Deans’ Council Meeting
Minutes
August 6, 1998
 
 
R. Rodrigues (presiding), A. Zavaleta, D. Ferrier, J. Holt, P. Kavanaugh, B. Boze,
  S. Pena, M. Stephenson, A. Fuhro (guest), M. Dyer, J. Martin, W. Lewis.
 
 
1. New Faculty Hiring:
 
* The Deans and the Director of Human Resources, Ms. A. Fuhro, agreed that the process  for hiring new faculty has to be made more efficient.
 
* Some of the problems that Deans are experiencing are that,
 - There is a significant delay between the time when requests for new faculty are    made to the time when advertisements are run.
 
 - There is a significant delay between the time when applications are received and    the search committee has done its work.
 
 - As an example of the delay, B. Boze mentioned that a faculty position that was    approved last October was not advertised until May of this year.
 
 - A. Fuhro informed the Deans that it is sometimes difficult to track the status of    certain open faculty positions for the reason that some positions which have   been advertised since 1996 have not yet been filled.
 
 - S. Pena suggested that a solution to that problem might be that Human Resources    send all of the files of pending faculty searches to the Dean of the     appropriate School/College in the middle of each August. In that way the    Dean could update the status of each faculty search for the Human     Resources Department. A. Fuhro agreed that HR would like the Deans to    update them on the status of faculty searches.
 
 - Another problem is that individuals who have sent applications to HR for certain    faculty positions do not know what their status is after several months.
 
* A. Fuhro informed the Deans that they may get copies of the last advertisements for    positions in case they wish to make changes in the advertisements.
 
 - B. Boze said that, on several occasions, what she wanted in an advertisement was   not put in the advertisement the way that she wanted it.
 
 - A. Fuhro and the Deans agreed that the advertisement for a faculty position should   never go to the publisher without last being seen by the appropriate Dean.    Before the advertisement is sent out of the institution the final copy should    be approved of by the Dean.
 
* Since advertising for faculty positions is so expensive R. Rodrigues suggested that    advertisements in the Chronicle of Higher Education be very short and that    potential candidates be referred to the UTB/TSC web page where they could   get a complete description of the position.
 
* B. Boze suggested that UTB/TSC advertise a complete listing of positions available in    two or three journals a year. This might also reduce the cost of advertising.   Again, we could simply list the positions available and give a web site for    further details. The potential negative side of this suggestion is that we may   have to wait longer to advertise some positions.
 
* The Deans agreed that the optimal times of the year to advertise are in the Fall and in early   January.
 
* The Deans agreed that search committees need to be formed when ads are run.
 
* The search committee should be responsible for picking up resumes and evaluating them.
 
* A. Fuhro said that she will notify the Deans when the ads are run. She would advise the    chairs of the search committees also but often she does not know who the    chairs of a particular search committee are.
 
* A. Fuhro said that advertisements for faculty do not need to appear in local publications.    The Deans should only request this to be done when they want it to be    done.
 
* A. Fuhro said that unofficial copies of transcripts are appropriate during the selection    stage of the hiring process for faculty. Only finalists for a position need to    provide official transcripts. If they are offered a letter of employment,    however, candidates should provide official transcripts. Rule of thumb: "A    copy of transcripts for application is fine but not for employment."
 
* D. Ferrier suggested that UTB/TSC should have the protection of using an application of    faculty that would allow UTB/TSC to terminate new faculty who were not    truthful on their application. A. Fuhro said that, for the time being, the use    of such an application is not being considered. She said that there are other    ways that the institution can deal with untruthfulness on applications.
 
*R. Rodrigues said that the chair of the department should be responsible for writing letters   to the candidates for a faculty position. These letters should thank the    individuals for applying and they should explain why the candidate was not    selected. The department of Human Resources should not write these    letters because they have no way of personalizing the communication.
 
* A. Fuhro said that it is important to speak to finalists for a position about salary     requirements before bringing a person on campus. UTB/TSC should know   the salary expectations of the individual and the individual should     understand the salary range that we are prepared to offer. This would avoid   the expense of bringing someone on to the campus whose salary     expectations are not in line with what the institution is willing to pay.
 
 
2. Staff Teaching Policy
 
* At the present time directors cannot be paid to teach a course.
 
* Directors and Deans can only be paid for teaching continuing education classes.
 
* R. Rodrigues suggested that the policy should only refer to exempt (salaried) staff. That  way the institution will not be obligated to pay overtime or compensatory time.
 
* Temporary employees cannot teach if they are working 40 hours a week.
 
* The main goal is that directors be able to teach for pay with permission of the VPAA.
 
3. UTB/TSC Activities in Harlingen
 
* R. Rodrigues, in anticipation of his meeting with the superintendent of the Harlingen ISD  asked the Deans to brief him on what UTB/TSC is doing in Harlingen.
 
* M. Dyer said that there is an extended campus for the AND students in Harlingen and that  nursing students perform their clinical activities at Valley Baptist.
 
* J. Holt said that there is a Criminal Justice extension center in Harlingen. In addition  there are also five Tech Prep programs.
 
* B. Boze said that the College of Business offers two upper division courses each  semester in Harlingen and that the BAAS degree will be offered to the TSTC  faculty. In addition there is an annual MBA recruitment fair in Harlingen and the  CBED offers training courses there.
 
* S. Pena noted that the College of Education has an orientation for graduate and undergraduate students in Harlingen.
 
 
4. Debriefing Deans’/Chairs’ Workshop
 
* Those faculty members who have not gone up for any personnel action in years will be the first group to go through the Post-Tenure Review process.
 
* There was some concern expressed about those faculty for whom "faculty development" plans are recommended.
 - R. Rodrigues said that it is the responsibility of the chair to prepare tenured faculty   for their reviews.
 - The portfolios of faculty going up for post-tenure review are due in the VPAA’s    office on October 28, 1998.
 
 - Chairs need to observe these tenured faculty members teaching. These     observations should include pre-observation meetings, an observation and    post-observation meetings.
 
 - The chair should write a report, to be included in the portfolio, regarding the    classroom observation.
 
 - It is the responsibility of the Deans to assist chairs in thinking through their    responsibilities in preparing faculty for post tenure review.
 
 - R. Rodrigues reminded the deans that the real purpose of the post tenure review    process is to help faculty become better.
 
 - R. Rodrigues said that the chair will be responsible for monitoring the     professional development of those tenured faculty for whom professional    development is recommended.
 
 - S. Pena said that some tenured faculty members in areas with very few faculty    members feel victimized because of the very heavy service expectations of    them.
 
 - J. Martin said that if work load conferences have been satisfactory and acceptable    we can’t all of a sudden make the judgment that something is unacceptable    in a tenured faculty member’s performance.
 
 - R. Rodrigues reminded the Deans that Chairs need to take on these post tenure    review activities as a major component of their leadership responsibilities.
 
 - R. Rodrigues reminded the Deans that some tenured faculty members may need to   be referred to some type of Employee Assistance Program. They will need    to work with the Human Resources Department on this when needed.