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 …
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