The In-class Observation Form that went out last Thursday (10/20/2022) from the Vice Provosts is still under review. Although some Vice Provost’s emails had stated faculty were involved in the development of the form, the DCFA Council was unable to verify this. Consequently, the DCFA Council approached the Provost and Vice Provosts to encourage them to work with the FA to ensure that the revised form includes faculty input. We expect a newer (revised) form to be released soon.
Hello All,
Please read the following updates regarding the PACE Climate Survey and the Separation Incentive Plan (SIP).
PACE Climate Survey
You should have received an email from pace_survey@ncsu.edu to evaluate the working climate at Dallas College. You may want to check your "other" folder, as some faculty reported it being sent there. You may also search your email for "PACE" or search the email address. Please fill out this survey as soon as possible. It will close at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, November 7th, 2022.
Separation Incentive Plan (SIP)
For those interested in the SIP, all required enrollment materials, letter of resignation, and Separation election agreement/General Release, are due to the PARS office by 7:00 p.m. on October 20th, 2022.
The second DCFA Council Monthly Regular Business Meeting of Fall 2022 is scheduled for Friday, October 14th, 2022 at 12:00 p.m.
This meeting is scheduled following our the recent board of trustees meeting so we can provide up-to-date reporting on anything that comes up during the meeting (in addition to regular business).
Here is the link to the meeting agenda. Below you will find the meeting links along with call-in/passcode information.
Time: October 14, 2022 12:00 PM – 1:20 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 960 1648 0264
Passcode: dcfa2022b
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Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kdj6Njycnm
Hello All,
We hope you are doing well. The Council received the following message from Vice Provost of eLearning Terry Di Paolo regarding the work product created by the Faculty Evaluation Workgroup last year:
"Per Dr Floyd’s email just to let you know we have added the output of the FEW group to Sharepoint.
Having a launched what was intended as a summary page of the FEW work as part of the new evaluation launch – we have updated this page with links to the documents produced by FEW and brief explanations of how these documents have been incorporated into the design of process and policy since they were provisioned.
Additionally we have placed redirects on the original FEW site on both the homepage and updates page to the site above."
We will let you know if we receive any further updates.
Hello All,
Please
click here to view the presentation from the recent board of trustees
meeting regarding the new comprehensive evaluation of full-time faculty.
You will notice the faculty council did not speak during the
presentation. However, several members were in the audience or watching the
live stream. In support of faculty, the council made the decision to not fully
endorse the presentation at this moment considering there were elements that
were not representative of faculty input. Unfortunately, several factually
incorrect statements were made during the presentation, to which our council
President addressed one vocally about there not having been yearly evaluations
under the former system. We will provide more details at our next monthly
business meeting held on October 14th, 2022 from 12:00 p.m. – 1:20 p.m. We
encourage all faculty to attend the monthly business meetings, as the council
will be able to address any questions/concerns and provide more detailed
updates.
We will soon be sharing folder of approved business meeting
minutes and a calendar of all business meeting dates, including those members
cannot attend (Chancellor/Provost meetings).
Please contact your campus president if you have any
questions.
Thanks!
The DCFA 2022 Annual Convention will be held on Friday, November 11, 2022 at 1:30 pm in person at the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court at 411 Elm St. The Convention will be live-streamed for members to view remotely. Voting is in-person, but in accordance with the Bylaws, you may offer your proxy to someone who will be in attendance.
An invitation to join us for the Annual Convention will be posted at least two (2) weeks prior to the event, but we encourage you to block out the afternoon on your calendar now to ensure you are able to attend and participate fully. Per the change to the Bylaws through the August 2021 convention, voting is allowed by proxy (with strict rules for designating a proxy) and the details for how voting will be conducted will be shared in the invitation along with the agenda.
Per the DCFA Constitution and Bylaws, if you have a proposal to amend the Constitution or Bylaws that you would like considered at the 2022 Annual Convention, it must be received by the DCFA Council Secretary and President at least one (1) month prior to the scheduled convention. This means any proposals to amend the Constitution or Bylaws must be submitted in writing to the Secretary, Erin Kelley; the Convention Planning Chair, Denise Griffin; and the Council President, Andrew Tolle, by Tuesday, October 11. It is strongly recommended that any resolutions to be considered also be submitted by this date. For simplicity, you are welcome to email your proposed motions to amend or resolutions to dcfa@dcccd.edu (which sends a copy to all DCFA Council members).
Following submission, the DCFA Council will review the submissions with the parliamentarian and contact the authors if any changes are suggested before posting all proposed motions to amend by the required deadline of Friday, October 28 (two weeks prior to the Convention).
Link to DCFA Constitution last amended August 2021
Link to DCFA Bylaws last amended November 2021
The first DCFA Council Monthly Business Meeting of Fall 2022 is scheduled for Friday, September 16th, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.
This meeting is scheduled following our provost meeting so we can provide up-to-date reporting on anything that comes up during the meeting (in addition to regular business).
Here is the link to the meeting agenda. Below you will find the meeting links along with call-in/passcode information.
Time: Sep 16, 2022 09:00 AM – 10:20 AM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/96016480264?pwd=WGhFemw2bzljMktTVHhqSWtZRHk3Zz09
Meeting ID: 960 1648 0264
Passcode: dcfa2022b
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,96016480264#,,,,*422153252# US (Houston)
+12532158782,,96016480264#,,,,*422153252# US (Tacoma)
Dial by your location
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 669 444 9171 US
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 719 359 4580 US
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 386 347 5053 US
+1 564 217 2000 US
+1 646 931 3860 US
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 309 205 3325 US
Meeting ID: 960 1648 0264
Passcode: 422153252
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kdj6Njycnm
Hello Faculty,
We hope you are doing well and wish you a smooth transition into the Fall 2022 semester. For those of you who did not get a chance to watch the SIP Introduction video from conference day, you may access it by clicking here. Here is a summary of key points addressed in the video:
The window for eligible faculty to enroll in the SIP will open on September 1, 2022 and close on October 20, 2022. Information sessions with PARS representatives are being scheduled for Sept. 7, 12, 14, 19 and 21st. HR should be providing more information shortly. We will keep you posted!
On August 2, 2022, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the 2022-2023 budget. This budget includes a $3,650 salary increase for each full-time faculty member, which becomes effective on September 1. That means you will first see the raise on your September 30 paycheck.
Although the minutes for the Board meeting approving this increase are not yet posted, you can view the agenda here and watch the video here.
June 2022 Review: Email Policy, SIP, Compensation, Benefits Enrollment, Council Retreat
Greetings, faculty! We hope that you are all having a good summer.
The new DCFA Council took office on June 1, 2022 and was welcomed by the Board of Trustees at their June 7, 2022 meeting. Although we have touched base with you all since then (about the District 1 results, the Conflict of Commitment form rescission, and a heads-up about the SIP discussed in more detail below), we still have quite a few June updates to provide you here on the last day of the month.
Email Policy
On June 28, 2022, the Board of Trustees voted to approve an “Amendment to Policies Concerning Technology Resources” pertaining to the use of Dallas College email. Please make sure to read the policy so that you are aware of what it contains. You are probably already complying with most of the policy, but one section “require[s] all email sent in the performance of College business or from College personnel to be sent to a College employee or student’s official College email address, as assigned by the College.” As many of you know, the beginning of the semester sometimes requires professors to adapt to student needs while students gain access to their accounts. The DCFA Council brought this concern to the attention of the administration, which has assured us that such practicalities involved in serving students would not be considered violations of policy.
The policy as amended on June 28, 2022 is vastly different than the original language proposed as a first reading on April 5, 2022, which included extensive technology use policies involving both personal and college resources. The DCFA Council advocated strongly for changes to the proposed language, and to our relief, administrators removed a substantial amount of the concerning language when it resubmitted to the Board. Because those parts were removed with the intention of “further review,” the Council will continue to advocate for faculty as that review unfolds.
Separation Incentive Plan
The other item approved on June 28, 2022 was a resolution to authorize the Separation Incentive Plan (SIP) that your campus FA president emailed you about last week. Now that it has received approval from the Board, we can provide more details. The resolution states that:
There will be a PARS Representative at District Conference Day to help you find out more about your options. We have not yet received a PARS contact name for SIP questions, but we will share it as soon as we do. If you have questions about your eligibility for the plan, please contact AskHR@dcccd.edu until we find out whom HR assigns this to.
Compensation Updates
During the Board Work Session on June 28, 2022, the administrated proposed its 2022-2023 budget. In their salary recommendations, administration proposed a $3,650 increase to all faculty base salaries, which is five percent (5%) of the average of all faculty salaries. If approved by the Board in August, this salary increase would take effect on September 1, 2022. The presentation also mentioned the previously announced one-time stipend of $1,500, which is not pending Board approval; it will be on the paycheck you’ll receive at the end of July 2022.
The Council continues to advocate about the structural issues of compression, range advancement inequities, and uncompetitive salary schedules. The good news is that faculty have been prioritized in the Segal Compensation Practices Review timeline over staff and administration. The bad news is that it will still be approximately 4-6 more weeks before that review is finished. And unfortunately, no substantive changes to these more structural problems will be proposed to the Board for faculty compensation until Segal completes its review.
Summer 2022 Benefits Enrollment Period
The ERS Summer 2022 Benefits Enrollment Period for Dallas College begins June 25, 2022 and ends July 9, 2022. Visit the Summer Enrollment landing page on SharePoint for more information. ERS will host online webinars and in-person fairs throughout the Summer Enrollment period, which you can find more information about from HR’s Summer Enrollment Event page on SharePoint.
DCFA Council Retreat
The DCFA Council will have its first retreat since COVID-19 on July 15, 2022. Much of this retreat will involve the council setting strategic priorities for the upcoming term. In addition, new council members will have an opportunity to become more familiar with their roles and responsibilities, and to collaborate on how best to respond to data compiled by diligent committee work in 2021-2022.
If you would like to contribute ideas to the strategic priorities, please share them with your campus FA president so that they can bring them to the retreat for the Council to discuss. We enjoy serving you and look forward to hearing from you!
