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, February 5, 2016
1:30 P.M.
MINUTES
Members Present: Mark Renner, Connie Wolfsen, Stuart Altschuler, Tim Baker, Mike Dennis,
Kady Dunleavy, Phil Freneau (by phone), Deanna Herrera-Thomas, Ed Macan, Ruth Moon, Jon
Pedicino, Quang-Minh Pham, George Potamianos, Mike Richards, Wendy Riggs, Sandra Rowan,
Lisa Sayles, Sally Urban, and Mark Winter
Members Absent: All Present
Guest Speakers: Michelle Haggerty (by phone), Mike Butler (by phone), and Cathy Cox
1.
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4.
Call to Order: Co-President Renner called the meeting to order at 1:34 pm.
Introductions and Public Comments: Co-President Renner welcomed everyone to the meeting
and asked for public comments. None Forwarded.
Approve January 15, 2016 Academic Senate Minutes: On a motion by Mike Richards, seconded
by Jon Pedicino, the minutes were discussed; a friendly amendment to reflect that Mark Winter
(who was unavoidably delayed) was in fact present for most of the meeting on the 15th.
Action Items
4.1
Approve January 22 Curriculum Committee Recommendations: On a motion by Sally
Urban, seconded by Mike Richards, the discussion included remarks about the Guitar
class and that the Philosophy ADT was pulled from the Curriculum agenda, per George
Potamianos. The submitted recommendations were unanimously approved by roll call
vote: Altschuler – y; Baker – y; Dennis – y; Dunleavy – y; Freneau – y; Herrera-Thomas –
y; Macan – y; Moon – y; Pedicino – y; Potamianos – y; Richards – y; Riggs – y; Rowan – y;
Sayles – y; Urban – y.
4.2
Approve January 15 and 22 Faculty Qualifications Committee Recommendations: On a
motion by Wendy Riggs, seconded by Kady Dunleavy, the two equivalencies were
discussed. A member asked about the qualifications for the Communication Studies
position, and Michelle Haggerty explained that the Subject Matter Expert was very
satisfied that all qualifications were met. The recommendations were unanimously
approved by roll call vote: Altschuler – y; Baker – y; Dennis – y; Dunleavy – y; Freneau –
y; Herrera-Thomas – y; Macan – y; Moon – y; Pedicino – y; Potamianos – y; Richards – y;
Riggs – y; Rowan – y; Sayles – y; Urban – y.
4.3
Approve ASPC Revisions to BP 4100 Graduation Requirements for Degrees &
Certificates: On a motion by George Potamianos, seconded by Deanna Herrera-Thomas,
the BP was unanimously approved by roll call vote: Altschuler – y; Baker – y; Dennis – y;
Dunleavy – y; Freneau – y; Herrera-Thomas – y; Macan – y; Moon – y; Pedicino – y;
Potamianos – y; Richards – y; Riggs – y; Rowan – y; Sayles – y; Urban – y.
4.4
5.
Approve ASPC Revisions to AP 4100 Graduation Requirements for Degrees &
Certificates: On a motion by George Potamianos, seconded by Kady Dunleavy, a Senator
asked about the reasons for distinction of CR GE pattern only for AS degrees. This
language was taken directly from the recommendation of the Evaluation Specialist; a
request for explanation will be given to that specialist, but in the meantime, it was
generally believed that the recommended language be approved, and AP 4100 was
unanimously approved as written by roll call vote: Altschuler – y; Baker – y; Dennis – y;
Dunleavy – y; Freneau – y; Herrera-Thomas – y; Macan – y; Moon – y; Pedicino – y;
Potamianos – y; Richards – y; Riggs – y; Rowan – y; Sayles – y; Urban – y.
Discussion
5.1
Annual Plan: Co-President Wolfsen reminded the Senators that Angelina Hill has asked
for faculty input for the Plan for 16-17, as the last Plan did not sufficiently reflect faculty
work. She asked Senators, what they would like to see us accomplish next year.
Senators expressed that there have been a lot of threat assessment activities lately, and
they would like to see more positive activities. Funding for the Professional
Development Committee is still not firm. Some funding comes from the Senate’s own
Facutly Development Committee; but the PDC funding stream currently comes from HR
and student equity funds. Do they have a budget, yet? No. SEP funds will funnel money
through or there may be a parallel funding proposal. SEP will fun SEP-related events.
Student equity coordinator will be point person for requesting proposals and matching
to goals, and will also be in charge of funding. Funding models have been confusing for
faculty, and streamlining the process would be more efficient. Clarify funding processes;
use a rubric, not one person making the decisions. Come up with a comprehensive way
to handle Field Trips, which is currently haphazard. ASPC will be working on BP/AP 4300
Field Trips. The policy currently doesn’t match Ed. code requirements, and we must help
students. The insurance processes aren’t accurate. Designation of field courses is not
clear. Separate waivers and a comprehensive policy would be very helpful. For the
Annual Plan ideas, we must put things in that we’re about to do; perhaps a bullet point
list of things like, “will fix field trip policies” will make us look better when they’ve been
done. Revitalization and discontinuation are taken care of but what about initializing
programs? Dental hygiene did go through the initialization phase, but it was found to be
not viable. One idea that was developed in Senate Executive Committee: “To create a
weekly time and space for professional development of all faculty and staff to promote
a healthy workplace”. This led to a discussion about ‘college hour’. People have
advocated for college hour, but including it in a plan and then possibly not
accomplishing it would be harmful. We shouldn’t commit to something so controversial;
revisit the issue without making a promise…maybe the space issue is more important
than the time issue. Check the minutes regarding college hour discussions; it may have
been the student angle that was more of the push to abolish college hour. In ‘94 the
schedule block changed and the transition became problematic. Maybe find a space
first, and then if it’s used then build to the college hour. Focus on space, not time. An
ad-hoc committee may be a good idea. Would someone chair a small ad-hoc? The
second possible idea from Senate Executive Committee: “Develop specific strategies to
improve internal communications, such as streamlining email processes and facilitating
face-to-face communications, and explore Canvas as a professional development and
communication tool.” Communication as an Annual Plan item. The town halls were nice
and communication does need work. There is always a scheduling issue. The CIO/CSSO
letters per week are a great asset to the college community.
6.
Reports
6.1
DE Functional Plan: Cathy Cox and Mike Butler (Mike by phone): current status of DE, 60
sections, 5 by telepresence, enrollment is staying steady. The systems are working
pretty well this term. Steven and Jose worked hard to get things straightened out.
They’ve been going to the Deans to talk about modality and getting the curriculum
committee paperwork through. Things in development: spreadsheet, showing
Telepresence class presence filling up, next fall they should have capability to do two
simultaneous presentations. Very expensive but twice as useful. Eight courses already
by Telepresence, not counting some coming to Curriculum Committee soon.
Telepresence teaching is taking off, serving students at KT and DN, where students are
now getting classes they need. AJ is putting through 2 of the 3 academy courses by
Telepresence, post-certification. 35 FTES just from those two classes. This modality is
doing what Telepresence was meant to do. Regarding the Functional Plan: first an
overview, then goals and objectives. Ed plan cycle will require realignment in 3 years, so
the plan is for 2015-17. Bandwidth and the district’s ability to allow Telepresence to
grow. Can operate at low bandwidth per Steven Roper. Two T-1 cables are being
installed, and they will outfit a 40 person room at DN. Cathy went over the attachments
which have multiple objectives within the three given goals; not all dependent on DEPC.
DE has had problems: There were no SLOs in the past. Virtual modality shows a national
trend for less success. More people will be taking the @one training. The buzz is when
you mix hybrid courses within an institution there is more success. If the DE class is
properly designed, it actually serves ALL students better because they can access
material multiple times (replaying recorded course), read transcript during lectures, etc.
A degree completely accomplished online is in the near future. The Exchange is set to go
live in future? The Exchange allows students to take courses online at another college
and they could take the course via Exchange and still get degree. Expand our base
knowledge. Have a shot at increasing enrollments. Many colleges have too many
students than courses, and we could take them on here via the Exchanges. One
requirement is that the course has to go through evaluation, with a rubric to judge and
qualify, and the faculty member has to be evaluated, too. @One cert. is a good way to
help that evaluation. Exchange is a state program and our OTLT is not enough to be
within the Exchange. OEI standards and the courses will be under CANVAS. The
Exchange will be there whether we are a part of it or not; if we don’t participate, we
may be left behind. Being a part of Exchange would be a possible future improvement
implementation guide. Reno Giovannetti is another awesome piece of our equation, and
he will be included in future reports regarding DE activities.
6.2
Associated Students of College of the Redwoods (ASCR) Update: Quang-Minh Pham
reports that the ASCR has seen a resurgence in Student Governance interest, with six
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applications for open ASCR positions at this time. ASCR elections will be held mid-toearly April.
6.3
Accreditation Oversight Committee: Personnel are already talking about AOC and
wanting to see what didn’t work before and what they think will work now; the
framework and developing processes are in progress. Finding members comes later as
they are now working on developing the committee. Past members will be integral in
the formation of the new AOC. Callout deadline is Feb 15 for reassigned-time AOC cochair along with another position for planning writing.
6.4
College Update: Mark Winter discussed the one-year schedule implementation to
decrease attrition and increase retention. West Hills College is already doing it. A fullyear pathway creates a better way for students to continue on to the next term rather
than drop out. The timeline is to review last year, and evaluate trends by department.
Please look for an email with more details. Btw-today dissemination we are one week
behind but hope to catch up, doing two semesters instead of one. By April a full
schedule will be available for all next year. Census: some have not reported yet. A rough
estimate is that we are close to last year and may be over as far as FTES. SARTCO
agreement that allows for stipends for AF to be paid for participating in Senate
(Academic Senate, not subcommittees) and some District committees. Pelican Bay is
teaching its first credit courses. Interim AP 7123 has been approved and posted, and
ASPC will be working on the final draft.
Future Agenda Items: Senators are encouraged to request to place an item on a future agenda:
None forwarded.
Announcements and Open Forum
8.1
Call out for Senate Representative to the Ad-Hoc Committee to Revise AP 3260
Participatory Governance: this AP for Participatory Governance was written by one
person; we will be revising by committee. Sally Urban volunteered to be on the Ad-Hoc
Committee, as did Quang-Minh Pham, Deanna Herrera-Thomas, and Sandra Rowan.
THANK YOU for volunteering!
8.2
Upcoming CR Events – (http://inside.redwoods.edu/calendar.asp)
8.3
No Classes Friday, February 12
8.4
Portugal Awards Applications due February 26
Adjournment: On a motion by Deanna Herrera-Thomas, seconded by Sandra Rowan, the
meeting was adjourned at 3:02 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).