President Dianne McKay called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m.

President McKay requested that the Order of Agenda be suspended and moved immediately to Item III (Order of the Agenda). The Senators agreed by consensus.

President McKay requested that the Senators consider changing the Order of Agenda as needed to accommodate guests. The Senators agreed by consensus.

In addition, the Senators were asked to consider the addition of an emergency item under new Business, Item VIII.C (Review & Approve the Allocation Process for Full-Time Faculty Hires) as an action item. This is necessary in order to ensure that the hiring process moves forward in a timely manner. The Senators unanimously agreed to add this item to today's agenda (M/S/U - Kleppinger/Costanza).

As agreed, the Order of Agenda was suspended and moved to Item VI.A and Item X.1 to accommodate Betty Grayson.

A. Curriculum Committee - * Betty Grayson advised that the committee will hold an extra meeting next Monday in order to review course proposals for classes printed in the Spring Schedule with the notation "Pending Board Approval." The following Monday, October 4, 1999, is the absolute deadline for review by the committee. If the course proposals are acceptable according to established criteria, they will pass through the committee. If not, the Curriculum Committee will not pass them and they will be pulled from the schedule. A brief discussion ensued, and concern for the students was expressed. Betty clarified that students know that the notation in the schedule, "Pending Board Approval" indicates that the class may not be offered.

* The committee is currently reviewing the Overlap Policy and will complete the task as soon as possible.

1. PFE Task Force - Betty reported that the state Chancellor, Tom Nussbaum has requested a report on what PFE goals are expected to be accomplished by 2005-2006. Hence, there is a need to consider the college's commitment for the next few years, possibly tying this project in to the Strategic Plan, the Accreditation self-study, and the Master Plan.

The Order of Agenda was moved to Item VII.A to accommodate Ms. Murray and Dr. Negash.

A. Discuss Fall '99 Bookstore Concerns

The Bookstore Manager, Toni Murray, and the new Director of Administrative Services, Worku Negash were introduced to the members of the Senate. Dianne explained that both Toni and Worku attended the last DCC meeting to discuss problems dealing with the bookstore and agreed to address the concerns at the Senate as well.

During discussion, it was noted that generally things have improved over last spring. However, certain difficulties remain, and several specific problems were cited. Worku acknowledged the problems and indicated that they have, hopefully, been resolved satisfactorily. He attributed many of the problems to a lack of communication, which he anticipates will improve once Toni has a computer, as well as an internal phone extension. This will allow for better communication between the bookstore management and faculty. It was noted, however, that only six (6) book orders were in by the deadline date. Other problems stemmed from the publishers - changing text editions without notification, delaying delivery, etc.

Bookstore hours were discussed, and Worku stated that the store will extend its hours during the first two weeks of classes. Toni stated that staffing the bookstore is a major problem as her student employees and their schedules are not that flexible. They have been turning to temporary agencies for help and she has advised her supervisors of the problem. It was pointed out to Toni that the store must remain competitive, particularly since students can get less expensive fast service via the internet. Service to the students must be primary.

Senators Kleppinger and Burtch both remarked that Toni has extended herself to accommodate faculty and she has demonstrated a keen sense of cooperation.

Dianne thanked both Toni and Worku for attending today's meeting and their willingness to address specific problems.

The Order of Agenda was resumed.

The minutes for the September 2, 1999, meeting were accepted and approved (M/S/U - Kleppinger/Costanza) with the following clarification to Page #2, Item VIII.B (Update Report on Status of Testing Center), third sentence:

It was clarified that the Academic Senate agreed to the Testing Center hours as stated on a short term basis (through the Fall semester) to be reviewed in the Spring semester. The Senate is committed to monitoring use of the center and its goal to expand the center’s hours to meet the students' needs.

Page 3, Item VIII.B, first sentence: It was clarified that the Testing Center’s part-time technician has been hired to conduct testing when Virginia is not available, primarily evening and Saturday hours.

The minutes for the September 9, 1999, meeting were accepted and approved as submitted (M/S/U - Kleppinger/Akers-Martin).

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

1. The WVC Division Chair Council (DCC) is developing a long-range plan in the event that additional funds become available. It was suggested at the MC DCC that the college consider the development of a long-range plan as well.

2. The Strategic Conversation on Degrees and Certificates was well attended by faculty and students, resulting in a very productive and beneficial dialogue. The next Strategic Conversation will be held on October 21, 1999, at 7:00 p.m., at West Valley College. Dan Matarangas and Ed Myers have been charged with leading the discussion. Any questions or ideas for discussion should be sent forward to Dan or Dianne McKay. The purpose of these strategic conversations is to provide an opportunity for the Board to engage in dialogue and become informed on curriculum issues, programs, and other topic issues. These dialogues also provide the opportunity to develop relationships between the Board members and faculty, students, and staff.

3. The M-WV Land Corporation will hold a special meeting next Wednesday, September 29, 1999, at 5:00 p.m. at Mission College. This meeting has been called to further discuss Sobrato’s controversial plan to build two 8-story buildings on the remaining piece of Mission College land. Dianne stated that several objections were raised at the meeting, specifically related to traffic congestion, inconvenience to students, etc. The Board members opted to hold the special meeting to provide Mission College people an opportunity to state their views. At this time, the Senators discussed the matter and prepared a list of things that should be considered and points to be made as to how this proposal, if passed, will negatively impact the college, the students, the staff, and the community. Dianne was directed to pass these points on to the President and the Board. The model for Sobrato’s proposal is located in the Part-Time Faculty Center.

4. The state Academic Senate is seeking nominations for two outstanding faculty to sit on the Board of Governors for CCC’s. Dianne asked the Senators to consider possible nominations. The criteria and application forms are available from the Senate Office.

A. Curriculum Committee - See Page 1 for Betty’s report.

B. Staff Recognition – No nominations were made at today’s meeting.

D. Elect Senate Vice-President - Jane Patton volunteered and was unanimously appointed as Vice-President by consensus.

At this time, it was announced that the Student Development Division has officially elected Donelle McGee as their second representative on the Senate.

A group of Mission College people attended a WASC Workshop on Accreditation. Dianne noted that Jim Van Tassel is Accreditation Chair and work on the self-study is being tied to long-range planning and has become outcome oriented. The number of standards has been increased and changed. Additional information will be forthcoming as the self-study process gears up.

The Senators reviewed a revised document, with Dianne pointing out the specific changes made. The intent of the major revisions is to tie requests for faculty and the decision-making process into the long-range plan for the college and to identify the Tenure Review Teams at the time of request.

The Senators reviewed the document, and unanimously approved the process (M/S/U – Jackins/Burtch) with the proviso that a process for determining the "viable" positions will be clearly defined before the joint Senate/DCC/ASB meeting. It was also requested that some process be considered and developed for adding a faculty position to a department if the college as a whole decides it is needed.

Dianne advised Jim Wilczak, President of the WVC Academic Senate (WVCAS), of this Senate’s request to consider an earlier graduation time on the last Friday of the semester; Mission College would like to start their ceremony either at 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. The WVCAS discussed Mission College's preferences and requested that the WVC ASB consider starting the graduation ceremony at 3:00 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. The major issue concerns the attendance of the Board members at both ceremonies. One suggestion made was to hire a helicopter or a limousine to transport the Board members from one ceremony to the other. Dianne reported that we are moving towards an amicable resolution. There are thousands of people involved when one considers the number of students and family members that will be effected, not to mention faculty and staff. She will keep the Senate apprised as things progress.

After last week’s futile attempt to review the revisions to Chapter 4 as presented, Dianne discussed the matter with President O’Hearn. It has been decided that a team comprised of the two college presidents, the two academic senate presidents, the two deans of instruction, and one division chair from each college will take on this task. Once the proposed revisions are completed, the document will be brought back to the Senates for approval. Dianne stated that this project could take more time than originally anticipated.

1. Board Meeting - Strategic Conversation on Degrees & Certificates: The strategic conversation was informative and well received. There was an excellent turn out of faculty, staff, and especially students. The Board participated in table discussions on barriers to achieving degrees and certificates, and how to increase the number awarded. The students provided good insight into their perspectives. A follow-up conversation on Transfer will be held on October 21st.

2. District Budget Advisory Committee - The September 15th meeting of DBAC was a Budget Summit Meeting at which time the Budget Allocation Review Team (BART) led a discussion on the current budget allocation model, summarized the issues it grappled with, and gave an oral summary of its recommendations concerning the model. Much work has been done, but much remains to be done. The current BART committee has requested to be sunsetted, and it will be following one more meeting in which they formally summarize their recommendations in writing.

This committee recommends a second round of work be done with a dual focus. First, to review other budget models to determine whether we wish to stay with our current budget allocation model or switch to something totally different. Once that decision is made, then the second phase of the work would begin both to document and make any changes to our current model, if we decide to keep it, or to implement a new model.

The BART committee expressed dismay that the few recommendations they agreed to were not implemented in the current 1999-2000 budget, and the one recommendation that they did not finalize was implement. That discussion will continue with EMT and others.

District Budget Advisory Committee – Capital Subcommittee: This committee met to decide on the allocation of three sources of funds used for capital improvements. These are:

Local Deferred Maintenance and Equipment ($285,061/Fund 10);

Discussion centered on the split between the colleges and administrative services in each of these areas. Facilities presented a spreadsheet of needs for a portion of the money that traditionally has been set aside for them. It was approved to distribute the money as follows:

Local Deferred Maintenance:

District Equipment = $71,265.00 (25% off the top for equipment to be used at both

colleges and the district)

Remainder (to the two colleges according to FTES split):

WVC = $121,650 (56.9%)

MC = $ 92,146 (43.1%)

State Block Grant (to the two colleges according to the FTES split):

MC = $ 70,149 (43.1%)

WVC = $ 92,609 (56.9%)

3. District Council - No report

4. Division Chair Council - No report

5. Others:

a) College Budget Advisory Committee - This committee met and discussed issues with the 1999-2000 District Budget. Several issues are in dispute and Worku and staff members are working on resolution of funding issues. Fundamentally, the budget indicates that there will be no new on-going money for 1999-2000, which is not good news given the prioritization that occurred last spring and all the needs. Discussion was held on the 98-99 carryover funds and the method of allocating those funds. Preliminary discussion was held on the FY01 budget process. It was agreed that substantial work needs to be done to tie this process into college goals and strategic planning. The committee agreed to work in small groups to accomplish the work.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:55 p.m. (M/S/U – Kleppinger/McGee). These minutes are respectfully submitted by Grace Hazán, Academic Senate Secretary.