Minutes of the
MEETING OF THE FACULTY SENATE
APPROVED
PRESENT: Chris Barkley, Bill
Bedford, Judy
ABSENT:
GUESTS: Judy Eckhart,
Dan Finkenthal
CALL TO
ORDER: The meeting was called
to order by the president, Steve Spear, at
Steve announced that
he would take presidential privilege at the beginning of the meeting. He stated
that he attended a half-day breakout session on the Brown Act while attending a
Statewide Academic Senate Leadership Workshop. He stated that the Senate had
been informed wrongly that it had violated the Brown Act in some respects, then he stated that the Senate had not. Steve then stated
that “The Brown Act, specifically, in section 54952.2.c.1 allows any member of
the Senate to send out any communication to anybody they wish.”
However,
the Senate is violating The Brown Act in several other ways. One of
the ways that The Brown Act is violated is by listing in our agenda under
Action and Information an “other” category. Thus Steve pointed out that this current agenda
does not have the word “other” listed under Action or Information. It was further noted that another way that we
are violating The Brown Act is when we move something from Information to
Action in the same week. Steve said that we can of course suspend the agenda
and talk about an information item ahead if there is a guest or something that
is relevant to an Action
Item; however, we can’t put something under Information and Action in the same
week because that violates The Brown Act specifically Section 54952.2.c.1.Approval
of Minutes: The minutes of May 19,
2003, were approved as amended.
Steve
also informed the Senators that he had obtained a laminated copy of, “the red
card” listing of AB1725’s Academic and
Professional matters for each Senator.
All were encouraged to carry their cards and refer to them as
necessary. It was further pointed out
that Palomar College has in effect a “rely primarily upon” agreement between
the Senate and the district, which places the Senate as the ultimate authority
on these Academic and Professional matters including a twelfth item related to
Faculty hiring policies and procedures as listed in our Faculty Constitution.
The Brown
Act: Steve Spear
reported that in accordance with The Brown Act, the agenda will no longer list
“Other” under Action or Information items. He also stated that it is a
violation to move Information items to “Action” in the same meeting.
Approval of
Minutes: The minutes of
Steve Spear also made
the following announcement: I wonder if I might take a couple of seconds here
as Presidential Privilege. Last June, I attended the Statewide Academic Senate
Leadership Conference and I attended a breakout session for a half a day on The
Brown Act. And we were informed, wrongly it turns out last year, that we had
violated The Brown Act in some respects of… we did not…The Brown Act
specifically in Section 549542.2.C.1 allows any member of the Senate to send
out any communication to anybody they wish. However, we are violating The Brown
Act in several ways. One of the ways that we violate The Brown Act is in our
agenda under Action and Information having the word “other.” You will notice
that your agenda does not have the word “other” and that is why. Another way
that we are violating The Brown Act is when we move something from Information
to Action in the same week. You can’t do that. Now, you can of course suspend
the agenda and talk about an information item ahead if you have a guest or
something but you can’t put something under Information and Action in the same
week because that violates the…specifically Section 549542.2.C.
Rely primarily upon…we
supposedly are the ultimate authority of these Academic and Professional
matters.Committee
Appointments: Steve Spear reported
that he had contacted and selected each of these five people to serve on Committee on
Committees__________________: Anne Voth, Chris
Barkley and Judy Cater because they have a long history of dealing with these
procedures and also askedhave selected
Brent Gowen
and “fresh blood” that they
bring to the Senate and the process. Steve asked for so I
need approval or objection to the selections.
Motion 1 MSC Levy, Dolan:
Chris
Barkley
Judy
Cater
Brent
Gowen
Anne
Voth
Other
Committees: Discussion was
held regarding faculty membership on the Benefits Committee. MaryAnn Drinan
indicated that appointments to this committee will now be made by the Palomar
Faculty Federation.
Anne
Voth added that a list of committee vacancies and a call for volunteers should
be distributed to faculty members soon. The list will not include the Benefits
Committee, as this falls under the purview of PFF, or the Student Equity
Committee.
Motion 2 MS Sourbeer,
Nebelsick-Tagg: The
Student
Equity
Committee: Senate members
discussed the student equity issue. The Student Equity Committee could be
considering issues such as access to computers and technology. Students are
being asked to obtain much of their class information online and whether they
have access to technology should be explored, particularly with the ongoing
discussions of a “paperless college.” This item will be brought back for
further discussion at the September 15, Senate meeting.
Motion 2
(amended) MSC Sourbeer,
Nebelsick-Tagg: The
NCHEA
Director: Steve Spear
reported that Lori Waite was elected as the NCHEA Director for the summer but
another volunteer was solicited for this semester because Lori is on sabbatical
leave. Judy Eberhart volunteered to
serve for this year with the plan being that when Lori returns from her
sabbatical leave, she will be appointed to serve the second year. However,
NCHEA was concerned that Palomar would appoint someone to be the Director of
NCHEA who had not previously served on the NCHEA board. Judy Eberhart has served on this board in her
role as Professional Development Coordinator.
In
addition, discussion occurred that positions aren’t usually held for faculty
members on sabbatical leave. If the position becomes vacant after one year, in
fairness another call for volunteers should be distributed. Senate members
agreed that because the position has always been filled for a two-year term,
that practice should be continued.
Motion 3 MSC Cater,
Barkley:
Elections: Steve Spear
reported that vacancies currently exist for the Faculty Vice
President/Secretary and a faculty designee for the position of Past President
of The Faculty. These two positions will also serve on the Faculty Council and
the
Motion 4 MS Barkley,
Sourbeer: The
Stan
Levy, as Chair of the Elections Committee, suggested that the announcements for
the vacant positions go out separately until this issue can be discussed based
on our current model and the Faculty Constitution.
Motion 5 MSF Dowd, Levy:
To Table Motion 4. Motion failed.
The
following substitute for Motion 4 was presented for approval:
Motion 4
(Substitute) MSC Levy,
Nebelsick-Tagg: The
PFF
Representation
On
Committees: Steve Spear
reported that two faculty members currently on the Faculty Council are needed
to serve on the Joint Council. Mario Mendez and Anne Voth previously held these
positions. Senate members were asked to make nominations.
Bonnie
Ann Dowd and Sara Thompson were nominated and accepted the nominations.
Motion 6 MSC Barkley,
Laughlin: The
Motion 7 MSC Barkley,
Bedford: The
Learning
Culture Task
Force: The
proposal for a Learning Culture Task Force was initially presented to the
Senate last semester. The role of this task force was to develop methods to
foster an effective learning culture that promotes institutional and student
expectations, responsibilities, and respect. The task force would also develop
criteria to assess and a method to evaluate the outcomes of the committee’s
efforts.
Because
this item is currently tabled at the Strategic Planning Council, Steve Spear
indicated that Dr. Amador has asked for some input from the Senate on how to
proceed. Chris Barkley added that she has recommended to the members of the
Strategic Planning Council that a committee should be created to decide how to
discuss the learning culture and how to improve it.
Bonnie
Dowd stated that this suggests we don’t have a learning culture, when many feel
we already do. She also questioned why this issue should be addressed by a new
committee when the Senate has an Academic Standards & Practices Committee is in
place which could be assigned the task of reviewing and/or reexamining
Palomar’s learning culture.
Motion 8 MSC Dowd,
Bedford: That the issue of creating a Learning Culture Task Force be sent to
the Academic Standards & Practices Committee for review with a report back
to the Senate.
Senator
Orientation
Meeting: Steve Spear
announced that Senator Orientation would be held on Monday, September 8, from
Attrition
Issue: Steve Spear
provided copies of a memo he sent to Dr. Amador regarding the district’s plans
as individual Academic Department Assistants (ADAs) either resign or retire.
Dr. Amador has replied as follows: “the Deans are analyzing the workload of
every
Steve
indicated that he was given a copy of the criteria put together by the Deans
under Dr. Vernoy. Although he was asked not to copy the information or
distribute it via email because it is a very rough draft, Senate members were
told that they could review it if they wished to do so. The information
includes a statistical analysis of each department and whether their workload
is within the average.
Some
Senate members were dismayed that they could review the document but not
provide copies for discussions with their department chairs on staffing issues.
It was pointed out that often decisions are made then the information is
disseminated out for discussion after it’s too late to provide input to a
decision.
This
issue will be brought back for Senate Action on September 15.
Accreditation/Outcomes
Task
Force: Copies of
the proposal for the Student Learning Outcomes Task Force were provided.
The
Task Force will be formed to:
1.
Respond
to the Accrediting Commission recommendation
The
college has begun to develop processes for measuring
student
learning outcomes and should integrate into its formal
method of
review of academic programs and certificates the
creation
and evaluation of student learning outcomes on a
course,
program, and degree/certificate level; and
2.
Prepare
for meeting the new accreditation standards for the next comprehensive site
visit in March 2009.
While faculty will
determine specific learning outcomes at the course and program level, the Task
Force product is a detailed implementation plan that defines the structures,
tasks, timelines, and responsibilities, as they relate to broader institutional
objectives of student success, mission and effectiveness, and program
development and review.
The Task Force will
report to the Strategic Planning Council.
Senate members discussed
the need for additional faculty representation. When it comes to determining
student-learning outcomes, there was consensus that the district has to rely
on the expertise of itsinput provided by
faculty. Therefore, the biggest influence has to be
faculty on this Student Learning Outcomes Task Force is
essential.
This
item will be brought back for Senate Action on September 15.
Email
Voting, Senate
Council: Steve Spear
reported that a Senator had requested that the issue of email voting be brought
back for further discussion. Last semesterSemester Senator’s
opinions varied on whether voting by email should occur. There were some
concerns about faculty email lists being kept up-to-date and Steve indicated
that he did discuss this with Dr. Miyamoto who will work with Jose Vargas in
Information Systems in an effort to improve both contract and adjunct faculty
lists on the server.
This
item will be brought back for Senate Action on September 15.
Dan
Finkenthal stated that it was his understanding that no two Senators can always
communicate with one another privately via email and he
cautioned the Senate President on making such statements until The Brown Act is
further explained in the upcoming Senate Orientation. Dan. He
indicated that The Brown Act specifically governs a lot of that communication.
Steve Spear indicated that according to Section 54952.2.C.1, “individual
contact between any two members is perfectly legal.” Dan stated that two committee
members can communicate but not all email can be done privately among members. Since
there was disagreement on the issue, Steve suggested that Danhe
should request an agenda item to discuss it further, or file a formal
complaint with the District Attorney if he feels
there has been a violation.
Faculty
Manual: Steve Spear
reminded Senate members that once a contract is signed between faculty members
and the district, the Faculty Manual must be reviewed and edited. Volunteers
will be needed at that time.
Bond
Issue: Steve
Spear asked Senators whether they would like to invite Jerry Patton to the
meeting of September 15, to discuss exactly how a bond issue works and the
financial impact on the district. There was overall agreement.
Committee
on Committees
Terms
& Service: Copies of
a memo created by the members of the Personnel Standards & Practices
Committee on the role of the Committee on Committees was provided. The
Personnel Standards & Practices committee is discussing the following
operating principles as standard rulesbylaws of
the Committee on Committees:
The Committee on
Committees shall meet on a regular, scheduled basis, so that all five of the
members appointed by the Senate president can participate in the process of
nominating to fill committees. The solicitation for volunteers shall include a
description of the nature and duties of the designated committee, and the
length of the term of office. Faculty applicants shall be requested to submit a
short statement of their qualifications and reasons for wishing to serve,
including their membership on other committees. In its recommendations to the
Senate, the Committee on Committees shall attempt to show preference for
applicants who have fewer committee assignments. When there are more applicants
than openings, the Senate shall vote by secret ballot. The applicant with the
highest number of votes shall be awarded the longer term, if this circumstance
arises.
Clarification is needed
on the following issues raised by the faculty council on the same issue:
Do we wish to continue
the current practice of having the entire Senate vote on all committee
appointments?
When filling committee
vacancies where there is divisional representation:
a.
If
we can’t find a divisional volunteer, should we take anyone we can find
(current practice) or leave the position vacant?
b.
If
a committee member is appointed as above and a vacancy in that member’s
division representation occurs, should that member continue serving their
appointed term or should they be re-appointed to the other slot representing
their division? (This could become a logistical nightmare).
Senate members also
discussed whether the issue should be sent to the current Committee on
Committees, or a Task Force consisting of as many previous Committee
on Committees chairs we can find. It was suggested that the issue be forwarded
to the Committee on Committees with invitations to all the previous chairs to
participate in the decision-making. Discussion followed.
This item will be
brought back for Senate Action on September 15.
Dan Finkenthal voiced concern
with regard to the process used in the past for
committee appointments. Dan stated that many problems could be resolved if
everything is kept as an open and transparent process. Judy Cater responded
that the Senate’s Personnel Standards and Practices committee chaired by Bill
Bedford is reviewing the process used for committee appointments and the
concerns addressed by Dan. Judy asked
that the committee be allowed to handle the matter and that the Senate waits to
get information back from the committee.
Listing June Intersession
Classes in Spring Schedule
& Change in Student
Parking Fee Terms: This item was postponed.
Move
“Reports”: Senate members
discussed a change in the Agenda to move the “Reports” Section right after the
approval of minutes. Often there isn’t enough time in the meeting to complete
the agenda and/or having guests present to make reports being required to sit
through the entire meeting.
There
was some concern expressed on making a formal change to the Agenda. Our
Constitution allows 50 minutes for the Senate to meet and take action, which is
the most important business the Senate does each week. By moving reports before
action, there is a chance that there will not be enough time to deal with all
the Action and Information items. It was suggested that it be dealt with week
by week rather than making such a change. Senate members always have the option
of making a motion to suspend the agenda if there are guests present who wish
to make a report. Or, those individuals wishing to assure that their reports
are made public could provide a written copy, which will be included in the
minutes.
President Amador/
Governing
Board: Steve Spear
announced that a copy of the Facilities Master Plan has been provided and will
be kept in SU-30 for any faculty members who wish to take a look at it.
ADJOURNED: The meeting was adjourned
at
Respectfully
submitted,
Bonnie
Ann Dowd, Secretary