADP within the system have been affected. University of Georgia, Medical College of Georgia, and Georgia Tech are not participating in the change to ADP. In fact, UGA reportedly performed a cost study of converting to ADP and decided it would not be prudent to use the system. Furthermore, many voiced concerns about centralizing and standardizing the whole system. ADP seems designed for hourly pay, and, therefore, does not model faculty time (salaried not hourly) well. It was further pointed out that ADP does not correlate with BANNER. The problems indicate that, perhaps, the USG is implementing change too rapidly. Indeed, it is widely believed that ADP and Peoplesoft increase workload on the consumer, namely employees, and for departments like Plant Operations where non-computer literate people work, the problems are compounded.
Someone said it is rumored that Financial Aid might become part of shared services. Another member responded with, “It’s not a rumor.”
The USGFC drafted a resolution requesting a report of the efficiencies and effectiveness of these shared services systems. It is attached.
Role of Faculty Senate: Juone Brown-Johnson was introduced and gave a PowerPoint presentation on the subject.
Some of the perceptions connected with this discussion are below:
· Furloughs were implemented without consultation with faculty
· Web pages at individual schools can be created so faculty can blog back and forth on issues
· Shared governance has to be negotiated with each institution’s CEO
· How does one quantify outcomes of effectiveness of a faculty governing body?
· Negotiations with administration sometimes should be conducted in closed-door sessions so that those involved can save face.
· Administration should avoid rushing through policy and policy changes to give faculty time to consider.
Questions were raised about who can serve on a faculty senate. For individual institutions that determination is at the discretion of the faculty of that institution. For the USGFC, Article V of the USGFC Bylaws includes the sentence “The representative for a participating institution must be a member of that institution's faculty body and selected by a process determined by the faculty unit of that institution.”
The meeting broke for lunch at 12:08.
Comprehensive Statement: A discussion under the heading “Comprehensive Statement” took place more or less led by Dr. Karynne Kleine of Georgia College & State University. The following are highlights of what was said:
The impact of furloughs should not filter down to education. It was stated that the preference is to take furloughs on teaching days. Decisions, it was reiterated, are being made that affect the lives of faculty without faculty input.
It was suggested that a broader statement about our mission as educators is called for.
Along with problems of furloughs, ADP, and other shared services, is the problem of reductions in medical and increased medical cost.
It was brought up that USGFC cannot function as a union, since, supposedly, unionizing of state workers in Georgia is illegal. (I don’t know if this is true). However, the USG does endorse self-governance, so that it is best that USGFC use the language of the BoR when it addresses the BoR.
At one school in the USG, employees in certain programs could not be furloughed if the programs were funded by outside funds. However, at schools with Student Support Services, funded by a Federal Government Program, the employees in those programs were furloughed.
There was some discussion about the fact that employees paid in 10 installments are still on a nine-month contract, not a ten-month one.
Break-Out Session: The meeting then went into break-out sessions. They were named as follows:
Shared-Governance and Comprehensive Statement
Faculty Compensation and Furloughs.
ADP and Broader Issues
Two-Year Merger
The following is a summary of the reports by each break-out group once the USGFC met again in plenary session.
Shared Governance: It was decided to produce a cover document to the USGFC Bylws with a statement about the long-term value of education to Georgia’s future, a kind of philosophical statement with bulleted points. This statement is, in part, a response to the perceived corporatization of education. It was proposed that drafts of the statement be sent out to the group for revisions and also be shared with persons who are on the USGFC list serve.
Faculty Compensation and Furloughs: A pair of resolutions were drafted and are attached to these minutes. A comment was made that the furloughs represent a general pattern of decreased compensation in the USG.
ADP and Broader Issues: A resolution (attached to these minutes) was drafted.
Two-Year Merger: Dr. Beth Jensen presented the resolutions agreed upon by the group that discussed this issue. Revisions were suggested concerning “problems of accreditation” as an argument against the merger. Since the merger would require a “substantive change” with SACS, it was decided to delete this argument. The advice from members of the group was to make university presidents aware of the resolutions and to seek their counsel on the position taken in them. Furthermore, it was argued that we should cite language from the BoR Policy Manual 3.3.5.1 to show the differences between the missions of USG and TCSG (Technical College System of Georgia) The two-year merger position statement (as amended) was unanimously endorsed by those present at the meeting.
A question arose as to whom the resolutions should be sent. Dr. Craig Turner suggested that since Dr. Herbst will advocate for the official recognition of the USGFC by the BoR/USG, she should be consulted requesting advice on how best to affect change with the positions represented in the resolutions. It was decided that Dr. Craig Turner and Dr. Elizabeth Combier will consult with Dr. Herbst on behalf of the USGFC advocates regarding official recognition and for suggestions about the resolutions and how to proceed. (Documentation of this consultation)
Final Comments:
Mini-Core: Near the end of the meeting, it was stated that input concerning the expansion of the mini-core at tech schools should be addressed via email to Dr. Robert Vaughan, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Campus-based Initiatives, University System of Georgia.
Dr. Vaughan’s email address is Robert.Vaughan@usg.edu,
Nonrenewal Notification: There was some discussion of problems related to the nonrenewal notification process within the USG for lecturers. AAUP, it was said, has a national standard policy on nonrenewal notification for tenure-track faculty. This national standard is being recommended by the Georgia Conference of the AAUP as USG policy for nonrenewal notification for lecturers.
AAUP (Georgia Conference): There was some brief discussion about the attempt to allow ORP to TRS retirement transfer and the failure of it to get through the legislature. Attached to these minutes is Dr. Hugh Hudson’s update (from a Georgia Conference AAUP meeting) and another update sent via email. Dr. Hudson is the Executive Secretary of the Georgia Conference of the American Association of University Professors.
Next Meeting: The next meeting of the USGFC advocates was planned for March of 2010; the wish is to hold it in Atlanta at the USG headquarters. The reason is that the USGFC feels this is an effective way to make its presence known and greatly facilitates the attendance of key members of the USG Staff including Vice Chancellor Susan Herbst. Juone Brown-Johnson offered facilities at Fort Valley State as a site for a future meeting of the USGFC and as an alternative for the March 2010 meeting should the USG headquarters become infeasible.
Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Bill Webster, South Georgia College