Sue Bloodsworth, Gary Hampton, Joe Lostracco, Tobin Quereau, Anaka Rivera, Gaye Lynn Scott, Gillian Waterston
Guests Present
No guest attendance has been recorded.
Item # 1:
Recap of February 26, 2013 meeting
Presenter
Andrew
Discussion
Minutes approved. [gls, ar]
Item # 2:
Math Dept: eStaffing Modification request #1 of 3 - Postal Mail
Presenter
Gillian
Discussion
Currently, Adjunct Faculty are notified via postal mail of upcoming Fall, Spring, and Summer deadlines. A proposal was made to eliminate the postal mailings and rely, instead, on email.
The eStaffing Committee recommends proceeding to a transition away from postal mail. The next step is to review all documentation to determine whether, for instance, postal mail is explicitly referred to in Administrative Rules.
In preparing for the discussion, the following information was requested from the lead IT coordinator of the postal process:
Here is the breakdown for the memos:
Memos sent for Summer, Fall, Spring & MSTA each year.
We send about 1800 give or take each time and receive 5-6% returned for incorrect addresses. This last one we had 93 returned to me.
Each time we send them, it costs $828 for a total of $3312 a year. This also fluctuates depending on the postal rate.
The work that goes into processing these starts with Applications Development gathering information and creating a file with the names, addresses and departments for those eligible. Once that is complete the file comes to me and I go through a process to clean up dates, create posters, merge information, etc. to get them ready to print. From there they go to our Support Services area to be printed and sealed which takes a considerable amount of time and cost for the mailers. After this they go to the mail room to be processed and metered and then taken to the post office.
Item # 3:
Math Dept: eStaffing Modification request #2 of 3 - MSTA Communication
Presenter
Gillian
Discussion
Currently all eligible Adjunct Faculty are notified of the annual MSTA process -- even when the department in which they are an instructor is not planning to accept MSTA applications. The notification is via postal mail.
The Math Department's proposal is to restrict the notifications to Adjunct Faculty affiliated with only with departments that plan to accept MSTA applications.
One of the problems with this proposal is that departments are often slow to notify IT of whether they will accept MSTA applications, and also sometimes change their mind.
IT is in the process of redesigning the Executive modules within eStaffing, and one of the enhancements that might help this process is the development of an input screen where the department chair sets the Yes/No value associated with the annual MSTA Acceptance question.
One caveat to this new screen is that the Yes/No value must always be ''Yes'' whenever a department has Renewal MSTAs.
As with the semester-based Preference/Acceptance notifications that are sent via postal mail, the eStaffing Committee favors the transition to MSTA notifications being sent via email.
Anaka pointed out that the AFA webpage includes information that MSTA notifications are sent via postal mail. Thus, any planned transition to email only requires review of current information and administrative rules, plus some sort of education campaign about the planned transition away from postal mail.
Joe suggested that the language at the top of the notification that indicates that the Adjunct is invited to apply for MSTA be changed to reflect that not all departments are accepting MSTA applications. The eStaffing Committee agreed to include such a recommendation with any planned transition that eliminates postal mail and increases the reliance on email.
A discussion was held as to the population of Adjuncts to receive MSTA communiques. Anaka's point about needing to ensure that no Adjunct who is truly eligible to apply is excluded from the population was accepted. Even though the College stresses the importance of each academic department keeping the Appointments and Eligibility rosters accurate and up-to-date, any mistake on the department's behalf could have negative repercussions for an eligible Adjunct.
Item # 4:
Math Dept: eStaffing Modification request #3 of 3 - Midnight
Presenter
Gillian
Discussion
The Math Department received two complaints that eStaffing was misleading in its use of ''Midnight'' as the deadline time for one of the processes. Technically, the correct deadline time is 11:59 p.m.
The complaint is accurate, and IT will search for where the misleading deadline time is advertised and make the change(s).
Item # 5:
Request to separate Hybrid and Online Eligibility Designations
Presenter
Andrew
Discussion
The Philosophy Department has requested an expansion of the eligibility categories; specifically the separation of Hybrid and Online.
This expansion is part of the new redesign of the Executive module.
Item # 6:
Preview of Fall 2013 eStaffing
Presenter
Committee
Discussion
Fall 2013 eStaffing starts on April Fools Day.
The Summer 2013 --> Fall 2013 ''roll'' occurred on Thursday, March 7, 2013.
Departments need to remember that the way eStaffing was originally constructed, and still works, is that MSTA awards are updated in the Summer term. HPTH and other eligibility updates should occur in the Fall term. Departments have the ability to select which term they are updating.
There is documentation on the eStaffing login page to assist Departments: ''Special Instructions for Deans and Department Chairs Summer 2013 – Fall 2013 Transition''.
Item # 7:
eStaffing Compliance Reports
Presenter
Andrew
Discussion
The Committee reviewed the draft of the Summer 2013 eStaffing Compliance Report and there was one area of concern: Looking at the report, it is not possible to distinguish between departments that (a) deliberately did not use eStaffing for staffing adjunct faculty to course sections, and (b) did not have any more course sections to staff.
This problem is very noticeable right now because (a) there is usually less sections available in the Summer semester, and (b) there were even less sections available this Summer due to the anticipation of decreased enrollment.
Andrew agreed to scour the database in search of data that can distinguish between departments with sections left to offer adjuncts vs. those that do not.
One very important educational point was raised that will need to be conveyed to the departments: Even when all course sections have been assigned via the Assignment Loop, the DC must continue through the remaining faculty until completion. This will provide 3 positive results: (1) It gives the ''Transparency Report'' a more thorough, accurate picture of the eStaffing assignments; (2) In the event a new course section becomes available in the future, it allows the DC to offer it to the next Adjunct in the random order; and (3) it generates a completion date/time-stamp that is helpful in verifying that the department used eStaffing for staffing course sections.
Item # 8:
Status of MSTA ''Exception'' vs MSTA ''Senior''
Presenter
Anaka
Discussion
Anaka reported that the AFA proposed eliminating the MSTA Exception category and replacing it with an MSTA Senior category in February, 2012. It was voted on in May, 2012, but the recommendation has not yet been forwarded to the ACAC.
There are still a couple of questions about what constitutes ''MSTA Senior'' (e.g., is it 5 consecutive academic years with 2 or more semesters designated as ''MSTA''), and whether an ''MSTA Senior'' appointment in one department automatically triggers ''MSTA Senior'' status in another department in which an instructor is designated as 'MSTA'. There is also a question of whether the ''system'' ought to automatically calculate whether an MSTA qualifies as ''MSTA Senior'' or whether the determination is to be left to the department's responsibility.
Joe and Andrew both expressed support for ''simplicity'' in whatever the final recommendation turns out to be.
Anaka plans on advancing the AFA proposal to ACAC fairly soon.
Item # 9:
Status Report on Redesign of Executive modules
Presenter
Andrew
Discussion
IT has a thorough list of desired specifications in the eStaffing Executive module Redesign project plan. IT will schedule a meeting this Spring of the Redesign subcommittee to relay the progress being made. The intent is to have the redesign ready for Summer 2014 eStaffing, with enough time to provide adequate training opportunities for departments.
However, the existing system works satisfactorily, so the ''go live'' date will not be rushed if rushing the implementation appears to sacrifice quality.
Item # 10:
Discussion of an Adjunct Faculty Request
Presenter
Anaka
Discussion
Anaka forwarded a question from an Adjunct who requested that the Assignment Loop be altered such that after each random call and faculty assignment during the loop, each subsequent faculty be notified of the assignment made so that the subsequent faculty could alter their section preferences.
The Committee offered several reasons why this suggestion is both impractical and unnecessary. Anaka will work with committee members to craft an explanation to the instructor who had communicated the request.
Item # 11:
Discussion of ''Bumping Faculty'' Procedures
Presenter
Anaka
Discussion
Certain events, such as course section cancellation, can lead to events whereby a faculty with a higher status in the hierarchic chain may seem to be in line to ''bump'' a lower status faculty from an assignment.
Fortunately, as some Committee members pointed out, an Administrative Rule does address this issue.
Item # 12:
Proposal from FTF that would impact Adjunct Faculty staffing
Presenter
Anaka
Discussion
A proposal has been presented that would allow retired FTF to be designated as ''Professor Emeritus'' at ACC, be given free parking access, and allowed to use eStaffing as the #1 Priority group in the heirarchic chain.
The Committee's reaction is that the absence of any type of consideration of faculty ''excellence'' does not fit well with eStaffing, and for this and several other reasons, there is the expectation (and hope) that the recommendation will not get very far.
Item # 13:
Conclusion
Presenter
Andrew
Discussion
The next Committee meeting will be Tues., May 7, 2013, in HBC 220. Andrew will remind all committee members that all future eStaffing Committee meetings will take place at HBC due to the meeting space crunch at SVC.
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