Notes - November 13th, 2006
The De Anza Academic Senate
Approved Notes for the meeting of
November 13th , 2006
Senators and Officers present: Bambhania, Chenoweth, Cole, Coleman, Cordero, Dolen,
Gallegos, Glapion, Goodwin, Hearn, Hertler, Jensen-Sullivan, Joplin, Kang, Kessler, Kramer, Lathers, Lizardi-Folley, Lee-Klawender, Maynard, Mowrey , Osborne, Raffaelli,
Schaffer, Setziol, and Zill
Senators and Officers absent: Bresnan, Capitolo, Miller, and Winters
DASB: Sam Karimzadeh, Celeste Enriquez, and
Classified Senate:
Administrative Liaison:
Guests: James Schwab, Vladimir Logvinenko, Emin Ismayilzada, and Sarah Kim
[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 .
The notes of the meeting of November 6th were approved as distributed with minor editing.
II. Needs and Confirmations: Chenoweth pointed to the needs and proposed
confirmations attached to the draft notes of November 6th.
Cristina Moreno and Michael Chang were confirmed for service on the Mandarin Chinese faculty Search and Selection Committee, Diana Alves De Lima and Cheryl Owiesny were confirmed for service on the Catalyst Features Committee, and Diana Fleming, Ken Weisner, Jean Miller, Karen Chow, and Marshall Hattori were confirmed for service on the English faculty Search and Selection Committee.
Hearn announced that she would be serving on the Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Search and Selection Committee. This was done as an announcement because, by Executive Committee policy, the Senate President serves on high level administrator search committees.
III. Proposed Library Advisory Committee: Former long time Senator Vladimir Logvinenko was present to advocate for the formation of a new committee to advise the library in the area of acquisitions and the selection of books to be discarded He cited several circumstances and reasons which elicited positive responses from Senators. In response to a question about possible frequency of meetings, Dolen said once or twice a quarter was appropriate due to irregular funding times. The group agreed to the proposal. The committee will be a Senate Sub Committee.
IV. Self-Authored Course Materials - Board Policy: Hearn distributed a document articulating on one side, according to the officers, a summary of the pertinent arguments for and against revisions to Board Policy. The other side of the sheet of paper was intended for item VI on the agenda. She began the discussion by reminding the group that the Senate has a two year standing position in favor of the existing policy which is essentially diametrically opposed to the proposal. Several comments and questions prompted the officers to remind themselves and the group that much of what was being brought up has been planned for inclusion in a long awaited textbook and other course materials policy implementation document. All manner of fine details and figuring out a way to legislate against conflict of interest without discouraging faculty authorship are intended for that document and the discussions leading to it. Students present spoke in favor of the existing Senate position in opposition to the proposal currently under discussion. Hearn will make a presentation to the Chancellor's Advisory Council and, should that group and Martha Kanter proceed with the proposal, oppose it at any Board meeting at which it is on the agenda.
V. Proposed Library/Readiness Center Merge : Hearn began the discussion by clarifying one aspect of the previous meeting's discussion and by making an announcement of a change in what is being proposed. The clarification was that two different basic possibilities had been inadvertently conflated during presentation and discussion: One, administrative reorganization where there is a shuffling or addition or subtraction of programs for which a particular administrator is responsible and Two, programmatic restructuring where programs would actually merge programmatically or restructure internally. The announcement was that Judy Miner has decided that, given the need for further discussion, an interim position requiring library qualifications was appropriate. Several people thanked Hearn for the clarification and it was the sense of the Senate that an interim position was entirely appropriate. It was further clarified that the Senate's view of the interim position and time period was that it was dedicated to dialogue and exploration of possibilities, including some not yet contemplated, rather than being a "trial period". Hearn asked for the students' opinion. All spoke in favor of the sense of the Senate. In addition to furthering the Senate's views on the specific proposal, Hearn and the other officers will take steps to ensure open and inclusive processes for future administrative positions whether interim or permanent.
VI. One Time Monies Distribution: Hearn directed the group's attention to the second side of the sheet of paper distributed for item IV. It was organized in two columns, one detailing points made by the Faculty Association and the other giving administrative responses to those points. She offered this as being what has been proposed to date and asked the group to determine its wishes. The group focused almost exclusively on FA versus administrative points and later had difficulty focusing elsewhere. At one point, a slight alteration in the proposal on retiree benefit liability was offered. At this point the officers intervened, reminding the group that Hearn was precluded by law from adding anything like this at a meeting in which administrators were involved. Specifically, with regard to anything involving compensation or benefits or contractually related working conditions, Hearn could only voice support for the FA position or opposition or remain silent. Hearn was asked about and promised to find out whether or not there was a partitioned fund in the budget that was growing as a hedge against the increasing retiree benefit liability. Closely related to this was a sense of the Senate that the current two tiered benefit situation was a bad idea. The group continued discussing the pros and cons of administrative and FA points of debate until reminded by the officers that a) time for discussion was nearing its end and b) the group needed to shift its focus to what it wanted to do with the one time money. Cole immediately proposed 1) a commitment to address the liability, 2) setting aside money to fund an unspecified number of new tenure track positions, and 3) opposing any move to create one year full time faculty positions, something she said was a proposal coming from administration in at least her division. The officers responded by saying that the last point was a bit premature and was such a major development requiring significant cooperation and legal scrutiny that it should be held aside for the time being. Time having elapsed, Hearn asked the group to prepare for a major effort on this item at the November 23rd meeting
VII. Good of the Order: - Hertler showed the group copies of the entertainment book benefiting De Anza athletics. Several people noted the attractive offers for attractive places contained in the book. They can be bought directly from Hertler, who is accepting personal checks.
- Hertler also brought the group's attention to apparel for sale at the bookstore where the De Anza name looks very much like DeAnza.
- Jensen Sullivan brought up a program entitled "Leave No Child Inside" aimed at introducing urban young people to the world of nature because of the alarming rate of decline of young people interacting directly with the natural world.
- Hearn announced that, as lovely as the group's time meeting in the Kirsch Center has been, next week (the meeting of November 20th) will be the last in the center for the time being. She explained that this was due to the fact that the completion of the administration building would allow the group's meetings to be held there and that, the rainy season now beginning would make the long walk across campus to the Kirsch Center discouraging for potential guests and problematic for regular attendees.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30