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Faculty Senate

The College Faculty Senate is established by the faculty of Tidewater Community College to serve as the voice of the faculty and exercise the authority of the faculty in college affairs. The Senate serves as a consensus-reaching body representing the views of the faculty on such issues as academic standards, faculty status and grievance, and all affairs deemed of special interest to the faculty. By virtue of the faculty’s special competence in and commitment to education, the Senate endeavors to ensure that the faculty possesses the necessary support and funding to provide the highest possible level of education.

Senate governance

Each Campus Faculty Senate may have as many senators as deemed appropriate by the Campus Faculty Senate. From the campus senate bodies the designated number for the College Faculty Senate will be selected, along with designated alternates should a particular senator not be able to attend a scheduled College Faculty Senate meeting. In addition, the librarians and counselors college-wide shall each elect one at-large senator from different campuses.

The total number of College Faculty Senators is 21, 19 designed from the campus, plus 1 representative each for the librarians and counselors. The number of designated College Faculty Senators from each campus is as follows: Chesapeake-3, Norfolk-3, Portsmouth-4, and Virginia Beach-9.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Tiffanye Sledge, Chair
Campus: Portsmouth

Maureen Cahill, Secretary
Campus: Virginia Beach

Elizabeth Briggs, Treasurer
Campus: Chesapeake

David Ring, Campus Chair
Campus: Chesapeake

Sarah DiCalogero, Campus Chair
Campus: Norfolk

Tiffanye Sledge, Campus Chair
Campus: Portsmouth

Dania Sinibaldi, Campus Chair
Campus: Virginia Beach

Ex Officio – Sarah DiCalogero

SENATORS

Ruth Shumate
Librarian

Open Seat
Counseling

David Ring
Campus: Chesapeake

Jennifer Hopkins
Campus: Chesapeake

Kevin Brady
Campus: Chesapeake

Sarah DiCalogero
Campus: Norfolk

Julia Arnold
Campus:Norfolk

Richard Gill
Campus: Norfolk

Kimberly Lee
Campus: Portsmouth

Tiffanye Sledge
Campus: Portsmouth

Geraldine Woodberry-Wright
Campus: Virginia Beach

Dania Sinibaldi
Campus: Virginia Beach

Maureen Cahill
Campus: Virginia Beach

John Gallo
Campus: Virginia Beach

Melanie Basinger
Campus: Virginia Beach

John Krenzke
Campus: Virginia Beach

Laurie Lawson
Campus: Virginia Beach

Ian Springer-Woods
Campus: Virginia Beach

The majority of the work conducted by the College Faculty Senate is through one of its Standing or Ad Hoc Committees. Membership to College Faculty Senate committee is generally open to all Faculty members not just Faculty Senators. Additional information on the actions of the committees can be found on the Senate Log.

STANDING COMMITTEES

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

The charge of the Professional Development Committee will be to:

  1. Oversee the Professional Development Funding Plan
  2. Solicit, review, and approve (or disapprove) requests for funds
  3. Report to the College Faculty Senate each May
  4. Account for all funds and request more if needed
  5. Update forms annually based on changes requested from the College Faculty Senate
  6. Update the Approved Professional Organizations list each August

AWARDS COMMITTEE

The charge of the Awards Committee will be to solicit and review applications for The Outstanding Professor and Special Achievement Awards. To complete their charge, they will:

  1. Report monthly to the college faculty senate and submit a written summary of the process for review
  2. Determine recipients and report to the College Faculty Senate Chair and the Special Events Coordinator by the third week of March
  3. Nominate the Outstanding Professor as the SCHEV award nominee

COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE

The charge of the Communications and Public Relations Committee will be to promote the College Faculty Senate and provide a means of communication between and among faculty, staff, administration, and TCC as a whole. To complete their charge, they will:

  1. Facilitate all forms of communication within and outside of the senate including the Canvas and the College Faculty Senate web page
  2. Create and maintain the New Faculty Senator Orientation Packet
  3. Work with Creative Services to create promotional material
  4. All forms of communication must be approved by the Executive Committee before creation and distribution

ADJUNCT FACULTY COMMITTEE

The charge of the Adjunct Faculty Committee will be to encourage participation of adjunct faculty on the Campus and College senates and enhance communication between adjunct faculty and the senate.

AD HOC COMMITTEES

The charge and scope of ad hoc committees will be to:

  1. Examine specific issues and suggest policy to the CFS
  2. Remain on task for the area of concern they are to address and shall not assume responsibility for areas of concern beyond those assigned them, except by prior approval of the CFS or Executive Committee
  3. Dissolve upon completion of the duties given to them by CFS
  4. Report monthly to the CFS

The College Faculty Senate meets on the first Thursday of each month, September through May, at 2 p.m. Meeting locations rotate alphabetically, starting in September and February with the Chesapeake campus. There are no January meetings. Summer meetings are held on an as-needed basis.

TCC understands that professional development is critical to our students’ success and we encourage you to apply for funding in order to grow your content knowledge, expand your skill set, and focus on improving our institution.

College Professional Development Funding Application