Language of Proposed Amendments to DCFA Constitution and Bylaws Now Available, Meeting Requirement for At Least 14 Days Advance Publication Prior to Nov. 12 Convention

The motions to amend the DCFA constitution, motions to amend the DCFA bylaws and resolutions submitted by the 30-day advance deadline for consideration at the DCFA Annual Convention on Friday, November 12, 1:30 – 5:00 p.m. can be accessed in this PDF file.  

This posting meets the requirements for public posting at least 14 days before the start of the Convention.  If you have not already seen it, here is the official invitation with Zoom meeting link to the 2021 Annual Convention. We hope you have joined the association (deadline is this Monday, November 1) and made plans to participate and vote on where you want the DCFA to go in the future.

Please review the motions and resolutions carefully before the Convention begins and feel free to reach out directly to the authors if you have questions about the content within them. We will also be scheduling virtual RoundTable discussions if the authors of each submission are available and willing to host a session, and we will post those dates here on the Advance Blog when they are scheduled.

Please note that there are two remaining issues with this set of motions:

• The first is how to resolve competing constitutional amendments if both were to pass (which requires a 2/3 or greater margin achieved by both motions). Although unlikely, we want to be prepared, so this issue is being discussed with the parliamentarian and other experts. There is one resolution currently included in the provided PDF file above that may be considered. However, if a solution is identified by the parliamentarian, additional resolutions “from the floor” or simple discussions of the suggested outcome (if a resolution is not required to enact it) may also be offered to address this issue. Although resolutions do not require the 14-day advance notice, the Council will post a resolution to the Advance Blog as soon as possible if a potential solution is identified that can be enacted through resolution so members have time to consider it in advance. 
  
  
• The second is the question is whether either or both of these constitutional amendments, if accepted by the membership, would affect our non-profit (tax-exempt) status and if so, how.  A tax attorney is consulting with the Council on this question and we will share that information as soon as we have it.

 

Invitation to Join DCFA Regular Monthly Business Meeting on Oct. 22, 2021

Tommy Thompson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Tommy Thompson's Zoom Meeting

Time: Oct 22, 2021 03:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/92872512939?pwd=L0FHeWZyTG50KytaeHZRRzJ0eXhYZz09

Meeting ID: 928 7251 2939

Passcode: 946339

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Meeting ID: 928 7251 2939

Passcode: 946339

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/ad1V03F1iw

Convention Planning Committee Seeks Volunteers to Help Ensure Online Voting is Secure

Due to the need to allow online voting and the success of using an auditing team in the August 18-20 convention, this is a call for volunteers for anyone interested in serving as an auditor for the 2021 Annual Convention of the DCFA.  Please read the requirements below and if you are interested in volunteering, complete the volunteer form using the link at the end of this post by Friday, October 29, 5:00 p.m.  The DCFA Council and Convention Planning Team will notify those volunteers who are selected to serve within one week of the form closure to schedule training dates and provide further instructions as described below.

Below are the requirements to participate as a Faculty Association vote auditor for online voting. Please read all requirements carefully before completing this form:

• The auditing team will consist of 3 volunteer faculty who are active members (FT faculty who paid dues by November 1, 2021, for the 2021-2022 AY) plus one 3rd party observer paid by the DCFA primarily to observe but may assist with counting/comparison as well.
• Auditors must agree to relinquish their right to vote in all convention matters for the Convention for which they serve as an auditor, including the right to use a proxy.
• Auditors must agree to be present in person together at one location, likely in the Garland/Richardson areas, with no private outside communication for the duration of the convention voting period and until counting and verification of the vote is complete.  The time commitment is estimated to be 12:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, November 12, 2021, for this year’s annual convention. 
• Auditors who need to communicate with anyone outside the room must be willing to put their phone on speaker so all auditors can hear what is said on both sides and/or show their phone screen or computer screen if it is necessary to message someone outside the room so that all others present can verify that none of the communication is about the vote.
• Auditors should be detail-oriented, technologically capable and experienced with Microsoft Forms and Microsoft Excel worksheets (sorting, filtering, data analysis, etc.) and comfortable learning enough to operate a back-up software program (TBD) in advance just in case it is needed.
• Auditors will load the ballot, distribute it to all active members of the DCFA at the appropriate time and with the necessary settings, close the vote and then conduct a verification of the votes in comparison to the membership roster and adjusting for proxy votes before sharing the results with the DCFA Council.

This is the form to volunteer as an auditor for the November 12, 2021 Annual Convention.  Please submit your form by Friday, October 29 to be considered. Thank you!

 

Questions? Reach out to Jennifer Baggett, DCFA Convention Planning Committee Chair, JenniferBaggett@dcccd.edu

Minutes of Faculty Council "Schedule Improvement" Reps with Provost and AST Now Available

The Faculty Council recently agreed that Jennifer Baggett (Richland), Keith Baker (North Lake), and Tommy Thompson (Cedar Valley) would engage on behalf of the Council with Provost Shawnda Floyd and Academic Scheduling Team Director Nicole Mabine, to discuss ongoing faculty concerns with the overall Dallas College schedule build process, and to work toward solutions.

The group met Thursday, Oct. 7, and the minutes of that meeting are now available in this folder on the DCFA SharePoint site.

DCFA Treasurer Posts Proposed 2021-2022 DCFA Budget

DCFA Treasurer has posted the proposed 2021-2022 fiscal year budget to this folder on the DCFA SharePoint site.

Thanks to the DCFA Budget and Finance Committee, and the Membership Committee, for their help in preparing the proposed budget.

Members will have an opportunity to vote to approve the proposed budget at the November 12, 2021 DCFA Convention.

Updated Copies of DCFA Constitution and Bylaws Now Posted in SharePoint

The DCFA Constitution and Bylaws documents were amended during the August 2021 special convention.

The amended documents are now available in the appropriate folder on the DCFA SharePoint site.

The MS Word files are posted so as to allow ease of future amendments, without the entire document having to be re-typed.

The PDF files are the official documents.

Previous versions of the DCFA Constitution and Bylaws are now also located in a separate folder on the DCFA SharePoint site. This folder does not contain every previous version of the Constitution and Bylaws - only those version available to the current Council.

If any member has older previous versions of the Constitution and/or Bylaws, they may send them to Matt Hinckley to be filed into the appropriate folder of former Constitutions and Bylaws on the DCFA SharePoint site.

Official Statement of DCFA on Recent “No Confidence” Vote

This statement was adopted by the DCFA Faculty Council and sent to the Board of Trustees on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021.

Dear Dr. May and Honorable Dallas College Trustees: 

We were all surprised to read the email signed by Richard Menchaca calling for a faculty vote of no confidence. The Faculty Council was not consulted on this action, nor has the Council ever suggested such an action. 

 

As you have often stated, our recent transition into a new, unified institution to better serve our students and the greater community has had challenges. Also, as you know, we don’t always agree with some of this transition’s resulting procedures and managerial decisions, particularly when we see directly how those changes negatively impact the students in our classrooms. Nevertheless, we share your desire to work toward achieving the long-term success of Dallas College and our students. We value our continued ability to discuss these matters with the Chancellor to work together to improve learning and the lives of our students in our community. 

 

As always, feel free to contact any of us if you have any questions, need any additional information regarding this matter, or have any other thoughts or concerns. 

 

Tommy Thompson – Cedar Valley Campus 

DCFA President 

 

Margo Silva – Mountain View Campus 

DCFA Vice President 

 

Peggy Mason – Brookhaven Campus 

DCFA Secretary 

 

Keith Baker – North Lake Campus 

DCFA Treasurer 

 

Jennifer Baggett – Richland Campus 

DCFA Member 

 

Matt Hinckley – Eastfield Campus 

DCFA Member 

 

Wade Hyde – El Centro Campus 

DCFA Member 

DCFA Announces Annual Convention on November 12, 2021

The DCFA 2021 Annual Convention will be on Friday, November 12, beginning at 1:30 p.m. as a 100% online event due to the ongoing and unpredictable COVID-19 conditions. Additionally, there will be no post-convention reception. We hope to return to an in-person component of the annual convention and a resumption of the post-convention reception next year.  

An invitation to join us for the Annual Convention will be posted at least 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 will be allowed online and 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 2021 Annual Convention, that proposal must be received by the DCFA Council Secretary and President at least 1 month prior to the scheduled convention. This means any proposals to amend the constitution or bylaws must be submitted in writing to both the secretary, Peggy Mason, and the president, Tommy Thompson, by Tuesday, October 12.  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 dccfa@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 29 (2 weeks prior to the Convention).