Mission College Academic Senate

Ext. 5413

Approved  Minutes

Thursday,  October 2, 2003 

 

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

Braun      (Ext. 5355) Pres/Tech

 

   X

Martin     (Ext. 5356)  Tech.

    

   X

Brennan    (Ext. 5313)  Comm

     

    X

Musat      (Ext. 5331) Math

 

   X

Charland  (Ext. 5046)  Stud. Dev.

 

    X

Oliver      (Ext. 5427)  AAS

   X

   

Dooley    (Ext. 5379)  AAS

 

    X

Perlas      (Ext. 5041)  Stud.Dev.

 

   X

Estrada     (Ext.5164) CommSvc

 

    X

Rivas      (Ext. 5282)  CATA

 

   X

Johnson   (Ext.5277) CATA

 

    X

Rosner      (Ext. 5317) ESL

 

   X

Laird       (Ext. 5186) SocScience

 

    X

Smebye   (Ext. 5305) CommServ

 

   X

Lavallo    (Ext. 5399)  Math

 

    X

Zeisler     (Ext. 5426) Comm

 

   X

Other:  B.Grayson (Staff Dev)

   X

 

ASB Reps. B.Casillas, R.Holt

 

   X

 

Division Chairs

   A

   P

Division Chairs

   A

   P

Chandler        (Social Science)

    

   X

Lam              (Math)

 

   X

Cowels          (AAS)

 

   X

Lowenberg     (ESL)

 

   X

Delongchamps  (CATA)   

   

   X  

Miller      (Student Developmen)

 

   X

Dinger   (Commercial Services)

    

    X

Patton  (Communctns)

 

   X

 

Guests

   A

   P

Guests

   A

   P

 W.S.Chiang,  P.Hudak, M.Jahan

    

   X

 J.Lucas, B. Miller, M.Myint, J.VanTassel,

    

    X

    X

 

 

II.     Approval of the Minutes

            The minutes for the meeting of September 25, 2003, were accepted and approved with the following change to Page 1, Item IV (Oral Communication from the Public), last paragraph (M/S/U – Dooley/Rivas) for the purpose of clarification:

           

            “It was explained that the intent of the District is to change current policy practice, which permits Emeritus faculty and/or faculty on banked leave to serve on Tenure Review Teams.”  

 

III.    Order of the Agenda

            The Senators agreed (M/S/U – Dooley/Smebye) to address Item VII.A immediately following Item IV.  The remaining agenda items will be addressed if there is ample time. 

             

 IV.    Oral Communication from the Public

            Jack Lucas, Vice President of the Board of Trustees presented himself to the new Senators, and explained that he has been serving on the District Board of Trustees since December of last year.  He has been in Education for 42 years, is retired from the Los Gatos High School District, and currently teaches part-time for the Fremont High School District.  He explained that he is very approachable and available to discuss his personal views on any concerns or respond to any questions.  Mr. Lucas expressed his optimism about the current crises and the coming year. 

 

            It was noted that the Academic Senate is still monitoring the vote of no confidence in the Chancellor, with particular regard to the Bill of Particulars.  Mr. Lucas was asked if the Board of Trustees has considered the Bill of Particulars and addressed the specific concerns presented therein as they relate to the evaluation of the Chancellor.  Mr. Lucas, stating that he could not speak for his colleagues on the Board, expressed his view that it appears that the Chancellor is attempting to address those issues by establishing a quarterly round table session.  It is his hope that the Chancellor will continue to work through this matter.  Mr. Lucas was advised that many specifics in the Bill of Particulars remain to be addressed, and the Senate is hopeful that the Board of Trustees continues to pay attention to those specifics.  It is the Senate’s hope to work as partners with the Board and to ensure that we have strong leadership in the district.  Mr. Lucas stated his opinion that the Board has become stronger than in the past and it is his hope that the trend will continue.  Senators expressed their appreciation to Mr. Lucas for his visit and his candor.

 

As agreed, the Order of the Agenda was suspended and moved to Item VII.A.

        

VII.   Old Business

 

A.       Joint Meeting of DCC and MCAS re: Full-Time Faculty Hiring List

Alex explained the process developed by the Academic Senate and the Division Chair Council (DCC) that has been used for a number of years to determine what faculty positions are viable and should be filled.  He emphasized that this task is one of the most important responsibilities of the Academic Senate.

 

            The Academic Senate members and the members of the DCC will re-evaluate the alphabetical list of 22 positions.  The appropriate Division Chair, or designee will present a supporting argument for each position in two-minute blocks, and a question and answer period will be held after all presentations have been made. Following today’s discussion, the Senate representatives and the Division Chairs will jointly review the approved list and consider ranking.  The individual prioritized lists will then be forwarded to the Office of Instruction, where the statistics will be compiled.  The results will be forwarded to the DCC and the Academic Senate, and the two groups will meet again to discuss the results on October 16, 2003.

 

            The appropriate Division Chair, or designee, made a presentation for each request, and the remaining meeting time was used for discussion.  The positions, listed in alphabetical order, are as follows:

 

            Art #1                                                                          Health Occupations  #5

            Art #2                                                                          Health Occupations  #6

            Assessment Coordinator                                             Health Occupations  #7

            Child Development #2                                                 Instructional Tec - #2 - DL

            Communication Studies                                              Library Services #2 (Instructional)

            Counseling #1 (Ret/Lrng Comm)                                Mathematics  #2

            Counseling #3 (General Counselor)                            Mathematics  #3

            Economics                                                                   Music

            ESL #2                                                                        Physical Education

            ESL #3                                                                        Political Science

            Health Occupations  #4                                               Psychology

 

            After all presentations were made, Alex opened the floor to questions and discussion. During discussion, concern was expressed that there are some departments who have not submitted requests even though there is a great demand for certain classes, i.e. Biology, Chemistry, and CIT.  It was noted that some programs are too costly to offer even when the budget is not in crisis.  It is the Senate’s responsibility, however, to address the needs of the students and the college, and it was suggested that when the Senate becomes aware of the need, the Department Chair be requested to provide a justification or rationale to the Senate for not requesting a position. Another suggestion was to utilize the Program Review process to determine justification for a position.  The Senate, upon review of the rationale, has the responsibility to take the appropriate action, and/or make a strong recommendation to the Department Chair.  It was agreed that, at this time, it is appropriate to move forward with the list as presented.  The following motion was made (M/S– Johnson/Brennan):

 

            “that the Mission College Academic Senate agrees to the viability of the twenty-two (22) full-time faculty positions as presented, to maintain last year’s ranking for the Spring 2004 hires, and that the list move forward through the next step in the full-time faculty hiring process.”

           

            A brief discussion ensued relative to the feasibility of serving all the needs of students, particularly relative to expensive programs.  It was acknowledged that the issue presents a dilemma, but, nevertheless, it remains the responsibility of the Senate to address the academic needs of the students and the college and to consider available options, if any. 

 

            The above motion passed unanimously, and the Senators will meet with the appropriate Division Chair to consider ranking of the positions.  The Senate and DCC will meet again on October 16, 2003.   

 

            As agreed, the remaining agenda items were postponed to the next Senate meeting.                   

 

XI.    Adjournment

            The meeting was adjourned at 4:05  p.m. (M/S/U – Charland/Brennan).  These minutes are respectfully submitted by Grace Hazán, Academic Senate Secretary.