MEMBERS PRESENT: G. Avent, P. Bagley, J. Baker, R. Byram, K. Dannehl, G. Goicoechea, G. Heberer, E. Henderson, P. Josey, R. Kampf, J. Karr, J. Kempster, M. Kucherawy, M. McFarlane, C. McMullen, J. McNally, R. McNally, B. Murphy, E. Nickel, L. Owens, M. Ports, C. Pyatt, L. Reber, J. Rice, K. Schwandt, J. Shaw, J. Shrock, G. Smith, P. Smith, G. Tenney, P. Warren, J. Williams

OTHERS PRESENT: Dr. Ronald Remington

1. ATTENDANCE: Silent roll was taken. Chair Eric Bateman declared a quorum present.
2. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 1:18 p.m.
3. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS : Chair Eric Bateman welcomed everyone to Senate.
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the January 21, 2000, meeting were unanimously approved.
5. SENATE CHAIR REPORT: Chair Eric Bateman reported the following:
   1. Board of Regents -
      1. Faculty Office Hours - A proposal was made for the Academic Research of Student Affairs Committee to look at faculty office hours with the Board of Regents specifying in the code the number of hours faculty should be available for students. System administrators do not want to have to enforce such a policy. After discussion, the proposal died due to lack of a substantiated problem.
6. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
   1. Academic Standards - Written report;approved. The committee approved one request for non-traditional credit.
   2. Budget - No report
   3. Compensation and Benefits - Oral report. The committee has received one request for travel funds. Faculty is reminded there is still plenty of money available. The committee has been asked to collect written statements regarding problems with the current health care insurance package.
   4. Curriculum and Articulation - Oral report. Written report will be distributed at the next Faculty Senate Meeting for approval.
   5. Distance Learning - Written; approved. The committee is currently completing work on the draft copy of the distance education policy guidelines.
   6. Facilities Committee - No report. The committee is asked to find out what is happening with the large pine trees which have recently been removed from campus.
   7. Faculty and Administrative Evaluations - No report
   8. General Education - No report. The committee will continue with the previous outline. A review of the freshman orientation and wellness requirements will be held Friday at 1:00 p.m. Faculty are reminded that syllabi should be coming back with corrections and revisions. The catalog version of the general education outline will be presented at the next faculty senate meeting.
   9. Personnel Committee - Verbal; approved. The committee has determined three qualified applications for the Technologist position. These will move towards possible interviews. Senate requests a prioritized list of upcoming positions and if there is faculty input on the prioritization of these positions. The advertisement process for the positions may have a strong impact on position hire. The committee is currently working with an non-prioritized list in an effort to create position descriptions.
   10. Scholarships and Awards - Oral report; information only. The 2000/2001 award recipients have been chosen. The President's Award Luncheon will be held April 28. Re-award applications are due March 3.
   11. Student Relations Committee - No report
7. FOUR-YEAR PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORTS:
   1. Elementary Education - No report
   2. Bachelor of Arts - Oral report; approved. Proposes title of Bachelor of Professional Studies, however, final determination is pending. A report will be presented to the Board of Regents in late April or early May. If it is approved, the entire program will be presented to the full board in June when they meet at GBC. The first area of education is moving towards a Social Science Major because the faculty are already in place and it meets the needs of students due to its flexibility. Research has shown that the skills offered through this degree meet the requirements for today's job market. One suggestion brought forth was having students develop portfolios which would be used during job interviews. Certain classes could start as early as fall 2000 semester with the program officially opening for spring 2001. The program will be brought before senate for approval.
   3. Bachelor of Applied Science - Oral report; approved. This degree is expected to follow the same timeline as that of the Bachelor of Arts. One section of the degree will be a 2+2 program built off of the AA Electrical program in Electrical Instrumentation. This program has been submitted to Curriculum and Articulation and on approval will be ready for fall 2000 semester. The remainder of the program will be built by the new hire.
   4. Nursing - Oral report; approved. The committee is working on their proposal and will also follow the same timeline as the two previous degrees.
8. OLD BUSINESS: No old business was brought forward.
9. NEW BUSINESS:
   1. Proposed Community College Faculty Salary Schedule - Dr. Ronald Remington was invited to address the issue. There is concern regarding compensation in the higher education field. CCSN has developed a salary schedule which has been distributed. Dr. Remington proposes that an agreement be reached which compensates faculty fairly and consistently. The proposed schedule seems overly complicated indicating 30 steps with the lower end of the scale primarily unable to attract viable instructors. The proposed scale also seems to value the acquisition of a degree or doctorate at the same level as collecting credits where gaining a degree should be notably rewarded. In areas where degrees are not attainable, gaining notable certifications in respective areas should be noted. A blue ribbon committee will continue to work towards a solution. The committee will be represented by Chair Eric Bateman and Co-Chair John Rice. Dr. Remington would like to work with these representatives in order to bring a good proposal forward.
      1. There are areas of practice in which obtaining a doctorate may be impossible without leaving employment and relocating. The future may bring more distance education programs forward.
      2. The Price-Waterhouse finding criticized the current schedule proposing a significant raise.
      3. A motion was made and unanimously passed to formally deny support for the proposed salary schedule.
   2. Workload Policy - Senate will be asked to review the current policy to make necessary recommendations and changes to ensure proper compensation is given for the late spring semester classes. A previous system compensation formula seemed to give better compensation than that which is currently proposed. Similar concern is given over proper compensation for the bachelor degree courses.
10. OUTSTANDING FACULTY, STUDENT AND STAFF AWARDS:
    1. Dawn Mitton was nominated for the Outstanding Staff Award.
11. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS:
    1. Stephen Liu from CCSN recently won the Regent's Creativity Award. This is the first time the award has been awarded to a community college faculty member.
    2. Nevada Faculty Alliance along with GBC Faculty will be hosting a retreat April 7, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Location will most likely be at the High Desert Inn. Lunch will be provided. Such items as the workload policy and subjects impacted by the edition of the four-year programs at GBC will be discussed. This retreat is not sponsored by NFA, they will be simply providing lunch for the meeting.
    3. Jill Stringfield is out of ICU to a regular room. She still requires a lot of stimulation so her husband welcomes phone calls and visits from everyone.
    4. Phil Smith has tickets available for the Soroptomist International Wine Tasting Event.
    5. The Foundation still has tickets available for the Ford Expedition. Tickets are $100 each.
    6. The WNCC Foundation has raffle tickets for a 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow which used to be in the Harris collection. Tickets are $10 each.
12. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 2:37 p.m.