February 2008 Articles
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From the COD Faculty Association President by Glenn Hansen
Construction III: The Plot Twists by Richard Jarman
Statistical Musings on Health and Higher Education: Part 2 by Scott Boyd
The Déjà vu of Negotiations by Marge Peters
CODFA Web Site Stats by Mike Losacco
The Consolations of Philosophy by Bob Dixon-Kolar
From the COD Faculty Association President by Glenn Hansen
Sometimes change comes slowly at COD, and sometimes change happens every time you turn
around. This spring semester looks to be a busy term full of change, and it started with a
bang.
Trustee Mary Mack's resignation was unexpected on the first day of the spring semester. To fill the vacant seat the BoT has adopted a process modified from the approach used last year. Immediately after announcing the resignation on January 14, the BoT decided to use the same process used last year. It rejected Trustee Wessel's suggestion to select the runner-up from the general election last spring. But at the meeting on January 24, the BoT modified the process. While all of the actual selection process will happen in closed session, an open forum has been added in response to Trustee Wessel's suggestion. The application deadline is noon on February 6 for anyone interested in filling Trustee Mack's seat. The BoT plans to select four or five applicants on February 15. Open forums with questions from the public will be on February 23. The BoT will make its decision immediately after the forums. The new Trustee will serve until the March 2009 election. As a result, there will now be four open seats in March 2009.
While not anticipating an additional vacancy, our PAC had begun discussing the future election and working on plans to reorganize and be active long before the campaign season. We demonstrated last year that we could make a difference. Our endorsed candidate came very close to winning, within less than a thousand votes. We're looking to make the extra effort this time in order to be successful. Please consider becoming involved-if you're interested, feel free to contact me or watch for postings on the discussion board.
Also changing quickly are the plans for the BIC/SRC renovation. Since the December 10 meeting, these plans have evolved in radical ways, with the biggest surprise coming January 24, when the BoT gave tentative approval to a plan that adds 80,000 square feet of new construction to campus and maintains a plan for major renovation of the BIC. It was announced as the plan for everyone, a combination of Options 1, 2, and 4. Beyond the BIC renovation and "front door" building, there will be a community education building on west campus and a fitness center on east campus that will help to better facilitate the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy (SLEA). These buildings were part of Option 4, which rolled out only two days before the BoT meeting and was pronounced dead as soon as it arrived at the meeting. February 7 is the next BoT meeting and approval is scheduled then. This means that now our committees for classrooms and faculty offices can begin working; we now know the scope of the project. As actual plans are developed, we will all need to be vigilant and keep an eye on the details. We will also continue to use the discussion board to share information and feedback.
You may ask, "how will it be paid for?" The new funds were found by planning to extend the $5 construction fee per credit hour until new bonds are paid off. The current $5 fee was set to expire in 2013. COD will issue more bonds (we just received another AAA rating) and pay them off by continuing to collect the fee.
As all of this unfolds, COD is also about to begin revising its Mission and Vision statements. Faculty Senate has been adamant about constituent input into the process. To facilitate input, both general and constituency-based forums will be held throughout the spring semester. We will schedule several faculty-only times for discussion, with in-service days used as work sessions to develop the statements. All constituency groups will be represented in these work sessions; our Senate will be the largest group and will need your input. The results of in-service day sessions will go to the Leadership Council and then out to all the constituents for feedback. This is another project where we all need to be involved; we want your feedback.
January 24 was the day of transition for Faculty leadership. We have a new Vice President, Secretary and nine new Senators. It's great to see more people becoming involved! My full comments to the BoT are on the discussion board, but I include this excerpt here about our changes:
"Nancy Stanko is moving on to other roles and responsibilities. She has been an outstanding Vice President of the Faculty Association. She has demonstrated the leadership qualities we expect. Actually she has gone beyond those expectations during very difficult times here at COD. She has provided vision and wisdom based on experience that I have relied on during my first year as President. We the faculty will continue to look to her for advice and her continued contributions; she is changing roles, not leaving.
As Nancy leaves office, Lisa Higgins starts her term as Vice President. I am looking forward to working with Lisa and our new Senate who began their tenure with this afternoon's first meeting. We have many new Senators who have not been part of the faculty leadership before. That is great. Lisa brings many skills and ideas to the Association. She is representative of the new faculty willingly becoming involved in the leadership of the Association and COD. From the beginning of her time at COD she stepped up with ideas about communications and e-mail at the college and became chair of the in-service day committee. These are areas many, especially new faculty, would stay away from. Lisa and the new Senate bring ideas, enthusiasm, and energy; attributes you hope for in a succession plan that looks to maintain the vitality and leadership of an organization."
Please feel free to contact your Senators or Senate Officers; we are here to represent you. There are many challenges ahead of us that will require that we all participate to the degree we feel comfortable. We, the Faculty, have wanted to be heard, and now is the time to use our voice.
Construction III: The Plot Twists by Richard Jarman
A saying popular with teachers in my childhood was, "Procrastination is the thief of time,"
usually recited in response to homework not yet completed. I, along with millions of others,
tuned out their collective admonitions on this subject. Instead, we rely on the nervous energy
generated by looming deadlines to provide the creative inspiration for the work yet to be done.
Dulcie is inclined to observe that I tend to put off difficult decisions (who doesn't?), but relating
to this piece that I am currently cobbling together at the eleventh hour (or is it the twelfth?), I
can claim triumphantly that delaying was all to the better, for I can report on the latest
developments regarding the BIC renovation.
Prompted by concern for the future of the BIC, I attended the Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, January 24, at which astonishing and unexpected developments regarding the future of the BIC occurred. I think everyone present was slightly stunned. One was left to speculate upon what potion might have been secreted into the water that evening. Not only was there talk of more openness but also of greater inclusiveness and even a suggestion floated to allow constituency groups a seat at the table (Camelot come to COD). And then there was the BIC. As someone observed, Christmas had come in January. Somehow, and the facts and figures still have to settle on this, the best parts of different options were to be melded into a win-win scenario in which major renovation of BIC classrooms will be a priority, and space for other needs, such as the SLEA program, will also be provided. Had there been a collective epiphany around that triangular table that students are number one?
It had not always seemed thus. At what could most politely be described as a spirited meeting on December 10, the Board initially voted against obtaining any schematics for BIC renovation, thereby leaving the project in limbo, before finally righting the ship after two hours of heated discussion. Following this, on January 14 architects Loebl Schlossman & Hackl presented three options:
- Concept 1: A 20,000 square-foot addition to the BIC SRC buildings for Student Services. Extensive renovation to the existing BIC facility and partial renovation of the SRC.
- Concept 2: An 80,000 square-foot addition to the BIC SRC buildings for Student Services and classrooms etc. Existing programs currently anticipated to be located in a renovated building M will be relocated into the BIC. M will be demolished. Limited renovation of BIC and SRC.
- Concept 3: A 150,000 square-foot addition to the BIC SRC buildings for Student Services, classrooms etc. Existing programs currently anticipated to be located in a renovated building M will be relocated into the BIC. M will be demolished. Minimal renovation in BIC and SRC.
Notable in two of these is that BIC renovation is but a minority component. An observer would inevitably form the impression that having workable modern classrooms for all students in the most important building on campus wasn't a high priority. Some faculty members expressed their concerns in comments at the meeting on January 14.
A fourth concept or option took flower subsequent to the January 14 meeting. During a discussion session the Board chair appeared to take the initiative in making the bold move to meet the college's needs by borrowing from all the options to make some kind of super-option. The plan would renovate some 40 percent of the current building. It would then add about 80,000 square feet of new space through construction. Dizzying additions such as a new state-of-the-art student union, a 30,000-square-foot community center and upgrades to the adult education facilities are all part of it.
There was a palpable sense of disbelief around the crowded room. Several college members prepared to speak to the importance of renovating classrooms immediately following this astonishing and unexpected turn of events found themselves tearing up their prepared words as it appeared they had already been heeded. Details will come out as the dust settles but for the moment, the future of a fully renovated BIC appears far better today than it did two weeks ago. A decision is expected at the next FMP meeting in February. Be there.
Image of BIC Renovation by Loebl Schlossman & Hackl.
Statistical Musings on Health and Higher Education: Part 2 by Scott Boyd
The following index is partly derived from the same publications and sources cited in the U.S.
Department of Education's A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education
(2006), otherwise known as "The Spellings Report."
Number of adults, ages 19-64, in the U.S. who are uninsured or underinsured: 61 million7
Cost per car GM pays for worker and retiree health care: $1,8008
U.S. ranking, out of 30, of the number of acute care beds per 1,000 people: 259
U.S. ranking, out of 30, in the number of practicing physicians per 1,000 people: 229
U.S. ranking, out of 30, for life expectancy from birth: 2410
U.S. ranking, out of 30, for infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births: 310
Countries, out of 30, with higher infant mortality rates than the U.S.: Mexico and Turkey10
Number of OECD countries, out of 30, with some type of universal health care: 2510
3 of 5 countries without some type of universal health care: Mexico, Turkey, and U.S.10
Percent increase in per capita expenditure on healthcare in U.S. since 1995: 57%4
Percent increase in cost of attending a four-year school in U.S. since 1995: 51%11
The amount spent per student annually on higher education in the U.S.: $22,23412
U.S. global rank of per student annual spending on higher education: 112
Number, out of 21, of countries that charge no tuition fees to full time students in public higher education: 82
Number out of those 8 that scored higher than U.S. on mathematical literacy tests: 71
Number out of remaining 13 countries that charge less than $1,000 in annual tuition for full-time students in public higher education: 52
Number of those 5 that scored higher than U.S. on mathematical literacy tests: 41
Average annual tuition fee for public higher education institutions in U.S.: $5,0272
U.S. global rank of annual tuition fee for public higher education institutions: 12
Sources:
1Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Learning for Tomorrow's World-First Results from PISA 2003, (Paris: OECD, 2004).
2Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Education at a Glance 2007 (Paris: OECD, 2007).
7Insured But Not Protected: How Many Adults Are Underinsured?, Cathy Schoen, M.S., Michelle M. Doty, Ph.D., Sara R. Collins, Ph.D., and Alyssa L. Holmgren, Health Affairs Web Exclusive, June 14, 2005 W5-289-W5-302.
8Maynard, Micheline, "G.M. Freezes Pension Plan of Its Salaried Workers," New York Times, March 8, 2006.
9Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Health Data 2006, (Paris: OECD 2006).
10Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Health Data 2007, (Paris: OECD 2007).
11The College Board, Trends in College Pricing, (Washington D.C.: The College Board, 2005).
12Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Education at a Glance 2004 (Paris: OECD, 2004).
The Déjà vu of Negotiations by Marge Peters
Because the COD Faculty has had no contract to replace the one that expired on the last day of
Spring Semester 2007, a nine-month span with negotiations extending even further
back, many wonder if this pattern has been the rule over the college's 40 year history. A look at
past negotiations shows that we've seen prolonged talks over and over again for at least 20 years or
more. From local newspaper and College Archives records, here are recaps of negotiations through the
years, featuring salary settlements on which most of the reports focus.
1967 to the early 1980's
This was a period of comparatively amicable negotiations between the Board of Trustees and Faculty
Association (non-unionized at the time). One major break in the cordiality took place during the
1974-75 school year when high student FTE growth (over 11 percent for some of the quarters) and a 10
percent annual inflation rate led faculty to request a reopening of negotiations. The Board voted a
lump-sum 3 percent cost-of-living bonus paid in December 1974 and then a May 1975 salary increase of
9 percent (or 6 percent--the amount is disputed if one considers the automatic increase by steps from
the base scale) plus the addition of dental insurance, unlimited major medical coverage and other
benefit improvements -- and closed negotiations. Said Chuck Erickson, Chair of the Faculty
Association, "We have no choice but to accept your decision and concede the fact that for the present,
we are whipped. But because of your actions tonight, we will be forced to take a much stronger
position in future negotiations."
However, events were already breeding major financial problems for the college. The state slashed its funding for community college reimbursement, money the college had counted on to fund salary increases and program enhancements. A crucial tax increase failed in a May 1975 vote. Student enrollment leaped 32 percent to 16,284 — but at a loss of $400 per student between the cost of education and income received. In September, enrollment unexpectedly dropped to 15,700, the college cancelled 250 courses for Winter Quarter, and faculty and administrators were asked to donate teaching time to alleviate the almost million-dollar deficit. Fortunately, a second-round referendum to increase the tax rate passed in November 1976, improving the college's financial picture in the late 70's and early 80's.
1986
In September 1986, after six months of negotiations, the faculty overwhelmingly rejected a salary
offer far below the nearly 9-percent increase in each of two years asked for by the Faculty
Association. For the first time, the contract went to mediation and an accord was reached within a
month. Salary increases of 7.1, 6.9 and 7.0 over the three-year contract were agreed to in October.
Said Faculty Association chair, Jerry Morris during the course of negotiations, "The faculty are
dedicated to teaching, not to labor strife, which has the possibility of changing the entire
atmosphere of cooperation that has been fostered over the past 20 years."
1989-90
A May 1989 Faculty vote to unionize and affiliate with the IEA/NEA set the stage for these
negotiations. Talks stalled in January 1990 but, after mediation, many late-night bargaining
sessions, and the threat of a strike, a three-year pact was reached in mid-March and accepted by the
Faculty in April, ten months after the previous contract had expired.
1992-93
With the previous contract expiring in June 1992, negotiations started in December 1991 for the
next contract, but once again, talks were at a standstill by January 1993. After the faculty rejected
a board proposal in March 1993, a mediator was retained, but he dropped out in mid-summer. Finally,
in late July, a three-year agreement was reached and approved in August, nearly fourteen months after
the previous contract ended. Salary did not increase for the first year of the pact, but faculty saw
3.29 and 4.48 percent increases for the next two years of the agreement that would end in June
1995.
1995 and 1998
After contentious negotiations for a decade, an agreement was reached fairly amicably in April
1995, two months before the previous contract expired. The contract called for a five-year
agreement, with openers after three years for new negotiations on salary and other issues. Base
salary increases of 3.2 percent, 4.1 percent, and 3.4 percent over the first three years were agreed
to as well as compromises on summer class teaching fees, retirement incentives, health benefits,
professional development, and a faculty four-day work week. Again in 1998, an early agreement was
reached in May on the "openers." Salary increases of 2.6 and 2 percent were negotiated for the last
two years of the pact, ending in June 2000.
2000
A return to the previous pattern of stalled negotiations marked this agreement. The Faculty
Association requested that the Board start negotiations by late January 2000, with the goal of
having an agreement in place before the end of the contract in June. However, by late April, no
agreement was reached and the Faculty negotiating team refused to endorse the Board's April offer.
Faculty voted 99 percent "no" to this offer at a May meeting, with salary the major sticking point.
The Faculty planned taking such steps as informational picketing, refusing overload classes, and
wearing union protest buttons at commencement to bring attention to the lack of a contract,
although a summer quarter strike was virtually ruled out. A mediator was called in and a tentative
three-year pact hammered out by early August after the Faculty filed an "intent to strike" letter
with the Illinois Educational Relations Board. This agreement was almost derailed when it was
learned that President Michael Murphy and administrators were considering a proposal to switch from
quarters to semesters within two years - during the just-negotiated contract. With a memo from the
administration that a calendar change would not be made during the contract, the Faculty held a vote
in late September. Almost three-quarters of the Faculty voted to approve the agreement that provided
3.5 percent salary increases each year through June 2003. The negotiation process took eight
months.
2003-04
Negotiations began November 2002, complicated by a Board vote the previous May to move to a
semester calendar by Fall 2005. A contract still had not been agreed upon by October 2003, with
workload under a semester system, as well as compensation for making the semester transition that
involved rewriting programs and courses important considerations along with salary and benefits. An
agreement was finally reached in January 2004, with Faculty ratifying the pact January 29. It
provided for a four-year contract, including overload hours and lump-sum payments for work on
conversion and salary increases of 5 percent, 4 percent, 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent over the
four-year course of the agreement. This contract expired May 2007 and took 13 months, including 7
months beyond the previous contract to negotiate.
2007-08
And so here we are, nine months after the previous contract ended. As you can see, protracted
talks are almost the norm at COD, with 7, 8, 10 and even 14 months elapsing from the end of a
contract and the ratification of a new one. As Yogi Berra observed, "It's
déjà vu all over again."
CODFA Web Site Stats by Mike Losacco
Since assuming the role of WebMaster, I have been compiling monthly statistics for our web site
and submitting them to CommComm (my affectionate name for the Communications
Committee) who is responsible for the web site and Faculty Advocate, among other things.
Data for web sites are stored in a raw log, a file containing detailed information about
the site's activity. By analyzing this file, you can gain valuable insights to how the site is
used. Following is some statistical information from our website that you may find
interesting.
We average about 333 people coming to the site a month, although for the last three months, we have been averaging over 500. Factors considered when determining the overall quality of a web site are how many pages the typical visitor views during a visit and how long that visitor stays at the site. About one third of the visitors to our site only view one page during their visit, but close to 50 percent view four or more pages. Two thirds of our visitors stay on the site less than two minutes but 13 percent stay on the site from 5-30 minutes. It is probably no surprise to anyone that the Discussion Board is the most popular area of the site. The Boards average over 4,600 page views a month, over 7,000 since September 2007. Although we have only published two exclusively online versions of the Faculty Advocate, it is second in popularity, averaging over 500 page views a month.
Statistical data from web sites should be used to not only ascertain how the site is used, but how it can be improved. In considering the least-used part of the web site, Events, we are in the process of revising that section by creating a calendar-based page where meetings, elections, and other events can be submitted by faculty and viewed by week, month, or year. Look for an email announcing the launch of the new Events page by the end of February.
This is only a very brief synopsis of our web site statistics. Anyone interested in a more comprehensive treatment is welcome to email me for the same statistics submitted to CommComm. They are available in an Excel 2007 format that contains summarized raw data, charts, and pivot charts. Note to those of you who examine the data: while the available data for our site dates back to its inception in July 2006, I recently began using a different statistical package to interpret the raw logs, resulting in more detail and additional statistical categories beginning with September 2007.
The Consolations of Philosophy by Bob Dixon-Kolar
The philosopher-king Marcus Aurelius (Emperor of Rome A.D. 161-180) begins his Meditations with an affectionate and tender exercise in gratitude. In entries collected under the title Debts and Lessons, Marcus distills a unique lesson gained from each important person in his life.
Of his mother he writes: "Her reverence for the divine, her generosity, her inability not only to do wrong but even to conceive of doing it. And the simple way she lived-not in the least like the rich."
And of his teacher Alexander:
"Not to be constantly correcting people, and in particular not to jump on them whenever they make an error of usage or a grammatical mistake or mispronounce something, but just answer their question or add another example, or debate the issue itself (not their phrasing), or make some other contribution to the discussion-and insert the right expression, unobtrusively."
Marcus Aurelius wrote for his own edification, and in each character sketch, one can almost hear him exhorting himself: "And that's how you, Marcus, should act and be."
I am reading his Meditations avidly these days, and maybe one reason is that it's winter in Illinois, with wind chills down to ten below. Marcus writes with a kind of wintry severity that I find stern but welcome. In one passage, he reminds us that mental powers do not stay sharp and strong forever.
"So we need to hurry. Not just because we move daily closer to death but also because our understanding-our grasp of the world-may be gone before we get there."
Bracing words, but for that no less true.
Many of Marcus' insights read like New Year's resolutions—but resolutions of a very high order. That's another reason I am reading Marcus now—to help me keep perspective on the year ahead. His resolutions are not promises to lose twenty pounds over the next three months; they are affirmations on how to live well with oneself and others.
Marcus: "Concentrate on what you have to do. Fix your eyes on it. Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being…Then do it, without hesitation, and speak the truth as you see it. But with kindness. With humility. Without hypocrisy."
As a teacher at a community college I have to be careful not to lose perspective. More often than I care to admit, I let students vex and perturb me. A few students have already "gotten my goat," and it is only two weeks into the term.
The first day of school: At the end of my morning English class, a student comes up to
me. He bears an uncanny resemblance to Alex, the head droogie in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork
Orange—right down to the hat he is wearing. He lets me know that he is going on vacation and will
miss the second week of classes. "I'll be on a fishing trip in Honduras." His unapologetic smile also
conveys the message that I should be very happy for him.
Day two: I tell my afternoon English class that we will be reading works by eight modern essayists, ranging from Virginia Woolf to Alice Walker, George Orwell to James Baldwin. I ask them to engage in a thought-experiment. I say: "Imagine as you read, that these authors are visitors to your home. Entertain their ideas like you would entertain a guest. Be hospitable. These are difficult writers; before you challenge their ideas, make a good faith effort to understand what they are saying." Next, I hand out some passages from Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son." Before we even look at them, a student raises his hand to ask: "Was James Baldwin a draft dodger?" So much for hospitality.
The end of Week Two: A student e-mails me to say that she was absent the last two class sessions because she was not feeling well. Would I mind sending her any hand-outs she might have missed? In her message, she apparently feels no need to account for the fact that she hasn't attended class yet at all!
I grant that the majority of my students in any term are solid and responsible—if not always stellar—performers. But encounters like I've described repeat themselves, with variations, throughout the school year. Yes, they are just small annoyances. And, yes, I know I should not let them faze me. Or rile me!
That's when I turn to Marcus.
"Choose not to be harmed—and you won't feel harmed. Don't feel harmed—and you haven't been." That's the sort of resolution I need at the start of a new semester, a new year.
Marcus helps me clear away distractions, to accommodate obstacles—to keep my sights on building a good life as a teacher, a husband and father, a citizen.
"You have to assemble your life yourself—action by action. And be satisfied if each one achieves its goal, as far as it can. No one can keep that from happening…If you accept the obstacle and work with what you are given, an alternative will present itself—another piece of what you're trying to assemble. Action by action."
These selections from Marcus Aurelius come from the 2003 Modern Library edition of the Meditations, translated by Gregory Hays.
