Mission College Academic Senate

Ext. 5413

Approved  Minutes

Thursday, October 17, 2002

 

I.       Call to Order/Roll Call

            The meeting was called to order by President Jane Patton at 2:07 p.m. 

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

Dooley    (Ext. 5379)  AAS

 

    X

Martin      (Ext. 5356)  Tech.

    

   X

Estrada     (Ext.5164) CommSvc

 

    X

Musat       (Ext. 5331) Math

 

   X

Guich      (Ext. 5270) Social Sci.

 

    X

Oliver       (Ext. 5427)  AAS

 

   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 Rep.), S. Hanna

 

    X

 

 

 

Guests: J.Burrell, L.Harris, S.Dinger, G.Greenwood,

 

    X

    X

Guests: J.Delongchamps, T.Jackins, S.Kinsella,.W.Negash,   D.McKay, P.Sienna

 

   X

   X

   X

                   

 II.    Approval of the Minutes

            The minutes for October 10, 2002, meeting were accepted and approved as submitted (M/S/P - Lynne/VanTassel).

 

III.    Order of the Agenda

            No changes were made to today's agenda.

 

 IV.    Oral Communication from the Public

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

        

  V.    Information & Announcements 

         1.   Senator Estrada noted that the WVC Academic Senate has agreed to form an Information Competency Task Force.  She suggested that the MC Academic Senate consider doing the same.  This item will be placed on a future agenda.                      

         2.   President Patton noted that the October 24, 2002, meeting of the Academic Senate will be a joint meeting of the Senate and the Division Chair Council to consider requests for new faculty positions.  The Senator and Division Chair from each division will meet after the meeting to deliberate on the requests, and the prioritized list will be brought to the meeting of November 7th.  She reminded the Senators that the meeting scheduled for October 31, 2002, is cancelled.

 

VI.    Administrative Business/Actions/Appointments

  A.    Curriculum Committee  - Alex reported that the committee is under a mid-October deadline to  review 50 curriculum proposals that are pending approval.  The committee will probably meet for the next three weeks in order to accomplish its task in a timely manner.

 B.     Staff Recognition -  No resolutions were presented.

  C.    Committee Appointments  -  None

 

 

 

  D.    Select David R. Pierce Faculty Technology Award - The following nominations were submitted for the Senate's consideration for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) David R. Pierce Faculty Technology Award:

                  1.   Marsha Chan nominated by Marjorie Knowles

                  2.   Jason Halasa nominated by Marc Light

                  3.   Helen Ostrander nominated by Ellen McAlister

                  4.   Anna Szabados nominated by Gail Greenwood

            The Senators reviewed the nominations, giving specific consideration to the criteria established by the AACC.  There was a brief discussion on the individual nominees with reference to specific criteria.  The Senators voted by written ballot and Anna Szabados was selected as the candidate to forward to the AACC for consideration.  The award winners will be announced at the AACC Conference in Dallas, April 5, 2003.  Congratulations Anna.

         1.  Staff Development -   In the event that the college moves to a 16-week calendar, Betty advised that Staff Development will be available to assist faculty with academic preparation to accommodate the new calendar.  In light of today's important task, Betty suggested that the Senators complete a team building exercise to help maintain the perspective that, ultimately, everyone continues to operate as a unit.

         2.  District Information Technology Steering Committee  - No report

            3.  Instructional Technology Committee  .- No report

         4.  Program Review Committee  -  No report

         5.  Other:   None

 

VII.   Old Business

 

   A.   Senate Discussion & Vote on Compressed Calendar

President Patton made an opening statement, advising that shared governance means all stakeholders participate in the decision-making process.  The Senate is charged by law to make decisions on academic and professional matters.  The Senators have been provided with research data, the Academic Senate for CCC's position paper on alternative calendars, student survey results, and the recommendation of the Division Chair Council, all relative to the calendar issue.  She praised the work accomplished by the Senate members and expressed her appreciation for the manner in which they have conducted themselves relative to this difficult decision.  Jane emphasized that the role of the Academic Senate is to make a decision based primarily on academic, instructional and support needs for the students. The Senate's decision on the calendar will be reflected in its recommendation to GAP and GAP will consider the issue and make a recommendation to the President.

 

The following motion was placed on the table for consideration (M/S - Brennan/Guich):

 

'that the Mission College Academic Senate endorse the change from an 18 week calendar to a 16 week calendar, and that the Mission College Academic Senate urge the college to clearly establish our student success rate, establish any impact the compressed calendar may have on these rates, and implement meaningful reforms intended to significantly increase student success rates at Mission College."

 

A lengthy discussion ensued regarding the role of the Senators as representatives of their divisions.  Several Senators stated their understanding that their vote is intended to represent the decision of their divisions, and therefore, no additional discussion is required.  They asked for clarification.

 

Jane reiterated that the Senate is charged to make decisions primarily based on the academic, instructional and support needs of the students.  The Division Chair Council (DCC) voted based primarily on the operational perspective from their divisions.  There would be no need for a Senate vote on this issue if the DCC's vote was merely to be repeated.  The Senate's role necessarily must be to ensure that such a change is pedagogically sound and in the best interests of the students. Others stated that the Senate has to represent all interests from an academic perspective.  Senators must use critical thinking powers and if there are compelling reasons to differ from their divisions, the Senators have the responsibility to vote appropriately and explain their reasons for doing so to their constituents.  This is not unlike government representatives, who often vote contrary to the wishes of their constituency for compelling reasons.  Jim Delongchamps took issue with this rationale, stating that the DCC does not vote as an operational unit.  Its vote was based on the collective wisdom of the departments in the division, and he expressed certainty that the DCC voted in the best interests of the students.  Phil Sienna expressed concern that the Senate was treading dangerous ground by going against the majority rule, which has always prevailed on the calendar.

 

            Dianne McKay emphasized that the decision on the calendar cannot be made based solely on the vote of faculty.  The calendar proposal substantially changes the way the college operates, and the final approval is made by the state Chancellor's Office.   The college's rationale to the state for the change must be based on academics and solid pedagogy for student success.  At this time a motion to call for the question failed, and discussion continued. 

 

The student representatives reported that the ASB vote at their last meeting on the calendar was tied, and the ASB President broke the tie with a vote for the calendar change.  There were a few questions regarding the proposed calendar, dates, inter-session, etc.  It was explained that, if approved, the calendar would most probably be the same as the current West Valley College calendar.  In response to concerns about an inter-session, the Senate was advised that WVC does not have an inter-session planned as yet, primarily due to the fact that negotiations have not yet been completed on this matter between ACE and the district. 

 

            Concern was expressed that the above motion as presented (see page 2) complicated the issue with its second half regarding student success rates.  After a brief discussion, a motion to strike out the second half of the motion passed (M/S/P - VanTassel/Sippel), and a motion for a roll call vote on the question failed and a motion for a written ballot passed.  The first half of the original motion was passed by written ballot (M/S/P - VanTassel/Sippel):

           

            "that the Mission College Academic Senate endorse the change from an 18 week calendar to a 16 week calendar."

 

            The second half of the above motion was presented as a new motion with a friendly amendment and passed (M/S/P - Brennan/Johnson):

 

"that the Mission College Academic Senate urge the college to clearly establish our student success rate in every discipline, establish any impact the compressed calendar may have on these rates, and implement meaningful reforms intended to significantly increase student success rates at Mission College."

 

The Senate was urged to enforce the above motion by putting a plan in place as soon as possible for the collection of information and to consider all areas without delay.

 

 

            The remaining business items on today's agenda were postponed to the November 14, 2002, meeting of the Senate.

     

X.     Correspondence, Publications, & Announcements

         Correspondence

         1.   E-mail from Fred Prochaska, dated October 16, 2002, re: Innovation Fund Workshops.

                                                                                    (Continued on Next Page)

            2.   An open letter to the MC Academic Senate dated October 15, 2002, from Quin Jackins on the issue of the 16-week calendar.

            3.   E-mail dated October 14, 2002, from ACE re: the ACE benefit counter-proposal.

         Publication/Minutes

         1.   The agenda for the October 17, 2002, meeting of the Mission-West Valley Land Corporation.

            2.   The agenda for the October 23, 2002, meeting of DBAC.

            3.   The agenda for the October 21, 2002, meeting of the MC Curriculum Review Committee and minutes for the October 7, 2002, meeting of the committee.

            4.   The agenda for the October 17, 2002, meeting of the Board of Trustees.

            5.   Position Paper from the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, "Toward A Perspective on Workforce Preparation & Economic Development" adopted Spring 2002.

            6.   Position Paper from the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, "Part-Time Faculty: A Principled Perspective" adopted Spring 2002.

 

XI.    Future Agenda Items

            1.   Consider the Formation of an Information Competency Task Force  (Estrada)

2.   Role of Academic Senate and its Members (Patton)

 

XII.   Adjournment

            The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m. (M/S/U - Sippel/Oliver).  These minutes are respectfully submitted by Grace Hazán, Academic Senate Secretary.