10/5/16
October 5, 2016
1. Meeting details
a Where: library conference room
b Who attended: Carol, Chiung, Joel, Justin, D. Scott, D. Sharp, Troy, David
c Next meeting: Wednesday, October 19
2. Meeting Minutes
a Prior meeting minutes approved by those in attendance
3. FAC Innovation Grant
a Received and reviewed $2,500 grant request from Colby Weeks
b David Bybee’s office has agreed to fund the grant amount
i NOTE: this will be the last grant funded by David’s office due to budget cuts
c Discussion
i Precedence for FAC grants have been ½ this amount
ii May be restrictions on purchasing a computer without going through university approved process
iii Idea seems good, but due to the cost this will be difficult to bring into the classroom
d Vote to choose best 2 of 3 options
i Request additional information from Colby
ii Fund grant request at $1,250
iii Fund grand request at $2,500
· i and ii were chosen as top two choices
e Vote to choose between two options
i Request additional information from Colby
ii Fund grant request at $1,250
· ii was chosen – Fund grant request at $1,250
f TO-DO – Joel
i Inform Colby the FAC has approved a grant of $1,250
· This is the range we usually give
· Suggest going to department or college for additional funds
4. FAC Schedule for Winter semester
a TO-DO - Justin
i. Send out DOODLE before next FAC meeting so FAC can finalize winter semester meeting time
5. Committee Minutes Webpage
a Webpage people are still working on the project (Joel is assisting in the coding)
b Joel brought up page for FAC to view, no concerns voiced
6. General faculty meetings:
a Joel reported that John is planning one of these each semester
7. Academic Council, meeting next Tuesday
a TO-DO – Joel
i Propose the FAC to move forums from the 4th Thursday to the 2nd Thursday
ii Propose there be a faculty forum each month with the deans taking the month of their choice and the FAC filling in the other months
· Specific to the Winter semester, request the deans choose from the following
o November:
§ 1st Thursday is break between semesters
§ 4th Thursday is Thanksgiving break
o December:
§ 4th and 5th Thursdays are Christmas break
o January:
§ All Thursday’s available
o February:
§ David O. McKay lecture series on Feb 14th
8. FAC Forum
a Dr. Hong’s flyer approved
b Noted a very good turnout for the first FAC forum
i Suggested a short survey before next FAC forum to determine how people are learning about the forum so it can be duplicated
c TO-DO – Joel
i The following questions will be asked at the beginning of next Thursday’s FAC forum:
· By raise of hand, how did you learn about today’s forum?
o Flyer?
o Email?
o Friend or colleague?
· By raise of hand, what reminded you to come to the forum?
o Schedule?
o Flyer?
o Email?
o Friend or colleague?
9. Housing
a Joel reported that although this falls under Norm Black, he is willing to meet with anyone that has questions or concerns.
b Discussion
i This is a big enough issue that the faculty needs more information about what is going on and how the whole thing is being handled
c TO-DO – Joel
i Discussion with John with the following specific questions:
· What would it take to get a new director of housing?
· What do we do as faculty to get change when it comes to housing? What buttons do we push?
o And other similar situations?
· Are the problems in housing due to incompetence or corruption?
· Ultimately, even when a decision is top down, we want to be able to weigh in and be heard so our concerns can at least be noted.
10. Friday discussion with John Bell
a TO-DO – Joel
i Interested to know whether there are budget issues coming up in the near future. This question as a result of
· Scholarships are being cut
· Innovation grant being cut
Communication
a John has requested additional feedback on how we can get better communication
b Discussion
i What is the purpose of the communication to be improved?
· Basic information about decisions being made on campus
· Allow teachers to weigh in on decision being considered and being made
· Better understanding of student concerns
· Better communication between faculty
ii Potential of departments with no deans
· Concern the additional work this would add to VP
· Benefit and disadvantage of more power being given to the department chair
· Advantage of deans is VP has an audience to bounce ideas off of
iii Suggestion that communication would improve greatly if processes already approved were being followed
· Meeting minutes made public
· Faculty meeting
· Deans passing information to colleges
iv Suggested solutions
· Smaller not larger departments allowing more creativity in departments
· Colleges based on number of students which may provide more equality between colleges
· Decentralization of organization, pushing power to the departments
c To-Do – Joel
i Joel report back to John Bell
· FAC will continue to have this discussion
· Better communication will lead toward a Zion University
· The result will be that all will take their stewardship more seriously
o Will encourage faculty to improve teaching
o Will encourage staff to improve in their responsibilities