Cindy Katz, Executive Faculty Council co-chair, discusses vacant faculty fellow position Sept. 28 in Killen. Katz said new faculty fellow will oversee council meetings and ad-hoc committees. Dillon Holloway
Council discusses its relevance, addresses confusion about function.
By Sergio Medina
smedina104@student.alamo.edu
The Executive Faculty Council, one of the bodies of shared governance in the Alamo Colleges, is looking for a new faculty fellow to join its ranks.
The council is composed of five Faculty Senate presidents, five senate vice presidents, the chair of chairs, and a faculty fellow.
On Sept. 28, district human resources sent out an email listing the fellow position as vacant. Periodically, HR sends out an email to employees with a list of vacant positions in the district.
The fellow position is paid with hard money, paid at the current full-time faculty pay rate, and has a two-year duration.
As the job description summarizes, the fellow is responsible for “planning, organizing, and facilitating strategic and operational initiatives” regarding council research and decision-making.
Other tasks include overseeing council meetings, co-chairing the EFC ad-hoc committees and maintaining and updating the website, said Cindy Katz, co-chair of the council, in an interview Sept. 28
In addition, the description explains applicants must be permanent full-time faculty members.
Previously, the position was held by math Instructor Dianna Torres Lee.
Given the vacancy, the council previously assigned Adam Aguirre, anthropology coordinator at Northwest Vista College, and Katz as co-chairs of the council, for the time being.
For the council, it is important faculty understand what the council does.
During its meeting Sept. 28, council members discussed some confusion between what the EFC does compared to the United Faculty Senate.
“The EFC represents the faculty in noncurricular system-wide issues,” Katz said. “So all the faculty are impacted by what the EFC works on. We need faculty to help run the EFC so that we can maintain a faculty-run body.
“The issues that come to the EFC come through either the Faculty Senate, the PVC (presidents and vice presidents committee), the board or the chair of chairs,” Katz said. “So the EFC is the one that works on the longer term issues that affect the faculty that are noncurricular.
“The United Faculty Senate works on issues dealing with faculty that can deal with curricular issues,” she said.
“If they can’t get it resolved, then they can present a proposal to the EFC, and the EFC can get an ad-hoc committee together to work on that issue.”
An example is an ad-hoc committee looking into lab loading, affecting faculty being paid for lab hours at two-thirds the rate for lecture hours.
Another distinction from the United Faculty Senate is that the council presents directly to the board, Katz said.
While it has not been confirmed, the council strongly suggested the deadline for application be Oct. 31. The applicant selected would begin the job in spring.
The council advised its members to announce the vacancy at their respective Faculty Senate meetings to get the word out.
The faculty meetings for October are:
This college: Oct. 19; Northeast Lakeview College Oct. 5; Northwest Vista College: Oct. 12; Palo Alto College: Oct. 19; St. Philip’s College: Oct. 12.
“It builds leadership,” Katz said.
“You get to know more about what’s going on in the district offices. It’s an excellent opportunity for those who are wanting some leadership opportunities.”
For more information, email Katz at ckatz@alamo.edu, or visit the council’s website at alamo.edu/efc.
