Mission College Academic Senate

Ext. 5413

Approved  Minutes

Thursday, February 12, 2004  

 

I.       Call to Order/Roll Call

            The meeting was called to order by President Alex Braun at 2:10 p.m. 

Senators

   A

   P

Senators

   A

   P

Braun      (Ext. 5355) Pres/Tech

 

    X

Laird       (Ext. 5186) SocScience

   X

  

Brennan    (Ext. 5313) Comm

     

    X

Lavallo    (Ext. 5399)  Math

 

   X

Brichko    (Ext. 5222)  CATA

 

    X

Martin     (Ext. 5356)  Tech.

    X  

   

Charland  (Ext. 5046)  Stud. Dev.

 

    X

Musat      (Ext. 5331) Math

 

   X

Cox        (Ext.5164)  CommSvc

 

    X

Oliver      (Ext. 5427)  AAS

 

   X

Dooley    (Ext. 5379)   AAS

 

    X

Perlas      (Ext. 5041)  Stud.Dev.

 

   X

Harris     (Ext. 5413)  AF/Comm

 

    X

Rath       (Ext. 5413)  AF/CIT

   X

  

Johnson   (Ext.5277)  CATA

 

    X

Smebye   (Ext. 5305) CommServ

 

   X

Kashima  (Ext. 5319)  ESL

 

    X

Zeisler     (Ext. 5426) Comm

  X

  

Other:  

   

 

 

 

 

Guests: M. Meyer, J.VanTassel

   

    X

C.Kuri. 

 

   X

 

II.     Approval of the Minutes

            The minutes for the meeting of December 4, 2003, were accepted and approved as submitted   (M/S/P – Lavallo/Dooley):

 

III.    Order of the Agenda

             The order of the agenda was approved as submitted (M/S/U – Cox/Harris).

 

 IV.    Oral Communication from the Public

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

        

  V.    Information & Announcements 

         1.   Senator Cox distributed copies of a proposed resolution for the Senate’s consideration regarding TTIP funds.  The Senate will place this item on its agenda for next week for consideration by the Academic Senate.  The Senators were also provided with a Fund 100 Comparison Graph for FY 2002 to FY 2004 for review.

            2.   President Braun introduced and welcomed two new Senators.  Anna Brichko will replace Monica Rivas for CATA and Stephanie Kashima will replace Julaine Rosner for ESL.

            3.   President Braun announced that a District Academic Senate meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 25, 2004, to be held at Carrows Restaurant at the corner of El Camino and Calabasas.

                  Items on the agenda will include the development of an official response to the action taken by the Board of Trustees on the PE Intercollegiate Wrestling course, the District Program Discontinuance Policy, and a review of the Chancellor’s updated responses to the Bill of Particulars submitted to the Chancellor in April 2003.  Alex was directed to request that the written responses be submitted by March 11th, so that the Senators can review the responses and determine if any clarification is required.

 

VI.    Administrative Business/Actions/Appointments

 A.     Curriculum Committee Report  -   No report was made at today’s meeting.

 B.     Staff Recognition   - Two recognition awards were proposed.  The Senators making the proposals will draft the resolutions for consideration by the Academic Senate.

 C.     Committee Appointments

         1. Student Readiness Task Force  -  Senator Laird has advised that she will not be able to participate in this task force and is seeking an alternative representative from the Social Science Division.

         2.  Commencement Committee  -  Alex explained that the Academic Senate members usually serve as Marshals during commencement, and two Senate representatives are needed to serve on this committee.  Anyone interested should contact Grace (Ext. 5413) as soon as possible.

D.      Oral Reports

         1.  Staff Development – Alex reported that Heather Lynne Rothenberg has agreed to serve as the Staff Development Coordinator.

         2.  Instructional Technology Committee  -  This report was postponed until next week.

         3. Other:  The following is a report from Ian Walton, Vice President of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges dated February 4, 2004:  

            Greeting Senators:

As you know, I was elected as Vice President of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges at the Spring Plenary Session in San Francisco in April 03.  This is one of the four elected officer positions on the fifteen member Executive Committee.  The current president is Kate Clark from Irvine Valley College.  I now receive approximately 70% reassigned time funded by the State Academic Senate.

 

In the Fall my ongoing responsibilities included:

Executive Committee member

Vice President

Chair of the Educational Policies Committee

Representative to Board of Governors

Representative to Consultation Council (statewide "shared governance" – recommends to Chancellor and Board)

Representative to Council of Faculty Organizations (statewide faculty leaders from FACCC and statewide unions)

Representative to ICAS (Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates that includes the CSU and UC academic senates)

Representative(and vice chair) to TTAC ( CCCCO Technology and Telecommunications Advisory Committee)

In addition I assist the President as required and have been concentrating on “math” areas such as Chancellor’s Office discussions on the 2004-05 budget, equalization and the Faculty Obligation Number.

 

At the Fall plenary session in Pasadena I chaired several breakout sessions prepared by the Educational Policies Committee including discussions on student fees and access, equalization, and division chairs.  I also chaired a panel discussion on the budget situation with representatives from CCLC and staff from the Assembly and Senate Budget Committees.

 

More recent items that may be of interest to you:

1)  Sondra Saterfield from the San Mateo district was appointed to one of the two faculty Board of Governors slots.  Unfortunately the slot expires January 04 but she will remain in place unless the Governor takes action to replace her.

2)  Chancellor Tom Nussbaum retired in January and has been succeeded by Mark Drummond, formerly Chancellor in the Los Angeles district

3)  All the recent appointees to the Board of Governors were asked to resign and we await a large number of new appointments from the Governor.

4)  On December 4 I visited Hartnell College to assist their academic senate with governance issues and return there this week to assist President Clark.

5)  On December 9 I testified before the Assembly Higher Education Committee (Carol Liu) at their informational hearing on Community College Funding.  Earlier in the day I also met with Carol Twigg, a consultant to the committee on course redesign and technology.

6)  At the January Board of Governors meeting in Sacramento I testified on Faculty Obligation Number and later attended the retirement reception for Chancellor Tom Nussbaum.

7)  At January's Consultation Council he will meet with incoming Chancellor Mark Drummond.

8)  In addition I have been promoted to be an Associate Editor of the Math Editorial review Board for the nationwide MERLOT project.  Faculty participating in this project are appointed by the Academic Senate.

 

As usual, if I can help you with anything please give me a call or e-mail.  I will keep in close touch with Alex but my schedule will rarely allow me to visit our senate meetings.

 

VII.   Old Business

 

   A.   Discuss Status of Resolution of No Confidence in Chancellor

            Alex explained the history of the resolution of no confidence for the benefit of the new Senators.  Since the resolution was passed in April 2003 by the District Academic, this item has remained a standing item on the agenda to provide an opportunity to review how the Chancellor is dealing with the issues of concern expressed in a Bill of Particulars that accompanied the resolution. 

 

            Alex advised that the Chancellor has started budget discussions earlier and has expanded the DBAC meetings. He is providing information regarding the status of the budget through Victoria Lewis.  The Chancellor also established the Roundtable discussions with the leaders of classified staff and faculty.  Alex characterized these actions as a good start, and is waiting to pass final judgment in order to ensure continuity.  Alex explained further that he is monitoring the Chancellor’s progress relative to commitments he made regarding the budget through DBAC, CBAC and District Council.  It appears that the Chancellor is following through on his commitments.  For example, the Chancellor intends to recommend to the Board that there be no March 15th layoff notices.  He committed to transparency in the budget development process, and has received over 100 ideas for budget reductions that are being reviewed and considered.  What takes place after March 2nd remains to be seen.

 

            Discussion ensued, and it was stated that the events of last year decimated the Associate Faculty and has severely impacted students and programs.  Enrollment is down and the faculty is being asked to cut 200 sections. Alex cited Dr. Chong’s report that the net outflow from Santa Clara County equals over 100,000 people over the year.  This may very well be a contributing factor to the low enrollment.  Alex explained further that the number of sections that were cut were cut because of low enrollment.  The college is offering fewer but larger classes.

 

            Alex will keep this item on the agenda and continue to report on the Chancellor’s actions.

 

  B.    Report on November 20th Board Meeting re: Intercollegiate Wrestling

            The Senators received a copy of a letter sent by Jack Lucas, President of the Board of Trustees in response to the District Academic Senate’s request to list compelling reasons in writing as to why the Board of Trustees did not rely primarily upon the Academic Senate before taking action on the WVC PE Division’s decision to discontinue a Wrestling course.  Alex reminded the Senators that the WVC PE Division decided to discontinue the course, using a well established division policy. A faculty member and community members brought the matter to the Board, and the item was placed on the Board agenda, and the Board took action to reinstate the course. Both Academic Senate Presidents reminded the Board members that such action would be in violation of District policy  and Title 5.

 

            Alex asked the Senators to review the letter.  It is his view that the response does not deal with the issue.  President Lucas provides compelling reasons for reinstating the Wrestling course.  He does not, however, provide compelling reasons for why the Board of Trustees placed an item on the agenda that dealt with a departmental curriculum issue and ignored the motions of the Academic Senates, which recommended that the Board not take action on this matter, and that the matter be referred to the Academic Senate. The Board ignored the recommendation of the Academic Senate and took action to reinstate the course.   

 

         The following motion was made during discussion (M/S – Brennan/Oliver):

 

            “that the Mission College Academic senate requests that the Board of Trustees provides clear and compelling reasons in writing as to why the Board of Trustees did not rely primarily on the advice of the Academic Senate before taking action on the Wrestling issue.”

 

            Discussion continued, and in response to inquiries regarding the purpose of the above motion, Alex explained that the Board’s action violated Title 5 and District Policy. Such action does have consequences, and the Senate does have recourse on this matter. The issue can be brought to the Academic Senate for CCCs as well as the Board of Governors.  These options will be discussed and considered on March 25th. This is a critical issue and the Senates must ensure that policy is adhered to and preserved.  The above motion passed with one abstention.

 

C.      Update on District Budget

            Alex provided the Senators with a copy of the WVMCCD State Apportionment and PFE Revenue Analysis for FY  01/02 to FY 04/05.   The Senators reviewed and discussed the document, and it was emphasized that if Propositions 57 and 58 pass, the district funding will be adequate, assuming that the Governor’s initial budget remains intact during the legislative process.  If those propositions do not pass, the entire public sector of California will be significantly negatively impacted.  Alex reported that the Board of Governors requires a minimum level of staffing.  The District FON is at 358.1.  Alex noted that other districts as large, or larger than our own have a considerably lower FON.  The issue is being investigated.  The alternative to the FON is to ensure that 75% of sections are taught by full-time faculty and 25% by associate faculty.  The district’s ratio is short of that figure.  Jim Burrell and Jim Wilczak are working on a task force to determine figures.  It appears that the district could achieve the mandated ratio at less cost and avoid the penalty of $57,500/faculty position under the FON.  The district has already been penalized $1.5 million for not meeting its FON, to be paid over the next three years.  Alex agreed to keep the Senate informed on the ratio issue. 

 

            Alex reported that the District currently has a 5% reserve fund.  The Board of Trustees is contemplating adding an additional 3% to the reserve fund to maintain an 8% reserve.  The Board is also contemplating the return of the $1.5 million taken from the benefit fund to cover the anticipated deficit.  This transfer is to ensure that the district meets its obligations to cover retiree benefits.  

 

            Alex reported that the controversy over payment for banked leave has been resolved.  The Board has agreed to pay at the full-time rate for banked leave.  Future banked leave requests will amount to an unfunded liability of $2.5 million to be paid over time.

 

         Regarding defunded positions, Alex explained that the District is pursuing a variety of ideas with respect to this issue, depending on what the budget eventually will be.  The recommendation is no layoffs.  Positions may be permanently defunded, but the people will be placed somewhere else if at all possible.    Alex explained that all the above will be made possible by the Governor’s initial budget.  In addition, the CEO’s are addressing the Board of Governors on apportionment inequities within the system.  Some colleges receive considerably more funding per student than others.  

 

            Alex emphasized once again, that if the Governor’s budget goes through, the district may not have a deficit.  Proposition 57 and Proposition 58 must pass.  The two propositions are linked.  Prop 57 will fund a $10 billion bond and an additional $5 billion to handle the deficit. If Prop 57 fails, so does Prop 58.  Prop 58 requires a balanced budget to be approved by both the legislature and the Governor. If these propositions do not pass, the district may face a 25% deficit in revenue.  The Senate must develop a plan on how program cuts should be made, what input the Senate should have, and what should be involved in the decision-making process.  Should the Senate develop protocol or criteria to help the district to minimize the impact on programs?  If the propositions fail to pass on March 2nd, the Academic Senate has to be ready to communicate its analysis and recommendations that will address academic issues. The Senate must move quickly. The Senate needs to think through how to mitigate the impact of a 25% deficit on academic programs. Alex advised that District Central Services is working on a 25% reduction.   It was suggested that the Senate place this on the agenda for a lengthy period, with discussions taking place in small groups.

 

VIII.  New Business

 

    A.  Discuss Need for Eleven-Month Health Occupation Position

            This item was postponed to the next meeting.

 

X.     Correspondence, Publications, & Announcements

         Correspondence

         1.   E-Mail dated January 29, 2004, from the President of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges with an update on the budget situation.

            2.   Letter dated January 13, 2004, from President Lucas of the Board of Trustees listing the compelling reasons for the Board’s decision regarding the WVC Wrestling issue.

            3.   Letter dated November 4, 2003 from CAN advising that the college has received a payment of $5,000 to be used in direct support of CAN related activities and other articulation efforts.

            4.   The Spring 2004 GOALS UPDATE  from the WVMCCD Office of Sponsored Research and Grants.

         Publication/Minutes

         1.   The minutes for the November 19, 2003, meeting of DBAC, the agenda for the Expanded DBAC meeting held on December 10th, the agendas for the January 28th and February 4, 2004, meetings of DBAC, and the minutes for the January 21, 2005 meeting.

            2.   The agenda for the December 11, 2003, meeting, the agenda for the January 31, 2004 Special Meeting, and the agenda for the February 5, 2004, meeting of the Board of Trustees.

            3.   The agenda for the January 28, 2004, and February 11, 2004, meetings of the District Council.

            4.   The agenda for the January 15, 2004, meeting of the Mission-West Valley Land Corporation.

            5.   The summary notes for the November 26th and December 17th meetings of GAP and the agenda for the December 17, 2003 and February 11, 2004, meetings.

            6.   The agenda for the December 9, 2003, and February 10, 2004, meetings of the District Equivalency Committee.

            7.   The agenda for the December 11, 2003, meeting of the WVMCCD Financing Corporation Board of Trustees.

         Announcements/Conferences

         1.  The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges is holding a Curriculum Colloquia to discuss possible changes to the Title 5 English and mathematics requirements for the Associate Degree.  The colloquia will be held in Oakland at the Peralta District Office on Friday, February 27th.  Additional information is available from the Academic Senate Office.

            2.   The Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges is seeking applications from individuals who wish to be considered for membership on the Accreditation Commission.  Commissioners are appointed for a three-year term and may re-apply for a second term.  A number of positions are open and the application deadline is April 5, 2004.  Additional information and the application forms are available from the MC Academic Senate Office.

 

XI.    Future Agenda Items

No new items were introduced at today's meeting.

 

XII.   Adjournment

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