Notes - November 7, 2005
De Anza Academic Senate
Approved Notes for the meeting of
November 7, 2005
Senators and Officers present: Annen, Argyriou, Bryant, Capitolo, Chenoweth, Cordero, Dolen, Dunn, Fritz, Hearn,
Jensen-Sullivan, Joplin, Kline, Logvinenko, Mjelde, Moreno, Mosh, Olsen, Osborne,
Raffaelli, Setziol, Sheirich, Winters, and Zill
Senators and Officers absent: Goodwin and Zarecky
DASB:
Classified Senate: Olivia Patlan
Administrative Liaison: Christina Espinosa-Pieb
Guests: Karl Schaffer and Tom Dewan
[NOTE: Item numbers are reflective of agenda numbers in the order they are actually taken up at the meeting.]
The meeting was called to order at 2:34, a quorum being present.
I. Approval of Agenda and Notes: The agenda was approved as distributed with the addition of an Item IIIa: Nomination of Rich Hansen and the renumbering of the printed Item III as IIIb. The notes of the meeting of October 31st were approved as distributed with the correction of the attendance list and one typographical error.
IIIa. Nomination of Rich Hansen: It was MSCU (Bresnan/Winters) to nominate Rich Hansen for one of the two faculty positions on the California Community Colleges Board of Governors. The nomination goes to the State Academic Senate Executive Committee which will then decide whether or not to send it on as one of three names, one of which will be selected by Governor Schwarzenegger for the position.
V. Academic Senate Scholarships: Former De Anza College Senate president Kathy Plum came, distributed payroll deduction forms for the Academic Senate Scholarship fund, and issued a challenge. She challenged the Executive Committee to raise money for the scholarship fund which she would match up to $6,000 in an attempt to get the fund to a level where the fund could become an endowment for the scholarships.
II. Needs and Confirmations: Karl Schaffer was confirmed for service on the Vernon Gallegos Tenure Review Committee. Dave Stringer was confirmed for service on the Director of Budget & Personnel Search Committee.
IIIb. Academic Senate Orientation: Setziol explained various aspects and ramifications of State Education Code provisions pertaining to: Equivalency to Minimum Qualifications, Hiring Criteria, Administrative Retreat Rights, Tenure Evaluation Procedures, Waiver of Minimum Qualifications for Tenure, Evaluation Procedures, and Faculty Service Areas.
IV. State Academic Senate Plenary Session Recap: Kline began. He said that there were of course many topics being discussed at the conference but he was particularly interested in the problems Senates had in effectively dealing with the many subjects on their agendas. The representatives seemed to share a dismay at the difficulties of choosing which problems/issues were priorities. Also, that different Senates handled such issues as distance learning and technology in a variety of ways. Communication between faculty and administration was another important topic discussed as were the methods to improve this relationship.
Setziol continued by mentioning that the topic of the Associates Degree will be on an agenda in the near future and then proceeded to talk about Basic Skills, Accreditation, and Work to Contract. Specifically, with regard to basic skills, he asked the group whether or not having assessment test results be "portable" for the student was a good idea, portable meaning that a student could be assessed at one college and use that result at another college. It was a clear sense of the Senate that this was a good idea.
Hearn concluded by summarizing the workshops she attended: Academic Freedom, CAN/LDTP (Articulation issues), Faculty Development, and Equity with SLOs. The Academic Freedom workshop addressed problems with and strategies for handling disruptions from student groups for the Student Bill of Rights. The CAN/LDTP workshop provided a history of the disbanding of CAN and the projections for LDTP. The workshop on Faculty Development sought to survey campuses as to what their current Faculty Development resources were and how different campuses handled this area. Finally, the workshop on Equity and SLOs focused on how to define student learning outcomes and how to make sure that equity is central to this endeavor.
For further information or to express an interest in an agenda item on one of the above topics, Senators were referred to Hearn but told of the difficulty of finding room on any of the next four agendas.
VI. Harassment and Discrimination Policy: The item was held over.
VII. Instructional Materials Budget/Faculty Computer Replacement Budget Request: The item began as a request for action on the proposal first presented at the October 31st meeting for $800,000 ($200,000 per year for four years) for faculty computers and for repair and replacement of equipment needed for so called smart classrooms. It was explained that replacing faculty computers would cost an estimated $1,600 per computer and that repair and replacement for smart classrooms would cost an estimated $15,000 per room.
Dolen expressed a concern about the Library's Open Media Lab and about the lack of information and input about and clear distinctions between "Instructional Equipment" and Instructional Materials" Dolen's main concern was about the process whereby instructional equipment money accumulated unspent. Others began to ask that money for other labs also be set aside. The officers and Christina Espinosa-Pieb offered that bringing other things into the discussion was awkward in that 1) Labs are sponsored and budgeted through divisions and 2) Conversations about comparing different needs for this kind of funding have been a function more of the Planning and Budgeting Teams than the Executive Committee, at least in terms of specifics. It was MSC(Fritz/Joplin) to support the $75,000 request for smart classrooms in the written proposal.
At this point an appeal for a detailed explanation as to the difference between "Instructional Equipment" and Instructional Materials" and an appeal for an explanation as to how the needs of the various labs on campus would be prioritized were acknowledged by Hearn. Something that satisfies the query will likely be presented soon. The entire request for faculty computers was then approved by the group.
VIII: Environmental Sustainability: The item was held over with the understanding that the November 14th meeting would, once again, be held in Room 112 of the Kirsch Center and that the topic of environmental sustainability would be high on the agenda.
XI: Good of the Order:
- Environmental Sustainability will be Item III on the agenda for the meeting of November 14th.
- Hearn clarified that, regarding the new smoke free campus policy, there is no particular faculty responsibility for enforcement nor are there any plans for that or for anyone else to enforce the policy this year. The idea, instead, is to educate everyone this year and revisit the policy in time to decide about next year.
- Jeanine Hawk is to be present November 21st to speak to the rationales for a new bond measure.
- There will be a Town Hall meeting on accreditation on the 14th at 3:30. Several Senators immediately said that it might be time for the group to boycott the meeting because of repeated attempts to get the top level administration not to schedule such meetings in conflict with the long standing (since the opening of the college) Senate meeting time.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:33.