Charges identified for Faculty Load Review Group

After much constructive dialogue among the DCCFA Faculty Council, Chancellor May, and Chief Talent Officer Susan Hall, the purpose, expectations, timeline, authority/responsibilities, membership, and first meetings, for the Faculty Load Review Group (FLRG) have been identified.

For background information on dialogue surrounding discussions over equity in faculty load, see this Advance Blog post from August 2, 2016.

Purpose:

• To identify opportunities to improve student success through consistent processes for the assignment of faculty load.
• To document current DCCCD procedures, to research best practices, and to recommend systemic improvements.

Expectations:

While compensation methods are inherent in this review, careful consideration should be directed to the time/effort required in the instructional delivery, formulas for calculation of load, and not to the amount of that compensation.

The FLRG may realign sub-committees as needed as the work plan is developed.

Timeline: 

Fall 2016: Research, documentation and discussion 

January 2017: Executive summary to Chief Talent Officer, including any appropriate prioritization of recommendations

February 2017: Chancellor’s Executive Staff review and reaction

March 2017: Policy – first reading; procedures discussion and comment by faculty, staff & administrators

April 2017: Policy – adoption by the Board; final procedures released

Fall Semester 2017: New policy and procedures effective

Authority/Responsibilities:

The Chancellor is the final decision-maker on the overall project impacts – with input from the Executive Staff.

The Chief Talent Officer is accountable for the equitable treatment of employees in delivery of instruction through appropriate policy, clear procedures and regular review to enable compliance and consistency.  CTO acts as the liaison between the Chancellor, CHEX and the FLRG during the course of the project.

The Review Group is responsible for organizing and presenting the executive summary, and delivering all related documentation developed as a part of the discussion to the Chief Talent Officer, who acts on behalf of the Chancellor and Executive Staff.

The Review Group also is charged to locate additional working members and subject matter experts to contribute as necessary. All contributors and members of the group will be named in the final report from the group.

The Review Group is charged to develop a method to gather input from a broad representation of DCCCD faculty, staff, and administrators, and conduct at least one “town hall” discussion on the topic (electronically or in person) in advance of the presentation of the group’s final report.

Membership:

Tri-chairs: Zarina Blankenbaker, Ken Alfers, Matt Hinckley

CE/CTE issues: Greg Morris, Vernon Hawkins

Reporting/Enrollment Management issues: Shawnda Floyd, Richard Plott

Technology issues: Jamie Templeton, Bill Hammerschlag

Class size/load issues: Eddie Tealer, Margo Silva

Lecture/lab issues: Michael Gutierrez, Fred Newbury

Distance Learning issues: Audra Barrett, Shirley Thompson

Note: The tri-chairs may choose to add other subject matter experts to this group or reconfigure/combine the sub-groups as needed.

First Meetings:

The tri-chairs will convene for the first time on Friday, Sept. 23, to:

• Confirm role of group to research current practice, match to policy and procedure, and identify inconsistencies, as well as document best practices internal/external to the District – with resulting work product to be recommendation for actions and updates supportive of the network model, as well as equitable treatment of faculty as an employee group
  
  
• Confirm the subgroups as proposed, adding or combining among those as needed.
  
  
• Discuss desired meeting schedule/methods to meet timelines as previously identified.

The entire review group is expected to convene for the first time on Monday, Sept. 26.

This DCCFA Faculty Council believes this review group and process are an important first step to ensure equity in practices related to faculty load. The Faculty Council will keep faculty apprised of developments, and solicit input and suggestions from faculty, throughout the process.