District Academic Senate Executive Meeting
May 26, 2011, 1:30-3:30 pm
District Office
Minutes
Attendance: David Beaulieu, Kathleen Bimber, Angela Echeverri, Alex
Immerblum, Don Gauthier, Lourdes Brent, Allison Moore, June B.
Smith, Ken Sherwood
Guest: None
1. Call to Order and Approval of Agenda: Meeting was called to order at 1:40
pm.
2. Approval of Minutes DAS Executive Meetings of 4/28/11: Minutes for
4/28/11 meeting were approved with several corrections and changes
(Gauthier/Immerblum MSP).
3. Public Speakers: None
4. Academic Rank: Beaulieu reported that the Academic Rank policy has not
been revised by the DAS for over 10 years. We have discussed accepting
ranks from other colleges. There is a 1996 letter from Doug McFerran (former
DAS Academic Rank Chair), which recognized problems in the 1986 policy.
East recently passed an academic rank policy that excludes an application
process and aligns rank with evaluations. They would like the DAS to retire
the current policy and adopt a district policy that is decentralized and
developed at the local colleges. Ranks from other colleges would be accepted
throughout the district, with the exception of adjunct policy. Trade does not
grant rank to adjunct faculty. Bimber stated everybody has a different policy
and/or practice. The work that the some of the policies are asking Human
Resources (HR) to do is problematic, because they are evaluating faculty
work. Gauthier stated this process should be totally faculty driven and we
should keep our own records. Some campuses require the District Office to
verify the employment dates or salary points. Immerblum proposed the
creation of a new DAS Academic Rank Policy that allows for decentralization.
Immerblum/Gauthier MSU. Will go to the DAS in September.
5. Budget Update: Beaulieu reported that the LACCD budget is looking better
because of additional state revenue. The current worst-case scenario is a
10% cut. The colleges have submitted 5% and 10% cut plans, but it is quite
unrealistic to expect the colleges to cut by 10%. The long-term situation is still
uncertain. There is $6.6 billion in additional revenue, as well as Prop 98 funds
that are coming back to the system. Most of the main ideas to save money
have been written down and separated into those that require negotiation and
those that don’t. Reduction in administrator numbers, compensation (from d
basis to c basis), furloughs, and others savings are being considered. For the
district, there is a plan to spend down the balance significantly this year. If a
college cuts by 5% and is unable to cut anymore, they can petition to spend
their balance. Once that occurs they can use the LACCD balance. East and
Pierce can spend $5 million and then ask for more. There is an $18 million
true LACCD balance (not including East and Pierce balances, or unpaid
orders). This is the money saved because we cut more sections than we had
to two years ago (Fall 2009). We should be able to get through this year
without major problems. However, the allocation issue has not been
addressed. There are three faculty members on the District Budget
Committee (DBC) Executive, John McDowell, Carl Friedlander, and David
Beaulieu. Moore is an alternate for the DAS. Beaulieu suggested we could
ask McDowell to become the alternate this year and Moore to become a
voting member.
6. Bond Update: Tom Hall gave a report on Whole Building Commissioning to
the Board and defended the award of a sole source contract given to the
Portland-based firm, Inici. Former Chancellor Tyree Wieder identified 38 local
firms that could have done whole building commissioning for the LACCD.
Trade gave a presentation on their Construction Design & Manufacture
(CDM) Building. The energy situation is better; Tony Fairclough is back
working again after his contract ran out over Spring Break. Moore mentioned
that funds for American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance are being
reduced at Southwest. There are district-wide funds for Energy, Technology,
and ADA; a certain amount was set aside for each college as a placeholder,
but it was not clear how money would be needed at each campus. Moore and
Smith requested that Beaulieu ask the Bond Steering Committee (BSC) for an
update on these accounts. Immerblum added that Lloyd Silberstein’s position
is that unless a campus has an approved project, the money stays in the
district account. Immerblum argued that money that is not used for these
purposes should be redistributed to the other colleges. Deputy Chancellor
Barrera has also stated that the District Office might use these funds.
Beaulieu will ask to put this on the BSC agenda to find out what has changed.
We must distinguish between district-wide projects (Technology, Energy,
ADA) and centralized accounts, such as FFE (Furniture, Fixtures and
Equipment). All new buildings must meet ADA requirements and this is part of
the construction budget. ADA funds can be used to bring existing buildings on
the campus up to code. Smith expressed concern about Harbor’s solar panel
lease agreement with Chevron because the payments are coming due, and
they have not finalized an agreement with DWP to buy back the energy
generated. They were told they could not use bond money to pay back the
lease, but now are being told that they can pay for the lease from their bond
interest. Smith argued that the LACCD should pay for the lease because it
was imposed on Harbor and it is an equity issue. Beaulieu reported that the
LA Times is working on additional articles on Mission and West.
7. Student Success Update: Beaulieu reported that Achieving the Dream (AtD)
was discussed in consultation at some length. We expressed our concerns
regarding AtD to Vice Chancellor Delahoussaye. Deborah Harrington is
making very strong claims about the possibility of drastically reducing
remedial education. She reported Trade plans to institute a policy of having
an open English 28 class, where any student could enroll and they would then
be able to assess into English 101. Beaulieu responded that we should be
more cautious about the claims we are making. Beaulieu’s concern was that
any student could enroll into the special English 28. Immerblum attended the
Chabot workshop about the regional networks. Chabot has two tracks: one
semester English 28 into 101 or a two semester English 28 into 101. There is
supplemental instruction and students are self selected. They have been
doing this for some years. The data suggests there is only a very slight
difference between the accelerated versus normal courses. There is a sense
that if they are engaged in a topic they can overcome a lot of deficits. Moore
added the longer they stay in remediation, the more likely they are to drop
out. Immerblum added that a significant component of Chabot’s program is
that they overhauled their curriculum, and faculty need to undergo training.
Trade is starting this as a pilot, but the Academic Senate there has not been
notified. Bimber noted that you can add an hour to a course, but cannot add a
unit without going through the District Curriculum Committee (DCC).
Immerblum stated we should develop a rubric to identify English 101 ready
students. Smith added that district wide registration is a concern, because
students from other campuses who have completed English 28 are not
always ready for English 101. Beaulieu reported that good progress has been
made in Math. The Math Discipline Committee has decided to have a second
Math Summit to discuss accelerated math pathways, even though faculty are
divided into three camps (the largest one in the middle). Delahoussaye thinks
she can obtain additional funds for supplemental instruction; the LACCD is
pursuing a grant opportunity from the Foundation for California Community
Colleges (FCCC). Immerblum said East Math faculty are opposed to
acceleration (Statway). He added we have to address the tremendous failure
rate in Math. Gauthier said contextualized math is important for many
students. Beaulieu said we have to think of two student cohorts: Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and non-STEM students. Bimber
stated the FCCC has a focus on contextualized Math and English; she has
been working with teams to develop contextualized courses. Sherwood said
that the single biggest class in Math is Math 105 and no one wants to teach it.
Beaulieu summarized several issues:
a. STEM versus non-STEM students
b. Division among Math Faculty on Accelerated Courses: Beaulieu’s
estimate is that about 60% are open-minded, there are 20% hard core
against and 20% in favor.
8. DCC Report: Bimber reported that the DCC’s next focus is to rewrite the new
prerequisite policy (content over validation). Will be writing over the summer.
The team has a matriculation person and a researcher. Sherwood stated that
the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF) is getting ready to file
a lawsuit about the prerequisites. Beaulieu added we are struggling with the
staffing problem and some deans who don’t understand the curriculum
decisions depend on faculty.
9. Constitution/By-Laws Review: Gauthier passed out proposed changes but
has not heard back. He hopes to get feedback over the summer. Gauthier
suggested adding an academic freedom statement to the constitution. Article
2 of the AFT contract has a brief statement. Beaulieu added we have only a
brief reference in the Board rules on academic freedom. Smith suggested
academic freedom should come under ethics. The US Supreme Court
challenged the John Lopez case at City on a district Speech Code, ruling in
favor of the instructor.
10. Ed Code/Contract Dispute: AFT President (Joanne Wadell) met with
Gauthier and Beaulieu to discuss the discrepancy between the California
Education Code and the AFT contract. Brent said AFT counsel Larry
Rosenzweig has been talking to Camille Goulet. Goulet’s reported position is
in the AFT’s favor and that the Senate abdicated its right by doing nothing
when the Ed Code changed in 1990. Beaulieu stated the offending sentence
did not go into the contract until 5-6 years ago. We may get to the point where
we get our own legal counsel; either ASCCC or CCCCO attorneys may have
to weigh in.
11. Administrator Hiring Completion: Beaulieu reported there is no news.
Barrera has not reported back on this. They were supposed to discuss this in
cabinet. The faculty hiring issue is not urgent.
12. Strategic Planning Committee: We had our first planning meeting last
Tuesday. Tom Rosdahl, Don Gauthier, David Beaulieu, Angela Echeverri and
Adrienne Foster are DAS representatives on the committee. The AFT has
one representative, Joanne Wadell. Vice Chancellor Delahoussaye chairs the
meeting. Planning is a joint effort between the senate and the administrators.
We have a timeline of one year to develop a new strategic plan. Gauthier
noted this would be a good summit topic.
13. Automatic Payroll Deductions: Immerblum distributed a letter written to
faculty. This will not currently work at other colleges, but he wanted to share
it. The money deducted from faculty paychecks goes to the East Foundation
and the senate can access it for scholarships. Bimber asked if the foundation
charged an administrative fee. East’s foundation has a large staff and they
volunteered to do this for free. Immerblum said there may be other colleges
that could do this through downtown. Sherwood said City is exploring using
Paypal. Immerblum replied East tried Paypal once and were told by Michael
Phelps that they could not do it. Beaulieu suggested talking to Jeanette
Gordon before bringing it to consultation. They would have to do all the
processing; the District does not want to do any of the work to process the
deductions. East has agreed to set up the contributions into funds: 80% to
scholarships and 20% to faculty funds. At the end of the year they have to
send a letter to inform people how much of their donations can be used for
tax deductions (Scholarships are tax deductible).
14. District Enrollment/Priority Enrollment: There is an open question about
the wisdom of district wide enrollment. Dealoussaye has reported that student
success of students attending outside their “service area” is lower. She has
asked that we wait for Maury Pearl to collect more data before drawing any
conclusions. Immerblum said this delay is problematic. Let’s discuss the data,
see handout with e-mail. We have until August to agree to change the priority
(as opposed to whether to have districtwide enrollment at all). The current
proposal is as follows:
a. Priority 1: DSPS, EOPS, and veterans (separated over the last 2
years from military). Protected in Title 5.
b. Priority 2: Continuing Successful students
c. Priority 3: New students
d. Priority 4: Continuing students not making satisfactory progress.
Argues veterans must make progress in order to get benefits. Brent
argued EOPS must have a 2.0 GPA, but have specific interventions
and they are out if they
e. Priority 5: Concurrent enrollment/High School. Approximately 19,445
students.
City is in favor of this proposal. East is against it because they feel probation
students should not be discouraged. Beaulieu added that this discussion is
wasting everyone’s time if we decide to drop district wide enrollment. If we
decide to proceed, we then need all the numbers of students per category.
Brent agreed that this was fine as long as local policies are in accordance
with law and regulations. There will be two arguments the District Office will
make in favor of this: students move from one campus to another, they should
have priority at their home campus. The other argument is that we technically
don’t have service areas, but we have de-facto service areas. How is a
student’s home campus determined? Wherever they turn in their financial aid
application. What if they don’t? Not sure. Immerblum stated that this is an
accreditation issue. Colleges can’t manage enrollment if you have district
wide priority. Immerblum added we don’t know what effect the repeatability
changes are going to have on students. The other issue was to limit
enrollment to 18 or 19 units.
June Smith’s retirement: Beaulieu took a few moments to recognize June
B. Smith for her long and distinguished service to the DAS. Smith said it has
been a lot of fun and that she is going to miss the DAS. She urged DAS
members to be patient with the new leaders; they will learn as they come
along, Anytime you go through transitions, it is a mirror of the transitions our
students face. Our students have a lot of choices now, which is both exciting
and scary. She expressed hope we can continue to work with our students.
She requested that the ASCCC demand something be done about the State
Master Plan. She will be a voice on the outside if she needs to yell at Jane
Patton, Michelle Pilati, and legislators. She plans to travel a lot and will send
pictures from London and France. Beaulieu asked her to come to the fall DAS
meeting for a formal recognition.
15. Personnel Commission: The Nursing Program Director from City, Betsy
Manchester called Beaulieu this morning. The City Nursing Program lost two
staff people because of the Personnel Commission (PC); these positions
were crucial to the program. It looked like a case of PC trying to impose their
criteria. Bimber reported this issue originated from Harbor; there was a nurse
at Harbor who said she wanted to have the same classification as the people
of City. Beaulieu said our role is not to intervene in a specific personnel
matter, but to discuss how the Personnel Commission negatively impacts the
operation of academic programs. Bimber said the Child Development Centers
need to have flexibility to hire the people they need to run their centers.
Sherwood said Karen Martin acts unilaterally. The PC is independent of the
district and was set up by state law. The elimination of the PC was raised in
the context on the budget. We might want to research a bit at the colleges to
see to what extent programs have been impacted. Bimber stated that one
question to ask is what kind of work needs to be done by a PC? Beaulieu
replied that there is a certain amount of work that needs to be done. Martin
undercut the budget argument rather well. The other concern relates to
inefficiencies being created by the PC. The estimate is that the Personnel
Commission costs the LACCD $3-3.5 M in direct costs, and another $7 M in
lost efficiency. Bimber asked why the classified union does not come up with
their own job descriptions. The constituents have to vote to do away with the
PC. Immerblum added what is worse is the way we have to select people
from a list. Bimber added she wrote the test and description for Child
Development instructional assistants. She argued any instructional position
should not be under PC because they are making evaluative decisions.
Beaulieu agreed that inefficiency and impact on academic areas may be the
strongest arguments against the Personnel Commission.
16. Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 4:17 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by DAS Secretary Angela Echeverri