I. Call to Order/Roll Call

The meeting was called to order by President Don Cordero at 1:48 p.m. Senators present: Margaret Boone (AAS, Ext. 3313), Lois Carroll (Instructional Support Serv., Ext. 3226), Betty Christopher (Commercial Services, Ext. 3341), Don Cordero (Pres/Counseling, Ext. 3142), Dianne McKay (Communications, Ext. 3418), Peggy Messerschmidt (Communications, Ext. 3415), Cliff Monroe (Technology, Ext. Diane Pette (Student Services, Ext. 3138), Clint Poe (Natural Science, Ext. 3436), Joan Powers (ESL, Ext. 3401), Helayna Thickpenny (CATA, Ext. 3368), and Karl Ting (Math, Ext. 3442). Also present: Diane Lamkin (Curriculum Committee Chair), Vicki Johnson (ASB Liaison), and Husam Asfoor (ASB Rep) . Guests Present: Husam Asfoor (Student), Cheryl Carter (AGS), Adel Elkadi (ASB), Carolyn Kuri (ASB), Roland Torres (ASB), and Jim VanTassel.

II. Approval of the Minutes

There were no minutes to approve.

III. Order of the Agenda

The following changes were made to today's agenda (M/S/U Pette/Christopher):

Item VIII.B will immediately follow Item VII.A.

Item VII.C is deleted from today's agenda.

IV. Oral Communication from the Public

The Senators received copies of a packet from Lee Callaway on the Western Association of Schools and Colleges' (WASC) Request for Information. The packet includes a copy of a letter to Dr. Rao dated January 16, 1996, from The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges; a draft copy of an Accreditation Progress Report from Mission College; and a copy of the Evaluation Report on Mission College from the team that visited Mission College from October 31 through November 2, 1995. Jim Van Tassel indicated that the deadline for submitting the report to WASC is May 1, 1997. A copy has been provided to Administrators, Division Chairs, all members of the Accreditation Steering Committee, and each member of the Academic Senate. Comments should be directed to Jim or Lee Callaway. It was agreed that an announcement will be sent to all Mission College users via E-Mail inviting all interested faculty and staff to review and comment on the draft. Lee has asked that all responses be sent by Noon, Wednesday, March 12.

V. Information & Announcements

1. Diane Pette announced that everyone will be invited to attend a four hour planning session for Student Success on Friday, April 18, 1997, from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. , to be presented by Chip Anderson.

2. Don explained that Staff Development funds will not be forthcoming for those Senators who are interested in attending the state Academic Senate Spring Conference. However, he is soliciting funds from other sources and those who wish to attend should be able to do so.

3. Cheryl Carter noted that Cindy Schelcher will be out for approximately one month, and she

recommended that Peter Anning and DeeDee Bicocca be invited to address the Senate regarding Mission College's upcoming 20th year celebration.

VI. Administrative Business/Actions/Appointments

A. Committee Appointments

1. Confirm Appointment of Associate Faculty Member to MCAS - Don advised that Amy Grams is interested in serving on the Senate as a representative for Associate Faculty. Since there are no other contenders for the two associate faculty positions on the Senate, in keeping with past practice, the Senators unanimously confirmed Amy's appointment to the Senate (M/S/U - Thickpenny/Poe)

2. Workforce Development Subcommittee of the Senate - The membership of this committee will be discussed under Item VII.E. It was agreed that this matter be deferred to that item on the agenda.

3. Program Review Task Force - Linda Reterrath, Don Cordero, and Ann Roberts have agreed to work on the development of a form and process for program review. The Senators confirmed the appointments (M/S/P - Pette/Thickpenny) with one abstention; Lois Carroll abstained to protest the non-existence of the Non-Instructional Program Review Committee. Don noted that the committee has been defunct since the Chair, Gene Sterling retired.

4. DBAC Capital Subcommittee - Don Cordero was appointed to serve on this subcommittee of the District Budget Advisory Committee (M/S/U - McKay/Powers). Don reported that Bruce Judd and Alan Hiromura have also been appointed to the committee by Mike.

5. Balance of Curriculum Committee Interim Member - Don asked the Senate to confirm the appointment of Jim Burrell as an interim member of this committee, to replace Marjorie Knowles this semester while she is in Shanghai. The Senators confirmed Jim's appointment (M/S/U - Thickpenny/Poe).

6. ACE/Senate Committee on PG&D - Helayna Thickpenny volunteered to serve on this committee to develop, along with ACE, a proposal for PG&D credit for certain committee membership. Helayna's appointment was confirmed (M/S/U - Christopher/Messerschmidt).

7. Appoint Tenure Review Committees (Cf. Article 26 ACE Contract) - Don postponed this item to the next meeting. He asked each Senator to determine which faculty members are up for tenure and report back to the Senate at next week's meeting. The Senate is responsible for selecting and appointing faculty to the tenure review committees.

B. Staff Recognition - No nominations were placed at today's meeting.

VII. Old Business

A. Discuss Graduation Ceremony Dates & Location

The Senate has been requested to change the date and/or time of graduation. The schedule at this time is to hold graduation on Friday evening, May 30,1997 at 6:30 p.m. It appears that the intent of the change is to permit the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees to attend graduation ceremonies at both colleges. The alternate options offered were Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. or Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. The matter will be brought up at tonight's Board meeting, and Don asked the Senate members for direction.

Several Senators and students spoke to the issue indicating their view that this event is primarily for the students, their families, and friends. Cheryl Carter suggested that the Board members split up, with the Chancellor and the President of the Board each taking one college on a rotational basis. She noted that an 8:00 p.m. ceremony would mean that the reception usually held after the ceremony would be quite late, and for students with young children, this would not be acceptable. Others noted that students rarely, if ever, remember key speakers. Their primary concern is whether or not their families are present.

After considerable discussion, the Senators unanimously passed the following motion (M</S/U - McKay/Messerschmidt):

"that the Mission College Academic Senate supports sticking with the current date and time set for graduation and encourages the Board of Trustees to be as creative as possible about attendance at graduation."

Don was directed to present the above position to the Board at tonight's Board meeting.

Discussion veered to the location, and it was agreed that the center space will be used for graduation.  A minority of students would like to hold the ceremony in the gym again, but most students and faculty prefer the center space. Cheryl Carter reported that she served as an usher last year and helped several elderly people get the top bleachers. She felt the issue of safety is a critical one. The Senators agreed, by consensus, to hold the ceremony in center space.

As agreed under Order of Agenda, the next item to be discussed is Item VIII.B

VIII. New Business

B. Discuss Role, Membership, & Charge of Senate Subcommittee for Establishing Content Review Procedures

DeeDee Bicocca has resigned her position to work with Diane Lamkin and Lee Callaway on the college's course content review to comply with the state's requirements relative to prerequisites, corequisites, and advisories. This position is allocated .5 release time, and Don asked the Senators for direction on proceeding with this matter. One option is to select two to three faculty interested in this project, dividing the release time between them. In the future, matriculation funds are to be decategorized, so it was also suggested that the matriculation funds set aside for this project might better serve the college if placed under the Senate's domain for distribution in the future. If the funds are not assigned to the Senate for distribution, they will be tossed into the general pot and end up in never-never land.

After a lengthy discussion, the Senators agreed (M/S/U - Pette/Christopher), "to establish a subcommittee of the Academic Senate on Content Review." The role and function of the committee will comply with the state's recommendations and the Senators agreed (M/S/U - McKay/Pette) that a call for interested faculty will be issued by the Senate office with a deadline for the end of spring break, members to be appointed at the April 3, 1997, meeting of the Senate.

The Order of Agenda was resumed.

VII. Old Business (Continued)

B. Review & Discuss Draft of MC Shared Governance Policy/First Reading

The Executive Committee did not meet today to review comments as planned. Don asked that all comments be forwarded to the Senate office for compilation. The Senate will then revise the draft accordingly and Dianne McKay agreed to ensure that the Classified Senate and the Campus Police Department are included in reviewing this draft. There is a need for all parties in the college to participate in developing the policy. The final draft will be presented at an all college forum during the second week in April, providing all interested parties an opportunity to participate in the policy formation.

D. Review Computer Applications Course Policy

It was noted that a few actions taken relative to Computer Application courses and Business Office Technology are in violation of the current policy. Further discussion on this matter was postponed to the next Senate meeting. Don asked Betty Christopher to bring forward a plan for revising or changing the BOT department to the Senate.

E. Consider Expanding Faculty Appointments to Workforce Development Committee

Margaret Boone reported that a number of faculty members from vocational education volunteered to serve on this committee. She asked the Senate to consider expanding the membership from three faculty to six faculty members. The current membership is as follows:

Peggy Messerschmidt - English

Karl Ting - Math

Dianne McKay - ESL/Reading/Speech

Richard Przybylski - Vocational Area

Margaret Boone - Vocational Area

Lin Marelick/Cliff Monroe - Vocational Area

Susan Monahan - Classified Area

Laurie Collins - Student Support Area

Rebeca Sanchez - Student Support Area

Kathleen Elliott - Corporate Training

Regina Stanback-Stroud - Administrator

Bruce Judd - Administrator

Discussion ensued, and the Senators unanimously agreed (M/S/U - McKay/Boone) "to expand the vocational education representatives on the Workforce Development Committee from three (3) to six (6) vocational faculty." Margaret Boone agreed to call for an additional three volunteers from vocational education faculty members and bring them back to the Senate for selection.

VIII. New Business

A. Discuss Proposals for Additional Administrators

A proposal to increase the number of administrators was presented to the Organizational Information Group (OIG) by Student Services and Learning Resource Services. Lois explained that ISS does not feel as though it is functioning correctly, and suggested that some funds allocated for department and division chairs could be contributed toward an administrative position for ISS. The Student Services Department requested that funds for an Assistant Dean be allocated for the Student Services area. These requests have been forwarded to OIG and are currently being considered. The OIG is asking for input from the Academic Senate.

Several Senators reported concerns from among their constituents relative to the continuing existence and role of the OIG. The original intent was to form this group to steer the reorganization of the college's structure with representational membership. The membership of the present committee was questioned as to being representative of all segments of the institution. One senator noted that having a continuing reorganization committee does not reflect well on the college. In addition, concern was expressed as to how decisions would be made and by whom. Diane (Pette) who is on OIG spoke to some of the concerns. However, the concerns will be forwarded to the OIG.

IX. Reports

1. Board Agenda Report/ChAdCo - Don reported that the only progress that has been made to date on the issue of ChAdCo are some "Guiding Principles" and a tentative membership list. He is gravely concerned that time is slipping away with no opportunity for shared governance issues having a forum for discussion at the District level. It has been more than a year since ChAdCo has met other than as a pre-board agenda group.

2. College Budget Advisory Committee Report - Don reported that a significant amount of funds are being allocated for Technology. Some people have indicated their view that the budget process lacks good direction. The process, however, involves many people and does attempt to be democratic.

3. District Budget Advisory Committee Report - Don advised that Les White, the recently hired Director of Finance, was present at this meeting. Don reported that there is an extra $300,000 in the state's apportionment, and there is a question as to whether or not the money will show up on the bottom line. The district is still tight on enrollment and it appears that not all the anticipated growth money will come into the district.

4. Non-Instructional Program Review Committee Report - This committee has not functioned since Gene Sterling retired.

5. Balance of Curriculum Committee Report - The Senators received a draft document on the purpose of the Balance of Curriculum Committee dated February 7, 1997. The committee has made progress in terms of its direction. Most of the college decision making segments do not act with much coordination or with a common direction. The committee is challenged to propose processes (e.g., impacting budget, faculty selection, new/old departments, et al.) that have rationale, consistency and direction.

6. Technology Committee Report - Each Senator received a copy of the proposed Technology Implementation Plan for their review, as well as to make it available to their constituents. The plan will be discussed with Bruce Judd at the next Senate meeting, March 13, 1997.

X. Correspondence & Announcements

The folder is available in the Academic Senate Office. Due to circumstances a current listing will be published in future minutes.

XI. Future Agenda Items

A. Update on Workforce Silicon Valley (Bicocca/Flolo)