Mission College Academic Senate

Ext. 5413

Approved  Minutes

Thursday, September 29, 2005  

 

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

Beggs      (Ext. 5188)  AAS

 

    X

Mancini   (Ext. 5413)  AF/HM

 

    X

Braun      (Ext. 5355) Pres/Tech

 

    X

Moles      (Ext. 5113)  ESL

    

    X

Brichko    (Ext. 5222)  CATA

     

    X

Ostrander  (Ext. 5274) Stud Dev.

 

    X

Cogswell (Ext. 5388)  AAS

    

    X

Paicius    (Ext. 5413)  AF/CATA

 

    X

Cox        (Ext.5164)  CommSvc

 

    X

Perlas      (Ext. 5041)  Stud.Dev.

    

    X

Juncker    (Ext.5229)  Comm

    

    X

Rounds    (Ext. 5288)  Comm

 

    X

Kashima  (Ext. 5319)  ESL

 

    X

Smebye   (Ext. 5305) CommServ

 

    X

Laird      (Ext. 5186)  SocSci

    

    X

Szabados  (Ext.5289)  CATA

    

    X

Lavallo    (Ext. 5399)  Math

    

    X

Ting       (Ext. 5330)  Math

 

    X

Guest:  H.Robles

 

    X

 

 

 

 

II.     Approval of the Minutes

            The minutes for the meeting of September 22, 2005, were accepted and approved as submitted   (M/S/P – Mancini/Juncker):

 

III.    Order of the Agenda

             There were no changes to today’s 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 Cogswell reported that the Mission College Safety Committee has been advised that the Executive Management Team (EMT) has placed the college’s adopted non-smoking policy on hold. She was told that the college cannot enforce the policy, and that the Chancellor wants a district policy.  President Braun agreed to investigate this matter, determine the facts and report back to the Academic Senate at next week’s meeting.                                          

            2.   Senator Lavallo passed around a brochure from the Foothill-DeAnza Community College District he and his neighbors have received.  He noted that he lives only four miles from Mission College.  The brochure lists some extremely interesting classes.  Senator Cogswell advised that Peter Anning has been compiling information for a presentation to the Land Corporation to support a request for additional funding to market the college.  Peter’s budget is under $50,000 and the Foothill-DeAnza District purportedly receives a substantial six-figure budget for marketing.  She suggested that Senators should send any ads from other colleges to Peter  (MS 19) for his compilation of information.  It was suggested that this matter be placed on the agenda and that Peter be invited to participate in the discussion.   

            3.   President Braun welcomed and introduced Will Paicius of the Art and Digital Media Department as the second Senate representative for Associate Faculty.

            4.   President Braun reported that the Senate’s position on the mid-year hires, discussed at last week’s Senate meeting, was reported to President Chong at the GAP meeting and to the Chancellor at the District Council.  The college will move forward and fill the four vacant positions:  LATC, Real Estate, Transfer, and Health Occupations.  The Chancellor indicated there was some misunderstanding relative to the EMT role in this matter.  The Vice Chancellor had some fiscal concerns relative to the 2006/07 budget, and deferring the positions would have saved approximately an additional $350,000 in that year’s budget.  This year’s budget, however, is balanced and there is a carryover.  Alex noted that these four positions have already been funded in the 2005/06 budget.  The Chancellor also advised that the hires may affect the number of hires for next year.  Alex reported that the State has adjusted the District’s FON from 368.8 to 363, putting the District over by five positions.  Mission College now has 170 full-time faculty.  Harriett reminded the Senate members that with the four positions moving forward for hire, the list of positions to be prioritized is reduced to five.

 

VI.    Administrative Business/Actions/Appointments

  A.    Curriculum Committee  -  The Senators received a report for their review on Hours by Arrangement submitted by Betty Ensminger on behalf of the MC Curriculum Review Committee.  The Senators were asked to review the report and be prepared to discuss at next week’s Senate meeting.                                                                                                          

 B.     Elect MCAS Vice President – Senator Cox, Senator Kashima, and Senator Lavallo were nominated for the position.  Senator Kashima was elected by written ballot.

 C.     Committee Appointments 

            1.  Accreditation Standards Committee (Second Call)  - Alex advised that Carol Brockmeier submitted her name to serve on the Standard One Committee.  No other volunteers have come forwarded.  He asked the Senator for direction on how to proceed.  It was agreed, by consensus that a third call is to be issued later this semester, perhaps when there is some resolution to the negotiations currently underway.

         2.  Information Competency Task Force – Alex advised that no faculty members have volunteered to serve on this committee.  Senator Cox explained that this is a functioning committee although there are some vacancies.  The charge of the committee at this point is to implement the plan as approved by the MC Academic Senate. The committee will meet several times during the semester to oversee and monitor the implementation.  It was decided that a third call for volunteers be postponed to a later date.

 

VII.   Old Business

 

   A.   Consider Establishment of SLO Protocol, Timeline and Committee

            Senator Kashima presented the Senators with a document outlining a proposed Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Cycle (SLOAC) Committee Structure, the guiding principles that would govern the work of the committee, as well as the institutional philosophy and good practices.

 

            Stephanie noted that all California community colleges are currently dealing with the task of establishing Student Learning Outcomes as recommended through the accreditation process.  It is strongly recommended that the college establish a subcommittee of the Academic Senate as the first step, and, secondly, for the Academic Senate to adopt a set of guiding principles.

 

            Discussion ensued, and some points were made relative to best practices as provided by WASC.  The intent was to create a closed loop system by which faculty could receive feedback.  Stephanie noted that the proposal states that the Academic Senate will guide the process.  The committee will make its recommendation to the Academic Senate on how best to guide the process.

 

            It was agreed that the Senators will review the documents presented and be prepared to discuss this matter further at next week’s meeting.                                                         

 

   B.   Discuss & Confirm Full-Time Faculty Hire Ranking Process w Respect to Counseling Position

            This matter was postponed to next week’s Senate meeting.                                       

 

   C.   Appoint Subcommittee to Review Strategic Goals, Missions, Values, Statements for Mission College

            Alex reported that President Chong has requested that the Academic Senate review a collection of statements that have been gathered over the last ten years on strategic goals, mission statements, values, etc., and compile and condense them into one document.  Alex stated that this is a good time to undertake this task, particularly since the college is heading for accreditation mid-year report and the college is currently updating its E&FMP.  Alex advised the President that he agreed to undertake the task subject to the approval of the Academic Senate.  He asked the Senators for direction on this matter.

 

            During a lengthy discussion, Harriett explained that the college has already committed to the Accreditation Committee that it would pull together all planning documents.  The college is currently undergoing strategic planning through the E&FMP update.  The charge of a committee is intended to synthesize and reduce the existing redundant documents into a more manageable, workable document.  It is not intended that this committee produce a final document to be adopted by the college, but rather one that is used in conjunction with the E&FMP. 

 

            Several Senators spoke to the issue, primarily attempting to understand the nature of the task and to determine whether or not the task will result in a positive effect.  It was ultimately agreed that the MC Academic Senate will form a subcommittee to handle the charge. The following motion was made and passed unanimously (M/S/U – Cogswell/Paicius):

 

            “that the Mission College Academic Senate create an ad hoc committee to look at the documents and make a decision as to how to proceed.”

 

            Alex volunteered to serve as temporary Chair of the committee until the committee meets and selects its own chair.  He will convene the first meeting and outline a timeline for the Senate’s consideration.  The following Senators agreed to serve on this committee in addition to Alex:  Cathy Cox, Will Paicius, Ron Smebye, and Anna Szabados.                        

 

VIII.  New Business

 

    A.  Discuss Proposal for Facilities Reorganization

            Alex reported that this proposal was first presented at GAP two weeks ago.  Dr. Chong submitted a proposal to reorganize the Office of Administrative Services, currently headed by Worku Negash.  The proposal includes a reclassification and an upgrade to Worku’s current position to Vice President of Administrative Services.  It was noted that the same reclassification is expected to take place at West Valley College. 

 

            The rationale for this proposal is that a number of duties currently assigned to Worku are out of classification under the existing job description, and additional new duties will be added to the job description with the reclassification. Any proposal that involves an increase in responsibilities necessarily equates to an increase in salary (approximately $7,000/year). The intent of the proposal is to decentralize facilities, creating two chains of command, which necessarily increases the cost to the colleges.  Alex offered a number of corollary questions that must be answered when a position is decentralized.  For example, Central Services was allocated funds to provide these services.  Will the allocated funds be moved to the college budget level?  What will happen to the current District positions?  Will they be reclassified, demoted, let go? He advised that eventually, Frank would like to have the Senate’s endorsement.  Alex opened the discussion to the floor.

 

            Several Senators expressed concerns regarding the proposal.  It was stated that generally, facilities have never been designated to a vice president.  In addition, if a VP position is created, will the colleges continue to have a Dean of Administrative Services, thereby increasing the costs to the college?  In addition, Cal Baker’s position will most likely be elevated and supervisors will be needed to help with his workload. It was noted that when President Chong brought his realignment plan to the Academic Senate, he stated there would be no further outlay of funds.  Alex explained that the decision to decentralize had not yet been made at the time President Chong presented his plan to realign the college administrative structure.  The decision to decentralize custodial and grounds was made after the college administrative alignment.  It was noted that information requested by Senators regarding staffing and workload implications of the realignment proposal has not been received by the Senate to date.

 

            Alex stated that there are two separate issues to be considered: one is to consider the duties assigned to the position, and the other is how will the incumbent perform under the new job description.  It is his opinion that when a position is reclassified, and additional responsibilities are assigned to a position, there should be a review of the qualifications for that position, which may necessitate that the job be announced.  He stated that reclassification is also taking place at the District level; this is a District-wide reorganization.  The Chancellor wants to reclassify the Director of Human Resources to an Associate Vice Chancellor position.  There appears to be a pattern.  As to whether or not the Dean position will be eliminated, Alex did not know. Harriett stated that there are no funds at the current time for the dean position.   

 

            It was suggested that other community colleges of similar size be researched to determine if they have a VP of Facilities.  Another opinion stated was that, by definition, reclassification usually pertains to duties someone is performing and not receiving fair compensation for fulfilling those duties.  Although it is true that some of the duties being performed are out of class, the position is now being assigned four additional major responsibilities: physical plant/grounds; custodial services; Bond and State construction projects; and facilities maintenance.  This suggests that the job should be announced and others allowed to apply for the position. 

                   

            Alex agreed to bring the questions back to President Chong at the next GAP meeting and report back to the Academic Senate.                                                                         

 

    B.  Discuss Issues of Concern Relative to ACE Vote and Winter Session

            Senator Smebye, who asked that this item be placed on the agenda, stated that his concern on this matter has been resolved since faculty have voted for a winter session.  He reiterated his concern, however regarding the college’s schedule.  The schedule is a major marketing tool and if there is a delay in publishing the schedule, enrollment could be affected.

 

            Once again, the discussion veered to marketing for the college.  It was reported that Jim Bracy has formed an outreach team to target high schools.  A list of students will be gathered and tracked to see if they enroll at Mission College.  It was also suggested that public relations are important, and since Ruth Carlson cannot possibly handle all of the District’s needs, perhaps some of the departments could prepare statements for distribution to the community.  In support of Peter, it was noted that Peter does as best he can under the limitations of his budget, advertising primarily in local papers.  He and his staff work hard to promote the college.  The problem is that this college is competing with schools putting considerably more money into advertisements for their institutions.

 

            Alex was directed to agendize discussion on Marketing and Promotion of the College and to invite Peter Anning to join the Senate in the discussion.                      

 

   C.   Approval of Accreditation Progress Report

            The Senators were provided with the final draft of the Accreditation Progress Report electronically and they were asked to review the document for today’s meeting.  Harriett advised that the final draft of this report has not changed since first reviewed by the Board of Trustees and the Academic Senate.  The Academic Senate, however, has not formally approved the report, which is required.  The final draft will be presented to the Board at next week’s meeting and must be submitted to the Accrediting Commission by October 21, 2005. 

 

            A minor typo was pointed out and the Senators passed a motion to approve the document with the correction (M/S/P – Cox/Perlas).

 

X.     Correspondence, Publications, & Announcements

         Correspondence

         1.   E-Mail dated September 23, 2005, from Pat Andrews with the results on the vote on the tentative agreement.

            2.   E-Mail dated September 28, 2005, from Randy Castello on the importance of making enrollment.

         Publication/Minutes

         1.   The agenda for the September 28, 2005, meeting of the District Council.

            2.   A report on Mission College Enrollment Trends Update from the Office of Institutional Research.

            3.   A report from Jane Patton, Treasurer of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges dated September 2005.

            4.   A list of tasks for the October 5, 2005, meeting of DBAC.

            5.   The agenda for the GAP meeting of September 28, 2005, and the unapproved summary notes for the September 14, 2005, meeting.

         Announcements/Conferences

         1.  The NISOD International Conference on teaching & Leadership Excellence will be held in Austin, Texas, May 28-31, 2006.  Additional information is 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 4:05p.m. (M/S/U – Cogswell/Cox).  These minutes are respectfully submitted by Grace Hazán, Academic Senate Secretary.