College Council
MINUTES
Friday, September 1st, 2006
President Carlson called the College Council meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.
Attendance: Chad Mark Glen, Rachel Ugale, Nolly Ruiz, Ron Taylor, Susan May, JoAnn Galliano, Carolyn
Arnold, Robert Lu, Bernadette Richard, Sally Jahnke, Tom Clark, Mark Schaeffer, Marcia Corcoran, Melinda
Matsuda, Diana Curl, Tim Steele, Gene Groppetti, Laurie Dockter, Robert Carlson, Rachel LePell, Gerald
Shimada, Judy Young, Cynthia Stubblebine, Melinda Matsuda, Karen Silva, and Mike Absher.
1)
Campus Change Network – Last Spring Melinda Matsuda wrote a proposal with a focus on
access. As a result, Chabot has been identified as one of eight colleges to participate in the
Campus Change Network (CCN). CCN is an initiative sponsored by California Tomorrow, whose
motto is "vision and action for a just and inclusive society". The overarching goal is to add value to
existing efforts around access, equity, and inclusion already taking place on college campuses. In
mid-September, participating colleges will be sending teams of six to eight people to Sonoma for a
retreat to network towards broadening and strengthening our campus leadership base working on
access, equity and inclusion issues through dialogue, assessment and planning. A second retreat
will be held this Spring. Feedback from others state it’s a transformation. Staff interested in
attending the September 18th retreat can contact Melinda Matsuda.
2)
Possible Forensics Tournament - Marcia Corcoran reported that the Speech Department has an
interest in hosting a three-day speech tournament, the Northern California Forensics Association
(NCFA), in late January. Invitations would be extended to 100 colleges, and 30 from Northern
California would attend. Diablo Valley College has hosted this tournament in the past and it was
successful. Forensics Director, Jason Ames, currently serves as the Director of the NCFA. There
would be 10 to 15 squads from each college participating, and we could extend an invitation to
Connelly-Carabello High School, who doesn’t have a program, so they could experience college
forensics tournaments. Facilities use could include various rooms campus wide to hold 200 to 400
students at one team, with a special room for tabulation. The final competition could be held in the
Little Theater. This tournament would be similar to the Spring Fling, a one-day event, Jason Ames
hosted last year. Gene Groppetti recommended that Marcia contact Roger Noyes about
availability of the Little Theater. Chad Mark Glen has served as Forensics Director and felt the
tournament is a wonderful idea, and forensics is a life-altering experience that makes a difference
in student’s lives. The College Council endorsed the tournament. Rachel LePell recommended
that Jason advise faculty about the subject matter in case other students might want to attend.
3)
Shared Governance Process - Dr. Carlson distributed copies of the revised Shared Governance
& Collegial Consultation Process. As part of the process, College Council will experience a new
structure which will make it a more effective governance body, and committees will report to
College Council and no longer to IPBC. Committee chairs will be making regular reports to
College Council that will include primary concerns committees are experiencing and who needs to
help with concerns, status reports, key issues and events, and membership. The meeting will also
include tackling major strategic issues.
A significant portion of the meeting will focus on a particular subject that needs resolving, and a
governance discussion and process. Issues staff feel need discussion should be forwarded to
President Carlson, and he will make a decision if College Council should review it. Council
meetings will be a strategically, practical, problem-solving, and goal-oriented kind of meeting
where we move things forward, and no longer be a reporting meeting. Meetings will remain open,
and everyone is invited to attend.
25555 Hesperian Boulevard  Hayward CA 94545  Office of the President  (510) 723-6640 or 723-6641  FAX (510) 723-7126
College Council Minutes – Friday, September 1st, 2006
Dr. Carlson is interested in feedback on how well (or not well) is the governance structure working,
what improvements can be made, are the meeting times conducive to staff and students, are they
being worked in alignment with the shared governance process? These questions will be looked at
throughout the semester.
A question was raised about the meeting times for Program Review, which meets the second and
fourth Thursday of every month during the same time as Academic Senate. They have held their
first meeting. Classified Senate will need to find a representative.
Each governance committee has core representatives with appointments made by the Academic
and Classified Senates, CLPFA, and SEIU 790. Members are expected to attend regularly, and
communication to represented constituencies and departments is expected. Dr. Carlson
commended committee chairs on submitting agendas and minutes on time.
Tom Clark expressed concern over the Intranet and Internet website, and the confusion because
committees are listed BOTH on the Intranet and not on the Internet, and information does not
overlap. He recommended getting a link to the intranet site. Dr. Carlson requested that both sites
include the same information so staff off-campus can access agenda and minutes.
Marcia Corcoran asked for clarification on how Chabot’s consensus works. Clarification can be
found in the governance document on pages 4 through 6. Dr. Carlson reiterated voting is not
acceptable as it’s a breakdown in consensus. Chad Mark Glen said colleagues at other colleges
define consensus as unity and not unanimity. Dr. Carlson emphasized dialogue, and each chair
has to encourage and influence members to speak. In Marcia’s experience, she felt meetings are
not always run effectively so committees need to ensure everyone’s voice is heard. Time
management needs to be used. Marcia recommended that Staff Development provide training on
meeting management. Only two committees do not run on consensus: Curriculum Committee and
Academic Senate because their constitutions mandate.
Mark Schaeffer, Chair of the Institutional Technology Committee, asked for clarification on
meeting times. Ron Taylor requested that once meetings are set, they be included on Chabot’s
GroupWise Calendar maintained by Bella Witt. Meeting times need to meet in accordance with
assigned times posted in the Governance document. Dr. Carlson advised that committees and
chairs will be assigned in April before the next academic year so they can start meeting in August,
and current and incumbent chairs can meet in May to discuss outgoing and pending business.
Dr. Carlson has heard throughout the campus that committee structures are not working so he is
interested in knowing why they are not. Tom Clark reported staff felt why they should invest time
and effort if input and decisions do not matter or affect change. Some staff felt decisions are made
without proper dialogue. Dr. Carlson used the Facilities Committee, chaired by Tim Steele and
comprised of 20 members, as a committee structure that works effectively and is able to
accomplish its goals. He commended the committee on remaining active and motivated. Rachel
LePell said Facilities has real dollars that need to be spent in a timely manner, and they have
projects that are “concrete”, reasons they are making change and staying on track.
Dr. Carlson reiterated that chairs must be an advocate for what is happening in that committee.
Gene Groppetti cited one problem with the committee structure is they all function independently,
and there are powerful committees on campus. Gene felt Program Review, IPBC, and Enrollment
Management do not appear to be working in tandem, and need to be communicating more
effectively and routinely. Gene appreciated the newly-revised College Council, and enjoyed seeing
a wider representation of constituency and staff.
Laurie Dockter recommended better communication could start with brief monthly reports in the
HOTSHEET on committee highlights and updates. IPBC is interested in seeing how committees
work. Dr. Carlson also wants to ensure that representatives are reporting back to the divisions.
A brief discussion on Student Learning Outcomes, a faculty issue, occurred, and the Academic
Senate is a lead to solving this.
2
College Council Minutes – Friday, September 1st, 2006
Dr. Carlson said the Council’s meeting time has been questioned, and a lengthy discussion on
other suggested meeting times occurred. The reason College Council meets on Fridays is this
was the only day available, as other meetings were being held Monday through Thursday. It was a
time everyone was available. The Board of Trustees do not like to see an empty campus on
Fridays so there may be changes happening in the near future. Dr. Carlson asked the Council if a
Friday afternoon is the best meeting time. Attendees, Mike Absher, Laurie Dockter, and JoAnn
Galliano, teach on Fridays, and meetings fill up other days so Fridays work best for them. Dr.
Taylor recommended moving Facilities Committee meetings to Fridays, which might increase
attendance at College council. Rachel felt a four-day work week is too short to do institutional
work, and wants more meetings scheduled on Fridays so there is time during the week for
dialogue. JoAnn recommended moving Council to Friday mornings, but senior staff attends District
meetings Friday mornings, which will not work for them. Judy felt Chabot should strategically keep
Council on Fridays. The Council agreed that Friday meetings seem to work for the time being.
Dr. Carlson reiterated the following seven suggestions that came out of today’s discussion on the
governance process:
1) Internet and Intranet concerns about how staff can access information.
2) Committee chair training – use agenda and maintain the Chabot GroupWise Calendar for
meeting information.
3) Getting information about reporting committee findings and period updates – is there useful
work being done?
4) Define committee responsibility.
5) Coordination of committee work – ensure meetings stay lively when exchanging information.
6) Encourage divisions to give faculty useful information.
7) Keep written reports short, limited to one paragraph for inclusion in the HOTSHEET
Dr. Carlson will readdress these suggestions at a later Council meeting this Fall.
4)
Other Business
1) Laurie Dockter reported that IPBC to get planning going by working goals and objectives, and
define whose responsibility it is on planning. She distributed a template, IPBC Priority
Objectives 2006-2007, For Activities & Action Plans. The goal is to discuss this template at the
next IPBC meeting Wednesday, September 13th at 3 p.m. in the Board Room.
Using this template format, IPBC charged each governance committee to provide a list of
activities and action plans for how they would meet the strategic plan objective that they have
been assigned. Each committee must choose one if they have not already been assigned one.
They must report their findings at the October 6th College Council meeting. We will report in
Summer 2007 the level of accomplishments made. Laurie will Email all chairs a copy of the
blank template with explanation of the charge.
2) Ron Taylor will host a meeting Thursday, September 7th to discuss establishing priorities for
faculty positions (to fill a few positions for Spring Semester 2007). He reported that the District
is getting a sizable sum of money to work on basic skills learning so Ron is collecting ideas.
He asked staff to send him ideas within one week so he can formulate a plan that he will
discuss at College Council.
3)
Dr. Carlson reported the new Vice President of Business Services, Mr. Farhad Javaheripour,
will start Tuesday, September 5th. Staff is invited to a small reception Tuesday afternoon in
the Lobby of Building 200.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m.
kls
9/1/06
3