Mission College Academic Senate

Ext. 5413

Approved  Minutes

Thursday,  August 29, 2002 

 

I.       Call to Order/Roll Call

            The meeting was called to order by President Jane Patton at 2:06 p.m.  The Senators introduced themselves and gave a brief update on their current activities.

Senators

   A

   P

Senators

   A

   P

Brennan    (Ext. 5313)  Comm

     X

 

McAlister  (Ext. 5087)  Stud. Dev.

    

   X

Charland  (Ext. 5046)  Stud. Dev.

 

    X

Mancini   (Ext. 5855) AF/HM

 

    X

Estrada      (Ext.5164) CommSvc

 

    X

Martin     (Ext. 5356)  Tech.

    X

 

Guich      (Ext. 5270) Social Science

 

    X

Musat      (Ext. 5331) Math

 

   X

Johnson    (Ext.5277) CATA

 

    X

Patton    (Ext. 5296) Comm Stud

 

   X

Lavallo   (Ext. 5399)  Math

 

   X

Rivas      (Ext. 5282)  CATA

    X

 

Light        (Ext. 5717) AF/CIT

     X

    

Rosner    (Ext. 5317) ESL

    X

 

Lynne      (Ext. 5248) CommSvc

 

    X

Sippel      (Ext. 5118) Comm

 

   X

 

 

 

VanTassel (Ext. 5334) Tech

 

   X

Other:   A.Braun (CRC)

   

    X

Other:  B.Grayson (Staff Dev)

     X

    

S. Ghiya (ASB), L.Jiang  (ASBPres)

 

    X

Guests:   I.Walton

 

   X

                   

 II.    Approval of the Minutes

            The minutes for the May 16, 2002, meeting were accepted and approved as submitted (M/S/P - VanTassel/Sipple).

 

III.    Order of the Agenda

             The Senators agreed (M/S/U - Charland/Lavallo) to reorder the agenda, taking New Business Item VIII.A immediately following Old Business Item VII.A.

             

 IV.    Oral Communication from the Public

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

        

  V.    Information & Announcements 

         1.   Senator Estrada reported that the Library has installed Library-Link Plus.  This service allows Mission College students and staff to seek items not available at the MC Library, yet available at other participating libraries, and have the materials delivered to the college at no cost. 

            2.   Senator Charland advised that the annual WACAC event will take place on May 8th, and the Health and Student Services Activities Fair will be held on Thursday, October 3rd.  Information on both events is forthcoming.

            3.   President Patton advised that she has been directly involved in the process for the selection of an interim and permanent college president.  She reported that Chancellor Arteberry is consulting with Jane Patton (MCAS President), Dianne McKay (Interim VP of Instruction), Matthew Grayson (MC Classified Senate President) and other Mission College representatives regarding the interim president as well as the process for hiring a permanent president.  The group has selected a consultant to conduct the search for a permanent president for approximately $20,000, to be approved by the Board.  The Chancellor has not yet made a decision regarding the interim president, but is considering both internal and external candidates.   

            4.   Regarding the budget, Jane advised that she serves on GAP, CBAC, and DBAC as the Senate President and has attended meetings over the summer.  Although cutbacks were made, there are signs that some relief will be forthcoming from four sources:

                        a)   Reductions do not appear to be as severe as anticipated.

                        b)   There are carryover funds from fiscal year 2001/02.

                        c)   There is some equipment money left over.

                        d)   Contract Ed and Community Ed may be able to assist shortages with donations.

 

                  GAP has directed CBAC members to consider the following as they look at this year's budget:

                        a)   Essential items such as license fees, insurance, etc.

                        b)   Create a reserve for the college to assist during stringent financial times.

                        c)   Replenish supplies and printing services accounts.

                        d)   Develop strategic plan to restore reduced services (such as tutoring).

                  Ian advised that the budget at the state level is still in limbo.  He emphasized the importance of contacting state representatives/legislators at this time, asking them to support the community college system.

            5.   A Vice President for the Mission College Academic Senate must be elected during the first three weeks.  The primary responsibility of the VP is to serve as a substitute for the President when necessary.  She asked those Senators interested in the position to submit their names to the Senate Office and an election will be held in September.

         6.   President Patton reported that enrollment appears to be good.  However, Admissions needs the Block Add Sheets from faculty to be certain of enrollment.

 

VI.    Administrative Business/Actions/Appointments

  A.    Curriculum Committee    - Alex Braun, Chair of the MC Curriculum Review Committee (CRC) reported that the Technical Subcommittee of the CRC held its first meeting on Monday.  The CRC and the Technical Subcommittee will meet on alternate Mondays, starting with the full committee meeting on September 9th.  Alex explained that the CRC will emphasize and take a critical look at courses from a "value added" perspective in order to comply with the policy and direction of the Academic Senate.  He explained further that the intent is to consider proposed curriculum in terms of the institution's ability to fund and support the proposals.  Curriculum can be approved but the college may not be able to implement the courses.  The institution needs to consider if it is in the position to do all things or to let other institutions take on certain programs/curriculum and reinforce the programs the college does well.  A brief discussion ensued, and it was stated that cost is not necessarily a determining factor since often funding resources can be found through grants or industry.  It was also stated, however, that the college must determine if it can afford to sustain the financial obligation for a course that requires consistent updating.  It was suggested that it is useful for the Senators to discuss curriculum issues with their division's CRC representative.  It is easy to promote a department's needs and/or wishes.  The Senators, however, are also obligated to implement state regulations delegated to the academic senates.  The administration will consider cost; the academic senate must consider academic value.

 B.     Staff Recognition -  Jane explained that the purpose of this program is to recognize staff other than faculty.  A resolution is prepared and presented by a Senate member and a framed copy of the resolution is presented to the staff member.  No resolutions were presented at today's meeting.

  C.    Committee Appointments -

            a)  Staff Development Advisory Committee  -  Curtis Pembrook has volunteered to serve on this committee, and the Senators unanimously confirmed his appointment (M/S/U - Johnson/VanTassel).

            b)  GAP  -  A replacement  for Dianne McKay on GAP is needed to serve a two year term.  Currently, Jane sits on the committee along with Senator Estrada, Amelia Akers-Martin, DC's and administrative appointments.   

         c)  Program Review - Jane announced that representatives from the Senate and faculty at-large will be needed to review possible models for program review.  She asked the Senators to consider their own interest and the recruitment of colleagues.

            d)  Overview of Curriculum/Pre-Requisites - Senators and faculty will be needed to serve on the task force on curriculum and pre-requisites.

            e)  Minimum Quals & Equivalency Committee  -  Jane advised that currently one Senator from each college sits on this committee. This committee considers faculty applicants that do not meet the minimum requirements for a discipline, reviewing possible equivalent criteria to determine if the equivalencies meet the requirements.  It is her contention and recommendation that at least two faculty members from each college should serve on the committee to ensure compliance with the law that states faculty hiring is a faculty/senate responsibility.  The committee currently meets approximately once a month on a Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.  She asked that the Senators consider her request and be prepared to discuss the issue further at the next meeting.   

 

  D.    Oral Reports

         1.  Staff Development -  No report

            2.   Instructional Technology Committee -  Senator Sipple reported that the first meeting of this committee will be held next week.

         3.  Program Review Committee - No report

         4.  District Information Technology Steering Committee -  No report

         5.  Other: 

         a)  IMPAC Grant  -  Ian explained that the IMPAC grant is a five year grant that is proposing a change of its fiscal agent to our district for the remaining fiscal years (2002/03, 2003/04, 2004/05), pending Board approval. The grant provides for $550,000 in annual funding to the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. If approved, a 4% administrative reimbursement of the grant amount will be awarded to the district as the agent. The $550,000 annual funding to the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges is specifically to run the major preparation articulation project statewide, with faculty from UC, CSU, and CC.

 

VII.   Old Business

 

    A.   Discussion on Compressed Calendar

            Jane reported that the college has not yet made a decision on this issue.  The pros and cons continue to be discussed, although some of the issues raised last year have been addressed and others are yet to be resolved.  The question of room availability, the impact on working students (the 3:40 p.m. start time), and skills instruction must be considered when a decision is made.  Jane advised that a subcommittee of the Division Chair Council will review the issues, conduct research of other colleges, and conduct a student survey.  They will prepare an opinion/recommendation to be brought to the Instructional Advisory Team and to the Academic Senate for input, and then proceed to GAP and the president for consideration.  Working condition issues have been resolved for the most part by ACE since West Valley College will start under a compressed calendar this semester.  The issues regarding an inter-session are unresolved to date.

 

            The state deadline is not an issue.  More importantly, the deadlines for the catalog and class schedule are more critical in terms of instituting a compressed calendar in the near future.   Ian emphasized that some of the senators will be placed in a difficult position.  ACE will consider working conditions under the shorter session, the division chairs will consider enrollment, and the academic senate necessarily must consider the academic value to the student.  The senate's role is to deal with academic and professional matters.

 

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

 

VIII.  New Business

 

    A.  Discuss Presidential Search Committee Membership/Size

            President Patton explained that three years ago the President's Search Committee was limited to seven people:  two faculty, one student, one classified staff member, one administrator, one district representative, and one community member.  Jane asked the Senators for their view on the size and membership of the committee currently being formed to select a new president for Mission College.  She noted that Chancellor Arteberry was amenable to this committee size, which is a smaller committee than he anticipated.

 

            Discussion ensued and the following motion was passed unanimously (M/S/U - Estrada/Lynne):

 

            "that the Mission College Academic Senate agrees to maintain the composition of the Presidential Search Committee as formed three years ago and as stated above."

 

            Jane will advise the Chancellor of the Senate's decision.

 

            At this time, the remaining agenda business items were postponed to the next Senate meeting

 

X.     Correspondence, Publications, & Announcements

         Correspondence

         1.   E-mail memo dated July 3rd from ACE re: faculty whose hours are 30/week or greater, and dated July 17th from ACE re: stipends and grants as overload.

            2.   Letter dated June 19, 2002, from WASC Accrediting Commission re: Report on June 9-11, 2002, Commission Meeting.

            3.   E-Mail dated May 23, 2002, from the MCAS re:  State Budget Update.

         Publication/Minutes

         1.   The agenda for the July 10th, August 28, 2002, meeting of the District Council.

            2.   The agenda for the Board of Trustee meetings of May 18th, May 20th, June 20th, July 18th, August 1st, and August 24th, 2002.

            3.   The agenda for the M-WV Land Corporation meeting of June 20th,  July 18th, and August 15, 2002.

            4.   The minutes for the May 15th, July 31, 2002, meeting of DBAC.

            5.   The Summer 2001 issue of THE NEWS and the publication League in Action from the Community College League of California.

            6.   The June 24, 2002, issue of FA NEWS from the Foothill-DeAnza Faculty Association.

            7.   The June 2002, issue of Accreditation NOTES from the WASC Accrediting Commission.

            8.   The May 2002 issue of ACE UPDATE.

            9.   The summary notes of the May 6, 2002 meeting of the MC Curriculum Review Committee

         Announcements/Conferences

         1.   The Center for Educational Development and Assessment will be held October 14-16, 2002, in St. Louis, MO.  The theme is, "Developing a Comprehensive Faculty Evaluation System." 

            2.   NISOD's Silver Anniversary Conference will be held in Austin, Texas, May 25-28, 2003.

                   

XI.    Future Agenda Items

A.  Discuss and Consider the number and appointments to the Minimum Quals & Equivalency Committee  (Patton)   

 

XII.   Adjournment

            The meeting was adjourned at 3:20 p.m. (M/S/U - Charland/Johnson) and President Patton began the orientation for the new Senators. 

 

            These minutes are respectfully submitted by Grace Hazán, Academic Senate Secretary.