IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM
THE DISTRICT ACADEMIC SENATE

On Behalf of the District Academic Senate Co-Chairs, please be advised that the District Academic Senate adopted the following resolution at its meeting of February 7, 2006:

Whereas, The West Valley Mission Community College District (hereafter called the District), the Board of Trustees (hereafter called the Board) and the Administration have clearly demonstrated a lack of respect and appreciation for faculty, and

Whereas, The faculty have the perception that the Chancellor and the Board are not cognizant of the value of faculty as a primary resource for accomplishing the District’s mission and goals, and

Whereas, It is the purview of the faculty via the Academic Senate to set academic directions, and

Whereas, District business is being conducted by the Administration and the Board under the guise of shared governance, yet agendas are set without prior consultation and with pre-determined outcomes, as evidenced by the Kuwait Project, the China Initiative, the decision to abandon achieving the District FTES Base as reported to DBAC, and

Whereas, The current organizational climate and faculty morale is at an all time low as evidenced by the increasing number of finalists for faculty positions who do not accept our employment offers, new faculty who resign in the first two years, and long time faculty who are choosing to retire early, and

Whereas, The relationship between negotiating compensation and benefits for faculty and the ability to attract and retain good faculty has a direct relationship to and impact on the quality of academic programs, and

Whereas, Negotiations with the District over the past three years have been unsuccessful and contentious illustrating a change from the spirit of collegiality, good faith, and respect that has historically been the tradition in this District, and

Whereas, There has been a prolonged period of significant breach of confidence between the faculty and the Board, Chancellor and Administration,

Therefore Be It Resolved, That the Academic Senate will continue to support ACE directives regarding work to contract during the Spring 2006 semester, and

Be It Further Resolved, That the Board and Administration enter into good faith negotiations with faculty to achieve a mutually acceptable agreement relative to health benefits and compensation that is commensurate with the actual and true financial status of the District, including all sources of revenue (i.e. the Land Corporation revenues) by March 14, 2006, and

Be It Further Resolved, That, in accordance with Title 5, the Academic Senate requests that a place be set on each Board agenda for the Academic Senate Presidents to directly address the Board on issues of concern relating to academic directions, shared governance, budget processes and any other areas that fall under the purview of the Academic Senate as stated in Title 5, and

Be It Further Resolved, That the District business related to items that fall under the purview of the Academic Senate as stated in Title 5 be presented to the Academic Senate for consideration prior to any action by the Board, District and/or Administration, and

Be It Further Resolved, That the above requests be fulfilled by March 14, 2006, or the District Academic Senate will advise, in writing, the Board, the State Chancellor for California Community Colleges, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) that, with regret, effective March 15, 2006, it will suspend all Academic Senate operations resulting in the following:  All faculty will be directed to end participation in all District and College committees, and all Academic Senate committees and task forces will be directed to cease operations, including the Curriculum Review Committee, the Instructional Technology Committee, the Student Learning Outcomes Committee, Program Review, Information Competency Task Force, Accreditation, and Staff Development among others, and

Be It Finally Resolved, That if by May 1, 2006, the concerns listed above are not satisfactorily resolved, the District Academic Senate will proceed with further consideration of other actions.

Angelica Buendia-Bangle, Co-Chair
Alex Braun, Co-Chair
District Academic Senate