August 20, 2015 Meeting

Agenda

Academic Senate Meeting
Taft College
Thursday, August 20, 2015
11:10am—1:00pm
Cougar Room

Call to Order
Public Commentary
Approval of Minutes

 

Agenda

  1. Standing Committee Updates –provided electronically in advance of meeting—5 minutes for questions
  2. Reactions to President David Morse’s Special Presentation—15 minutes
  3. Taft College Academic Senate Constitution—Geoffrey Dyer—10 Minutes
  4. Accreditation Update—Eric Berube—10 Minutes
  5. Institutional SLO: Community/Global Consciousness and Responsibility—Vicki Jacobi—10 Minutes
  6. Proposal to Split the Liberal Arts Division into Liberal Arts and English Divisions—Bill Devine—10 Minutes
  7. Annual Program Review Timelines—Eric Berube—10 Minutes
  8. Institutional Set Standard: Successful Course Completion—Bill Devine—10 Minutes
  9. Appointment of Academic Senate Representatives to Screening Committees for Classified and Management Positions—Candace Duron—10 Minutes
  10. Draft Charter of Academic Development Committee—Jennifer Altenhofel—10 Minutes

Other
Adjournment

 

Next meeting is TBD due to holiday on normal meeting day

Minutes

Academic Senate Minutes
Taft College
Thursday, August 20, 2015
11:10am—1:00pm
Cougar Room

Call to Order at 11:12 am
Public Commentary: none
Approval of Minutes: approved by Robert’s Rules without objection

 

Agenda

  1. Standing Committee Updates –provided electronically in advance of meeting—5 minutes for questions

No questions regarding electronically submitted updates from STC, Budget, Curriculum or ADC.

  1. Reactions to President David Morse’s Special Presentation—15 minutes

Open for discussion

Jacobi expressed feedback from others.  Should have had this presentation in the past, but pleased it was recorded so future faculty can review.

Kulzer expressed interest in how other Academic Senates (AS) use elected representatives instead of entire voting body.

Dyer echoed interest in other models of AS.

Jiles suggested representative AS might exclude faculty from the discussion and decision process.

Dyer continued: All AS represent all full-time faculty. Some colleges require representatives to rotate so that no one voice dominates others.  In California, there are four colleges with systems like Taft College.

Legislative statewide issues took the backseat on this agenda as local issues took precedence.

  1. Altenhofel commented on the lack of representation of adjunct faculty within the AS.

Thompson- Because of the increased budgetary needs, including plenary and meeting lunches, considering a representative structure might be prudent.

Oja appreciated distinguishing between the roles of the AS and the faculty association.

Polizzotto mentioned the AS uses of “mutually agreed upon” and “generally relied upon” on our campus and asked how TC uses these terms.

Jacobi mentioned these terms’ presence in the Governance Guide.

Thompson added this document came to the AS last academic year.

 

  1. Taft College Academic Senate Constitution—Geoffrey Dyer—10 Minutes

Dyer presented the historical documents he was able to find which included the 1979 constitution (thanks to Dennis McCall).  The next document was from January 20, 1994 disputing the move to a representative AS at Taft College.

Discussion of the committee membership, members of the executive committee, and efforts to gather models from other colleges’ AS ensued. Dyer presented a fabulous Excel spreadsheet comparing the AS at all 113 CCCs.  This document can be used to guide discussions and research constitutions at other CCCs.

Discussion continued about what our AS should do.  There was an attempt to make and amend motions about how to write our constitution.  Eventually, Devine made a motion to establish a taskforce discuss the status quo, analyze the current constitution, and identify current practice.  Jiles seconded the motion.  Discussion continued about the importance of moving forward to create a new constitution and identifying current practice. Jean recommended inviting past AS presidents to serve of the task force. After discussion, the motion passed. There were four senators in opposition: Altenhofel, Blake, Eveland, and Roth.

  1. Accreditation Update—Eric Berube—10 Minutes

Berube updated the AS on the Accreditation process.  Materials submitted to the site team at the end of Spring semester.  Over the summer, proofread materials were submitted to the Commission.  Weblinks deemed insufficient.  All files saved onto flash drives and resubmitted.

The September site team visit is scheduled for September 28-October 1, 2015.  Cougar Room will be the site team logistical center.  A question surfaced about when we will know with who the site team will want to speak while on campus.  Berube thought that a list of individuals would be forthcoming.

Taft College received notification from ACCJA regarding our Annual Report There were incomplete areas, like CTE, because of an unanticipated position vacancy, complicating submission efforts and additional information regarding institutional set standards.

  1. Institutional SLO: Community/Global Consciousness and Responsibility—Vicki Jacobi—10 Minutes

Jacobi presented on the importance of the connection between the new standards and ISLOs.  Currently there is limited data gathered on ISLOs.  Faculty completed a survey on assessing the ISLO about community and global consciousness and responsibility.  Jacobi shared the idea of a “Dialogue Day” which would be a campus-wide discussion of ISLOs.

  1. Proposal to Split the Liberal Arts Division into Liberal Arts and English Divisions—Bill Devine—10 Minutes

Devine presented a resolution to divide Liberal Arts and English/ESL into separate divisions, each with its own chair, instead of the current co-chair model.  The discussion included questions about meeting the “minimum requirement”, stated in the resolution.

Eveland made a motion to accept the resolution on the first reading.  Layne seconded.  None opposed. Rancano abstained.

  1. Annual Program Review Timelines—Eric Berube—10 Minutes

Berube brought forth a revised schedule for the Annual Review Process which shortens the timeline from eighteen months to twelve.  He shared that the work would be facilitated by increased use of technology, especially in the area of goals and their budgets. This falls under the purview of the AS in that it is not a change to the process, but a change to the timeline only.

Discussion about the program lead positions ensued.  Meeting called back to order by Eveland with the recommendation that the faculty association be invited to discuss workload of program leads.

Eveland made a motion to approve the timeline as submitted.  Polski seconded.  Motion passed.  None opposed.  Oja abstained.

  1. Institutional Set Standard: Successful Course Completion—Bill Devine—10 Minutes

See attached from Devine.

Discussion about strategies for improvement. Polizzotto mentioned accessible technologies.  Dyer mentioned Blake’s studies on Intro to Engineering as potential models for our campus. M. Martinez shared the past practice and on-going weekly math department meetings. Berube reminded the group that this is a new reporting mandate, but not new practice on campus.  Roth would like to invite Clayton, Johnstone, or other experts to campus for professional development.

  1. Appointment of Academic Senate Representatives to Screening Committees for Classified and Management Positions—Candace Duron—10 Minutes

Duron suggested the need to adopt guidelines for consistency in screening committee selection for classified and management positions.  Dyer shared his current practice and asked if his practice is an acceptable alternative to adopted formal guidelines.  Discussion about the need for a selection process.

Oja made a motion to use the presented three question structure presented by Dyer until a constitution could be approved.  Thompson seconded.

Further discussion to include “tenured, untenured, grant, and adjunct” hierarchy language to the ranking order of selection.

Eveland made a motion to continue with current practice until a constitution could be approved.  Jiles seconded.  Motion passed.  None opposed.  No abstentions.

 

  1. Draft Charter of Academic Development Committee—Jennifer Altenhofel—10 Minutes

Report by Altenhofel: Over the summer, Academic Development Committee (ADC) members drafted a charter.  However, yesterday’s ADC meeting, the group discussed the duplication and triplication of efforts among different groups on campus.  Altenhofel mentioned the possibility of creating an “Academic Development Coordinator” hoping for VPI Williams’ continued support.  Funding has not been guaranteed.  This position would be responsible for the coordination of success measures for students starting college at the pre-collegiate level.

Kulzer suggested the “genius” idea of merging the ADC with the Student Success Committee. Kulzer mentioned a caveat to the merger.  If the AS chooses to dissolve the ADC, would there be unintended consequences because of the reporting bodies, ADC to the Academic Senate and Student Success to Governance.

Altenhofel reported having spoken to VPSS Bogle about this proposal. It was reportedly received with enthusiasm.

The word “genius” was used again to describe the potential merging of ADC and Student Success, hyperbole abounds.

Jacobi made a motion to table this discussion to a later date.  Jiles seconded.  Passed unanimously.

Before then, the ADC and the Student Success Committee will discuss the potential impact.

 

Other
Adjournment 1:15 pm

 

The next Taft College AS meeting will be held on August 31, 2015 at 12:10 pm.

Supporting Docs