The De Anza Academic Senate
Approved Notes for the meeting of
February 9th, 2009
Senators and Officers present: Argyriou, Botsford, Brennan, Cichanski, Coleman, Cordero, Dolen, Hanna, Hughes, Glapion, Goodwin, Guevara, Karst, LaManque, Lee-Klawender, Liu, Logvinenko, Maynard, Miller Setziol, Sherby, Swanner, White, and Winters
Senators and Officers absent: Kang, Lathers, Mitchell, Roberts, and Walton,
DASB: Classified Senate:
Administrative Liaison: Lydia Hearn Guests: Karl Schaffer, Sal Breiter, Terrell Sterling, Patrick Ahrens, Colleen Lee-Wheat, and Jim Haynes,
Curriculum Co Chair: Anu Khanna
[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 2:35, a quorum being present.
I. Approval of Agenda and Notes: The agenda was approved as distributed with item VII (Teaching and Learning Conference) renumbered as Item II , replacing Needs and Confirmations as Cynthia was not in a confirming mood. The notes of February 2nd were approved as distributed with corrections to the attendance section.
II. Teaching and Learning Conference: Sal Breiter presented the item. It will be the 4th annual event. A date has not yet been fixed. This year's event, unlike previous years, is being funded by three grants, Title III, Basic Skills Initiative, and IMPAC. In part because of the nature of the funders, it is reasonable to expect a slight emphasis on topics related to those grants. One of the main reasons for Breiter's appearance was to request volunteers to join the planning committee. Especially sought after were people from instructional areas other than Mathematics, Language Arts, and Social Sciences.
III. March on March: Terrell Sterling and Patrick Ahrens, representing the students, addressed the group to garner support for the "March on March". Given the wording of the title, one might have expected exhortations to march to the very gates of March itself (wherever that is), but no, The march is to be in Sacramento March 16th with the overall event beginning the previous day. The nature of support requested was for the Executive Committee to encourage all faculty to facilitate student participation by avoiding March 16th as an especially important date for things like tests and major projects being due. Faculty or students with any questions are encouraged to contact either or both of them via terrell.sterling@gmail.com and or ahrenspatrick@fhda.edu
IV. Faculty Hiring: Argyriou announced that, due to the 75/25 provisions in the Education Code, somewhere in the vicinity of nine full time faculty are to be hired for Fall 2009. There is some question as to whether or not three of those positions can be assigned to fund 21 programs (categorical programs). The executive committee will need to decide soon what if any message of priority or criteria to communicate to the faculty on the IPBT and SSPBT for their work in producing a recommendation as to which positions should get filled. [NOTE: After the meeting, Argyriou discovered that , in addition to nine at De Anza, there is to be one at Foothill.
V. Institutional Core Competencies: The latest draft (not a proposed final version) was distributed. A Town Hall meeting was suggested. The date possible was said to be February 24th. It was the sense of the Senate that holding such a meeting was a good idea even if not well attended.
Argyriou encouraged all forms of communication before, during, and after a Town Hall meeting. The main focus of discussion and stated concern regarded the use and ramifications of the words "will" and " required". Jim Haynes suggested providing a context for the use of these terms in an introductory "background" section such that these terms would be read as broader goals and ideals rather than objectionable intrusions leading to an ill advised exit exam for De Anza students. Argyriou directed the Senators, including those not in attendance, to get specific feedback from their constituents by the meeting of February 23rd.
VI. Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs): A letter termed a "prewarning warning" from Barbara Beno was distributed as were SLO timelines and SLO characteristics. Given Beno's letter, the timelines may have to be adjusted, changing various due dates to earlier dates. It was MS (Khanna/White) to draft an Academic Senate Resolution for internal and external consumption on the subject of what SLOs are not. During discussion, a friendly amendment sponsored by Khanna, Hanna, and Cordero was accepted adding "successful completion" to the draft SLO characteristics document. The Motion then carried. It was MSC (Khanna/Hanna) to extend the meeting ten minutes. It was the sense of the Senate that, although there were lingering concerns about SLOs, the time for action had arrived.
VIII. Good of the Order and announcements: - Argyriou announced plans for an open forum or town hall style open meeting on the topic of Institutional Core Competencies February 24th in the vicinity of 12:30 PM.
- The Black History Month Scholarship Luncheon was singled out by the distribution of a flyer as one of the worthwhile Black History Month events.
- A Black History Month 2009 Event Calendar was also distributed..
The meeting was adjourned at 4:42.