Faculty Senate Minutes

October 5, 2005

Attended by: Phil Droke, Glen Avantaggio, Katie Gulliford, Gloria Rose Koepping, Dee Skinner, Aaron Warnock, Rod Fowers, Darryl Brice, Buzz Wheeler, and Rolita Ezeonu.

Meeting began at 3:00 p.m. in room 410 of the Library.

Old Business

Chair Phil Droke reminded all about The Tools for Teaching III conference at Highline this fall on October 28^th. The cost is only $25.00 and it runs from 8:30-3:30. Phil Droke has previously emailed all faculty about this opportunity. Phil said it promises to be a good conference and urged us to be hospitable hosts in welcoming other college faculty to our campus. There was some brainstorming about appropriate places to stay overnight near our school. The most acceptable option we came up with was the Best Western Hotel in Kent at $67.00 a night. Phil suggested we pass that information on to our colleagues from other colleges.

New Business

Chair Phil Droke opened with some discussion about our meeting time, agenda building, and cancellation of meetings. We decided that we will continue to meet the first and third Wednesday of each month. The chair will determine if a meeting will occur. If no business items have been emailed to Phil by Tuesday at noon, he will email to cancel the meeting for that week. If you do not hear from Phil, that means we are meeting and have some business to consider. Phil also reminded the Senators that he attends the Board of Trustees meetings and they are always curious about what issues come before the Senate. If we are meeting and conducting business, then he has something to report.

Secretary Gloria Rose Koepping brought up our Statement of Faculty Ethics, and wondered if it would be good to review it to see if it needs to be updated or not. It was adopted in 1990, to the best of our oral historical recollection. It is attached at the end of these minutes. It was adapted from the American Association of University Professors 1987 Statement on Professional Ethics found at http://www.aaup.org/statements/Redbook/Rbethics.html

There was some discussion about updating whatever statement we have to be more specific about some points. Senator Rod Fowers said that for instance, what constitutes harassment should be more detailed. This would help educate the campus community and prevent instructors and students from having sexual relationships during the quarters they are in an instructor-student relationship. Other senators thought this was already covered under our adherence to the college Sexual Harassment policy. It was suggested that perhaps Lorna Ovena, the Human Resources Director might be a resource for some of these concerns.

Senators should review these documents and be ready to make suggestions or raise additional concerns. We will discuss it at our next meeting.

Here is a link to the current HCC code of Ethics http://www.highline.edu/admin/vpadmin/policies/ethics.htm This document may give us an idea of what we don’t need to address as it is already covered.

This led to a discussion of the use of the Professional Rights and Responsibilities committee and a further suggestion by Vice Chair Glen Avantaggio that we take a look at the entire constitution. It is found on the Faculty Senate website at http://flightline.highline.edu/Senate/Constitution/FSC499.html

At our next meeting we will consider concerns about what sections need further attention or discussion. Glen reminded the Senate that all changes to the constitution need to be ratified by the entire faculty, so it might be good to figure out what needs work right now and complete all of the revisions, if any, at one time. Phil asked the Senators to look the constitution over and bring their concerns to our next meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Gloria Rose Koepping, Faculty Senate Secretary

Scanned paper copy below.

Statement of Faculty Ethics Introduction

Community college faculty are employed by the state on the basis of their expertise in specified areas; they are expected to use their own judgment in planning and directing the education of their students. Unlike employees who simply do assigned, segmented tasks, educators have an unusual degree of freedom in defining and performing their academic duties. This freedom makes it imperative that community college faculty perform their professional duties with integrity and that they oversee their own adherence to a clear-cut code of ethics.

The Highline Community College Faculty Senate recognizes that community college faculty, as professional educators, have strong influence in the lives of students, colleagues, and members of the community. Because of this strong influence, community college faculty have a special responsibility to model ethical behavior. The Faculty Senate's Statement on Faculty Ethics is intended to provide general guidelines for responsible action.

The Faculty Senate is also aware that Highline Community College already has several comprehensive policy statements on faculty ethics: 1) the current Faculty Agreement spells out the specific responsibilities of a faculty member at Highline Community College; 2) the Student Rights and Responsibilities Code (WAC 1321-14) focuses on the professional duties of a faculty member in relation to his/her students; 3) the General Policy on Sexual Harassment defines sexual harassment and makes specific recommendations about faculty behavior. The college has a Professional Rights and Responsibilities Committee which has specific guidelines for assisting resolution of complaints involving faculty members. The Senate's statement is to be seen as a general philosophy underlying these more focused documents and guidelines.

The Faculty Senate endorses, with slight modification, the Statement on Professional Ethics adopted by the American Association of University Professors in June 1987:

knowledge. They practice intellectual honesty. Although faculty may follow subsidiary interests, these interests must never seriously

II. As educators, faculty encourage the free pursuit of learning in their students. They hold before them the best scholarly and ethical.

standards of their discipline. Faculty demonstrate respect for students as individuals and adhere to their proper roles as intellectual guides and counselors. They make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to assure that their evaluations of students reflect each student's level of performance. They respect the confidential nature of the relationship between the educator and student. They avoid any exploitation, harassment, or discriminatory treatment of students. They acknowledge significant academic or scholarly assistance from their students and protect their academic freedom.

III. As colleagues, faculty have obligations that derive from common membership in the community of scholars. They do not discriminate against or harass colleagues. They respect and defend the free inquiry of associates. In the exchange of criticism and ideas, they show due respect for the opinions of others. They acknowledge academic debt and strive to be objective in their professional judgment of colleagues. They accept their share of faculty responsibilities for the governance of their institution. . .

IV. As members of an academic institution, faculty seek above all to be effective educators. Although they observe the stated regulations of the institution, provided the regulations of the institution do not contravene academic freedom, they maintain their right to criticize and seek revision. Faculty give due regard to their paramount responsibilities within their institution in determining the amount and character of work done outside it. When considering the interruption or termination of their service, they recognize the effect of their decision upon the program of the institution and give due notice of their intentions.

V. As members of their community, educators have the rights and obligations of other citizens and measure the urgency of these obligations in the light of their responsibilities to their subject, to their students, to. their profession, and to their institution. When they speak or act as private persons, they avoid creating the impression of speaking or acting for the college. As citizens engaged in a profession that depends upon freedom for its health and integrity, educators have a particular obligation to promote conditions of free inquiry and to further public understanding of academic freedom.