AGENDA ITEM 3.0
REDWOODS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE
College of the Redwoods
7351 Tompkins Hill Road, Eureka, CA – Board Room – SS 202
883 W Washington Blvd, Crescent City, CA – Room E8
Friday, October 16, 2015
MINUTES
Members Present: Mark Renner, Connie Wolfsen, Tim Baker, Kristy Carlsen, Mike Dennis, Kady
Dunleavy, Phil Freneau (by phone), Deanna Herrera-Thomas, Ed Macan, Ruth Moon, Jon Pedicino,
Quang-Minh Pham, Mike Richards, Wendy Riggs, Sandra Rowan, Lisa Sayles, Sally Urban, and Mark
Winter.
Members Absent: Stuart Altschuler
Guest Speakers: Michelle Haggerty, Sheila Hall, Burk McBride, Trish Blair
1.
2.
3.
4.
Call to Order: Copresident Renner called the meeting to order at 1:04 pm
Introductions and Public Comments: Copresident Renner welcomed everyone and asked for
comments from the public on subjects of interest to the Academic Senate.
Approve October 2, 2015 Academic Senate Minutes: On a motion by Kady Dunleavy, seconded
by Sandra Rowan, the minutes were approved.
Action Items
4.1
Approve October 9 Curriculum Committee Recommendations: On a motion by Mike
Richards, seconded by Kady Dunleavy, Michelle Haggerty presented the agenda and
curriculum summary. The three certificates that Senate tabled on September 18 were
back on the Curriculum agenda, but the committee tabled the certificates due to some
of the same concerns Senate had brought up, plus giving members time to share more
constituency feedback. MUS 38 is a new course, and it was suggested that the
description should reflect that. Ed Macan made a motion to amend the summary,
seconded by Sandra Rowan; the motion was to amend the description to include “a new
course created to meet State’s ADT requirement for music”, which was unanimously
approved by roll call vote: Tim Baker – y; Kristy Carlsen – y; Mike Dennis – y; Kady
Dunleavy – y; Phil Freneau – y; Deanna Herrera-Thomas – y; Ed Macan – y; Ruth Moon –
y; Jon Pedicino – y; Mike Richards – y; Wendy Riggs – y; Sandra Rowan – y; Lisa Sayles –
y; Sally Urban – y. There is still some concern about consistency in the certificate format.
The Curriculum Committee works very hard to keep everything consistent. They have
approved about 40 of them in the last year and a half, and alignment is becoming easier;
some earlier approvals may need another look to ensure they have consistency. The
original motion to approve the summary with the amendment was also unanimously
approved by roll call vote: Tim Baker – y; Kristy Carlsen – y; Mike Dennis – y; Kady
Dunleavy – y; Phil Freneau – y; Deanna Herrera-Thomas – y; Ed Macan – y; Ruth Moon –
y; Jon Pedicino – y; Mike Richards – y; Wendy Riggs – y; Sandra Rowan – y; Lisa Sayles –
y; Sally Urban – y.
AGENDA ITEM 3.0
4.2
5.
Affirm Copresident Signatory Authority for Student Success and Support Program Plan
(SSSP): On a motion by Wendy Riggs, seconded by Mike Richards, Sheila Hall updated
the Senate on changes; grammar, sentence structure; any substantive changes are
waiting for the funding resource allocations. The content of the plan will not change
except for the funding resource allocation. What happens if funds dry up and positions
are impacted? Faculty prioritization guidelines will be used. The District is also required
to match funds, and the match must be added to credit funding; if it fails later, the
District would absorb the costs. Affirmation of signatory authority is an approval of the
packet via Copresidents, with approval by the Senate, who represent the faculty. There
is a guarantee of $619K to match last year, but there will probably be more. This is an
annual plan, so the plan itself will have carry-over through February. The affirmation
was approved unanimously by roll call vote: Tim Baker – y; Kristy Carlsen – y; Mike
Dennis – y; Kady Dunleavy – y; Phil Freneau – y; Deanna Herrera-Thomas – y; Ed Macan
– y; Ruth Moon – y; Jon Pedicino – y; Mike Richards – y; Wendy Riggs – y; Sandra Rowan
– y; Lisa Sayles – y; Sally Urban – y.
Discussion
5.1
Campus Safety: Burk McBride, Trish Blair presented the list devised by EPSCO which was
included in the packet. There was a question about the timeline for upgrading door
locks; Inventory is happening now; funding availability is being investigated and all this
will take a while, as there are so many locks. Sirens will be installed next week. The
Governor just passed a bill for no weapons on campus; duty officers, retired officers,
and military personnel who are working are allowed to carry weapons. Emergency lights
will be changed out to LEDs. Signage is going to be improved. Training is very important
and will be more frequent. NIMS (National Incident Management System) will be
utilized, hopefully with a large emergency drill by next summer. Volunteers will be
needed, and everyone will learn and participate. They are working with Rory Johnson to
develop drills and training at the Del Norte Education Center, also. Accelerating the lock
improvements was requested. BIT (Behavior Intervention Team): all employees need to
accelerate the importance of BIT’s existence; lately BIT has received many more
referrals for people in trouble, and it doesn’t hurt to send [Trish] an email so that BIT
can be ahead of the game instead of not knowing of troublesome incidents. Report to
BIT as soon as possible! BIT language in syllabus? Boilerplate language does not exist,
but it would be worthwhile to have syllabi mention that anyone can report to any
instructor. BIT information sites online should become more easy to find and update. A
book with pertinent information in a quick-to-access document used to exist, and Trish
would like to have it come back, updated, and have the BIT personnel have more
training. State mental health training would be beneficial. ID business cards for BIT
personnel who can do training and talks at class would be very useful. For any Active
crisis – CALL Campus security! But issues about specific possible problem individuals go
to BIT, for behavioral intervention. Chief Conduct Officer? Two-pronged effort in the
combination of security and behavior intervention is very reassuring. “If You See
Something, Say Something” is a Federal program which ASCR is looking into. Prepare,
AGENDA ITEM 3.0
5.2
5.3
5.4
6.
Reports
practice, prevent and be vigilant! It was also suggested that wrap-up reports should be
given to personnel who report incidents to Public Safety, so that everyone can be
advised as to whether the problem was identified and what happened as a result. Public
Safety personnel are supposed to do so, but sometimes one never hears the
actions/results of one’s incident reports.
Academic Dishonesty, Disruptive Behavior, and the Student Conduct Code (AP 5500):
Mark Winter explained his attachments, which can be found on the Academic Senate
website. There are 34 conduct violations listed in AP 5500 Standards of Student
Conduct. Mark Winter asked Senators for feedback on developing an instructor
disciplinary process that is not yet written anywhere. ID, gather evidence, inform
student, make referral. Prevention is more powerful than penalties. With no existing
reporting process, the same student could be a problem in several areas but not
identified as such. FERPA has guidelines that recommend informing the Dean, but is
murky about talking between instructors. Mark Winter recommends reporting to the
Dean. Students cannot be given an “F” for an incident of cheating, especially if it does
not reflect their overall classwork. Dishonesty should be shared with the DEAN. The
student has recourse WHEN there is a formal process, which is up to the instructor to
begin. Always try to deal informally for minor offenses. Asked what the baseline for
conduct issues has been for this year, Mark reported that he is, on average, dealing with
roughly three students/student conduct issues at once; in ten weeks it has taken from 3
hours to 10-15 hours per week to deal with conduct issues.
First Read of BP/AP 4025 Philosophy and Criteria for Associate Degree and General
Education: Sally Urban presented the policy, as ASPC Chair Karen Reiss’s class schedule
did not fit with Senate schedule. The BP was first seen by the committee last summer,
when the AP was nonexistent. The BP was initially shortened by removing procedural
sections, and then revised to be more coherent. The AP was crafted anew using
reworked Areas extracted from the BP and a new Multicultural Understanding section
for Area E; All Area descriptions were sent to constituents for review and MDC is
currently working on language for Area E. With all the changes suggested by Senators,
the BP/AP will go back to ASPC for consideration of suggested revisions; they will be
resubmitted for approval on November 6.
Promotion and Support of Associate Faculty: the Associate Faculty Committee (AFC)
would like to promote College of the Redwoods and the District along with their
promotion of AF, with increased awareness, increased enrollment retention for new
students; AF is collecting bios, and there is such diversity among them. They bring
goodwill and expertise to the District; if we can increase the morale of the AF, then we
can get increased applicant pools for future job openings. The AFC also wishes to reach
out to ASCR and make connections with students, to strengthen retention. Due to the
length of previous agenda discussions, Sandra’s presentation was shortened. The Senate
will hear more soon throughout this term and the entire school year.
AGENDA ITEM 3.0
6.1
7.
8.
9.
Revision of Senate Constitution and Bylaws (Link to documents): historically, the
revisions to these documents have been small ones, but for future we want to consider
more substantive changes, especially in processes for selection of membership; please
review carefully.
6.2
Professional Development Committee (PDC): Connie Wolfsen reported that a new,
reformulated committee will be formed, and will consist of two co-chairs, Kerry Mayer
and Crystal Morse, and three members from each constituent group; it will NOT be an
HR-driven committee.
6.3
Healthy Workplace Update: Connie Wolfsen reported that the new PDC will be central
to the healthy workplace mission and Mark Winter brought up AP 3260 Participatory
Governance, which needs revisions.
6.4
College Update (to include Census data): Mark Winter: FTES are down, and the ratio of
students to instructors has decreased from a high 31 students per each full-time faculty
to 20-25 students per each full-time faculty. CR is still losing enrollments and
subsequent years may be seriously low.
6.5
Associated Students of College of the Redwoods (ASCR) Update: Quang-Minh Pham had
so little time to report that he shortened his report to “ASCR is doing stuff!” He will be
given more time to elaborate at the next Senate meeting.
Future Agenda Items: Senators are encouraged to request to place an item on a future agenda:
None forwarded.
Announcements and Open Forum
8.1
Upcoming CR Events – (http://inside.redwoods.edu/calendar.asp)
8.2
Science Night October 23
8.3
Faculty meeting October 30 (and another one December 4)
Adjournment: On a motion by Mike Richards, seconded by Sandra Rowan, the meeting was
adjourned at 3:03 pm.
Public Notice—Nondiscrimination
College of the Redwoods does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, color or disability in any of its
programs or activities. College of the Redwoods is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. Upon
request this publication will be made available in alternate formats. Please contact Debbie Williams, Academic Senate Support, 7351 Tompkins
Hill Road, Eureka, CA 95501, (707) 476-4259: Office Hours, M-Th - 8 am to 3 pm; F - 10 am to 5 pm (hours vary due to meeting schedules).