Mission College Academic Senate

Ext. 5413

Approved  Minutes

Thursday,   January 30, 2003

 

I.       Call to Order/Roll Call

            The meeting was called to order by President Jane Patton at 2:04  p.m. 

Senators

   A

   P

Senators

   A

   P

Brennan    (Ext. 5313)  Comm

     

    X

Martin      (Ext. 5356)  Tech.

    X

   

Charland  (Ext. 5046)  Stud. Dev.

 

    X

Musat       (Ext. 5331) Math

 

   X

Dooley    (Ext. 5379)  AAS

 

    X

Oliver       (Ext. 5427)  AAS

    X

 

Estrada     (Ext.5164) CommSvc

 

    X

Patton    (Ext. 5296) Comm Stud

 

   X

Johnson   (Ext.5277) CATA

 

    X

Rivas       (Ext. 5282)  CATA

    

   X

Lavallo    (Ext. 5399)  Math

 

    X

Rosner     (Ext. 5317) ESL

    

   X

Light       (Ext. 5717) AF/CIT

     

    X

Sippel      (Ext. 5118) Comm

 

   X

Lynne      (Ext. 5248) CommSvc

 

    X

Toppel     (Ext. 5089) Stud Dev

 

   X

Mancini    (Ext. 5855) AF/HM

 

   X

VanTassel (Ext. 5334) Tech

 

   X

 

 

 

Xu           (Ext. 5273) SocSci

 

   X

Other:   A.Braun (CRC),

   

    X

Other:  B.Grayson (Staff Dev)

    X  

   

Guests:  C.Qzai

 

    X

Guests:  R.Dewis, G.Greenwood  

 

   X

                   

 II.    Approval of the Minutes

            The minutes for the January 23, 2003, meeting were accepted and approved with the following corrections (M/S/U – Toppel/Sippel):

 

            Page 3, Item VII.C, third paragraph following motion, first sentence:  “…graduating with the appropriate and reading, writing, and oral skills…”

            Page 3, Item VII.C, third paragraph following motion, next to last sentence:  “It is true that one course may not solve the problem; many MC students that take English 1A are no more successful than those that do not  still may have writing issues.  Thus there is a need …”

            Page 3, Item VII.C, last paragraph, first sentence:  “Data from the MC Institutional Research Office indicates that AA students are already taking English 1A and some AS students are not.”  The word “effected” in the second sentence changed to “affected.”

 

            In response to Senator Charland’s request at last week’s meeting, President Patton assured the Senators that the program approval process adopted by the Senate was fully implemented by the MC Academic Senate relative to the Learning Communities Program.

 

III.    Order of the Agenda

            The Senators unanimously agreed (M/S/U – Brennan/Charland)to add Item VIII.E (Discuss Status of Hiring New Faculty for 03-04) as an emergency action item and to address this item first under new business or by 2:30 p.m.            Senator Johnson added the following under Future Agenda Items: Consider Including a Health Component to Graduation Requirements (Sienna).

 

 IV.    Oral Communication from the Public

            There was no oral communication from the public at today's meeting.

        

  V.    Information & Announcements 

            1.  President Patton advised that she attended an all day Board of Trustees workshop on Saturday.  The Board expressed concern about the college budgets and indicated that if the colleges are not able to adjust their budgets to cover the shortfall, the Board will make decisions accordingly.  Jane explained that the district is short $3.8 million as a result of the state’s budget crisis.  Mission College’s share of the shortfall is $1.4 million for this year.  The MC College Budget Advisory Committee, a shared governance body, met yesterday to discuss the budget issues.  Jane assured the Senate that the committee is functioning very well and strongly supports faculty participation in budget decisions.  She stated further that $1 million of the shortfall has been accounted for, and $400,000 remains to be cut from the college’s budget.  Next year’s shortfall will be greater and additional to this mid-year cut.  What the final budget out of Sacramento for this year will be is unpredictable and unknown at this time.  What is clear is that Mission College will have to downsize due to the lack of funds.  As for the district’s reserves, the Board of Trustees has made it clear that they will not dip into the reserves to cover the shortfall.

 

As agreed, the order of agenda was suspended and moved to Item VIII.E.

 

VIII.    New Business

 

E.      Discuss Status of Hiring New Faculty for 03-04

            The Chancellor has set February 10, 2003, as a deadline for the two colleges to resolve and present their solutions for their respective shortages.  If no resolution has been reached within the colleges by that date, the Chancellor and the Board will make decisions as to how to resolve the shortfall.  One suggestion is for the Academic Senate to consider a hiring freeze on faculty positions for next year. The Community College League of California has issued a document with information on how districts can obtain a waiver from the state, releasing them from the obligation to fill a number of full-time faculty positions.  Mission College is expected to hire approximately 20 faculty members based on the college’s obligation required by the state and to fill positions vacated by retirees.  The priority list ranked by the Division Chair Council and the Academic Senate included five positions that were intended to be filled automatically – two of which have already been filled in Nursing.

           

            Jane emphasized that process is of primary concern when considering a freeze on filling faculty positions.  Since the list was prioritized by the Academic Senate and the Division Chair Council, she recommended that the Senators consider forming a subcommittee of four members from each body to review the list, consider how to best deal with a freeze and bring a recommendation back to the Senate.  She asked for direction.  Discussion ensued after the following motion was made (M/S – VanTassel/Dooley):

 

            “that the Mission College Academic Senate appoint four members to meet with four division chairs to make a recommendation to the Academic Senate and the Division Chair Council on hiring for next year.”

 

            Concern was expressed as to how the process would work, since some positions may prove to be critical for the institution.  It was noted that some departments have expressed a willingness to forfeit their FTE in light of the current situation even though a position for their departments was on the prioritized list.  If the Senate approves a subcommittee, it was emphasized that those on the committee understand the concerns of the Senate and that the list remains in tact as a guide for next year’s hiring.       The above motion was passed and the following Senators were appointed to the subcommittee (M/S/U – Johnson/Toppel):  Edith Dooley, Jane Patton, Monica Rivas, and James Van Tassel.  The Senators emphasized the following points for consideration by the subcommittee:

             •    Consider the full costs of faculty (support, computers, office)

             •    Consider tenure review/mentoring (hidden costs)

             •    Be creative – Overall freeze may be too drastic; some positions may be essential

             •    Consider the overall need for an Assessment Coordinator

             •    If some positions are “picked” to be filled,  the priority list is thrown out.

             •    Consider how much weight to give to appeals to save a position.

             •    The list as prioritized stays in tact.

             •    Some departments may donate their positions, so that the list gets smaller.

            A request was made for a straw vote by the Senators on the question of a faculty hiring freeze.  There was general agreement that there is a need to freeze some faculty positions, with the acknowledgment that some critical positions must be filled.  Jane will notify Dianne McKay and request that four division chairs be selected to meet with the appointed Senators and prepare a recommendation for the Senate and the DCC to consider.

 

VI.    Administrative Business/Actions/Appointments

  A.    Curriculum Committee Report-  No report.

 B.     Staff Recognition -  No resolutions were presented at today’s meeting.

  C.    Committee Appointments 

         a)  Search Committee for Vice President of Instruction – The following faculty members were elected by the Senate:  Jim Burrell, Betty Grayson, and Peggy Messerschmidt.  The administrator on the committee will be Dan Matarangas.

         b)  Search Committee for Vice President of Student Services  - The following faculty members were elected by the Senate:  Rosalyn Chan, Ray Charland, and Myo Myint.  The administrator on this committee will be Worku Negash.

  D.    Oral Reports

         1.  Staff Development  - No report.

         2.  District Information Technology Steering Committee – No report.

3.   Instructional Technology Committee  -  Senator Toppel distributed a draft document for the Senators to review for discussion at next week’s meeting.

            4.   Program Review Committee 

         5.  Other:  

 

4.   Old Business

 

A.       Discuss & Vote on Changing Graduation Requirements to Include Oral Communication

Discussion ensued after the following motion was made (M/S – Toppel/Brennan):

 

            “that the Mission College Academic Senate change graduation requirements to include an oral communication component.”

 

            President Patton noted that discussion must necessarily include consideration of how to implement such a requirement if the Senate approves the above motion.  Several Senators spoke to the issue, some indicating support for the requirement but in varied forms of implementation, such as incorporating the requirement into specific curriculum. In consideration of the college’s ESL students, the assessment must be fair and accents must not preclude meaningful communication.  Others expressed concern about the addition of another requirement for graduation and discussed the differences between “proficiency” and a graduation requirement. It was noted that the Communication Studies  Department currently has a challenge process in place.  The need for the Senate to review the entire General Education package was emphasized. It was also noted that oral communication is required at most colleges in the area.  Within the CSU system, oral communication is defined as one being able to present in front of a group, demonstrating specific oral skills in a variety of presentations with the intent of showing that one can present oneself orally.

 

            Rob Dewis stated that the department’s Career Communication Class provides the fundamentals of communication skills.  Students will learn to communicate effectively, interact with each other, make team and individual presentations, and topics will apply to work setting.  There was a brief discussion on how to implement such a requirement, and several options were discussed.   Several friendly amendments were made and accepted to the above motion, resulting in the following motion, which was passed by a significant majority of the Senators:

 

            “that the Mission College Academic Senate recommends that MC students be required to pass a course in Oral Communication or demonstrate proficiency in oral communication to receive a degree.”

 

            Further discussion will be required as to how to implement both English 1A and Oral Communication as a graduation requirement.  The sense of the Academic Senate is that Mission College students need to attain a certain level of skills.  President Patton suggested that a subcommittee of Senators be formed to consider how to implement the new requirements; the VP of Instruction has indicated that decisions should be made by March in order to be included in the Fall catalog. 

 

            Due to the late hour, the remaining business items were postponed to future meetings.  The primary topic for discussion at next week’s meeting will deal with the proposal to freeze faculty hiring.

 

 X.    Correspondence, Publications, & Announcements

         Correspondence

1.    E-mail message from the President of the State Academic Senate re:  Equity and Diversity Task Force Report and a November/December Update of significant issues.

2.    A news release dated December 6, 2002, from the Chancellor’s Office for CCCs re: budget reductions.

3.    Letter dated November 27, 2002, from the state Chancellor’s Office re: the Task Force on Equity and Diversity.

4.    Letter dated December 4, 2002, from FACCC re: Nerw Retirement Options for Faculty, Staff, and Administrators.

         Publication/Minutes

1.    The December 6, 2002, issue of DVC FORUM from the Diablo Valley College Faculty Senate.

2.    The January 27, 2003, issue of FA NEWS from the Foothill-DeAnza Faculty Association.

3.    The agenda for the December 18th meeting of GAP and the summary notes for the January 22, 2003, meeting of GAP.

4.    The minutes for the December 11th meeting of DBAC, and the agenda and budget documents from the January 15 and 22, 2003, meeting of DBAC.

5.    The agendas for the December 12, 2002, and January 16, 2003 meetings of the Board of Trustees, and a Special Meeting on January 25, 2003..

6.    The meeting notes for the December 4, 2002, meeting of the Instructional Advisory Team.

7.    The preliminary agenda for the January 8-10, 2003, meeting of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.          

8.    The summary notes for the December 9, 2002, meeting of the Mission Administrative Team.

9.    A State Budget Update dated January 10, 2003, from the Community College League of Calif.

10. The agenda for the January 16, 2003, meeting of the Mission-West Valley Land Corporation.

11. The agenda for the January 8, 2003, meeting of the District Council.

         Announcements/Conferences

1.    The Symposium on Teacher Recruitment & Preparation will be held March 26-27, 2003, in Santa Clarita, California.

2.    The MISOD International Conference on Teaching & Leadership Excellence will be held in Austin, Texas from May 25-28, 2003.

 

XI.    Future Agenda Items

            A.  Consider Including a Health Component to Graduation Requirements (Sienna/Johnson)

 

XII.   Adjournment

            The meeting was adjourned at 4:02 p.m. (M/S/U – Brennan/Light).  These minutes are respectfully submitted by Grace Hazán, Academic Senate Secretary.