The purpose of this post is to let HWC faculty know what was discussed at the Chairs Meeting. You should contact or meet with your department chair for details and the full report.
My apologies for not posting notes from previous meetings. In the process of getting these notes finished and posted, Michal sent all the chairs a copy of her notes and asked if we can post on The Lounge. Here then are Michal’s notes (my notes/commentary in parenthesis):
- Work plans: Donyel wants an update of progress on these plans in particular as they relate to:
- Active learning strategies
- STEM
- Adjunct mentoring
- Department peer review process
- Department programs and concentrations
- Lobby Redevelopment: The district is planning to redesign the lobby of HW in order to improve security. Look out for a survey coming to your email box soon. (Rosie distributed copies of the lobby floor plan with proposed turnstile locations. Stop by if you want to see it or check with your department chair. If a department chair is unable to attend, a delegate may take his/her place at the December 8th meeting.)
- Business cards: Reinvention=new logo=new business cards. Many at the meeting mentioned that they had a full box of cards in their desks. John Metoyer will be sending out an email shortly with ordering information. (The cost of the new business cards will come out of department budgets.)
- College web pages: They will be up soon, but no date was offered. (Sorry Dave.)
- Credentials approvals: There is a new system for vetting candidates. Chairs should continue sending their info. to Sandra in the VP’s office, but new process should ensure a more rapid turn around. ( The credentials will now go to two email addresses instead of one.)
- Rotation points: Please check your points to make sure that you sent Donyel totals.
- Prerequisites: We must go by what the district has put forth for the time being. (I encourage you to go to my.ccc.edu and check the course catalog for any discrepancies. Somehow, in our department, a prerequisite was added by mistake which will affect Spring enrollment.)
- Rooms (assignments and reservations): The district is now using our space for meetings, etc., and the school rents out room from time to time. This means that if your teachers tend to reserve the labs on the 4th floor, they should book them now for the spring semester. (As Donyel mentioned, when we are asked to submit schedules, the sooner we do so the better because it secures the room. Otherwise, the longer we wait, the more we give District an opportunity to take the rooms away from our students.)
- Post-tenure Evals: Since Donyel is stepping down as Dean, if faculty in your department want to have the final meeting with her, they should schedule it soon. Her last day is the last day of classes.
- Dept. Coordinators: There is a lot of discrepancy regarding release time and stipends. Some coordinators get the former, and some the latter. Faculty at the meeting asked for clarification on this matter. (I’ll be attending our local procurement meeting December 2nd in hopes of obtaining clarification. By the way, the District presentation on Procurement raised more questions than answers; apparently we’ve had a travel agent of choice for the past 3 years. Who knew?)
- Beck’s: Make sure all book orders are in. It is a good idea for each dept. to also provide Hector with a chart or list of classes and books.
- (Registration – Mr. Brown provided us with an update on Spring registration. So far, according to Mr. Brown’s unofficial numbers, 1,500 students have already registered. Faculty will do less sitting and talking with students, and more standing and assisting students with self-enrollment during open enrollment week.)
- (CDL – Marcia Turner reported that CDL is likely making the move to Dawson Tech- they need for more space. We should have a CDL campus rep; the name of the individual is on CDL’s website. I’ve not had time to do the research.)
- (We all thanked Doyel for her assistance as our Dean of Instruction and wished her well on her return to the classroom next semester.)
That’s all for now. If any Chairs care to revise or append, feel free to leave comments. THANK YOU MICHAL!
The Harold Lounge 
So, we are already strapped for classroom space, and district is using our space to hold meetings? Umm, I know it’s a little further away guys, but how bout using the new KK building that we just spent millions of dollars on? We can’t do our jobs of educating students because they want to hold meetings? That seems totally ridiculous to me.
I agree – that is rather counter to the student centered environment they profess to support. Has the District building suddenly become too small?
I don’t know about KK or District but we raised similar concerns at the meeting. The fact is we need to reserve our space as early as possible (Summer and Fall 2012 scheduling is right around the corner) and then let everyone else have access to what remains.
That does not mean folks won’t come in and grab an empty room minutes before a scheduled class (as one Chair stated, it has already happened). If it comes to that, and if the room was already reserved, then you ask security to assist these strangers so you can proceed to educate your students.
I guess we have a great location!