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)
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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.
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February 3, 2012
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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
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February 3, 2012
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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.