Attendance:

Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order at 2:45 p.m. by Jason Eggerman.

Minutes and Finance

Approval of Minutes 

Russel Schluter motioned to approve the January minutes;  Bobbi Carlson seconded. The motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report 

	Income	Expenses	Total Assets End of Month
January	$334.76	$2,486.83	$232,278.54

Income is lower than expected as there is currently a delay in our dues being deposited. This issue should be corrected by the end of the month.  Lena Lopez Schindler motioned to approve the January treasurer’s report;  Jeff Coffey seconded. The motion passed.

Old Business

Bylaws Review Process

Jason reminded the Senate of the process for amending our bylaws. Proposed changes go first to the Executive Board, and then those changes are presented to the Senate. The Senate can then vote on each proposed amendment. Approving one article at a time will simplify the conversation of what is being voted on each time. However, for record-keeping, we will create a document showing all updates for the year and attach it to the June Senate minutes.

For Article 1, there was one proposed update to add a sentence clarifying that adjunct local dues should not exceed full-time local dues. In the past, we had a situation where adjunct local dues wound up higher than full-time local dues. The Senate corrected that by lowering adjunct local dues a few years ago. This would add guidance to the bylaws to hopefully prevent that from happening again. The sentence would be added to Article 1, Section B as shown below in green font:

Article 1 (Proposed Revisions)

Section B: Adjunct Dues

Membership is available to adjunct instructors and to instructors teaching hourly on a quarterly contract. Local association dues for adjunct CCS-AHE-NEA members shall be determined by a simple majority vote of the assembled Faculty Senate. Local dues for adjunct members shall not exceed local dues for full-time members.

Senators reviewed a handout showing the proposed amendment to Article 1. For clarification on language changes, red font is for deletions, green font is for additions, and blue font is for movement of language within articles.

Hearing no discussion, Bill Rambo made a motion to accept the amendment to Article 1. Barb Flock seconded. The motion passed.

For Article 2, there was one proposed update to add a section related to the use of reserves. Article 2 provides information related to the preparation or modification of AHE’s annual budget. However, there is currently no guidance in the bylaws related to the use of savings/reserves. The current Executive Board feels that it would be prudent to add a statement setting parameters for use of savings/reserves. The proposed new section (Section D) would read as follows:

Article 2 (Proposed Revisions)

Section D: Use of Reserves

Any use of reserves must be approved by a majority vote of the assembled Faculty Senate.

Senators reviewed a handout showing the proposed amendment to Article 2. Members wanted clarification on why the new section was needed and why we have so much built up in savings. Jason clarified that the change is to solidify current practices by presidents to not spend reserves without Senate approval. The amount in reserves would help to cover payments in the case of a strike or walkout. 

Hearing no further discussion, Eddie Cuisiner made a motion to approve the amendment to Article 2 as presented. Russell Schluter seconded the motion. The motion passed.

For Article 8, which covers Representatives to the Board of Trustees, there were four proposed updates. First, a term cannot “begin and end” on July 1, so the proposal was made to strike the words “and end” from the second sentence in Section A. This makes the wording consistent with other places in the bylaws. Second, some of the language in Section A is out of place when compared to similar sections elsewhere in the bylaws. Thus, the Executive Board proposed moving that language into Section B. Third, there was a proposal to add a sentence in Section B clarifying that only members of a particular unit (SCC, SFCC, and SCC-Extensions) vote for the Board Rep for that unit. This is already current practice, so this helps add clarity. Finally, the current description of duties for Representatives to the Board of Trustees has been updated to provide more detail. The proposed updates for Article 8 are reflected below:

Article 8 (Proposed Revisions)

Section A: Terms of Office

The term of office shall be for two years. Duties shall begin and end on July 1. The representative for SCC shall be elected in even numbered calendar years, and the representatives for SFCC and SCC-Extensions shall be elected in odd numbered calendar years.

Section B: Election

The Association will elect a faculty member and an alternate from each unit to serve as representatives to the CCS Board of Trustees. The representative for SCC shall be elected in even numbered calendar years, and the representatives for SFCC and SCC-Extensions shall be elected in odd numbered calendar years. Elections will take place before the close of the Spring Quarter of each year. Only the members in a unit are eligible to vote for that unit’s Representative to the Board of Trustees.

Section C: Duties

To attend each meeting of the Board of Trustees and Faculty Senate or have their alternate present and to report back to each faculty unit.

The duties of representatives to the Board of Trustees will be:

1. To collect information from faculty in their unit related to achievements, accomplishments, and activities to share with the Board of Trustees.

2. To attend each meeting of the Board of Trustees or to have their alternate attend.

3. To represent the views of the general membership of CCS-AHE to the Board and to advocate for faculty in their unit as appropriate.

Senators reviewed a handout showing the proposed amendment to Article 8. Members clarified that the reps do not typically report back to their individual units since the AHE President generally reports back to all members about happenings at the Board of Trustees. Additionally, minutes and packets from Board meetings are available to the public on the website. A member asked about adding the word “advocate.” Jason and Bev both pointed out the importance of having multiple faculty voices speaking to the Board on behalf of members, because if the only voice is the AHE President, it becomes easy for the Board to tune them out. Lena asked if there was ever a thought of having an adjunct representative to the Board of Trustees. Jason clarified that the representatives to the Board are defined in the Master Contract and that adding another Board rep would require bargaining. However, any adjunct who is a member can run to be a Board rep because it is an elected position open to any member. A member asked about the language in this section that refers to alternates. We have not historically elected alternate Board reps, and we currently do not have alternates identified, but that is something that will be discussed for the next elections.

Hearing no further discussion, Bill Rambo made a motion to accept the amendments to Article 8 as presented. Katella DeBolt seconded the motion. The motion passed.

For Article 9, which covers Association Delegates, there were several amendments that included adding a section related to terms of office, adding details about when elections should occur, and adding a description of the duties for association delegates. The intention was to make this section more parallel to other sections of the bylaws. The proposed updates for Article 9 are reflected below:

Article 9 (Proposed Revisions)

Section A: Terms of Office

The term of office shall be for two years. Duties shall begin March 1.

Section A Section B: Election

Delegates and alternates to the Representative Assemblies shall be elected by the general membership by secret ballot after open nominations complying with the Constitution and Bylaws of the WEA and NEA. Only active members of WEA shall be eligible to be delegates or to vote for the election of delegates.

The number of delegates allowed will be determined by WEA. Delegates should be elected in January of even numbered years in coordination with the Elections Commission. Election results are to be submitted on the “WEA Local Affiliate Delegate Election Verification Forms” by March to the WEA office. Delegates or alternates shall attend monthly WEA-EW meetings. The CCS-AHE President shall be a part of the attending delegation or shall appoint one of the elected delegates to be the President’s representative. Delegates for NEA-RA must be elected from the group of WEA-RA delegates.

 Section B Section C: Minority Delegates

It is the policy of NEA and WEA to achieve ethnic-minority delegate representation at least equal to the proportion of identified ethnic-minority populations within the state. The CCS-AHE shall use all reasonable efforts to recruit ethnic minority delegates. In the event a delegation doesn’t meet the minimum ethnic minority requirements, there must be affidavits from eligible ethnic minority members showing they declined delegates’ status.

Section D: Duties of Assembly Delegates

The duties of assembly delegates will be:

1. To coordinate with the President (or their designee) regarding attendance at appropriate sessions of the representative assemblies for WEA or NEA, including Higher Ed caucuses.

2. To represent the interests of the general membership of CCS-AHE.

3. To report back to the Faculty Senate after the assembly concludes.

Senators reviewed a handout showing the proposed amendment to Article 9. Members asked about Section C and whether NEA understood that different regions of a state can vary significantly in terms of demographics. Jackie, Jason, and Bev clarified that NEA’s goal is having a policy that can be applied across the board and that it becomes easier to calculate and track when looking at percentages for an entire state. There was discussion on the use of the term ethnic minority versus BIPOC. Jason agreed with the sentiment but stated the preference was to keep the term ethnic minority as that is the current language used by NEA and WEA in their bylaws and documents about assembly delegates. It would be easy for us to change it in the future if NEA and WEA update the term they use in their documents.

Hearing no further discussion, Bev Daily made a motion to accept the amendments to Article 9 as presented. Laura Kier seconded the motion. The motion passed.

The approved amendments, having been approved by the Senate, are now in effect. A new bylaws document will be updated and posted to the website. The Executive Board will maintain a copy of the prior version and the changes in its records. The next sections that will be reviewed by the Executive Board at their February 24 meeting will be Article 3 (Elections), Article 6 (Executive Board), and Article 7 (Faculty Senate).

New Business

Uniserv

Audra Shaw, WEA Eastern President, spoke to the Senate about WEA Uniserv. Audra shared information about where the Uniserv dues are applied. Uniserv staff support budget analysis, aid in bylaws review, provide facility use for Senate meetings, assist officers on issues such as grievances or MOUs, and provide legal support. Audra is also a member of the NEA Board, so she advocates for us and will be traveling to Washington D.C. this week.  Having overheard the final part of Senate’s bylaws conversation, Audra stated she will take the concern to NEA’s Board about the use of the term “ethnic minority” vs. BIPOC. For more information on WEA Uniserv, contact your AHE President, Jason Eggerman, or contact your current WEA Eastern council representative, Jackie Franklin. 

New Business: Legislative/Budget Updates 

By all accounts, the mood in Olympia among legislators is not positive in terms of the budget. The last version of the Governor’s budget was proposing a 1.5% cut, so Spokane Colleges is currently modeling and preparing for a 2% cut. This would be separate from the $1.16 million reduction related to the allocation model changes, which is a State Board thing, not a legislature thing. The Chancellor stated in a recent email that the District office would likely absorb most or all of the $1.16 million reduction from the allocation model during 2026/27, which gives the colleges another year to work on that. This would be done through “large project adjustments, efficiency changes, and expense reduction.” We do not have specifics at this time of what that will mean or look like.

New Business: Bargaining Unit Work

Jason explained bargaining unit work that belongs to AHE compared to bargaining unit work that belongs to the classified union (WFSE). For example, teaching of classes, grading of assignments, developing curriculum, as well as tasks performed by faculty counselors and faculty librarians, would all be bargaining unit work that is governed by our Master Contract. Most elements of that kind of work cannot be performed by non-faculty. For example, deans cannot ask a classified staff member to teach a class or grade student assignments.

Other types of work, however, such as building classes in ctcLink, processing financial aid, or facilities work such as moving furniture or cleaning, would be bargaining work that belongs to the classified union (WFSE). While it is often tempting to do things ourselves because it would be quicker and easier, or because we might feel we are being team players and just helping out, please remember that members from one union should not engage in “skimming” of work from another bargaining unit. For example, if a faculty member’s department orders a new office chair and the faculty member decides to assemble the chair themselves, they have just taken away work from a classified staff member.

Please also remember that individual classified staff members cannot give permission for faculty to do bargaining unit work. For example, an individual custodian would not have the authority under WFSE’s collective bargaining agreement to give a faculty member permission to rent equipment to shampoo the carpet in their office. Instead, the faculty member would need to submit a work order. Please direct questions to your dean if you are unclear on the process for what to submit. It is best to do so via email so that there is a record of your question and the dean’s response. If work orders are taking too long, or if things like a lack of cleanliness in shops, offices, or classrooms are impacting your ability to effectively serve students, please contact AHE for assistance. 

President’s and Vice Presidents’ Reports

AHE President Jason Eggerman:

Illness prevented Jason, Jackie, and Geoffrey from attending a Higher Ed lobbying day event in Olympia on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday (January 19). They may or may not be able to find a different day to go back over, perhaps with the Chancellor in order to advocate for Spokane Colleges during this session.

Please fill out the SurveyMonkey survey about final exam days. Please be as open and honest as possible. The data will be summarized by AHE’s Executive Board and shared with the Final Exam Schedule Task Force once that task force is formed. Individual responses will only be seen by AHE leadership. The data shared with the task force and with the administration will be in aggregated or summarized form.

There are still no specific details on the decision-making model that the Chancellor intends to use for examining our District Structure. As the Chancellor stated in his Town Hall and email, he does not think a traditional task force is the right approach. AHE has requested to be involved in the discussion of what kind of decision-making model will replace the task force. We have also reminded the Chancellor that the task force was going to be co-chaired by a faculty member, so it will be important that the new decision-making model also include faculty leadership at the upper levels. We do not wish to see a decision-making model where faculty involvement is limited to providing input during initial phases, but does not include faculty voice in later stages where the decisions are actually made.

AHE has requested a review of the recommendations from the 2011 Parking Task Force. Current recommendations are to increase parking fees by no more than 5% each year, but AHE wants to review this and possibly create a new task force to update recommendations. We don’t want to see a 5% hike each year forever. One concern is that we are compared to places like EWU and WSU as “peer institutions” to create the narrative that our parking is cheap. However, other community colleges on the east side of the state have free parking, and those are not included in the reports as peer institutions. 

Back in December, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee expressed concerns about the fact that the Spokane Colleges mission, vision, and values were rewritten by the branding consultants and a handful of board members. Jason reiterated those concerns to the Board of Trustees in January. In the past, the two colleges each had their own mission, vision, and values. In 2021, Chancellor Christine Johnson mandated that a single mission, vision, and values be developed for CCS by those working on the strategic plan. The new mission, vision, and values, which have been informally endorsed by the Board but not officially adopted or voted on, were developed by the consultants who did the branding survey, along with the Board and a few District executives. The concern is that the new mission, vision, and values are being developed in a top-down fashion, without input from any employees at Spokane Colleges.  

For reference, the current mission, vision, and values, along with the new ones that have been endorsed by the Board and appear to be likely to be voted on soon, have been included below:

Current Mission: To provide all students an excellent education that transforms their lives and expands their opportunities.

Proposed New Mission: Spokane Colleges enables all learners to stride confidently into their next chapters.

Current Vision: Providing the best community college experience in the Northwest.

Proposed New Vision: Cultivate a highly skilled workforce where every person reaches their fullest potential and reinvests in the community.

Current Values: Students First, Equity, Access, Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Responsiveness, Stewardship

Proposed New Values: Inclusivity (committed to teaching every person who wants to learn), Access (removing barriers that get in the way of education), Preparedness (setting students up to succeed in their next chapters).

Members expressed concerns about the proposed changes as there was no faculty involvement. Members also expressed concern that the new vision focuses only on the workforce and does not consider students whose goal might be transfer or just broadening their education. Members asked who was the Board’s audience for this mission statement and stated that it felt like a mission statement written for a corporation, not an educational institution. Members asked if the Board understands how the mission, vision, and values connect to accreditation, and how it makes sense to exclude the people who will be doing the accreditation work from the process of writing these. Members also asked if the Board understood that faculty have to speak to the mission, vision, and values during program review. Faculty who had worked on the 2021 version of the mission, vision, and values stated that they were frustrated that their work was thrown out and rewritten without any faculty or staff input. The mood was not good and there were many frustrations. 

Bev Daily made a motion to have the AHE President write a letter to the Board on behalf of AHE members. There was discussion of specifics that the letter should include. The motion was seconded by Rick Dubois. Another member requested that a survey be sent out to gather data to support or supplement the letter. Judy Throop proposed an amendment adding the survey. Corrine Morrow seconded. The amended motion to write a letter and add a survey was passed. 

We will have two more Master Contract info sessions during Winter quarter on February 25 and March 4. They take place at the WEA Uniserv building from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. All members are welcome to come with questions or just come to listen and learn more about our Master Contract.

The District screening committee for the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has scheduled interviews, and they will be interviewing 10 candidates.

SCC VP Tim Roe:  

The Bibliu rollout has been challenging. Thank you to those who shared concerns with Jaclyn Jacot, Linda McDermott, and Maria Midkiff. Also, a shout-out to Shami, Monique, and Jaclyn, who worked hard to take care of the issues that came up. I understand that it can be  helpful if you can connect your book rep with the Bibliu team.

If you participate in New Student Orientations, annually contracted faculty can count that work as part of their 35 hours. Adjuncts should be compensated for participating.

If you suspend a student from your class, you need to submit a report right away utilizing the Report-It feature.

SCC Extension VP Rob Deyo:

The Dean of Rural Education position will post soon and will close on March 31. Forums will be held mid-May in various locations with an anticipated start date of July 1.

Rural Education is hiring a Psychology Instructor. The committee is just meeting.

The ABE Tenure Track position is posted and will close on March 10. 

Department Chair elections will be happening this spring in ABE, ESL, Corrections, and Rural Education.  There are new administrative assistants in all of these areas, and Rob has reached out to offer assistance with navigating the process.  He’s had one meeting and has another on the calendar.  In many departments, this is a pretty straightforward process, but there are some challenges in ABE & ESL due to various worksites, the changing of work locations from quarter to quarter, and the sheer size of the departments, which makes the logistics of issuing and receiving ballots difficult.  The Rural Education Administrative Assistant is now located in Colville, which will help with the process, but will have to figure out a way to get ballots to and from Newport. Rural Education will now have one department chair instead of two as they’ve had in the past.  

SFCC VP Jackie Franklin:  

Jackie sent out a recruitment for volunteers to serve on the screening committee for the  Dean of Humanities/Social Science. Tenured faculty received the message last week, and she will send out a second request this week. As a reminder, per the Master Contract, only tenured faculty may serve on a screening committee for any dean’s position (Article 8, Section 17, Paragraph B, Item 3).

The dean of Community Health & Education has announced their retirement. Jason and Jackie have a meeting scheduled with the SFCC cabinet and will follow up regarding transition plans.   

Adjunct Representative Lena Lopez Schindler:

There was a really great adjunct Community of Practice (COP) on February 3 covering sick leave, personal leave, etc. Lena gave a shout-out to Rob and Tim for attending and helping to cover those topics. The next meeting on March 3 will cover how to have difficult conversations in class. This may include having conversations about hot topics related to your curriculum or having tough one-on-one conversations with students. These are open to all adjunct faculty. You can find the information online with both the TLC and CETL.

Good of the order:

Rob Vogel made a motion to adjourn.  Holly Campbell seconded. The meeting adjourned at 4:28 p.m.