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

The minutes for the September 23, 1999, were accepted and approved with the following corrections and clarification (M/S/U - Burtch/Kleppinger):

Page 4, Item VIII. B, second sentence regarding the composition of the team that will review Chapter 4 of the Board Policy was changed as follows:

"It has been decided that a team comprised of the two college president, the two academic senate presidents, the two deans vice-presidents of instruction, and one division chair from each college will take on this task."

Page 4, Item VIII.B, third sentence changed as follows:

"Once the proposed revisions are completed, the document will be brought back to the Senates for approval review , ultimately to be approved by the Board."

No changes were made to today's order of the agenda.

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

1. The Mission College Health Fair will be held on Thursday, October 7th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Many local health-related organizations will be represented and health screenings will be available for HIV, Blood Pressure, Blood Cholesterol, Blood Hemoglobin, Diabetes Screening, Height & Weight Check, and % Body Fat Analysis. The fair will be located outside the Student Health Center (Room W1-303 facing MT Classrooms) weather permitting.

If it rains, the Fair will be held in Center Space.

A. Curriculum Committee - Dianne reported that the committee reviewed, discussed, and considered the Overlap Policy forwarded by the Academic Senate. Ian Walton and Phil DeMarco presented some cogent arguments against approval of the policy. Basically, the points were centered on the fact that a curriculum approval process is in place, which includes review by the Department Chair and Division Chairs. Any concerns should be addressed at that level and course proposals should not move forward to the Curriculum Committee until those concerns are resolved. The Curriculum Committee continues the process under the assumption that proposals have been reviewed and approved at the department and division level. If there is a conflict or dispute that cannot be resolved at the department or division level, the matter can then be brought to the Academic Senate for resolution.

The Senators discussed this matter briefly and there was some agreement that the existing specific problem may need to be resolved in the Senate if the departments cannot resolve it themselves. This issue may be brought back to the Senate for further discussion and resolution at the request of the departments. Dianne was directed to determine if there is a state Academic Senate policy on curriculum approval that covers this problem.

Another area of concern is the number of courses entered into the schedule with the notation, "Pending Board Approval." The committee will have to review first readings for 19 courses by October 4, 1999. This is an extremely difficult task and the new chair has indicated there is a need to change the system. The courses not approved will be pulled from the schedule.

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

C. Committee Appointments: The Senators selected Jane Patton as their nominee to serve as the District Academic Senate's delegate to the ASCCC Fall Plenary Session in November. This nomination will be forwarded to the WVCAS President.

D. Confirm Senate Appointments: No appointments were made today.

The West Valley College Academic Senate (WVCAS) passed a motion at its last meeting to recommend that their graduation ceremony begin at 3:00 p.m. or 3:30 p.m., and asked the WVC Student Senate Liaison to bring the matter to her Senate for discussion and advise the WVC Academic Senate accordingly. The WVCAS will meet again on October 4, 1999. Dianne will apprise the MC Senate of the outcome.

The following list of goals and discussion items was prepared at the last Senate meeting and each goals was reviewed and discussed at today's meeting:

Finalize Program Discontinuance Policy

Reconstitute Balance of Curriculum Committee & prepare for WASC visit

Revisit Shared Governance Policy

Review the Equivalency Process

Begin Educational & Facility Master Plan (Spring)

Review Distance Learning Standards & Practices

Agenda Items for Discussion

Report from Subcommittee on Registration, Records, Grades, Pre-Requisites, Co-Requisites Practices

Review Instructional Technology Committee Structure (Sp 2000)

Review Status of Testing Center (Sp 2000)

Review Status of Workforce Development Committee

Hold a Joint Meeting w Curriculum Committee

Discuss Bookstore Concerns

Review Procedures for Allocation of Full-Time Faculty Hiring

The Senators agreed to form subcommittees to deal with specific goal issues once provided with an overview and historical background of the issues, which Dianne provided. It was agreed that specific Senate meeting dates will be used for subcommittee meetings to deal with specific issues.

There was a brief discussion on the Technology Committee Structure, and it was determined that part of the role of the Instructional Technology Committee is to consider computer lab usage. With that in mind, the Senators unanimously passed the following motion:

(M/S/U - Patton/Kleppinger)

"that the Mission College Academic Senate rescinds its vote of September 23, 1999, at which time Senators Akers-Martin, Hudak, and Kleppinger were appointed to serve on an ad hoc committee to write policy for computer lab usage and charge the Instructional Technology Committee, which is an Academic Senate committee with that responsibility."

It was agreed that the meetings scheduled for October 21st, November 18th, would be designated as Senate subgroup discussions.

This item was postponed to the next Senate meeting, October 7th.

1. District Council - The council members reviewed the Board agenda, and reported on the progress of the staff development reorganization.

2. M-WV Land Corporation Meeting - Dianne presented a letter to the Land Corporation Board members at the special meeting held September 29th, indicating the Senate’s position as stated at last week’s Senate meeting. The Senators reviewed a copy of the letter. The Board held a closed session meeting from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., much to the chagrin of the many faculty, staff, and students who attended the meeting to voice their concerns and views on the Sobrato proposal. The Land Foundation President, Brian Sloan apologized to all present for the length of the closed session, and the Board voted unanimously to approve the Sobrato proposal for two eight-story buildings on the last piece of Mission College land. They discounted the traffic problems as the city’s responsibility, and rejected the compensatory conditions requested by the Academic Senate. Dianne explained that a tenant is ready and waiting to occupy the eight story buildings. If the agreement limitations are imposed, and the height of the buildings is held to four stories, we lose the tenant. This means a loss of revenue to the district. The Board also reminded those present that the question of whether or not buildings are to be built on that parcel of land is no longer moot; Sobrato was awarded the right to build on that land. What has changed is the footprint of the building and the parking lot, not the square footage. The Board stated that they wanted to hear that Mission College, in toto, was opposed to the proposal. That is not the message they heard.

There was a brief discussion amongst the Senators regarding the above report and the impact traffic congestion is already having on the college, two incidents involving 911 calls for an ambulance. On September 8th and 9th there were incidents, one involved a non-responsive diabetic reaction (at 1:00 p.m.) and the other involved severe chest pains (at 9:30 a.m.). On both occasions it took the ambulance 15 minutes from start of call to arrive. When questioned why it took so long, the drivers explained that they were delayed by traffic congestion at the corner of Great America Parkway and Mission College. This is a serious concern.

3. Division Chair Council - No report

4. Others - No reports

Correspondence

The meeting was adjourned at 4:04 pm. (M/S/U – Toppel/Kleppinger). These minutes are respectfully submitted by Grace Hazán, Academic Senate Secretary.