Mission College Academic Senate

Ext. 5413

Approved Minutes

Thursday, September 23, 2004

I. Call to Order/Roll Call

The meeting was called to order by President Alex Braun at 2:10 p.m.

Senators	A	P	Senators	A	P
Braun (Ext. 5355) Pres/Tech		X	Lavallo (Ext. 5399) Math		X
Brichko (Ext. 5222) CATA		X	Martin (Ext. 5356) Tech.	X
Charland (Ext. 5046) Stud. Dev.		X	McKay (Ext. 5312) Comm		X
Cogswell (Ext. 5388) AAS		X	Musat (Ext. 5331) Math	X
Cox (Ext.5164) CommSvc		X	Perlas (Ext. 5041) Stud.Dev.		X
Dooley (Ext. 5379) AAS		X	Rath (Ext. 5413) AF/CIT	X
Harris (Ext. 5796) AF/Comm		X	Smebye (Ext. 5305) CommServ		X
Kashima (Ext. 5319) ESL		X	Szabados (Ext.5289) CATA		X
Laird (Ext. 5186) SocSci		X	Zeisler (Ext. 5426) Comm		X
Guests: K.Hasson		X	Chandler (DCC Rep)		X

II. Approval of the Minutes

The minutes for the meeting of September 16, 2004 were accepted and approved as submitted (M/S/P – Chandler/Harris).

The following correction to the minutes for the meeting of September 9, 2004, were made to Item VI.A (Curriculum Committee), on Page 2, fourth sentence as indicated (M/S/U –Cox/Charland):

“The Tech CRC’s Technical Review Committee will meet twice weekly to review the proposals being considered for approval by the full committee.”

III. Order of the Agenda

There were no changes to today’s order of the agenda.

IV. Oral Communication from the Public

Alan Chandler advised that the Division Chair Council has agreed to send a liaison from the DCC to the Academic Senate meetings on a rotating basis. He is attending today’s meeting in that capacity.

V. Information & Announcements

1. A transfer night will be held in Center Space on November 4, 2004, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Approximately 35 four year university will be represented and provide an opportunity for students to obtain information regarding transfer.

2. A one-day workshop will be held on March 18, 2004, on how to create online courses. Additional information will be available at a later date.

3. In partnership with the AMC Move Theaters and San Jose State, Mission College will co-host the Annual CSU Conference on September 29-30, 2004, from 8:00 a.m. to Noon each day. Lunch will be provided in HM. September 29^th is designated for high school counselors and career center managers. The SJSU marching band will open the conference at 7:45 a.m. Thursday is designated for community college faculty and staff. Chancellor Arterberry will give the welcome address.

4. A fundraiser event sponsored by 3DI, to support Measure H, will be held on October 6, 2004, at WVC, Fine Arts Building, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Appetizers and refreshments will be served. Faculty are invited to attend.

5. A number of administrators will participate in a Karaoke fundraiser event in support of Measure H, to be held October 6, 2004, at 2:00 p.m. at West Valley College (location to be announced). Those who are interested in attending must send a check to Pat Andrews for $25.00.

6. The Marshal Arts Club and the Christian Club is seeking a faculty advisor. Anyone interested should contact the MC Academic Senate Office (Ext. 5413).

7. The Academic Senate for CCC’s will hold its Fall 2004 Plenary Session in Newport Beach, from October 28-October 30, 2004. Alex will attend and it is anticipated that the MCAS VP will attend as well.

VI. Administrative Business/Actions/Appointments

A. Curriculum Committee - Dianne reiterated that the deadline for submitting any curriculum for Fall 2005 must be submitted to Betty Ensminger by Monday, September 27, 2004.

B. Staff Recognition - No resolutions were offered at today’s meeting.

C. Committee Appointments

1. Elect MCAS Vice President – Senators Charland, Cox, and McKay were nominated for the position. The Senators elected Dianne McKay to serve as the MCAS Vice President by written ballot.

D. Oral Reports – No reports were presented at today’s meeting.

VII. Old Business

A. Update Report on Kuwait Project

Alex reported that he thanked the Chancellor for his visit to last week’s meeting as directed by the Senate. In addition, at last Thursday’s Board meeting, under oral communication, he read the letter to the Board listing the concerns of the Senate and the questions posed to the Chancellor. Trustee Constantin asked how the actions of the MC Academic Senate effect the WVC Academic Senate. Alex explained to Trustee Constantin that if both college senates individually pass a like motion, it is considered a motion from the District Academic Senate. Alex also took the opportunity at that time to cite Title 5 and District policy wherein the Board has agreed to rely primarily on the advice of the Academic Senate in academic and professional matters. Every aspect of the Kuwait project certainly falls under the umbrella of academic and professional matters. Trustee Schwartz stated his view that the questions and concerns of the Academic Senate appeared to be fair and appropriate and that they should be addressed. Alex advised the Senators that the Chancellor has indicated that he intends to respond to those questions and concerns in writing.

Discussion ensued, and several Senators expressed the view that the project seems to be underway despite the Senates’ concerns and the unanswered questions. All reports indicate that the project is moving forward; the Chancellor stated that a job description for a Project Coordinator is on his desk and the Memorandum of Understanding states that a person will be in place by January 2005. Alex reported that discussions on this project began last Spring without consulting the Academic Senates in advance. Concern was expressed that the Academic Senate is being ignored and that not all the trustees may be familiar with the operations of the Academic Senate.

The Senators expressed grave concern relative to this matter. The Senators wants to know why the Academic Senates were not apprised of the project from the beginning. The Senate and the District have very important issues to address that are being neglected while considering this project. Our campus police do not have what is necessary to secure the campuses, ACE is in negotiations, the Senate must deal with Hours by Arrangement, with WSCH/FTE goals, enrollment is down, there is no budget for marketing the college, etc. In addition, there is great concern that the district is operating with an Interim Vice Chancellor, who is working on the Budget Allocation Model, an Interim Human Resources Director, who is making organizational changes, and an Interim West Valley College President initiated the Kuwait project. Several key players in this district are interims making substantial decisions relative to the direction of the college and the district. The purpose of an “interim” is to keep the boat afloat until the position is filled. In addition, the process used to make all these major decisions is in question.

Additional concerns were raised relative to accreditation and whether or not the intermediary between Stan and Kuwait is gaining any financial benefit from this proposal. This project will take away from the resources here, even though the Chancellor has stated that the project will not cost the district money. There are costs in the time and energy being expended. As discussion continued, another question emerged: what is the compelling educational reason for the Kuwait project? If there is one, it should be communicated. The reasons stated thus far are not compelling educational reasons. A Senator reported that there is a lengthy unfavorable article in the latest issue of the Chronicle for Higher Education on institutions that have gone abroad. Alan Chandler provided some historical information on the Thailand project that Mission College was involved in, and he suggested that the article in the Chronicle was worth reading. It was recommended that a copy of the article be forwarded to the Board of Trustees.

One recourse for the Academic Senate is to seek technical assistance from the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, and Alex advised that he has already tapped into that resource. The Senators considered drafting a resolution, and Alex recommended that the matter be considered at the next District Academic Senate meeting, to be held in October. The Senators unanimously passed the following motion (M/S/U – Cox/Cogswell):

“that the Mission College Academic Senate requests that the matter of the Kuwait project be brought to the District Academic Senate (DAS) for information and action at the next DAS meeting and that the DAS meet as soon as possible in October in order to discuss this issue and take action.”

It was recommended that the DAS meeting be widely publicized and faculty encouraged to attend the meeting. Alex was directed to advise Stan of the additional concerns raised at today’s meeting and to invite President Chong to discuss this matter at the next MC Academic Senate meeting (September 30^th) to address the questions and concerns of the Senate as they relate to the Kuwait project.

B. Update Report from Subcommittees w Dealing w MCAS Goals/Objectives

Members of the various subcommittees provided the Senators with a status report relative to their individual charges. They will continue to report as they progress.

VIII. New Business

A. Discuss College-Wide Marketing Concerns

Senator Szabados expressed concern that the college has no consistent presence in the community. It is her view that the college is not allocating enough money for this purpose. Every business uses a percentage of funds for marketing and promotion. The college budget does not include an on-line item for marketing.

During discussion it was noted that other colleges are running full-page ads in the San Jose Mercury News and other publications. It was also stated that many of the college’s brochures are outdated and provide inconsistent information, while brochures from other colleges look very professional. In addition, the college is not taking advantage of its agreement with AMC to display Mission College information, apparently due to the lack of funds. It was also noted that the sign advertising Mission College that was to have been set on Highway 101 is still pending. Everyone agreed that there is a need to increase the marketing effort for Mission College and provide the funds to do so. The following motion was passed unanimously (M/S/U – Cox/Szabados):

“that the Mission College Academic Senate direct its President, Alex Braun, to inquire from GAP and the District Council what amount of the budget is available for Marketing.”

Alex will report back to the Senate.

B. Discuss Concerns re: 16 Week Calendar

Senator Dooley raised the issue of the sixteen-week calendar and the concerns and hardships it inflicts on the Nursing Program. The program is governed by the Board of Nursing and must provide a specific number of hours of instruction. Under the current calendar for this semester, out of sixteen Mondays, three are non-instructional in that one is a holiday, one is dead week, and one is for the final exam. Of the thirteen Fridays this semester, two are holidays, one is dead week, and one is a final. This shortens the program by seven days and negatively impacts the program and its students. In addition, Edith noted that many of the students work and leave classes early in order to be at work on time. The calendar appears to be impacting the general student population working toward an associate degree as well.

Several suggestions and possible solutions were offered to alleviate the situation and most were rejected as unworkable, some due to Datatel restrictions, others due to the Board of Nursing requirements. Other Senators indicated that their departments had adapted to the sixteen-week calendar and acknowledged that Health Occupations might have more difficulty adapting to the calendar. The following motion was passed unanimously (M/S/U Cox/Laird):

“that the Mission College Academic Senate advise the Office of Instruction to make an exception to the dead week policy for the Health Occupations program, and furthermore, that the Academic Senate strongly urge the college administration to develop an academic calendar in future years so that Monday and Friday classes are not as adversely affected as this semester.”

C. Discuss Intersession Proposals

This item was postponed to the next Senate meeting.

IX. Correspondence, Publications, & Announcements

Correspondence

Publications/Minutes

1. The September 20, 2004, issue of FA NEWS from the Foothill-DeAnza Faculty Association.

2. The minutes for the May 20, 2004, meeting of ACE.

3. A draft copy of the California Community Colleges 2005-06 System Budget Proposal dated September 2004.

Announcements

1. The NISOD International Conference on Teaching & Leadership Excellence will be held in Austin, Texas, May 29-June 1, 2005.

X. Future Agenda Items

No new items were added at today’s meeting.

XI. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 4: 05 p.m. (M/S/U – McKay/Cox). These minutes are respectfully submitted by Grace Hazán, Academic Senate Secretary.