REDWOODS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT Meeting of the Academic Senate Executive Committee Eureka: 7351 Tompkins Hill Road, SS 201, Academic Senate Office Friday, October 9, 2015 at 1 PM MINUTES Members Present: Mark Renner, Mike Dennis, Lisa Sayles, Kady Dunleavy Members Absent: Connie Wolfsen Guest Presenters: Stuart Altschuler and Sandra Rowan 1. Call to Order: Copresident Renner called the meeting to order at 1 pm. 2. Public Comment: None forwarded. 3. 4. Action Items 3.1 Approve September 22 Meeting Minutes: On a motion by Kady Dunleavy, seconded by Lisa Sayles, the minutes were approved as written. Discussion 4.1 Faculty Meetings: Meetings are October 30 and December 4 at 10 am in LRC 105. The Executive Committee began a list of items to discuss. CRFO and Senate will be holding these meetings together. The PDC may be an item on the first agenda. Brainstorm items for other topics at Faculty Meeting: • Safety Committee policy development; • Assessment subsets, with no reflection; intensify the detail of our assessment subsets that lack adequate reflection 4.2 • Healthy Workplace via Professional Development Committee • Mindset Interventions • Report on Retention and Early alert system; comprehensive system • Degree readiness/diversity/counseling/instruction Professional Development Committee: Copresident Renner shared that he and Copresident Wolfsen are meeting with PZ, CIO/CSSO and others on Monday before Expanded Cabinet for a brainstorming session; they have identified the faculty Co-chair a recommendation for the co-chair. Admin is very serious about rolling this out in November with multiple stake holders. They need to refine details. Member asked about Faculty Development Committee (FDC), which will remain a separate entity with separate funding; the IEC has approved a descriptor but it will be reviewed and possibly revised regarding the liaison; the “old” committee (PDC) will be sunsetted reconstituted. Faculty co-chair with a classified staff co-chair – NOT HR concentric. Will not be renamed. 4.3 Senate Agenda for October 16: The draft agenda was discussed and edited. 4.4 Changing Senate Constitution and Bylaws: The Copresidents are looking at substantive changes to these documents. The district used to have two ‘divisions’; Transfer and Other as well as ‘nonteaching faculty’. Instructional roles of Administrators have changed over the years, too. The Copresidents would like to have a more shared governance process to find/assign/nominate members (e.g., Executive committee) especially to the Executive Committee, and then the Executive Committee would be available to help ‘vet’ the members. Formulizing Formalizing the ad hoc process for Copresidents would be the first step, and would go from there…Use the rubric as an addendum to the Bylaws, or language within the Bylaws that prescribe the procedure. The intent is to bring more consistency to all selection processes. The four five main points are: • Del Norte considered a “division” for Senate representation only, but for other committee membership Del Norte faculty are part of District Divisions/Departments • The Executive Committee should be made up of Divisional/Departmental membership, forwarded by each Division/Department • Define a transparent process for the nomination of Copresidents • Democratize the selection of Senate Executive Committee members and create more consistency in all Senate subcommittee representation • Executive Committee members shall drive the process of Divisional representation on Senate and District Committees 4.5 “Year of the Associate Faculty”: Sandra Rowan and Stuart Altschuler presented a list of ideas for promoting this ‘event’. Ask each discipline to forward a liaison, to make connections – emails are not an effective way to communicate, a person may make a difference, and would be voluntary – idea needs research and possible help from Assistant Deans; AF feel disenfranchised - use “district” instead of “campus”; showcasing faculty without the use of “full-time” (FTF) or “associate” (AF); media ideas that will also promote CR as a whole; funding costs should be addressed, but definitely not ignored. Copresident Renner suggested that for the presentation at the next Senate meeting the list could be prioritized to enable “doable” items; look at ways we can change how the Senate handles things so it’s not just words but “agents for change”; an institutional change is the best solution; narrow, clarify, define and write goals; separating out the AF is not right; staffing committees is such a problem, and AF would be such a great resource for membership; FTF are always in the forefront in the district; AF do not want to have any of this be costly, or be undue cost to the district. AF mtg. Thursday; ideas that are high impact and easy to deploy and will cause institutional change. The Senate cannot speak to the concern regarding Connie Carlson’s work load. 5. Announcements/Open Forum: Future item of interest for future agenda, supporting faculty in developing Distance Education courses. Administration has spoken about the importance of having quality DE courses. It has been suggested that the Senate be a voice in improving the processes and guidelines for these courses. The Copresidents will be taking the conversation to the CIO/CSSO. 6. Adjournment: On a motion by Kady Dunleavy, seconded by Mike Dennis, the meeting was adjourned at … 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, 9 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday.