REDWOODS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT Meeting of the Academic Senate February 3, 2012, 1 p.m. • Eureka: 7351 Tompkins Hill Road, AD 201 (Board Room) • Del Norte: 883 West Washington Boulevard, Crescent City, Rooms E3 and E4 • Mendocino Coast: 1211 Del Mar Drive, Ft. Bragg, Room 106 B Members Present: Mark Winter, Mike Richards, Bob Brown, Steve Brown, Kady Dunleavy, Ryan Emenaker, Chris Gaines, Jennifer Gardner, Dave Gonsalves, Utpal Goswami, Cindy Hooper, Allen Keppner, Philip Mancus, Susan Nordlof, Sandra Rowan, Gary Sokolow, Kevin Yokoyama. Members Absent: Dave Bazard, Bobby Shearer. 1. Call to Order: Copresident Mark Winter called the meeting to order at 1:02. 2. Introductions and Public Comments: Copresident Mark Winter welcomed all members and guests, and he called for public comments; no public comments were forwarded. 3. Approve the January 20 Open Session and the January 20 Closed Session Meeting Minutes: On motion by Gary Sokolow, seconded by Steve Brown, both sets of minutes were approved as written. 4. Action Items 4.1 Approve Curriculum Committee January 27 Recommendations: Chair Peter Blakemore presented the recommendations, and he answered questions. On motion by Gary Sokolow, seconded by Kady Dunleavy, the recommendations were unanimously approved by the following roll call vote: Brown, B. – y, Brown, S. – y, Dunleavy – y, Emenaker – y, Gaines – y, Gardner – y, Gonsalves – y, Hooper – y, Keppner – y, Mancus – y, Nordlof – y, Sokolow – y, Yokoyama – y. 4.2 Approve Faculty Development Committee January 27 Recommendations: Committee member Ryan Emenaker presented the recommendations, and he answered questions. On motion by Kevin Yokoyama, seconded by Bob Brown, the recommendations were approved by the following roll call vote: Brown, B. – y, Brown, S. – y, Dunleavy – y, Emenaker – y, Gaines – y, Gardner – y, Gonsalves – y, Hooper – y, Keppner – y, Mancus – y, Nordlof – y, Rowan – y, Sokolow – y, Yokoyama – abstained. Ryan informed the Senate that the submission deadline for the last call for proposals will be Friday, March 23, and he encouraged faculty to apply. 5. Discussion Items 5.1 College Council Board Policy and Administrative Procedure Drafts out for Constituent Review 5.1.1 BP/AP 5075 Credit Course Adds and Drops: Copresident Winter presented the proposals, and he gave background information. Senate discussion included: (1) Academic Senate Minutes February 3, 2012 Page 2 the need to distinguish between a withdrawal and a drop, (2) clarification of an inactive student, (3) the suggestion that the college make a statement regarding the importance of attendance to support student success, and (4) the need for the information to be included in each course syllabus. Mark agreed to forward the suggestions for College Council consideration. 5.1.2 BP/AP 3280 Grants: Copresidents Richards presented the proposals, and he gave background information. Senate feedback included: (1) the process needs to allow for someone outside the district to be involved in grant initiation, (2) the grant application needs additional review if the workload of current staff will be affected, (3) bargaining unit issues resulting from the grant need to be addressed, and (4) a timeline may need to be inserted in the procedure to ensure consultation with all stakeholders early in the process. 5.2 BP/AP 5300 Student Equity Plan (SEP) Proposals: Copresident Richards presented the proposals and reported that this is an additional opportunity for the Senate to provide feedback. Senate suggestions for the SEP Committee membership included: (1) add additional faculty members and at least one student from ASCR, and (2) consider adding a representative from DSPS and possibly a member from a historically underrepresented group. 6. Reports 6.1 College Update: Utpal Goswami reported that the ACCJC letter has been mailed, but it has not yet arrived. In addressing numerous budget issues, Utpal’s report included: (1) the college needs to look for long-term solutions since the forecast for next year and the year after indicates negative balances; (2) budget listening sessions have been scheduled to gather input and suggestions for ways to reduce expenses and generate revenue; (3) suggestions from the listening sessions will be forwarded to the Budget Planning Committee (BPC) to inform their prioritization process; (4) BPC recommendations and suggestions generated at the listening sessions will be forwarded to Cabinet; (5) a number of criteria and considerations for reducing the budget and the possible elimination of programs are being reviewed, and Utpal has asked the copresidents for some guidelines; (6) after the February 24 faculty SERP deadline, the district will have more information regarding what programs may be eliminated; and (7) at this point the Board has not had the policy discussions or made decisions regarding how much financial risk they are willing take. 6.2 Student Success Task Force Recommendations: Keith Snow-Flamer was not present to give the report. 6.3 ACCJC Accreditation Update: Kevin Yokoyama reported that the letter from the ACCJC has been sent, but the college has not yet received it. He said that Utpal is expecting a phone call from ACCJC President Barbara Beno this afternoon informing him of the Commission’s decision. 6.4 Basic Skills Initiative Update: Basic Skills Initiative (BSI) Committee Faculty Tri-chair Erin Wall presented the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 funding allocations, and she explained the committee’s allocation process. Erin reported that with an additional $26,000 funds still available, the BSI committee will probably issue another call for proposals this year. At this point, funding for next year looks good, and the committee is preparing to conduct a program review on the overview level. Academic Senate Minutes February 3, 2012 Page 3 6.5 Assessment Committee Update and Preview of Assessment Software in Development: Assessment Coordinator Justine Shaw reported that while current assessment information is posted in public folders and on the Assessment Committee’s web site, the information needs to be organized into a database that houses all the information in one accessible location. To that end, Institutional Research Director Angelina Hill is working with Technology Services staff member Paul Chown to develop software that will be easy for faculty to use and will provide a central location for assessment data and reports. Angelina presented a draft of the software, which will be used by faculty test groups this semester with the goal of having it fully operational by the fall. 6.6 Multicultural and Diversity Committee (MDC) Update: Chair Justine Shaw reported that the MDC is currently involved in the following activities: (1) advocating for an ESOL class on the Eureka and Del Norte campuses in addition to the one offered in Mendocino, (2) advocating for an updated Student Equity Plan that has district buy-in, (3) working on a diversity requirement in the curriculum process, (4) interfacing with the Book of the Year Committee since this year’s selection, The Help, has lots of diversity content, (5) showing of the movie “Not Just a Game” as the spring movie activity, and (6) reviewing and providing feedback on several board policy and administrative procedure drafts. Justine reported that the MDC needs more members, and she encouraged faculty to participate. 6.7 Faculty Prioritization: Copresident Winter reported that the faculty prioritization meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, February 4. Using AP 7217 Faculty Prioritization Process, the Senate copresidents, four additional faculty members, and six administrators will prioritize the faculty positions requested through Program Review and forward the recommendations to Cabinet. Following the February 24 deadline for faculty to retire through the SERP, an additional prioritization meeting may be convened. 6.8 Enrollment Management Committee (EMC) Update: Committee member Allen Keppner reported that with the goal of meeting students’ needs and addressing bottleneck areas in the schedule, the EMC is discussing a number of different methodologies to improve enrollment management. The committee is attempting to gather as much information as possible to help them with resource allocation, but it is challenging when the college and the course offerings are shrinking. EMC member Dean Jeff Cummings encouraged faculty to try to correlate a two year schedule with the annual course offerings so the scheduling will mesh. Jeff also informed senators that the EMC is factoring in areas of emphasis from the Chancellor’s Office, which include Career and Technical Education, Basic Skills, and transfer. 6.9 College Council January 23 Meeting: Copresident Winter reported that several proposals were approved following constituent review and were forwarded to the Board. 6.10 January 30 Special Board of Trustees Meeting: Prior to the January 30 special meeting, the Board was scheduled to have a special meeting on Wednesday, February 25. Several faculty members made statements regarding potential faculty layoffs during public comment on February 25, and Mark’s statement is posted on the Senate’s web site. After realizing that there wasn’t a quorum for the meeting, a second special meeting was scheduled for Monday, January 30, specifically to address the budget and possible program elimination and faculty layoffs. A number of faculty statements were presented at the January 30 meeting, and Board discussion included how the members could be engaged in developing alternatives to balancing the budget. A proposed 2012-2013 budget will be presented to the Board at their March 5 meeting, and any potential faculty layoffs will be Academic Senate Minutes February 3, 2012 Page 4 included in the proposal. With the March 5 meeting scheduled at the Mendocino Coast campus, Mark asked the Board to consider moving the meeting location to Eureka to allow for greater employee participation. 7. Announcements and Open Forum 7.1 Book of the Year Activity: Ryan Emenaker announced that as part of the Book of the Year activities, the film “The Help” will be shown on Friday, February 10, beginning at 6 p.m. in Life Sciences Building, Room 102 on the Eureka campus. The event is free and open to the public. 7.2 Arts Alive Event: Cindy Hooper announced that CR faculty members Claire Joyce and Garth Johnson will present their show “Play/House” at HSU’s First Street Gallery located on First Street in Eureka. The show will be open for Arts Alive! on Saturday, February 4, and will run through Sunday, March 4. Admission is free and everyone is welcome. 8. Adjournment: On motion by Gary Sokolow, seconded by Sandra Rowan, the meeting was adjourned at 3:02. Respectfully submitted by Sally Frazier, Administrative Secretary to the Academic Senate. Next Meeting: Friday, March 2, 1 p.m.