Reports from the Academic Senate RepresentativeAlong with Vernon Gallegos I represent the Creative Arts Division on the Academic Senate Executive Committee during the 2007-2008 academic year. Please contact either of us with issues and concerns that you think might be appropriate for consideration by the Senate officers or the Executive Committee:Vernon Gallegos: gallegosvernon@deanza.eduI plan to email reports on the Executive Committee meetings and related matters to division faculty or a regular basis. In addition I will post copies of the reports here. Executive Committee Reports are archived at http://faculty.deanza.edu/mitchelldan/newsItems/departments/academicSenate. Brief report on 3/10/08 Academic Senate Executive Committee Meeting. (I arrived late for this meeting due to a teaching commitment.) I. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND MEETING NOTES II. NEEDS AND CONFIRMATIONS See Senate web site at http://faculty.deanza.edu/academicsenate/ for updated list of committees, etc. needing faculty participation. III. WRITING AND READING CENTER Karen Chow (WRC) and Diana Alves de Lima (Tutorial Center) from the Writing Resource Center and the Tutorial Center described their programs to the executive committee. The centers offer resources for students needing help with writing and with course content in other subject areas. Help available for all students including developmental and transfer level. Also, help with "personal statements" and scholarship applications. Issues facing the program include: crowded tutorial center (plans to consolidate programs); funding (no stable college support, DASB support helps with student salaries), stable college funding for faculty leadership in WRC. Among other things, it was reported that Creative Arts Division is not a big participant in these programs. NEXT - I am not clear under which agenda item this is found, but a discussion of district budget issues followed. Concern was expressed regarding the scheduling of a campus "town hall" on the budget during the Senate executive committee standing meeting. A discussion of how and how much to respond to issues such as this scheduling against a senate standing meeting ensued. IV. UNIVERSITY STUDIES DEGREE Nothing to report V. SENATE OFFICERS REORGANIZATION Discussion of president-elect position, etc. It was reported that Senate has had a difficult time in recent years finding potential officers and handing the difficult transition from one set of officers to another. Various ideas were floated including that of moving from the current structure (1 year president, 2 year vice-president, 3 year secretary) to a model including a "president-elect" position, with a goal of increasing the future president's readiness to act effectively. Questions were raised about what effect such a change might have on the likelihood that qualified facutly members would step forward to serve as senate officers and about the advisability of instituting some sort of "term limit" for senate officers. (Speaking for myself as an observer of and participant in the discussion - and as a past senate president - certain issues seemed interesting and in need of further discussion: term limit; would there be some accommodation for a past officer returning to the presidency without being president-elect again or not; my concern that a one-year only presidency might disempower the position overall countered by the idea that a president elect might pick up much of what the president picks up in the first year. Is there a structure by which we could have a one-year president-elect and a two-year president? Should a discussion of the amount and allocatin of released time for the pres-elect and other officers be part of this discussion?) I volunteered to particiate on a subcommittee to work on a proposal. VI. LOAD Senate officers presented a simplified and streamlined revision of a document presented at a previous executive committee meeting. The proposal is about "process" and attempts to deal with both the "small" issues (rectifying certain immediate load "issues" that might affect a course) and "large" issues (development of a process and policy related to assigning load to courses). Although it is my position that moving forward on process when the executive committee has not articulated basic principles around load determination, the executive committee approved the proposal. (A personal observation/comment - Goals would seem to include: clarifying how load decisions are made - e.g. what factors are considered, how they apply, and who applies them; ensuring that the process is not derailed by creating significant "winners and losers"; trying to make the determination of load a more open and understood process; aligning the objective aspects (number of units, etc) with the subjective aspects (relative "difficulty" of disciplines and types of courses, class size, etc). Currently there _seem_ to be two "subjective elements" that come into play: subjective "difficulty" (e.g. - how much "work" is it to teach, say, History, compared to, say, Language Arts) and class size.) At one time in the past there was a proposal to have curriculum committee determine units and class size. As I understand it, the committee approved by senate: works to resolve current load issues; establishes (proposes?) a standard for determining load; establishes the process for making decisions about load; VII. END OF QUARTER CELEBRATION Senate approved having a very small "celebration" at the final meeting of the winter quarter. VIII. STATE/DISTRICT POLICIES/UPDATES ??? IX. GOOD OF THE ORDER Classified senate thanked us for support in contract negotiations Dancestry - March 21 8:00 p.m. Smithwick Theatre, Foothill $15, $12 students 408-864-8506 or contact Vernon Gallegos Report on the January 28, 2008 Meeting Academic Senate Executive Committee Meeting on January 28, 2008 Report to the Creative Arts Division. Hello colleagues: This is my unofficial summary of LAST week's academic senate executive committee (EC) meeting. Official senate meeting notes (and other useful materials) are found at the senate web site at http://faculty.deanza.edu/academicsenate/. Your Creative Arts Division senate representatatives are Vernon Gallegos (gallegosvernon@deanza.edu) and myself (mitchelldan@deanza.edu) - contact us with questions or concerns related to academic and professional issues. I post copies of these reports at my faculty web site. See http://faculty.deanza.edu/mitchelldan/newsItems/departments/academicSenate NEEDS AND CONFIRMATIONS Several confirmation votes were taken. Of interest to the Creative Arts Division, the addition of Bill Nagel (replacing Bill Geisinger) to the Kang tenure review committee was approved. Senate approved the nomination of Marion Winters for the Stanback-Stroud Diversity Award. As I understand it, there is still room for individuals who are interested in the planning for the "Mediated Learning Building" to be located on the west side of the campus. Contact me if you are interested and I'll give you more information about meeting times and dates. I understand that there may be a need for faculty on a search and selection committee for the director of EOPS, especially since this is a "faculty position." Faculty members are needed for the EIS steering committee which meets on a weekly or perhaps less basis on Tuesdays at 3-5:00 p.m. Other committee needs include Recycling Committee, Part Time Office Space, and District Professional Development Committee. A summary of "needs and confirmations" issues is also posted at the senate webs site: http://faculty.deanza.edu/academicsenate/stories/storyReader$429. Included there should be information about other opportunities for faculty participation in shared governance, including a "recycling committee," Committee for Part Time Office Space, a Professional Development Leave District Committee, and WAITT ("We're All In This Together") committee, and perhaps more SENATE BUDGET Several items related to the Academic Senate budget received attention. Proposals to send faculty to several statewide workshops were described, including a plan to send three to a curriculum workshop and two to a vocational education workshop. There was a brief (and to me, I'm afraid, somewhat confusing) discussion of senate expenses from the "dues budget" - that portion of the senate's budget that is funded by senate dues. There was some confusion about the outcome of this discussion, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to report on the resolution after the February 4 meeting. (During this section of the meeting it was also reported that the State Acedemic Senate web site has moved to www.asccc.org.) MEDIATED LEARNING BUILDING VP-Finance/Budget Jeanine Hawk visited senate to report on this project. Plans are to locate it just south of the Flint parking garage, extending east from the current staff house location. This will result in some realignment of west campus traffic patterns. Some building highlights: 80 underground parking spaces will be included to replace spaces lost during construction; the building is aiming for a high level of environment efficiency and certification; the building will either be two stories or partly two stories and partially shorter. LOAD FACTORS A discussion of load factors - history, issues, and prospects for reconsideration of load - was begun. This is a complex issue and it difficult to deal with concerns that there could be "losers" as a result of changes. There are already some ways to correlate specific loads with courses: a "traditional" system linking lecture/lab hours to a percentage of load, "past practice" that has evolved over many years, and so forth. One idea was to have curriculum committee somehow address this as part of the curriculum approval process, linking load to each course. Another idea was that by "grandfathering" current faculty it might be possible to consider real change for the future. In any case, discussions around finding a rational basis for determining load will likely continue. GOOD OF THE ORDER It was reported that an ESL faculty member is in need of local housing Dan Mitchell Report on the January 14, 2008 Meeting Academic Senate Executive Committee Meeting on January 14, 2008 Report to the Creative Arts Division. Hello colleagues: This is my unofficial summary of this week's academic senate executive committee (EC) meeting. Official senate meeting notes (and other useful materials) are found at the senate web site at http://faculty.deanza.edu/academicsenate/. Your Creative Arts Division senate representatatives are Vernon Gallegos (gallegosvernon@deanza.edu) and myself (mitchelldan@deanza.edu) - contact us with questions or concerns related to academic and professional issues. I post copies of these reports at my faculty web site. See http://faculty.deanza.edu/mitchelldan/newsItems/departments/academicSenate NEEDS AND CONFIRMATIONS A short list of names was considered for membership on an EOPS search committee. Some questions about this committee could not be answered at the executive committee meeting so no action was taken, but the proposed committee membership will probably be considered at a future meeting. An advisory committee is being formed for the "Mediate Learning Center" to be located on the west side of the campus. An extremely (some might say "ridiculously") short timeline was presented for obtaining members and approving them. Nonetheless, members on this committee are being solicited, particularly but not necessarily only from from departments that will have a presence in the facility, including Anthopology, IIS, Social Science, and possibly Math. Because of the short timeline - basically it will be impossible to approve members before the group begins to meet - it was suggested that interested faculty could attend as "observers" initially and ask to be confirmed later. More information concerning this committee is available at the senate URL listed in the following paragraph A summary of "needs and confirmations" issues is also posted at the senate webs site: http://faculty.deanza.edu/academicsenate/stories/storyReader$429. Included there should be information about other opportunities for faculty participation in shared governance, including a "recycling committee," Committee for Part Time Office Space, a Professional Development Leave District Committee, and WAITT ("We're All In This Together") committee, and perhaps more UPDATE ON THE TEACHING AND LEARNING WORKSHOP You have almost certainly heard about and received pamphlets describing the upcoming Teaching and Learning Workshop scheduled for Friday, February 22. As I understand it, proposals for workshops and so forth are still being entertained. All faculty are encouraged to attend the workshop. PART TIME FACULTY COMMUNICATION Discussion of this issue began at the previous executive committee meeting and continued here. Discussion centered around an idea to create some sort of committee of part-time faculty members that would work with Senate and FA to represent part-time faculty on issues of special concern to them. One idea put forward was there might be one such faculty member from each division on the committee. It was proposed that FA and Senate would pay the members of the committee for their work. There was some confusion about whether this would be a De Anza College committee or a District committee, with those making the proposal seeming to move in the direction of constituting it as a District committee. There was extensive discussion of this idea. There seemed to be general recognition that communication with adjunct faculty could and should be improved in many ways, and that it is perhaps not a good thing when such adjunct colleagues have little or no contact with the general college community and their full-time and part-time faculty colleagues. Alternative ideas were suggested: the part-time faculty could form such a committee without Senate/FA approval; there might be some other avenue for compensating part-time faculty who participate in college/district activities outside of their teaching assignments in general; and so forth. Since there was no actual motion on the table regarding these issues no action was taken, though it seems likely that the discussion will continue. FACULTY DEMOCRATIC SOLICITATION PROCESS The theme of this discussion was that there might be more organized and systematic ways to get feedback from faculty concerning their positions and concerns relative to a variety of campus issues. The concern here, as is often the case, is that for one reason or another the "voices" of many faculty may be absent from decision-making processes. A sample form for obtaining faculty input was distributed and considered. There was some discussion about the balance between soliciting full input from all faculty on all issues and the idea that division senate representative are charged with becoming experts on the sometimes arcane shared governance and other issues. In general I would say that there was agreement that providing avenues for faculty communication on these issues is important, and that something along the lines of the form that was shared could be one way to approach this in at least some situations. SHARED GOVERNANCE The focus of this discussion had to do with defining and ensuring shared governance processes, and with creating a greater degree of "openness" by organizing the collection, archiving, and sharing of various documents and other resources created by and under consideration by the various governance groups. A model document on this topic from City College of San Francisco was distributed, and an prototype "OmniuUpdate" web site for De Anza shared governance was described and demonstrated. As part of the discussion, I pointed out that the current listing of Academic Senate as a "stakeholder" on the web site - along with other groups such as Staff Senate, DASB, and so forth - creates an erroneous notion of the role of Senates in California Community Colleges. COMMITTEE REPORTS A handout containing early drafts of some proposed revisions of Board Policies was distributed. A brief budget/enrollment update was presented. As you probably know, the governor has proposed a 10% "across the board" budget reduction for next year. There is currently some question about whether this could lead to "mid year cuts" this year in preparation for this, but reportedly there are sufficient District reserves to protect us if (and that is a Big IF) this were to come to pass. An actual 10% reduction for the following fiscal year would be a significant and dangerous "hit" indeed - but many seem to hope and/or believe that this proposal is being made at least partially for political reasons and that the ultimate result will be very different from this draconian proposal. Some informational resources may be available from the California Budget Project. - http://www.cbp.org Enrollment news is good. De Anza enrollments are up by a significant amount for the winter quarter. Compared to last year enrollments are up by more than 2% and WSCh is up by 4% or more. Importantly , this apprears to be due in large part to the retention of continuing students. From the District perspective, this is somewhat tempered by some declines at Foothill. GOOD OF THE ORDER I'm afraid my notes on this portion of the executive committee meeting are incomplete. I do recall concern was raised about how to more effectively inform faculty of ethical issues and responsibilities. (The person who brought this up reported that a faculty member on campus had reportedly promoted a "family business" during class time.) A flyer announcing the "Stanback-Stroud Diversity Award" ($5000) was distributed. The award toes to a faculty member in California who "demonstrates commitment to the equity and diversity goals of the college" and "strives to advance intercultural harmony, equity, and campus diversity through contributions beyond their usual obligations." The De Anza academic senate may send forward one nomination - so contact me, Vernon Gallegos, or the Senate Officers if you would like to nominate someone. Deadline is February 1. Dan Mitchell Report on the December 3, 2007 Meeting Academic Senate Executive Committee Meeting on December 3, 2007 Report to the Creative Arts Division. Hello colleagues: This is my unofficial summary of this week's academic senate executive committee (EC) meeting. Official senate meeting notes (and other useful materials) are found at the senate web site at http://faculty.deanza.edu/academicsenate/. Your Creative Arts Division senate representatatives are Vernon Gallegos (gallegosvernon@deanza.edu) and myself (mitchelldan@deanza.edu) - contact us with questions or concerns related to academic and professional issues. I post copies of these reports at my faculty web site. See http://faculty.deanza.edu/mitchelldan/newsItems/departments/academicSenate NEEDS AND CONFIRMATIONS Revised lists of proposed search committee members for the VP of Instruction and the VP of Students Services positions were presented. It was noted that no EO representative was yet listed for the committees. The EC discussion centered around whether changes would be advisable in order to ensure that important constituencies were properly represented on these committees. In particular, a question was raised concerning whether there is sufficient representation of the counseling program on the Students Services VP committee, given the central role of counseling in that position's responsibilities. Near the end of the EC meeting this discussion resumed when Brian Murphy arrived to discuss this. The discussions acknowledged that it can be difficult to find the best balance between concerns about the size of search committees, ensuring that all interests are properly represented, and recognizing the faculty serving on these committees represent the faculty as a whole. In the end, it seemed that the committees as proposed would be approved, though there is some (likely slim) chance that a change or two could be made later. In addition the EC approved the membership of a search committee for a temporary full-time PDL replacement position in nursing, using the membership of a committee previously approved for a different search. A summary of "needs and confirmations" issues is also posted at the senate webs site: http://faculty.deanza.edu/academicsenate/stories/storyReader$429. Included there should be information about other opportunities for faculty participation in shared governance, including a "recycling committee," Committee for Part Time Office Space, a Professional Development Leave District Committee, and WAITT ("We're All In This Together") committee. WORKING TO INSTITUTE A SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT A group of students gave a presentation on the "Focus The Nation" January 31 teach-in on global warming solutions. A flyer with more information will likely be distributed campus-wide in the near future. The EC approved the expenditure of $200 to support this student effort, with the inclusion of a plan to consider additional support after a future report on Senate finances. PART TIME FACULTY COMMUNICATION Part time faculty representative Mary Ellen Goodwin introduced a proposal to create a joint Senate/FA sub-committee to focus on part time faculty issues, with some stipend to be awarded to part-time faculty who participate - with funds possibly coming from the Senate and FA. Discussion ensued during which a number of issues were raised: the variety of circumstances and levels of engagement of part time faculty, the issue of email communication with part time colleagues, questions about the status of previous efforts regarding part time "parity" and compensation for activities outside the classroom, importance of inclusion of part time faculty in department and division activities, and so forth. No action was taken. CAMPUS ARCHITECTURAL STYLE Marty Report on the November 26, 2007 Meeting From: Dan Mitchell <mitchelldan@deanza.edu> To: Dan Mitchell <mitchelldan@deanza.edu> Cc: Wayne Chenoweth <chenowethwayne@fhda.edu> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:45:45 AM Subject: Academic Senate Executive Committee Report - Nov. 26, 2007 Good morning, Creative Arts Division colleagues: This is a brief report on yesterday's Academic Senate Executive Committee meeting. Rather than attempting a comprehensive report here, I'll try to restrict myself to summarizing. Please contact me or Vernon Gallegos, division Senate representatives, if you have any questions or concerns that you would like us to address. Senate agendas and notes from previous meetings are online at the Senate web site - http://faculty.deanza.edu/academicsenate/. NEEDS AND CONFIRMATIONS - A change was approved for one committee in another area on campus. Faculty are needed to serve on a variety of committees with varying foci and levels of commitment - see the listing at http://faculty.deanza.edu/academicsenate/stories/storyReader$429. CURRICULUM INSTITUTE - The state academic senate sponsors a number of important training institutes each year, among them being sessions focused on curriculum issues. The executive committee approved funding to support attendance at an upcoming curriculum institute by several De Anza faculty members. DISTRICT ACADEMIC SENATE - A "district acacemic senate president" (DSP) position has existed for nearly two decades at Foothill-De Anza. The person in this position is normally a past-senate executive committee officer. The two colleges annually alternate taking responsibility for proposing a person for this office which has a one year term. The DSP has a number of responsibilities including: attending and voting at state plenary sessions, chancellors advisory council, developing agenda for and presiding over joint senate meetings, and so forth. Individuals on the Foothill Academic Senate Executive Committee have recently asked whether the DSP position should continue to exist. Discussions at the DA meeting this week centered around the work done by the DSP, the long-standing discussion of the responsibilities of this office, and questions of whether the advantages of continuing to have this senate officer position would outweigh any potential advantages of eliminating it. Discussion will likely continue. BOOKSTORE - The executive committee heard a presentation from the bookstore regarding online ordering of course materials. In addition, there was a presentation concerning the process for making "alternative media requests" for students who may need alternate versions of course material. The need to order all course materials well in advance of the start of term was emphasized. (Have you ordered your winter quarter materials yet...? :-) SLO COORDINATOR POSITION - There was continued discussion of the "Student Learning Outcomes Coordinator Job Description." Topics discussed included a proposal to add language to the job description that would address concerns that SLOs might increase uncompensated work responsibilities for faculty and concerns that applicants understand the importance of and be prepared to work effectively on development of SLOs the recognize various ideas of diversity. The executive committee voted to not include proposed language regarding the former issue and to add language regarding the latter. CAMPUS ARCHITECTURAL STYLE - Although the person scheduled to present on this topic was not in attendance, the executive committee embarked on a discussion nonetheless. Apparently there are concerns that decisions about the architectural style of major campus buildings may a) lead to a change from the long-standing stylistic image of the campus, and/or b) be made by individuals rather than reflecting a College or District level discussion leading to policy decisions. Specifically, the De Anza campus has long been known for its arches and tile roofs and faux-adobe paint job - a style sometimes referred to as "mission style" though described by one attendee as "conquistador style." In any case, there seems to be a sentiment that decisions to maintain or depart from this style should be the result of significant and open discussion in the campus community and even at the level of the Board of Trustees. The discussion also strayed into several different but not wholly unrelated areas: faculty involvement in the planning and oversight of construction projects, the question of what happened to the "1% for art" policy, and so forth. To be continued... ORIENTATION - This item was held over... or at least left unaddressed. Dan Mitchell Report on the October 1, 2007 Meeting Colleagues: Vernon Gallegos and I (Dan Mitchell) are the Creative Arts Division representatives on the Academic Senate Executive Committee this year. As you probably know, the Academic Senate has responsibility for faculty academic and professional issues. The Executive Committee meets on most Mondays at 2:30-4:30 p.m. Vernon or I will try to keep you informed about Senate issues via regular email messages. I know you get too many emails already. For this reason, I will try to keep this and other senate reports as concise as possible. In addition I will try to call your attention to particularly critical issues, those requiring your response, and/or those affecting the division by using ALL CAPS. Executive Committee agendas and meeting notes are available at the Academic Senate web site: http://faculty.deanza.edu/academicsenate/ Please contact either division senate representative with questions and concerns about academic and professional lissues: Dan Mitchell mitchelldan@deanza.edu 864-8511 Vernon Gallegos gallegosvernon@deanza.edu 864-8506 Summary from October 1 Executive Committee Meeting 1. Tenure Review Committees Full-time tenured faculty are needed to serve as "at-large" members of several tenure review committees. This is an immediate and critical need. At-large members serve on committees of candidates in other divisions, and only serve for part of the tenure review cycle. THIS IS A CRITICAL NEED. PLEASE CONTACT DAN MITCHELL OR VERNON GALLEGOS IMMEDIATELY. 2. Certificate changes This is a somewhat complex issue, but the state has issued new guidelines/policies for certificates granted to students for completion of certain programs. In short, the names of some certificates will be changed, and certain certifications (mostly those based on completion of a smaller number of units) may no longer be noted on transcripts. Contact us if you need more information, and watch for further updates on this. (Several creative arts areas do award certificates that may be affected.) 3. General Education Pattern For several reasons (periodic review, student learning outcomes, etc.) a review of the general education pattern may be timely. Expect to hear more on this subject this year. 4. Academic Calendar The question of semesters versus quarters arises periodically. The executive committee briefly discussed whether this question is due for reconsideration. 5. Textbook Adoption Two years ago the Senate adopted a statement a textbook policy (under the heading of "course materials"). It is posted at the Senate web site referenced above. When adopted, the Senate recognized that the next step would be to consider specific implementation steps next. It appears that moving in this direction will be on the agenda this year. These were the primary issues at the October 1 meeting. Please contact Dan or Vernon for more details or to share your concerns and opinions about these and other academic and professional issues. Thanks. |
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