WEC MEETING MINUTES
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Campus Center 2
2:00 p.m.
Present: Gary Prostak Prostak, Richard Rains, Jim Liko, Geri Shapiro Shapiro, Jeanne Cassara, Walter Bortman, Margarita Padilla Lorraine Manoogian Manoogian, Lisa Thornley, David Pardess, Dolores Taylor, Alfred Romulo Romulo, Afri Walker, Margie Long, Eloise Cantrell Cantrell, Louise Barbato Barbato, Marie Fenyes
Absent: Victor Renolds, Julius Walker, Zoila Rodriguez-Doucette
Guests: Margie Long
1. Gary Prostak Prostak called the meeting to order at 2:03 p.m.
- Approval of agenda. Walter Bortman moved to approve agenda and Geri Shapiro seconded
- Approval of March 26, 2009 minutes. Changes to minutes: Afri Walker should be listed as present, Gary Prostak should be listed as absent.
Dolores Taylor moved to approve the minutes and Walter Bortman seconded. Approval unanimous.
- Chair’s Report:
Walter Bortman gave bond update: the Health and PE building should be ready for occupation by June, the East Campus bldg should be started by December. Family and Consumer Studies Building is on schedule. The corner monument should be finished by June 1st. The Media Arts Building is in DSA and should go out to bid in two weeks. The schedule for relocating two or three bungalows to the parking lot behind the CSB has not yet been finalized.
Maria Fenyes requested information on all faculty moves –
Gary Prostak: that’s duly noted –
Walter Bortman: it’s hard to have consensus during summer.
Eloise Cantrell: can we meet during summer?
Gary Prostak: if there are moves during summer we can schedule a special meeting.
Eloise Cantrell expressed the need to know the schedule of future classroom space.
Geri Shapiro: Eloise Cantrell and Crystal are the only ones left in bungalows.
Walter Bortman: Cindy Cooper is still there but she will move to the Health and PE bldg. Eventually we should have no faculty in bungalows; we will need them for other things. Louise Barbato: Any temporary space available?
Maria Fenyes: Abdo Malke will be on a one-year sabbatical, his office will be unoccupied. Margarita: there be a long term sub in that office.
Louise Barbato: the needs of a chair are more urgent than a temporary long-term sub.
Eloise Cantrell: I would like to be in the Instructional bldg because the new bldg is years away. Maria Fenyes: why weren’t math teachers given offices in CSB close to chair?
Gary Prostak: not enough offices.
Maria Fenyes: 2 out of 4 would be better than nothing.
Eloise Cantrell gave some further discussion of office spaces.
Louise Barbato; is there a spot in the math lab for a math faculty member?
Maria Fenyes moved to put on next agenda: Revisit office space allocation in light of updates for the temporary bungalows and Eloise Cantrell’s needs at next WEC mtg.
Lorraine Manoogian seconded the motion.
Discussion:
Geri Shapiro: will impacted faculty be consulted?
Maria Fenyes: amend motion: people involved are to be invited to discussion.
Seconded by Lorraine Manoogian
Discussion:
Walter Bortman 20 people = 20 opinions.
Eloise Cantrell: chairs should be given first consideration.
Eloise Cantrell: chairs were not consulted in past allocations.
Gary Prostak: it was presented to chairs at the March Council of Instruction.
Louise Barbato, yes, but as a done deal.
Gary Prostak: I disagree. It was presented for discussion and input. Two revisions of the draft were subsequently sent to all department chairs for further input and revision. Chairs had several opportunities to offer input.
Maria Fenyes: adjuncts not were consulted about adjunct space, so we need to consult with everyone.
Gary Prostak: Everyone was aware of the deficiencies in adjunct space allocation when the initial proposals were presented to and approved by the Senate and the AFT.
Walter Bortman: that would involve too many opinions. The WEC oversees decisions. All window offices are for chairs.
Eloise Cantrell: There is a 6-month faculty with a window office, while there is a chair in a bungalow.
Dolores: adjuncts are not treated fairly.
Eloise Cantrell proposed a second amendment of Maria Fenyes’s motion, seconded by Lorraine Manoogian. Maria Fenyes accepted the amendment:
Revisit office space allocation in light of updates for professional studies Department Chair at next WEC meeting. People impacted will be invited to the meeting.
Vote: Motion passed unanimously.
- Gary Prostak called for public address.
None.
- Old business
Gary Prostak called for changes in the policy and to submit it for reapproval.
Gary Prostak: The Office Allocation Policy was signed, but the policy is missing.
Maria Fenyes, let’s look at it as a new document and read it over.
Louise Barbato: will there be no policy in the mean time?
Maria Fenyes: the policy follows the contract.
Jeanne Cassara: let’s look at it right now.
Eloise Cantrell: the last sentence of section F does not require input from chair.
Louise Barbato: we need two parts one for faculty, one for chairs, so the chair will have input.
Gary Prostak: leave first sentence of F and create a new G: Request for changes of offices of chairs will be initiated in consultation with WEC and approved by chairs and by president or designee.
Alfred Romulo:, what about directors?
Eloise Cantrell: directors should be done separately.
Maria Fenyes: change needed regarding section C: when any faculty office becomes vacant, identify most senior members of campus, list them in order of seniority, and ask if any would like that office. Proposed amendment by Maria Fenyes: limit it to one move.
Walter Bortman: therefore if one office becomes vacant every office could need to be changed. A complex discussion ensues.
Louise Barbato: at least take seniority into account.
Final recommendation agreed to by Maria Fenyes:
Section C: add: Seniority should be considered in the allocation of vacant office space.
Also for section D: add: Seniority should be considered in the allocation of vacant office space.
Section E: insert “or any staffing changes” in first sentence.
New H (old G) “among or within departments”
New I (old H)
Louise Barbato: amend to read “Temporarily displaced faculty should be consulted before reassignment within..” and strike out “if possible”.
New J (old I) insert “to report back to and consult with WEC”
New K (old J) Louise Barbato: “New grants and new programs shall be brought to the attention of the WEC by the EPC for the allocation of needed space.”
Alfred Romulo: what if it’s the middle of summer? Maria Fenyes et al: In case faculty WEC members are not on campus and there are urgent matters, every method should be made to consult WEC members by email or conference call.
Eloise Cantrell moves to modify revised document as amended. Geri Shapiro seconds.
Discussion: Walter Bortman we need a month to consider it.
Maria Fenyes: we need to say “update” rather than “revise”
Maria Fenyes moved to table the motion. Geri Shapiro seconded.
Eloise Cantrell withdrew the amended motion.
Walter Bortman moved to take one month to study changes and bring it back next month with understanding it will be emailed to WEC members.
Maria Fenyes seconded.
Approved by vote.
- New business
Request for office swap.
Gary Prostak: The request distributed today is different from the one on the agenda. We need approval for a substitute office request. Anybody opposed? None.
Eloise Cantrell : Margie Long has disability and her assigned office is noisy. Sherrill Frank agreed to trade her office with Margie, but later wanted to be relocated to a bungalow. Pat Flood is involved, too.
Alfred Romulo: is this fixable problem?
Walter Bortman: it’s not an easy fix.
Walter Bortman: why does Sherrill need two offices?
Maria Fenyes: some disciplines have spaces associated with lab spaces which are not qualified as office spaces.
Geri Shapiro moved to approve the request.
Jeanne Cassara seconded.
Discussion: Louise Barbato: someone with a disability shouldn’t need to make it public with doctor’s note
Gary Prostak: let it be officially noted that no one asked for this info to be provided.
Vote; motion passed unanimously.
Louise Barbato: such documentation should not be accepted or requested.
Louise Barbato: If Vickie Oddino’s office is also unusable, where will we put her in June?
Walter Bortman: Put on agenda to update faculty office noise repair.
- Gary Prostak called for announcements; there were none.
- Walter Bortman moved to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 3:20 pm.