Mission College Academic Senate

Ext. 5413

Unapproved  Minutes

Thursday, March 13. 2003 

 

I.       Call to Order/Roll Call

            The meeting was called to order by President Jane Patton at 2:10 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

ASB Rep. J.Weston

Guests.  A.Chandler, R.Dewis,

 

    X

    X

Guests: S.Dinger, J. Halasa, L.Harris, R.Smybe   

 

   X

   X

                   

 II.    Approval of the Minutes

            The minutes for the meeting of February 27, 2003, were accepted and approved with the following corrections (M/S/U – Charland/Mancini):

 

            Page 5, Item C (Discuss Status of Information Competency as a Graduation Requirement)- Third sentence is corrected as follows:  “The requirement can be implemented in several ways:  1) proficiency exam, 2) infused into classes (i.e. English 1A and/or Oral Communication classes), or 3) Library 10 course.

 

            Page 3, Item C.b) (Reduction in Administrative Staff) - Regarding the second sentence:  “He (Dr. Samuels) is forming a committee of three administrators, one faculty member, and one from classified staff.”  Dr. Samuels requested that Jane clarify the information, stating that he is not forming a committee, but rather is just having a conversation about reductions in administrative staff.  He invited Jane, Carol Toppel, Matthew Grayson, Luyang Jiang, Dianne McKay, and Dan Matarangas to join him in a one-meeting conversation. (M/S/U – Sippel/Charland).

 

            This clarification prompted a discussion where several Senators and guests indicated their concerns relative to the status of shared governance at the college. 

 

            The minutes for the meeting of March 6, 2003, were accepted and approved with the following correction (M/S/U – Charland/Estrada):

 

            Page 3, Item II (Joint Meeting of the DCC and the MCAS) – The first, “Therefore” statement in the resolution is corrected as follows:

 

            “Therefore, Let it Be Resolved, That the Board reaffirm to all administrators that the absolute necessity of consultation, partnership, and shared responsibility in the development and . . .”

 

III.        Order of the Agenda

            There were no changes to the order of the agenda.    

             

 IV.    Oral Communication from the Public

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

        

  V.    Information & Announcements 

1.    Senator Van Tassel showed videotapes of the TV broadcasts from the Thursday and Saturday Board of Trustees meetings.

2.    On Friday, Jane will be on site visits for the two final candidates for President.

3.    The District Academic Senate meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 18, 2003, at 2:00 p.m. in the Small Business Development Center, 84 West Santa Clara Street, Suite 100, Training Room.

 

VI.    Administrative Business/Actions/Appointments

  A.    Curriculum Committee  -  Alex reported that the committee will be meeting this Monday and next to deal with a large volume of new course proposals, administrative changes, etc.

 B.     Staff Recognition -  No resolution was presented. 

 C.     Committee Appointments  - None

 D.     Oral Reports

1.   Staff Development  - No report

2.   District Information Technology Steering Committee – * Senator Light reported that the committee met last Friday and discussed a major issue regarding Datatel.  A development server purchased for Datatel was discussed; and a major issue concerns Release 17. This is similar to a service pack that meets mandated reporting for Financial Aid.  It is absolutely necessary for the next school year.  Last month everything was fine.  This month it was mentioned that Datatel will not be on the Release 17 until September 1.  It is critical that this be ready by July 1, and IS may call in consultants to assist. * The $1 million plus in uncollected student receivables was also discussed.  If collected, additional funds will be provided for the district.

         3.  Instructional Technology Committee  - No report

         4.  Subcommittee on Graduation Requirements – No report

         5.  Report from D. Cordero on IMPAC – Don Cordero was unable to attend today’s meeting due to a conflict in schedule.      

         6.  Other:  

 

VII.      Old Business

 

A.       Continue Discussion of Budget Crisis, Including:

1)   Identify Criteria for Prioritization of Academic Support Services

2)   Discuss and Clarify Understanding of FON Waiver

3)   Other

            President Patton opened the floor to general discussion before addressing the individual items listed above. Senator Sippel voiced her concerns and disappointment regarding the amount and the nature of communications on campus.  She noted that most of the communications are conducted via e-mail.  It is her view that much of the information requires a group process for full interpretation and understanding.  She noted that the forums for the presidential candidates were poorly attended and that people are relying on the information in e-mail communications.  She presented the following motion for the Senate’s consideration (M/S – Sippel/Charland):

 

“Whereas, The current state of the budget requires that accurate and recent information pertaining to college decisions be communicated in a consistent manner; and

 

Whereas, The college attempts to facilitate communication through committees made up of representatives of the campus constituency; and

 

Whereas, Two-way dialog is a manner of communication far preferable to that of email or memos; and

 

Whereas, Lack of communication can result in rumors and misinformation at best, and anger and irresponsible decisions at worst;

 

Be It Therefore Resolved, That the Mission College Academic Senate demand that all divisions hold meetings with their members at a rate of once per month at the minimum, and that all faculty recognize their obligation to attend these meetings; and

 

Be It Further Resolved, That the Mission College Academic Senate demand that members of all college committees take their charges with utmost seriousness and deliver full, qualitative reports on the actions and information gathered from all campus committee meetings, and that representatives regularly poll their constituency to gather consensus on pending issues; and 

 

Be It Finally Resolved, That all Mission College employees endeavor to share information via interactive groups rather than individual delivery of hearsay, and that the means of delivering information via email not be taken as the qualitative equivalent of two-way interaction.”

 

Discussion ensued and many agreed that it is imperative that information be shared appropriately and that it is the responsibility of the Department Chairs and/or the Division Chairs to hold regular meetings.  Division Chair (DC) Steve Dinger noted that DC’s are attending critical meetings every week and there are not enough forums for people to get together for monthly meetings.  Senators Light and Mancini reported that they have established a Yahoo group to provide information for Associate Faculty and that it has proven to be very successful.  A similar web site may prove to be useful for full-time faculty as well.  Another suggestion is to block out time within the departments specifically to hold meetings.

 

            It was stated that although department and division meetings will assist in communications, there is a bigger problem in that the President needs to keep the entire college community informed on a daily basis of events as they occur. It is critical that the college community be pulled together by its leadership.  Part of good leadership is transparency, a process, and communication.  Without it, a vacuum is created that is being filled by rumor, innuendo, anxiety, and stress.  The community needs to receive more administrative information in open forum.  Then the appropriate questions can be asked.  The above motion was passed and discussion moved on to item #1 (Identify Criteria for Prioritization of Academic Support Services).

 

            The Senators reviewed a list of grouped support services prepared by GAP.  It is Jane’s contention that several of the services listed are academic support services and fall under the purview of the Academic Senate.  Several subcommittees of GAP members were formed to consider the dollar amount required for the services and GAP members will hold qualitative discussions and review the list once again.  Jane feels strongly that the Academic Senate should rank those services that are academic in nature, and asked that a Senate subcommittee be formed to consider those services and rank the list accordingly.  Senators Charland, Estrada, Lynne, Rosner and Sippel volunteered to meet with President Patton to take on that charge.

 

            At this time, it was agreed, by consensus, to suspend the order of the agenda and move to Item VII.B (Vote on Information Competency as Graduation Requirement) and return to Item VII.A upon completion of B.

 

B.        Vote on Information Competency as Graduation Requirement

Senator Estrada presented the following motion for the Senate’s consideration (M/S – Estrada/Mancini):

 

“that the Mission College Academic Senate recommend that Information Competency be included as a proficiency requirement for graduation.  Students would be able to demonstrate information competency skills in one of the following ways:  1)  by the successful completion of the course Library 10, Information Competency; or 2) by successful completion of selected courses (to be determined) that infuse elements of information competency, possibly supplemented by library information competency workshops; or 3) by passing a standardized information competency exam, and that the Academic Senate form a subcommittee to consider the most appropriate way to implement the requirement.”

 

During discussion, the ASB representative asked if this change will effect students already enrolled, and it was stated that the requirement would not start until listed in the catalog.   The above motion passed and it was agreed that this item will be placed on a future agenda in order to appoint a subcommittee to work on the implementation of the requirement.

 

            The order of the agenda was resumed and discussion returned to Item VII.A. Item #2 (Discuss and Clarify Understanding of FON Waiver).

 

President Patton reminded the Senators that both Academic Senates agreed to request a waiver of the Faculty Obligation Number (FON) from the State Chancellor’s Office due to the current budget situation.  She reported that the State Academic Senate actively opposes any waivers to the FON.  That number is the minimum number of faculty required to run a college.  This week, the Board of Governors met in Sacramento and the FON was discussed.  Both Dr. Arterberry and Dr. Fox were present.  It has been reported back that the BOG did not take any action on this issue and referred the matter to consultation. This means that the question regarding the waiver of the FON will be studied and not determined until May.  There is some concern that a misunderstanding of our Academic Senates’ intent to request the waiver has been reported.  It must be clearly stated that we (the Academic Senates) only agreed to a one-year waiver for next year’s faculty hires, with the intent to revert to the original number the next year.  It was not intended to be a request for a permanent waiver of the FON.  This matter will be discussed further at the District Academic Senate meeting on Tuesday to ensure that the Senate’s position is clear.  There was a brief discussion on the effect the waiver will have on the full-time/part-time ratio and the number of FTES.  It was agreed that the facts should be clarified before Tuesday’s meeting and Jane will investigate the matter further.

 

         3)  Other:  It was noted that in 1997 a similar leadership crisis arose in this district that resulted in a Vote of No Confidence in the Chancellor.  The Mission College Academic Senate minutes from that time were read and the similarities were disconcerting.  The combined lack of leadership from the President and the Chancellor must be pointed out to the Board.  The President should act as a beacon, taking a visible role as an advocate of Mission College by communicating weekly, if not daily, and providing good information.

 

            Discussion veered to the actions taken by the Board outside of shared governance, i.e. the appointment of the Interim Vice Chancellor.  In addition it appears that the resolutions prepared by the Board were not made thoughtfully with regard to the impact layoffs will have on the colleges and the services they provide.  President Patton cautioned that the Senators must use all their critical thinking skills and be wary of rumors and gossip.  As Senate leaders, they can help their colleagues by exercising restraint and ascertaining the facts.  There are so many unknowns; so much depends on state funding and negotiations. 

 

            Jane was directed to send the motion presented by Senator Sippel to all faculty. 

 

            The remaining business items were postponed to a future meeting.

 

X.     Correspondence, Publications, & Announcements

         Correspondence

1.    A copy of a letter dated March 20, 2003, from Dr. Arterberry to the State Chancellor regarding the Equity and Diversity Task Force Report.

2.    A copy of the most current VN and PT degree program documents for review at the Curriculum Review Committee.

3.    An e-mail memo regarding items to be reviewed at the District Council meeting of March 12, 2003, regarding Student Accounts Receivable Collection Plan.

4.    An e-mail dated March 13, 2003, from the Community College League of California with an update on legislative actions relative to budget.

5.    An e-mail dated March 4, 2003, from Chancellor Nussbaum with a budget update.

6.    Letter dated March 4, 2003, f4rom the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges with a report on the January 8-10, 2003, Commission meeting.

         Publication/Minutes

1.    The notice of the Adjourned Board Meeting and the Special Meeting of March 8, 2003, to March 13, 2003.

2.    The Summary Notes for the February 28, 2003, meeting of GAP and a revised list of prioritized groups.

3.    The March 12, 2003, agenda for DBAC and minutes for the March 5, 2003, meeting.

4.    The agenda for the March 10, 2003, meeting of the Curriculum Review Committee and the summary for the February 24, 2003, meeting.

5.    A copy of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 dated March 3, 2003, with the written testimony of Chancellor Nussbaum.

6.    A copy of HR Board Items that will appear on the March 20th Board Agenda and to be reviewed at the March 12, 2003, District Council meeting.

         Announcements/Conferences

         1.   Two additional DBAC meetings will be held:  March 26th (3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.)  and April 9th (3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.).  Both meetings will be held at Mission College in Campus Center Room 219/220.

 

XI.    Future Agenda Items

No new items were introduced at today's meeting.

 

XII.   Adjournment

            The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m. (M/S/U – Mancini/Brennan).  These minutes are respectfully submitted by Grace Hazán, Academic Senate Secretary.