Table Rock Campus, Room 126

Faculty Senate

March 17, 2017

10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Present:

Bob Bagwell

Kim Benson

Tiffany Clarkin

Kevin Culhane

Tracy Davenport

Michael Grutchfield

Will Hopkins

Jamie Inglehart

Jessica Kitchen, co-chair

Kathy Meyer

Diana Moynahan, recorder

Deb Murphy, co-chair

Cyndy Patterson

Terrie Sandlin

Curtis Sommerfeld, guest

Serena St. Clair

Dorothy Swain

Ky Travis

Security Update

Curt Sommerfeld, Vice President of College Services, attended the meeting at the request of the Campus Safety work group. Many of Medford’s safety concerns revolve around transients, drug use and homelessness. They travel through the downtown campus and are in the neighborhood. These folks are often in the parking structures and the bridge going over to the senior center. Stairwells are sometimes occupied by transients. An incident occurred with a large group of people and someone brandishing a machete. When the Medford police were called, they said it wasn’t their responsibility. There have been problems with dispatcher responses and arguing with callers. The last few months have been fairly quiet. Staff can ask for a security escort to their car as far away as they are parked. College security officers cannot intervene in disputes; however, they are allowed to defend themselves. There was an incident which resulted in the use of pepper spray to diffuse a situation, and the person was handcuffed. It seems like there are a lot more aggressive people downtown.

Kevin Culhane suggested a low cost response to more visible presence in downtown Medford might be police bicycle patrols. Squad cars can take more time to respond to incidents. Bicycle theft is also an issue at the Medford campuses. Students and staff should report when there is a theft.

The outside solar powered charging table at RVC was removed as it was a magnet for transients and for drug use. There is a growing incidence of aggression in downtown Medford. We put on another security patrol during the day, 7 a.m.-3 p.m., and two shifts of 3 -11 p.m. Someone asked if staff and faculty should carry pepper spray.

At the downtown Medford Library several groups are stakeholders – the county, the library, RCC and SOU. They all need to work together on security issues. People hanging out in libraries has always been an issue. Curt said we don’t have security cameras by the library since it’s not an RCC building. Maybe once a year all these groups could get together to talk about security issues.

Traffic signal issues - the more citizens that make complaints the better in order to affect change with traffic lights and patterns, crosswalks, etc.

The front door at RVC, G Building is always open, but the stairway door is locked. There is no presence there, and there are a lot of ESL and ABS classes. There is no exit in the basement. You can’t see who’s coming in. The security of that building is an issue. There are offices upstairs, but the offices in the hallway on the first floor aren’t always occupied during the day. C Building isn’t staffed; it’s just classrooms for Music, Theater, and HPER. Curt noted that once classes start in C Bldg., the doors are locked. If a student is late, he/she has to find a way in by calling the teacher or security.

At RVC, G Bldg. they will be moving the security office to the first floor, and a student welcome desk will be there as well (but it has to be staffed). Might be a problem moving them where there have been student issues in the past in Counseling and Rogue Central.

Cyndy Patterson noted that at RVC, B Bldg. all doors are locked except one in the evening. She asked if there were any plans to replace locks in B Bldg.

Curt noted that when there’s an incident of aggressive behavior and the security person is on site, should we call a “lock down” (when we can’t give a reason). A lockdown is very traumatic; the police are involved. Calling a lock down is a big deal. Might there be a way to do some kind of quiet lock down, like just close the exterior doors? Is there a central way to lock down all exterior doors in a certain building? Deb Murphy commented that it’s good to have several stages of security.

Security cameras - how affective are they? They all work. There are three different systems, and they don’t always tie in to one another. We are looking to upgrade those, but it’s expensive. We are taking bids to replace big chunks of the system next year. Right now the cameras are all working and they do what they are supposed to do. They are largely effective for what they can do. Medford police has even asked on occasion to view our video footage.

Dorothy Swain said it sounds like we’re doing a good job with security within RCC. Would it be possible to branch out and get all stakeholders involved? We would need some formal process to involve the stakeholders.

Speeding issues on the Grants Pass campus - In the Wiseman parking area there is a blind slot, as well as on Campus Drive going into campus. More speed bumps were suggested. Tracy suggested the use of a “this is your speed” signal. Dorothy recommended having one route into one parking area free from speed bumps in order to mitigate problems with cars/vans carrying people with disabilities.

Regarding safety at RWC at night, it’s pretty dark in the parking lot below the gym across from the field. Staff and students can request security escorts to their cars.

The blue light emergency phone towers on RWC were broken all the time and have been removed. With the advent of cell phones, they weren’t thought as necessary. However, some think they provide a certain level of comfort. The college asked for a state grant to put in three new towers at RWC.

Curt said the college announces to students and staff when the practice lockdowns will be conducted because it is an issue with people with PTSD. But should we do an announced or unannounced drills? There is a problem with having three different campuses and people being mobile. We can’t selectively send out messages to students and staff on a certain campus, and sometimes people don’t read their messages. We bought software to have pop-ups on computer screens with security messages, and we should get that soon.

Classroom podiums have phones for security reasons. Often they are set to silent mode during class and then in the evening RCC staff have to turn them back up. It’s a daily routine.

Ky Travis noted that some students bring guns on campus; what is our obligation for reporting this. Curt said bringing guns on campus is a violation of our policy. It falls into the category of “disrupting the educational process.” Report it to security. When we find out, we deal with it; sometimes they are asked to put their gun in their car. Student’s cars are considered their private space – they can smoke or have a gun inside their own car. The second amendment right applies to students, not to staff (based on two distinct rulings).

Commencement Speaker

Faculty Senate was asked to find a faculty member to deliver welcoming remarks on behalf of faculty at commencement (he/she does not need to be part of the senate). We are asking for nominations.

Faculty Senate Co-Chair Nominations

Co-chair nominations are due April 14. The person must be a faculty member primarily working in Josephine County. Send names to co-chairs. Jessica Kitchen explained the time commitment involved in serving as a co-chair. The co-chairs set the meeting agendas, help coordinate sub-committees like luncheon and awards, attend the board meetings, or work on special projects. The co-chairs will solicit input from all faculty.

Report of work groups:

Campus Safety – They are going to work on a document to raise awareness of the policies as they relate to safety and security, with approval from administration. The document will have emergency numbers for staff, including a non-emergency number for the Medford Police. This could be emailed to all of RCC and provided to students as well. A flyer could be provided to students with this information and for posters on bulletin boards.

Professional Dialogue - They will be leaning heavily on Teri Sandlin who is a member of IDAC (Instructional Design & Assessment Council). They will revise the professional dialogue form once they get the program review piece. The core piece of the professional dialogue process is that faculty can come to Faculty Senate for help and for collaborative thinking.

Student Engagement - There will be subject area demonstrations for students to see things in action at the new student welcome days (tentatively scheduled for September 19, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). They want to collaborate with the group in charge of that event, and they want to see if there’s interest in Instructional to do this.

Faculty Assessment Process – They are reviewing what the college has been doing with assessment. There are lots of forms on the website. A peer review is a way of improving instruction. Diana will check whether there will be workshops at the Inservice for a mini training on peer review. There are so many talented people here, and we need mentors for new faculty. Faculty could help other faculty as peers and colleagues. The training could be offered as professional development and we would use experts in the field. Some faculty may not know how to give feedback in a peer review situation.

Faculty Senate Awards

We need actual guidelines for future co-chairs and committee members. The intention was for a faculty member to receive one award and not repeat it every year. If someone was nominated one year, we would roll over the nomination to the next year. This process was meant to be inclusive as possible and not be merely a popularity contest.

The next Faculty Senate meeting will be April 28, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at RCC/SOU Higher Education Center, Room 117.