From the President
What is the Mission of the ECCFA?
Two of our newer
faculty members recently contacted me wanting to know more about getting involved
with the Senate; specifically asking about the time requirements and duties
of a Senator. Their view of the ECCFA was that we negotiated and protected
our union contract. Certainly we’re busy right now organizing the three-hour
adjuncts, but I quickly realized that we need to do a better job of communicating the mission of the ECCFA on the ECC campus.
We become perceived as we are seen
spending our time. So, how do we want to be perceived on the campus? The ECCFA
was organized 26 years ago with the purpose of engaging in any and all activities
that promote educational processes and the welfare of its members. As
such, we serve as both the academic leaders as well as the negotiating body
for our members. Too often it seems we are identified with the union agenda;
which is, of course, important. However, none of us would be here without
the students; so our primary charge (as stated in the ECCFA Constitution)
is to promote educational processes.
You may remember
that in May 2004, immediate past president Dr. Sherry Hellmuth formed the
ECCFA Senate Academic Affairs Subcommittee, whose purpose is to study cross-divisional
academic policy issues. Since that time, this committee has been active --
both as its own independent academic affairs body and as faculty representatives
on Dr. Glickman’s Academic Policy Committee, which is also investigating
a number of college-wide academic issues.
In response to an inquiry made by
Dr. David Burke, Chair of the Mission
and Integrity Subcommittee for NCA Accreditation, the Senate recently composed
a resolution on Shared Governance which is included in this issue of the Sentinel. Topics such as the one David
Burke brought to the attention of Senate can be presented for discussion by
any member of the faculty.
In addition, the Senate also approved
a resolution in support of the 50th Anniversary of Brown versus
Board of Education, which is also included as part of this issue of the Sentinel. I’m extremely grateful to
the members of the Senate Academic Affairs Subcommittee as well as the entire
Senate for their work on these two resolutions. Their work on these two resolutions
shows that we are living up to our charge of promoting educational processes.
Our ECCFA members provide academic
expertise on a number of issues across this campus and at FSQ. We just need
to do a better job of communicating how we spend our time. And then we'll
be perceived as both the academic leaders as well as the negotiating body
for our members.
In unity,
Linda Hefferin
ECCFA President
ECCFA Resolution:
Brown v. Board of Education 50th
Anniversary
Whereas, the Elgin Community College Faculty Association supports
the Brown v. Board of Education 50th
Anniversary Resolution, adopted by the American Federation of Teachers
in February 2004; and
Whereas, 50 years after the courts guaranteed the promise of
equal access to education for all students, data from 4,000 schools in Illinois show that unequal classroom conditions
still exist for minority students that encourage failure; and
Whereas, for almost 100 years, our parent organization, the
American Federation of Teachers, has made it a priority to fight for educational
equality and an end to discrimination; and
Whereas, this year, in recognition of the 50th anniversary
of the Brown versus Board decision,
the AFT adopted a resolution reaffirming its commitment to closing minority
achievement gaps and to continuing its progressive stance to ensure that the
dream of equal access to education is realized; and
Whereas, to achieve our vision of being the best comprehensive community college
in the United States by providing tomorrow's education today, ECC District
509 can and must do more to fight
for educational equality for all students; and
Whereas, the legacy of Brown gives us reason to celebrate improved educational equality;
however, any gains fall far short of the equality necessary to make our country
a fair and just society;
Be it resolved that
the Elgin Community College Faculty Association supports the Board of Trustee’s
efforts to recruit and retain minority faculty, staff, and administration;
and calls upon the Board to work with the ECCFA to:
·
Ensure that all employees demonstrate
multicultural competence and cultural sensitivity toward all students, especially minority/students of color,
in order for them to receive equal access to education and services to achieve
academic success including graduation.
·
Demonstrate support of the
Adult Basic Education/English as a Second Language (ABE/ESL) programs by hiring
full-time, tenure track Bilingual/Bicultural/ESL Certified faculty members immediately. Further, the ECCFA supports
hiring additional qualified, experienced ABE/ESL administrators in this area.
—Adopted by the ECCFA
Senate,
November 17, 2004
ECCFA Resolution:
Shared Governance
The Elgin Community College
Faculty Association (ECCFA) Senate believes that shared governance is the
appropriate model for Elgin Community
College. Shared governance provides for meaningful faculty
input to College decisions. Faculty
participation in the College’s decision-making processes is consistent
with the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) concept which ECC has adopted.
Shared governance in conjunction with CQI provides infinite opportunity
for the College to move toward its vision of being the best community college
in the nation.
Therefore, the ECCFA Senate
requests that Dr. Gena Glickman, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Students
Services; along with Dr. Linda Hefferin, ECCFA Senate President; jointly establish an ad hoc committee
to explore the issues associated with moving the College to a shared governance
model. The
findings of this group are to be reported back to the ECCFA
Senate no later than the first Senate meeting in April, 2005.
The College Plants
A Grove of Metal Trees
Sarah Dye
When I was twelve, my family and
I lived in India
for a year. Right before Christmas that year, two bamboo poles appeared in
our front yard. My parents told my sister and me that Indian gardeners grew
bamboo trees by planting such poles. Being gullible, we believed that we would
soon have a bamboo grove in the yard. On Christmas Day, we discovered we had
been seriously duped; the bamboo poles were actually the poles for the net
for the new badminton set we received as one of our Christmas presents! I
arrived at school late Tuesday afternoon as I always do to discover a multitude
of metal trees which had sprouted that day in front of parking spaces in the
ICT lot. I was hoping that this was a new metal tree grove college officials
had ordered planted to beautify the campus. Silly optimist that I am!
The metal trees, actually sign posts,
are simply the beginning of the ECC Board of Trustee-ordered Premium Parking
Plan scheduled to start in January 2005. The plan is to provide at least 100
special parking spaces that students, staff, and faculty can rent in order
to be closer to various college buildings. In May 2004, the college’s
Office of Institutional Research surveyed the college community to determine
whether there was interest in such a parking program. Of the 901 and 700 faculty/staff
and student surveys distributed, there was a 405 return rate for the former
group and a 66% return rate for the latter group. The results?
I quote from the survey report distributed campus wide via email in June 2004:
“The overwhelming
majority of respondents indicated they would not be interested in paying an
optional fee for premium parking. Little difference in opinion is noted when
breaking down the results into various groups.”
I wonder why a Board would choose
to go ahead with a Premium Parking Plan when 70% to 90% of the various responding
groups indicated no interest in paying $100.00 per semester.
One aspect of ECC that has impressed
me in the 17 years I have been employed here is how egalitarian the college
has been, a quality I feel reflects the spirit of the American community college.
An example of this egalitarian nature has been that only one person had a
specifically reserved parking space, that being the President of the college.
Then special spaces began to be designated for physical plant administrators,
special college work vehicles, Student Life vehicles, and of course the legally mandated handicap
parking spaces, all of which did make sense to me. Even the vice presidents
and deans searched for parking spaces just like the majority of the campus
population. If a person wanted a good space, that driver needed to get to
school early or learn about class schedule-influenced parking patterns and
arrive accordingly.
Come January, ECC’s climate
will change and not just with the expected drop in temperature. The campus
will be divided into a class of privileged parking-pass-holders and a class
of resentful searchers.
Instead, I (and presumably many
other ECCFA members) encourage the Board to think about the student who hauls
40 pounds of books in her book bag from the back row in a parking lot, the
librarian who exits alone from a college building at 10:15 PM after having
worked all day, the administrator who leaves campus early in the morning to
make a speech to a local group returning to look for campus parking at 10:45
AM, the adjunct faculty member who currently is paid so little and is now
being asked to forfeit $100 of that for a parking space that is not even guaranteed,
and finally the campus police who must try to patrol a new parking situation
without additional monies or staff.
If one of my colleagues had an extra
$100 each semester and asked me for ideas on how to wisely spend the money,
I would caution against purchasing a ECC premium
parking pass. Instead I would urge my colleague to make a donation to the
ECC Foundation; we all know that students truly benefit from that kind of
donation.
I am sure there are other innovative
ideas that could improve the climate at ECC; Premium Parking is not such an
idea.
Sarah Dye, English Department
New Faculty Member:
Len Fitzpatrick
Rick
Green
Len Fitzpatrick joined the ECC automotive
department in August filling a newly created full-time faculty position.
Originally from St. Charles,
he and his wife Kathy and his current restoration project, a 1969 Plymouth
RoadRunner, now call Elburn home.
Along with his automotive field
experience, Len also brings to ECC’s students a strong teaching background,
having recently spent a number of years training factory technicians for Volkswagen.
He enjoys boating, riding his all terrain vehicles and spending getaway
time with his wife at their Wisconsin retreat.
Len observes
that in his short time at ECC, he’s met a lot of nice folks who have
positive attitudes and who are very student focused.
He looks forward to meeting and getting to know more of the campus
community.
Len’s office is ATC 122. Stop by and say hello!
Thanks to all who participated—selling
and/or buying tickets—in our ECCFA/Foundation Raffle. Sales totaled
$626.00. After prizes were awarded,
the total amount raised for our ESL Scholarships through the Foundation is
$426.00.
Special thanks go to Tricia Maxwell,
who coordinated the effort, and Dr. Shirley for drawing
the winners’ tickets.
$100 in Best Buy Gift Cards went to each of the following:
Carole Robertson
Rick Green
Patti Jackowicz
John Fountain
Jacke Kaufmann
Mary Arndt
Linda Hefferin Charlene Eckols
Cash prizes went to
Linda McEwan - $100
Jessica Carpenter
- $60
Congratulations to all the winners! (I’ll bet we sell more tickets next time!)
After Three Weeks,
City Colleges Strike Settled
On Sunday, 7 November, the Cook County College Teachers Union,
Local 1600, ratified a new contract, ending a three-week strike that began
on 19 October.
Under the new contract, full-time
faculty will have a 15 credit hour per semester workload. Also included in the contract is a 1% or 2%
increase in the base salary schedule for each of the next four years and a
substantial increase in the employee contribution to health insurance. Full details of the contract are found on the
City Colleges website: http://www.ccc.edu/aboutccc/news/neg11_10.shtml
In support of Local 1600, ECCFA
sent $250 to help defray the costs of the strike. More information about the strike and the Cook
County College Teachers Union may be found at the union website: http://ccctu.com/
Hot Buttons:
Websites of Interest to Union Members
Just in time for holiday
shopping, Bill Pelz offers this website for union members who may want to
shop with the guarantee that products are made by union labor rather than
workers in sweat shops.
www.NoSweatShop.com
NoSweat.com is a socially conscious mail order firm
that offers clothing, shoes, coffees, and other products. A recent press release offers the following
description of sample products available through this website:
A No Sweat brand sweatshirt
with the classic varsity style logo. Dress khakis – now in stock. Cooler winter caps. A
great kids’ No Sweat Tee. Kids’ socks,
and girls’ PJs too. Plus a fair trade holiday sampler filled with
organic coffee, tea and chocolate from our friends at Equal Exchange. AND
some freebies. Even fair traders love freebies. Like a free 10 song
download of great world music from Calabash Records. Cool holiday gift cards
to go with each purchase.
Happy Thanksgiving to All ECCFA Members and Friends
