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Guidelines

Guidelines for Effective Use of Part-Time Faculty

Purpose

Although, there is no "magic" in the proportion of courses taught by part-time versus full-time faculty, there is general agreement that a substantial portion of instruction should be provided by full-time faculty to assure continuity in the curriculum and availability of faculty for student advising, curriculum development, work with college committees, and other important non-class activities accomplished by faculty. A reasonable ratio of full-time to part-time faculty should be maintained in each college program, on each campus or instructional site including outreach centers, and collegewide. Colleges must ensure that they have at least one full-time faculty member in each degree program/discipline as required by accrediting agencies.

When ratios of full-time to part-time faculty are considered, student semester hours or credit hours or, in the case of occupational contact hours programs, contact hour equivalents taught should be used as the measure rather than headcount faculty. Otherwise it will appear that a higher proportion of a college's instruction is accomplished by part-time faculty than is actually the case. Part-time faculty should not be used just to save money as evidenced by individuals who are assigned full instructional loads at reduced salaries.

Guidelines

1. Colleges should recruit and maintain a pool of qualified part-time faculty to avoid "last minute" hiring and placement into classes of instructors who are not prepared to begin instruction at the first class meeting. Recruitment and selection of part-time faculty should include appropriate screening, such as reference checks and personal interviews.
2. Qualifications of part-time faculty (i.e., academic and professional preparation and experience) should be consistent with the Criteria for Accreditation of the Commission on Colleges for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
3. Orientation of part-time faculty should be conducted prior to beginning teaching or at least within the first term to ensure that each instructor understands the mission of the community college, the nature of the students in their classes, the expectations for their performance, and other aspects of their assignment necessary for their success.
4. A current faculty handbook, which details expectations and college practices, should be provided to each part-time faculty member.
5. Full-time faculty members should be assigned as mentors to new part-time faculty members to assist with the orientation, development, and assimilation of the part-time faculty member into the college community.
6. Part-time faculty members who have been with the college for a number of semesters should be provided professional development opportunities to enhance their pedagogical skills, knowledge of their subjects, and sense of involvement with the college community.
7. Colleges should provide an appropriate workspace for part-time faculty to prepare for classes and meet with students before and after classes, and they should require clearly identified times for part-time faculty to be available to their students outside of scheduled instruction.
8. Part-time faculty should be provided with a sample course syllabus for each course they teach, and they should be required to submit a copy of the syllabus they use for each course they teach to be filed with their supervisor.
9. Part-time faculty should be provided mail services, access to library, audio-visual and other media and technology services and resources, telephones, and word processing/clerical and copying support.
10. Evaluation and supervision of part-time faculty should include periodic visits to the classroom and follow-up interviews as well as other procedures used to evaluate full-time faculty such as student feedback.
11. Part-time faculty members should retain their student class records for 12 months following the end of the term and submit a copy of the official grade report and grade book to be retained by the appropriate authority.
12. Colleges should, when appropriate, invite part-time faculty to participate in departmental and college faculty meetings and professional development activities and include part-time faculty on the distribution list for college newsletters and other publications.
13. Compensation for teaching by part-time faculty should be understood to cover not only the course hours but also out-of-class activities such as course preparation, orientation, faculty meetings, and identified hours to meet with students outside the class time.
14. Colleges should consider implementing a program to recognize part-time faculty for outstanding teaching performance.

History

Guidelines for Vacation Leave

Purpose

Pursuant to Subsection 1001.64(4)(b), Florida Statutes, The Community College Boards of Trustees are authorized to develop and adopt guidelines relating to fringe benefits and personnel for community colleges.

Guidelines

A. Twelve Month Personnel, Excluding Executive, Administrative and Managerial

B. Executive, Administrative and Managerial Personnel, Excluding Senior Management

C. Senior Management Personnel

D .Excess Vacation Leave

History

Guidelines for Fees for Repeated Enrollment in College Preparatory Classes and for Withdrawal and Forgiveness

Purpose

Pursuant to the provisions of Subsection 1009.28, Florida Statutes, " ....Each community college shall have the authority to review and reduce fees paid by students due to continued enrollment in a college-preparatory class on an individual basis contingent upon the student's financial hardship, pursuant to definitions and fee levels established by the State Board of Education." In response to this language, the following guidelines were developed to assist the local boards of trustees in developing their policies related to extenuating circumstances.

Guidelines

• A student shall be funded to enroll in the same college-preparatory class within a skill area only twice, after which time the student shall pay 100 percent of the full cost of instruction to support continuous enrollment of that student in the same class and such student shall not be included in calculations of full-time equivalent enrollments for state funding purposes; however, students who withdraw or fail a class due to extenuating circumstances may be granted an exception only once for each class, provided approval is granted according to policy established by the board of trustees. Each community college shall have the authority to review and reduce fees paid by students due to continued enrollment in a college-preparatory class on an individual basis contingent upon the student's financial hardship, pursuant to definitions and fee levels established by the State Board of Community Colleges.
• In order to provide some consistency and guidance and to assist the boards of trustees in developing their policies related to extenuating circumstances, the guidelines are as follows:
  1. Exceptions shall be based only on extenuating circumstances or financial hardship.
  2. Extenuating circumstances are those circumstances determined by the college to be exceptional and beyond the control of the student, which may include but not be limited to documented circumstances as follows:
     1. serious illness;
     2. medical condition preventing completion;
     3. death of an immediate family member;
     4. involuntary call to active military duty;
     5. learning disability;
     6. English as a second language background;
     7. change in conditions of employment;
     8. other emergency circumstances or extraordinary situations, such as natural disasters.
     Please note that the statute specifies that "students who withdraw or fail a class due to extenuating circumstances may be granted an exception only once for each class."
  3. The criteria for determining financial hardship should include, but not be limited to, qualification for federal need-based financial aid. Students with other documented financial hardships may also be considered. In either case, the exception for financial hardship should be granted only after the student has demonstrated reasonable effort to succeed in the class.

History

Guidelines for Concurrent-use Articulation Agreements

Purpose

Concurrent-use agreements do not encompass simple space rentals for a few classes at a community college location, but rather an agreement to provide a baccalaureate degree and related services such as library, computer support, and student services as 2 + 2 partners.

Guidelines

Concurrent-use articulation agreements shall outline the provisions for the college or university to offer baccalaureate degree instruction at the community college campus. The concurrent-use articulation agreements should contain the following provisions:

1. The name of the public or independent college or university and the baccalaureate degree instruction that the college/university plans to offer at the community college.
2. Assurance that the partner college or university is regionally accredited and that any out-of-state college or university is licensed to operate in Florida as provided in Section 1005.02, F.S.
3. Information that demonstrates the need for the concurrent-use arrangement and the benefits that will accrue from the agreement.
4. The estimated number of students to be served.
5. The locale where the partner college or university will be offering the instruction and the type of facility arrangement (i.e. owned, leased, rented, etc.)
6. The State License Number as recorded by the State Board of Independent Colleges and Universities (SBICU) or the Secretary of State of any independent out-of-state college/university partner.
7. The signatures of the presidents of the local community college and the proposed partner(s) who are parties to the proposed agreement.
8. A statement certifying that the local community college intends to assure that the Criteria of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) related to contracts/consortia, library services, and student support services will be fulfilled in the agreement, i.e., relates to community college responsibilities under the agreement only.
9. A statement related to whether the baccalaureate program is to be offered for a cohort group or as an ongoing degree program.
10. Assurance that upper-level and graduate courses (common course prefixes of 3 or above) will be offered by the partner state university or independent college and lower-level courses (common course prefixes of 0, 1, 2) will be offered by the community college.

Each year, those community colleges that have entered into concurrent-use agreements with state universities or independent colleges shall provide to the Division of Community Colleges the requested data on current program offerings and student enrollments.

History

Guidelines for Student Activity and Service Fee Budget Development

Purpose

Guidelines

1. Budget Committee
   The Budget Committee is appointed by the President and comprised of both students and faculty/staff, with students constituting at least half of the committee. Suggested composition of the committee follows:
   1. Single campus institutions:
      • Student Government Association/Student Activities Board/Campus Advisory Board Advisor
      • Other interested faculty/staff members
      • Other Student members representing various programs and activities
      • The SGA/SAB/CAB President
      • Secretary (non-voting)
      Student members are comprised of members of the SGA/SAB/CAB Budget Committee, active members of SGA/SAB/CAB, and officers/members from other campus organizations. The committee should elect co-chairs, one student and one faculty/staff with the Student chair as the tie-breaking vote.
   2. Multi-campus institutions:
      • Student Government Association/Student Activities Board/Campus Advisory Board Advisors
      • Other interested faculty/staff members
      • The SGA/SAB/CAB President from each campus
      • Additional SGA/SAB/CAB and interested program members per campus
      • One (1) Secretary (non-voting)
      Student members are comprised of members of the SGA/SAB/CAB Budget Committee, active members of SGA/SAB/CAB, and officers/members from other campus organizations. The committee should elect co-chairs, one student and one faculty/staff with the Student chair as the tie-breaking vote.
2. Requisition of Student Activities Funds
   1. An appropriate administrative or staff member will create and distribute a Notice of Requisition to all interested student organizations, and publish same in all campus-wide student publications. The deadline for requests should be no less than thirty (30) days from the first date of announcement. The recommended first date of announcement is February 15th.
   2. Colleges should develop procedures to ensure that all student activity requests are submitted with a detailed, itemized list of needs and costs.
   3. Recipients of funds from the current fiscal year should submit a report detailing the current utilization of student activities dollars and plans for the remainder of the budget for current fiscal year.
   4. The committee should develop guidelines to evaluate how all events, programs, and services funded through the Student Activity Budget support the needs of students. Events should be free of charge whenever possible to allow broad participation.
3. Requisition of Student Services Funds
   1. Projected services budgets shall be submitted to the committee for review. Service budgets shall undergo the same budgetary process as student activities requests.
   2. The committee should develop guidelines to evaluate how all services funded through the Student Activity and Services Fee Budget support the needs of students.
4. Budgetary Process
   
   1. The appropriate financial representative of each institution provides the committee chairman with the anticipated student activities budget allocation for the next fiscal year by March 15th.
   2. The committee chairman solicits from college-wide budget managers their budget reports from the current year and requests (to include dollars requested and justification) for the next fiscal year. The deadline for manager's budget requests will be the same as student activities requests.
   3. The committee meets as necessary to review college-wide budget requests balancing revenue against requests, creates an operating budget for the next fiscal year and recommends the allocations of the college-wide student activity and services budget. The committee should determine the appropriate balance between student activities and student services funded by the budget.
   4. Following committee approval, the Committee Chairman forwards the recommendations to the appropriate administrative parties for approval. The administrative parties have the option of approving, not approving, or returning items to the committee for further review.
   5. The budget shall be completed, finalized, and approved by the close of the Spring Semester. Thereafter, the Budget Committee shall meet as needed to review the budget and process any amendments or late requests.
   6. Campus budget dollar allocations are determined at the local level. Recommended distribution is based on the percentage of unduplicated college credit headcount at each campus in the preceding fiscal year with appropriate consideration for district-wide student activities.
   7. If college-wide carryover/rollover dollars from the previous year are available, the committee will meet during the academic year to recommend how those funds are reallocated. The President of the institution or appropriate party shall submit a report to the committee detailing the status of said dollars by January 31st. Recommendation of budget for expenditure of carryover/rollover dollars is also the responsibility of the committee.
   8. Any allocation restrictions are determined by the budgetary committee and approved by the President or appropriate representative in accordance with Florida statute.
   9. Since a budget cannot anticipate every contingency, committees should have a plan to address needs or emergency situations requiring an immediate decision.
   10. It is the responsibility of the college to ensure that the committee receives appropriate training and assistance to ensure that restricted Student Activity and Service fees are utilized in a manner consistent with current state statute and rule and local Board policy.
   11. Rules regarding the Budget Committee process should utilize a standard meeting format such as Robert's Rules.
   12. The entire Student Activity and Service Fee budget must be approved by the President of the institution and/or appropriate representative (such as Vice President for Financial Affairs, etc.).
5. Clubs and Organizations
   Eligible organizations are determined at the institutional level but shall be open to all students and benefit the student population as a whole. Any club or organization receiving funds from the Student Activity and Service fee shall implement standard accounting practices and prepare an annual fiscal report to be forwarded to the Budget Committee and the President or appropriate financial representative.

History

Guidelines for the Implementation of Laboratory/Special Course Fees and User Fees

Purpose

Finding 6 of the audit report directed that the colleges in consultation with the Division of Community Colleges develop a methodology to ensure that user fees are based on the costs of services provided.

A committee consisting of college staff and division personnel was formed to respond to the Auditor's recommendation.

Guidelines

Laboratory and Special Course Fees:

User Fees:

History

Guidelines for Minority Business Expenditure Reporting

The Office of Supplier Diversity (OSD) requires state agencies to report monthly expenditures for transactions conducted with certified minority businesses registered with the state. State universities and community colleges have been granted permission by OSD to submit quarterly reports. A sub-committee consisting of four college purchasing directors, 2 college business officers and representatives from the DOE Purchasing Office and the Community College Budget Office and The Office of Supplier Diversity has helped develop and review the subcommittee recommendations and approved the reporting format to be used by the states community colleges. This was achieved after seven months of negotiations between OSD and a subcommittee of the Cooperative of Purchasing Professionals (COPP) and Council of Business Affairs (COBA). The community college system minority business expenditures will be reported by early August each year as a separate entity in the Governor's annual report.

Guidelines

Program Development:

• Funding Sources - All funding sources (including student fees) used to purchase commodities and services may be included in this report.
• Certified Minority Business Expenditures Only - Determine whether the minority business is a "certified" minority business by referring to the Office of Supplier Diversity website. The link is: http://www.osd.dms.state.fl.us/DATA_DOWN_LOAD.HTM. Only vendors and sub-contractors or sub-suppliers certified by OSD may be identified and included as Certified Minority Business (CMBE's) for the purposes of this report.
• Object Code (OC) / General Ledger Code (GLC) Listing - State agencies and the state universities use a different set of object codes (e.g. general ledger codes) than the community colleges. A listing attached and identified as Appendix "A" has been developed so that community college expenditures will be comparable to the state agency and university expenditures. This listing of object codes is included in these instructions below.
• Industry Object Codes Expenditures for the four "Industries" to be reported are: (1) Construction, (2) Architectural & Engineering, (3) Commodities and (4) Contractual Services must be reported with a breakdown for CMBE vendors with detail to include their designated classification (H-Certified African American, I-Certified Hispanic etc).

Below is a summary of the object codes for each industry to be reported.

Check the above GLC Appendix A listing to determine where to apply the expenditure.

Expenditure Exclusions - None

Report Completion:

An optional section has been designed for those community colleges which prefer to track the year to date cumulative total CMBE expenditures. Copy the quarterly expenditures into this section using "Paste Special, Values". The Community College Budget Office will track the community college cumulative year to date expenditures for reporting to OSD.

Comments - The "Comments" section of the report is provided to enable colleges to identify and recommend to OSD locally certified businesses for potential OSD CMBE certification. In other words, if colleges have identified and done business with local certified W/MBE businesses that have NOT been certified by OSD, information may be provided for OSD to contact the business for potential certification. The name of the company, annual expenditure, phone number, e-mail address and contact person's name should be listed in the quarterly report or attached hereto.

Additional Comments - Any additional comments that the colleges wish to submit may be included in the "Comments" section of this report, (e.g. changes in the college's W/MBE procurement program as well as their "total" W/MBE spend $ can be listed here that includes both CMBE $ and non OSD certified W/MBE spend $).

Report Submission

1. Report Due Dates:
   • (a) Community College Submission to Community College Budget Office:
     Each community college will allocate IT resources by not later than July 1, 2006 to re-write its financial enterprise system spend reports to capture CMBE spend data elements as defined in Appendix A. Once the colleges' reports are developed, the deadline for submission of the Minority Business Expenditure Report by the community colleges is the 15th of the month following the end of each quarter, (e.g., by October 15th, January 15th, April 15th and the final quarter and year end report by August 1st.)
   • (b) Community College Budget Office Submission to OSD:
     The deadline for submission by the Community College Budget Office to OSD is the 20th of the month following the end of the quarter.
2. Adjustments:
   • (a) Subcontractor Adjustments:
     Adjustments for OSD certified CMBE subcontractor or OSD certified sub-supplier expenditures may be submitted quarterly or as part of the year end August 1st report. These adjustments can be included in the cumulative expenditure total. The annual deadline for receipt of these adjustments will be determined by OSD.
   • (b) Technical Adjustments:
     Technical adjustments are corrections to an original submission. Technical adjustments may be made quarterly or annually prior to the defined deadlines.
3. Reports are to be submitted to the:
   Community College Office of Budget and Financial Services
   325 West Gaines Street, Suite 1224
   Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400
   Fax: 850-245-9393

History

Appendix A

OSD W/MBE Report General Ledger Codes (GLC)

Construction:

• 75001; 75008 - Building and Fixed Equipment
• 75010; 75099 - Building and Fixed Equipment
• 77000 - Land
• 78000 - Leasehold greater than $25,000 per project
• 790XX - Other Structure and Land improvements greater than $25,000 per project

Architects and Other Professional Fees:

• 65001 - Consultants
• 65002 - Honoraria fees
• 65003 - Legal fees
• 65004 - Auditing fees
• 65005 - Architectural fees
• 65006 - Engineering fees
• 65007 - Other Professional fees

Other Services:

• 62001 - Printing/Duplicating Vendor
• 62003 - Binding
• 625XX - Repairs and Maintenance
• 630XX - Rentals
• 635XX - Insurance
• 640XX - Utilities
• 64501 - Other Services
• 64504 - Collecting/Billing Services
• 64505 - Advertising (Required by Law)
• 64507 - Contracted Instructional Services — State Fundable Enrollment
• 64508 - Contracted Non-Instructional Services
• 64509 - Other Services — Non-Contracted
• 64510 - Advertising (Not required by law)
• 64513 - Contracted Instructional Services — Non-Fundable
• 64514 - Technology Services
• 646XX - Workforce/Wages
• 65009 - Bank Service fees

Commodities:

• 655XX - Educational, Office and Departmental Materials and Supplies
• 657XX - Data Software, Non-Capitalized
• 660XX - Maintenance and Construction Materials and Supplies
• 665XX - Other Materials and Supplies
• 675XX - Purchases for Resale
• 70500 - Minor Equipment — Non Capitalized less than $750 or $1000
• 70600 - Minor Equipment — more than $750 or $1,000 — less than $5,000
• 710XX - Furniture and Equipment — greater than or equal to $5,000
• 7102X - 5-Year Capital Asset Class — greater than or equal to $5,000
• 7103X - 7-Year Capital Asset Class — greater than or equal to $5,000
• 730XX - Library Books and Films

Appendix B

Quarterly Certified Minority Business Expenditure Report

Community College:
Quarter:
Date:

* = See Appendix ;B; of GLC #'s by Category

Note: Above expenditures may include subcontractor payments.

Comments regarding potential vendors for OSD certification:

Additional Comments:

Guidelines for Managing Tangible Personal Property

Purpose

The purpose of these guidelines is to provide assistance to a District Board of Trustees in exercising its authority and responsibility for its tangible personal property.

(Note: These guidelines apply only to tangible personal property. Authority and responsibility regarding the acquisition, control and disposal of real property are found generally in sections 1001.64(4)(b), F.S., and 1001.64(5), F.S., which apply to all college property, and specifically in sections 1001.64(37), F.S., 1013.14, F.S., and 1013.28(1)(a), F.S. Guidelines for managing real property (land and facilities including relocatables and storage sheds) are contained in the State Requirements for Educational Facilities, and can be found online at http://www.fldoe.org/edfacil/sref.asp.)

Guidelines

1. Threshold for Recording Property
   All property with a value or cost of $5,000 or more and projected useful life of one (1) year or more should be recorded in the college’s financial system as property for inventory purposes. A District Board of Trustees may adopt a lower threshold if desired.
2. Recording of Property
   Property records can be maintained in a manual, electronic, or combined format. Individual property records should be maintained on each property item meeting the threshold requirement and may be maintained in a combination of property and accounting systems. These records should include the following information:
   1. Identification number (assigned by the institution)
   2. Description of item(s)
   3. Physical location
   4. Name of custodian (and delegate, if applicable) with assigned responsibility for the property item
   5. Name, make or manufacturer, if applicable
   6. Year and/or model(s), if applicable
   7. Manufacturer’s serial number(s), or vehicle identification number (VIN) or title certificate number, if applicable
   8. Date acquired
   9. In the case of a property group, the number and description of the component items comprising the group
   10. Cost or value at the date of acquisition for the item
   11. Method of Acquisition. If purchased, the record should include the voucher number or check number.
   12. Date of last inventory and condition of the item on that date
   13. Date and method of disposition, as applicable

Marking of Property

Disposition of Property

Each college should develop procedures for declaring property as surplus or otherwise unusable, and for disposing of such property. Once an item has been appropriately disposed, the following information should be recorded on the individual property record: date of disposition; manner of disposition; and identity of the employee(s) witnessing the disposition.

Inventory of Property

Any discrepancies should be reconciled and/or investigated, and corrections or additions made to the inventory record as appropriate.

Unaccounted for property should be reported to the custodian and the individual designated in the institution’s approved tangible personal property procedure. Also, an investigation should be conducted for the missing property. If the investigation determines that the property item was stolen, the individual property record should be so noted and a report filed with the appropriate law enforcement agency describing the missing property item and the circumstances surrounding the disappearance.

History

Debt Evaluation Guidelines for Community College Direct Support Organizations

I. Introduction and Purpose

1004.70 Community college direct-support organizations.—

• (4) ACTIVITIES; RESTRICTIONS.—
• (e) A community college board of trustees must authorize all debt, including lease-purchase agreements, incurred by a direct-support organization. Authorization for approval of short-term loans and lease-purchase agreements for a term of not more than 5 years, including renewals, extensions, and refundings, for goods, materials, equipment, and services may be delegated by the board of trustees to the board of directors of the direct-support organization. Trustees shall evaluate proposals for debt according to guidelines issued by the Division of Community Colleges. Revenues of the community college may not be pledged to debt issued by direct-support organizations.

In response to this legislation, the following guidelines have been developed to meet this legislative requirement. Each community college and state college Board of Trustees shall adopt debt evaluation policies as necessary to conform to these guidelines.

The following guiding principles should be considered with regard to any debt issued by a Direct Support Organization (DSO):

1. The debt should be competitively bid
2. The use of the funds must serve the interest of the College
3. A DSO cannot pledge the endowment or restricted donor funds as collateral
4. The revenue stream pledged to repay the loan must be reasonably certain and able to cover the required annual payments

For purposes of these guidelines:

• a) “debt” means bonds, loans, promissory notes, lease-purchase agreements, certificates of participation, installment sales, or any other financing mechanism or financial arrangement whether or not a debt for legal purposes, for financing or refinancing purposes including any related renewals, extensions and refunding, for or on behalf of a direct support organization for the acquisition of goods, materials, equipment and services.
• b) “short-term debt” is defined for the purpose of these guidelines as any debt issued for a term of not more than five years.
• c) “financing documents” means those documents and other agreements entered into by the DSO establishing the terms, conditions and requirements of the debt issuance.

II. Issuance of Short-Term Debt

III. Issuance of Long-Term Debt

IV. Submitting Proposal for Issuance of Debt

• a) A statement describing the purpose or use of the funds to be acquired through the debt issuance, and an explanation of how the project being proposed is consistent with the mission of the college.
• b) Evidence of competitive bidding process to support best proposal.
• c) A description of the contract terms in the loan agreement that specify the collateral to the loan, security interests, and default conditions. The DSO cannot pledge endowment or donor restricted assets as collateral.
• d) An analysis of the revenue stream to repay the loan and cover at least 130% of required annual payments. Exceptions to 130% coverage may be approved by Board of Trustees.
• e) The financial analysis supporting the debt must be reviewed and approved by both the College’s President and Chief Business Officer before the DSO may submit the proposal to the Board of Trustees.
• f) A form of a resolution to be adopted by the Board of Trustees approving issuance of the debt.

V. Evaluation of Proposals for the Issuance of Debt

History

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