By REBECCA SALINAS
rsalinas191@student.alamo.edu
Staff Council President Anelia Luna said the United Staff Council has submitted a proposal to Chancellor Bruce Leslie for staff members in this district to get the first three days of spring break off during the College Council meeting Tuesday.
Luna said the Alamo Colleges are the only colleges to be open three days of the week classes do not meet for spring break.
“You could be more productive in a way that a lot of people have to make special arrangements and leave part of the time anyway for their children,” Luna said. “A lot of the people gone affects the work of the ones that are still here.”
According to the academic calendar, all administrative offices will be closed March 14-17. Classes are dismissed March 10-17.
In a phone interview Thursday, Dr. Adriana Contreras, deputy to the chancellor, said Thursday that the topic was discussed in the presidents and vice chancellors meeting Nov. 12. She said the proposal was taken into consideration and more research is being conducted.
Luna said in a phone interview Thursday that she does not know when or if Leslie or the Alamo Colleges board of trustees will make a decision.
Zeigler said the staff in the Alamo Colleges have fewer days off than the rest of peer districts by three or four days.
“Taking this step and making this move will put us in line with our peer colleges,” Zeigler said. “I think it is a good proposal … It seems to be a reasonable request.”
In other news, Zeigler said the college executive team is pleased with the placement of the college seal on a base west of Moody Learning Center.
The seal will be in a marble base with a slanted top near the west entrance to Moody.
“Of course, all we need to do is figure out how we’re going to pay for it,” Bill Richardson, kinesiology and dance chair, said.
The two college seals on the college monument west of Gonzales and McCreless halls on San Pedro Avenue were removed in April after Alamo College’s logos were placed on top of them in 2010. The other seal is on the wall of the executive conference room in Fletcher Administration Center.
In other news, allied health Chair Stella Lovato said the Faculty Evaluation Committee is going to delay the deadline for recommendations for new full-time faculty evaluations to Jan. 18. The evaluations are based on the new full-time faculty job descriptions that were passed at the Sept. 18 regular board meeting.
The committee is working with Dr. Raoul Arreola, a consultant from the Faculty Evaluation Resource Center, to determine new standards to evaluate full-time faculty.
Lovato said chairs thought the evaluation process was “moving too quickly and some of the departments did not have time to adequately work on it.”
Lovato said District Council of Chairs gave the motion to Super Senate Friday and to Dr. JoCarol Fabianke, interim vice chancellor of academic success.
Dr. Dawn Elmore-McCrary, co-chair of the Faculty Evaluation Committee, initially wanted to have the evaluations done by the end of this month.
In other news, Faculty Senate President Larry Rosinbaum announced math Professor Hoan Duong is this college’s Piper Professor Nominee.
Rosinbaum said paperwork still needs to be finished, but the citizens committee is almost ready to turn in all paperwork to Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation.
Nomination forms are due Nov. 21, and the winner will be announced May 1.
Susan Espinoza, director of college and grants development, said she wants people to share interesting information with her about Duong to make the presentation to the foundation more interesting.
Jacob Wong, Student Government Association president, said SGA is considering Duong as an adviser. Criminal justice Professor Tiffany Cox and English Professor Sharon Argo are current SGA advisers.
In other news, College Council will not meet in December because Zeigler said he did not see a need for one.
For more information, call Project Coordinator Robin Collett at 210-486-1956.