Faculty Council Minutes
March 11, 2005

In attendance:

Norma Driscoll	Dennis Gilbert	Larry Scott
Alice Whitenack	Liz Dickey	Daphne Gabrieli
Sheila Broderick	Christina Salter	Ray Smith (Classified)
Bert Pooth	Stephen Selph	Jim Bailey
Sharon Kimble	Mark Harris	Tom Rohr

The minutes of the Council meeting of February 25 2005 were approved with one small change.

Introductions and Announcements

Larry Scott announced that five faculty members received Faculty Recognition Awards.
They are:

Monique Belitz
Ingrid Gram
Cara Shafer
Clifton Mtchell
Lyndell Wilkins

He asked if in the future we could add a bouquet of flowers to go with the certificate. He also noted that he would not be on the committee next year and that the committee needs more faculty participation.

Sharon Kimble announced that the Business Technologies Department had changed its name to the Business Department.

Tom Rohr mentioned several openings presented by the Art Department.

Dennis Gilbert noted the recent article in the Herald about an LCC course on detecting ghosts and suggested we pay more attention to what is happening in Continuing Ed. He also noted the ongoing work on sustainability, that the Art and English Departments are moving forward with 3 to 4 credit conversions and that faculty should plan to participate in the spring in-service.

Stephen Selph announced there will be a Math Skills Fair on April 6 to which between 5 and 10 local high schools bring a team. It's a half-day fair with three events - Solve that Problem (a game show event), a written quiz, and a relay. The top scoring team receives a trophy, and the top scoring individuals on the quiz are invited to the state math contest.

Learning Plan
Bert Pooth announced that the Learning Council is moving forward with the formulation of a learning plan, and that faculty representatives are working to include processes for implementation in the plan.
Some comments on the plan:

Implementation should not be centralized.
Not all aspects of the plan will be implemented in all areas of the college.
The plan should come from the collective intelligence of the college, not a subset; all faculty should become involved.

Grading: NC / I
Helen Garrett and Kerri Houghton asked for direction on what to do with grade-change forms that appear to violate grading policies as outlined in the catalogue.
Some comments from the members:

Faculty members should not have to explain their reasons for changing a grade.
Consistency would be good, especially for counselors who get questions from students getting NC in one case and F in another.
The fact that many part-timers have questions about grading is just another cost of relying so heavily on part-time instructors.
But even many full-time instructors aren’t aware of grading policies and options.
Some instructors end up asking administrative personnel what to do.
In some cases (e. g. financial aid) getting an F may be better than getting an NC.
The Student Records Department should accept grade changes without contacting faculty.
But if it looks like a mistake, they might check to make sure the change was not made erroneously.
One exception could be when a P / NP grade is changed to a letter grade.
Disciplines should set standards.
Grades shouldn’t be used for ranking students.
Faculty Council members should engage in an e-mail discussion about grading issues, especially the “P / NP unless you get an A” policy.