Notes - March 19th, 2007

The De Anza Academic Senate
Approved Notes for the meeting of
March 19th, 2007

Senators and Officers present: Bambhania, Capitolo, Chenoweth, Coleman,  Cordero, Dolen, Gallegos, Glapion, Goodwin, Guevara, Hearn, Jensen-Sullivan, Joplin, Kessler, Kramer, Lathers, Lee-Klawender, Lizardi-Folley, Maynard, Miller, Osborne, Schaffer, Setziol, Winters, and Zill
Senators and Officers absent: Cole, Otake, and Raffaelli
DASB:
Classified Senate: Olivia Patlan
Administrative Liaison: Christina Espinosa-Pieb
Guests: Mike Bull, Steven Rappaport, Claire Buss, Sarosh Jamal, Nick Ferraro, Sal Breiter, Dave Stringer, Carlos Mujal, Charles Ramskov, Will Paicius, Howard Irvin, Kathy Kyne, Robert Griffin, Ryan Bellon, and Carolyn Wilkins-Greene
[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 2:33 a quorum being present.
I. Approval of Agenda and Notes: The agenda was approved as distributed.
The notes of March 5th were approved as distributed after editing a Good of the Order item for sincerity.
II.  Needs and Confirmations:  Wendell Goesling, Charles Ramskov, and Laurel Torres were proposed for service on the Psychology Search and Selection Committee from a list distributed by Chenoweth which also contained the name of Phil Lau.  There was a discussion during which it was clarified that A) although it has not been the norm for retiring faculty to serve on search and selection committees dealing with the replacement of their positions, there is no established policy disallowing it and B) the position about to be searched for is not a straightforward replacement of Phil Lau's identity within the department.  Lau was added to the list to be approved and the list was approved without objection. To warm applause, Hearn announced that Zill had come up with a suitable acronym name for the committee dealing with institutional preparedness.  W.A.I.T. (We're All In This).
III.  Economics Hiring Committee: Mike Bull and Steve Rappaport were present to ask for reconsideration of the confirmation of Sal Breiter and Cynthia Kaufman for the Economics faculty Search and Selection Committee.  Bull pointed out that the third full time faculty member in the department, Roger Mack, was ill and therefore unable to attend but had signed the formal letter to the Senate making the request and stating reasons behind the request.  A statement by Cynthia Kaufman was read by Hearn in favor of retaining the committee already identified.
A very significant discussion ensued during which a number of points were made both for and against reconsideration.  The principal points appeared to be 1. (for reconsideration) the list approved was forwarded to the Senate and approved in error in that the requirement for it to be from the "department/program faculty in consultation with the dean" and 2.  (against reconsideration) all faculty who volunteered were included as per the division practice of at least the last five years.  Numerous times during the lengthy discussion Hearn paused to entertain a motion to reconsider.  None came.  
IV. Early Alert:  Kathy Kyne and Howard Irvin presented.  Kyne began by saying that De Anza was utilizing a $458,000 FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) grant.  Although what is underway is not new conceptually, budget constraints have not allowed the college to do a good job of identifying, tracking, and helping early enough to be promising for students with significant academic problems. Howard Irvin pointed to programs like Auto Tech as being examples of how to do an early alert system well and said that the goal was to spread that effectiveness more broadly.  Kyne demonstrated a new web site dedicated to creating an early alert data base and the means for linking classroom faculty with various student services.  Faculty will be able to enter individual students into the system and then, for example, be able to suggest services and find out which counselor is assigned to help an individual student.   Hearn added that strategic planning efforts are linking this specific approach with a variety of resources.
VII.  Financial Aid Outreach:  Ryan Bellon was present to present presents and to inform the Senators about an upcoming temporary relocation of Financial Aid to modular buildings adjacent to the tennis courts.  He gave out gift boxes and mini brochures and reminded Senators that the Financial Aid Outreach effort continues to seek an audience of students through classroom visits.
V.  Bond Measure Review Subcommittee: A handout from the officers for distribution turned out to be not available.  Hearn will distribute it  through electronic mail and the item will have time at the first meeting of Spring Quarter.
VI.  Vocational Institute Report:  Maynard and Capitolo reported on their experience at the Academic Senate sponsored event.  A handout showing topics presented plus resource people connected with those topics.  They characterized the experience as very worthwhile and comforting in that the problems faced here are by no means unique.
VIII. Process for Hiring Committees: Discussion was very limited although an important point was made about faculty in divisions not knowing the means or the prospects of effecting change in College or District policies that involve division processes.
IX.  Academic Senate President Report: The item was held over.
X.   Good of the Order:  -   Gallegos distributed some very interesting responses in the Creative Arts division to the call for ideas as to how De Anza can be a friendlier place especially for new or prospective students.  [Note: the handout used the term "cultural awareness" whereas Executive Committee documents have used the term "Institutional Preparedness"]
-    Gallegos told the Senators a little about what they missed by not attending the most recent De Anza dance performance.    
-    In response to a question as to the status of proposed Course Materials policy, Hearn reported that the Course Materials Board Policy was not discussed at the last Chancellor's advisory meeting.  The Faculty Association is questioning the Academic Senate's involvement.
-    Hearn will email impending Title 5 changes to the executive members.  Senators are encouraged to make comments directly to the State Senate website or provide comments to Hearn who will forward them on.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:34

Back to Top