May 1, 2026

Faculty Senate Minutes

President called the meeting to order at 1:23 p.m.

10 senators and the parliamentarian were present.

1. Call to order
2. Procedural Items
   1. Only items on the agenda will be discussed in the meeting
   2. Public Comment time is available for members of the public attending in person. Those wishing to sign up for public comment must arrive and sign up at least 5 minutes before the scheduled start time. Public comment is limited to 3 minutes per person. Comments will not be discussed at the meeting when they are raised but may be added as agenda items for future meetings.
   3. Roll Call
   4. Introduction of new Senators for the 2026-2027 Academic Year.
3. President’s Report
   1. Administrative regulations update.
      1. Changes made to the Faculty Duty Hours in alignment with Texas Senate Bill 2615.
      2. 40-hour, on-campus workweek
      3. Change from “encouraged” to “expected” to work a traditional workweek, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
      4. “Duty hours outside the traditional workweek must be approved by the appropriate instructional dean or designee and the Office of Human Resources.”
      5. The law does not require 8-5 or a 40 hour workweek. It requires a limitation on telework. This current policy is based on Blinn’s interpretation.
   2. Questions from Academic Standards Committee
      1. Adds to a 45 hour workweek, not 40.
      2. Some course times will require working before or after this traditional workweek.
   3. Academic Standards Committee Recommendation
      1. Request that the phrasing be changed to allow for the 40 hour workweek to be completed during the hours the campus building are open. This allows flexibility for sections that start at 7:45 or extend beyond 5pm without requiring specific approval for each one and only special scenarios such Theater or Choir performances that require late night work to need to reach out to the dean or HR.
   4. Convocation Committee
      1. Everything will be available remote.
      2. Request attend on assigned home campus for food count purposes
      3. No theme
      4. Will likely have a session regarding Honorlock, Professional Development, ADA Title II Compliance
         1. Note: ADA Title II Compliance deadline is updated to April 24, 2027
      5. Last sessions of the day will be Division Leadership Council and Faculty Senate information sessions.
   5. Division “Talk To Your Senator” Meetings
      1. Ongoing success with divisions that have conducted these and would like to see more.
   6. Midterm Grade Report Request
      1. There has been significant increase in grade grievances, specifically from parents and high school counselors of dual credit students who were not aware of the progress of these students.
      2. To provide feedback and update to Dual Credit Students, April Kinkead suggested having all faculty submit midterm grades for all students.
      3. This may be difficult due to the multiple modalities and multiple term lengths.
      4. April requested feedback from faculty and there was some concern about dual credit students needing to take the responsibility for keeping up with their own performance.
      5. Current perspective is that faculty is not in favor of submitting these grades. Dr Kinkead will not require it if faculty is opposed.
      6. How would the proposed solution help – Dual Credit reports for failing dual credit students would be called to the appropriate high school counselors by Shannon Williford in the dual credit office. Would allow division leadership to state that they had been notified.
      7. Courses may have more heavily weighted work in the latter half, and students may not perform equally through the entire course.
      8. Suggestion: use of grade check in similar to what Perkins loan and athletic scholarship recipients use.
      9. Preference to not single out dual credit students, especially as this could provide side benefits such as for coach awareness of athlete performance for eligibility purposes.
4. Old Business
   1. Minutes from April 10, 2026 meeting approved as delivered.
   2. Service on Committees
      1. Chair of committees reach out to Division Leadership for recommendations
      2. Secondary resource is to reach out to Faculty Senators for recommendations
      3. Faculty can also go to website and find the committees and see the chairs and reach out directly, or advise their division leadership and faculty senator that they are interested in serving on those committees.
   3. AI Ethical use
      1. Proposal put forth in Future Works for an entity on campus regarding ethical use of AI and how to navigate.
      2. Chancellor Hensley expressed interest in this but requested it be broader
   4. Informational session during fall convocation
      1. Information about individual division meetings with senators
      2. Spoke on during President Report
5. New Business
   1. Improving service to students
      1. Food Truck on RELLIS campus not available on Friday or Saturday.
      2. Convenience store at RELLIS is not available on Saturday and closes at noon on Friday and 4 pm on Monday-Thursday.
      3. Students with later classes or classes on Friday and Saturday do not have options and access to food or supplies such as scantrons.
      4. Request longer service during finals especially.
      5. Rocky Whitely will speak with Chris Mars to find if there is an unknown limiting factor or if this is an issue we can pursue for future improvement.
   2. Full Time Workweek research committee
      1. Proposal to convene ad hoc committee to research how other 2-year colleges are interpreting the full time work week.
      2. Per Leslie Janac, TCCTA does not do survey on workweek length. Can provide contact information for other colleges.
         1. https://tccta.org/about/rep-directory/
      3. FLSA and Texas Workforce Commission do not define the number of hours for full time versus part time. The 40 hour full time workweek was determined by Blinn College.
      4. Having information about how other colleges are applying SB2615 will provide evidence to request a less stringent application of the workweek to allow flexibility for supporting students in different modalities while also ensuring faculty are available for meetings and student needs.
   3. Board of Trustees meeting
      1. May 19, 2026
   4. Upcoming Meeting Schedule
      1. September 4, 2026
6. Adjourn

Meeting adjourned at 2:56 p.m.