Notes - October 22nd, 2007 The De Anza Academic Senate
Approved Notes for the meeting of
October 22nd, 2007 Senators and Officers present:, Argyriou, Bambhania, Chenoweth, Coleman, Dolen, Gallegos, Glapion,
Goodwin, Hanna, Hughes, Kessler, Kramer, Lee-Klawender, Maynard, Miller, Mitchell,
Ng Lee, Paicius, Schaffer, Setziol, Shively, Walton, White, and Winters
Senators and Officers absent: Beggs, Cole, LaManque, and
Lathers DASB:
Classified Senate:
Administrative Liaison:
Guests: Brian Murphy, Robert
Griffin, John Swennson, Jeanine Hawk, and
Marisa Spatafore
Curriculum Co Chair:
[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 2:30 a quorum being present. I. Approval of Agenda and
Notes: The agenda was approved as distributed.
The notes were approved as distributed.
II. Needs and
Confirmations: A proposed Search committee for the Environmental Studies Area
classified position was again considered. Kramer read a message from S. Sherman outlining the
difficulty finding male faculty for service on such committees. It was decided to approve those proposed. It
was said that it would be appropriate if Kramer was to contact SEIU to inform
them of the need for a male on the committee.
Similarly, although male Equal Opportunity representatives are a
distinct minority, one is being sought. III. Joint
Meeting with Senior Administrators: Chenoweth began by asking all present to
provide a self introduction. He then
asked President Murphy to inform the group of the current status of the
Strategic Planning effort. Murphy
reiterated some information previously presented and then gave a couple
examples of work in progress.
In response to a query about assessment of
progress or success, Murphy said that he had asked LaManque to work with the four Strategic Planning team
leaders in refining what has been termed “metrics”. A variety of information about initiatives
may be found on the Strategic Planning web site. Questions were raised about the linkage between
initiative assessment and Program Review and about accountability in general of
Strategic Planning efforts. Murphy again
pointed to the four team leaders as the logical choice for these tasks.
Taking a turn towards the next portion of the
agenda item, governance, Murphy brought up the notion that there are
essentially two types of initiatives, 1) the kind that is entirely or primarily
contained within a department or division and 2) the kind that encompass a
wider range of entities. More specifically with regard to governance, Murphy
suggested that a sort of super Planning and Budgeting Team group consider
things like progress relative to initial promise and decisions as to whether or
not certain initiatives should continue. He then said that senior administrators have
been working on a draft proposal in this area and will share it first with the
faculty leadership in perhaps ten days. Discussion then shifted to the notion that
strategic planning calls into question the current governance structure and
that this leads to understandable and, to some, appreciated confusion. Basic ideas as to how to move forward were
gradually revealed to be focused on creating a balance between greater collaboration
(especially between instruction and student services) on the one hand and what
was termed “silo time”
John Swennson urged the Senate to launch a major
effort on Student Learning Outcomes.
This was echoed by Murphy who characterized it as a perhaps unique
opportunity for a serious all faculty dialogue as to what our students should
know. The accreditation mid term report
due soon and the Senate primary reliance nature of the topic argue for a top
priority.
Setziol inquired of Murphy his initial take on a
potential call for a general strike if the U.S. military were to attack Iran in the very near future. Murphy’s
response did not cover the request for an indication of what it would take for
him to call for the closure of the college.
He focused instead on the possibility of an all campus dialogue with
real debate from both sides of the issue.
As time was getting short, several people mused
on the possibility of the Executive Committee drafting possible administrative
and governance structures. The item
was ended due to lack of time with a question about the extent to which it was
acceptable for faculty across the campus to talk in their classes about a
possible strike hanging in the air.
IV. Instructional Testing: The
officers are committed to having Instructional Testing function for Fall
Quarter but, absent a responsible administrator and with very small numbers of
faculty and students using the service, continuing the service into Winter
Quarter may not be possible. V. Fall Plenary Session Resolutions: Given a very short
amount of time available, only one resolution was even introduced, a resolution
referring to work by the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates on
high school exit exams.
VI. Tech Update: ePortfolios, Security: The item was held over. VII. Good of the Order: - It was announced
that a teach in on the situation regarding the U.S. military vis a
vis Iraq and Iran is scheduled for
Wednesday, October 24th in conference room A of the campus center.
- Kramer, on behalf of the
officers, showed pictures of Anu Khanna’s brand new baby.
It was MSCU(Mitchell/Kessler) to
authorize up to $500 for a celebratory gift. The meeting was adjourned at 4:33
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