REDWOODS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
Meeting of the Academic Senate
March 2, 2012, 1 p.m.
• Eureka: 7351 Tompkins Hill Road, AD 201 (Board Room)
• Eureka: 424 Quail Valley Road
• 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, Dave Bazard, Bob Brown, Steve Brown, Solomon
DeCamp, Kady Dunleavy, Ryan Emenaker, Chris Gaines, Jennifer Gardner, Dave
Gonsalves, Utpal Goswami, Cindy Hooper, Allen Keppner, Philip Mancus, Susan
Nordlof, Sandra Rowan, Kevin Yokoyama (attended by phone as a nonvoting
member).
Members Absent: Gary Sokolow.
1. Call to Order: Copresident Mark Winter called the meeting to order at 1:04.
2. Introductions and Public Comments: Copresident Mark Winter welcomed all members and
guests, and he introduced Solomon DeCamp as the new ASCR representative on the Senate.
Mark called for public comments; no public comments were forwarded.
3. Approve the February 3 Meeting Minutes: On motion by Bob Brown, seconded by Kady
Dunleavy, the minutes were approved as written.
4. Action Items
4.1
Approve Curriculum Committee February 10 and February 24 Recommendations: Chair
Peter Blakemore presented the recommendations, and he answered questions. On motion
by Allen Keppner, seconded by Bob Brown, the recommendations were unanimously
approved by the following roll call vote: Bazard – y, Brown, B. – y, Brown, S. – y,
Dunleavy – y, Emenaker – y, Gaines – y, Gardner – y, Gonsalves – y, Hooper – y, Keppner
– y, Mancus – y, Nordlof – y.
4.2 Approve Academic Senate Proposed Appointment: Copresident Winter presented the
proposal that George Potamianos be appointed chair of the Multicultural and Diversity
Committee to serve until June 2012. On motion by Allen Keppner, seconded by Bob
Brown, the proposed appointment was unanimously approved by the following roll call
vote: Bazard – y, Brown, B. – y, Brown, S. – y, Dunleavy – y, Emenaker – y, Gaines – y,
Gardner – y, Gonsalves – y, Hooper – y, Keppner – y, Mancus – y, Nordlof – y.
5. Discussion Items
5.1
Strategic Plan Draft 2/24/12: Copresident Winter introduced the draft, and he reported that
Strategic Planning Committee member Sydney Larson is present to answer questions and
forward the Senate’s feedback to the Committee. Senators were informed that during a
conference call with the Accreditation Oversight Committee members, the Senate
copresidents, the Cabinet and ACCJC President Barbara Beno, Barbara cautioned that in
Academic Senate Minutes
March 2, 2012
Page 2
light of the state’s current financial situation, CR’s Strategic Plan needs to focus on the
core mission of the college and acknowledge the changing landscape of the district. Senate
discussion included the following questions, suggestions, and concerns: (1) Does the core
mission of the college include the for profit sector? (2) Replace vague language with active
voice statements and ensure that the indicators are measureable. (3) Make concise, clear
statements. (4) Under student accomplishments, address strengthening the transfer degrees
and articulation with higher institutions. (5) Add credit based CTE programs to the
outcomes under Goal 4, “Contribute to lifelong learning and workforce development.” (6)
Emphasize that the college is focused on student success by revising Goal 3, “Focus on
Learners” to become Goal 1. (7) Strengthen and clarify diversity issues. (8) Address
professional development. (9) Remove “Technological Relevance” as a goal and the use of
analytics as an outcome. In addition, concerns were raised with Objective 3.4 and the
desired outcome that “more students will complete any necessary remediation within one
year of admission.” It was pointed out that many students in remedial courses will not be
able to complete the program in one year, and a question was asked whether fewer Basic
Skills sections will be offered. The Senate was informed that the Strategic Planning
Committee is meeting on March 13, and Mark asked senators to forward any additional
feedback to Sydney for Committee consideration. The Strategic Plan draft is on the March
14 Board of Trustees agenda for a first read, and it is unclear if there will be any additional
opportunities for the college community to provide feedback on the draft following the
Board meeting.
5.2 College Council Board Policy and Administrative Procedure Drafts out for Constituent
Review
5.2.1 BP/AP 7310 Nepotism: Copresident Richards presented the proposals, and he
explained that because substantial revisions were made since the Senate reviewed
earlier drafts, the proposals are being distributed for a second constituent review.
Senate discussion included concerns with the wording in the AP that refers to
transfers or reassignment of a relative or domestic partner when an immediate family
member is in a position to recommend or influence personnel decisions. Since a
number of departments have worked out ways to address scheduling and personnel
decisions in a manner that avoids conflict, it was suggested that the wording of the
AP could be revised to allow for latitude in department, division or site assignments.
Mike asked senators to distribute the drafts to their constituents and bring feedback to
the April 6 Senate meeting.
6. Reports
6.1 Accreditation Update: Accreditation Oversight Committee (AOC) Co-chair Dave Bazard
navigated the internal Accreditation web site, which includes a structural flowchart of
accreditation work groups and activities and the membership of the AOC. The web site has
links for each of the Standard and recommendation workgroups where agendas, meeting
minutes, and documents for each group are posted. Interaction between the work groups
and the AOC is supported by an AOC Strategies Work Group Results worksheet, which
includes rationale for actions and how the ongoing effort will be sustained. Information
from the worksheets will be cataloged into an Excel spreadsheet grid that anyone can
access, and the site will include hyperlinks to evidence documents.
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March 2, 2012
Page 3
6.2 Assessment Committee Update: Assessment Coordinator Justine Shaw presented the
Current Status of Assessment Documents by Disciplines that reflects work submitted as of
February 26, and she explained that it is already outdated as a number of additional
documents have been submitted. While assessment software is being developed and will
soon be available as a centralized place for all forms to be submitted, Justine urged faculty
not to wait until the software is up and running to submit forms, and not to enter data into
the new software until it has been sufficiently tested. District-wide trainings on how to use
the assessment software will be scheduled, and eventually all the forms now housed in
Public Folders will be migrated to the new software. Justine announced that after Spring
Break, Erik Kramer, who is scheduled to become the Assessment Coordinator beginning in
the fall, will be assisting Justine by presenting assessment workshops in Eureka, Del Norte,
Mendocino Coast and at the Klamath Trinity site, and he and Justine will both be available
for drop-in help for faculty.
6.3 Budget Planning Committee (BPC) Update: BPC Co-chair Bob Brown presented the CR
Revenue Forecast for 2011-2012, 2012-2013 (best case), and 2012-2013 (worst case)
budget scenarios, and the preliminary recommendations that were forwarded to Cabinet,
which were drafted during the Sunday, February 26, BPC workshop. Bob reported that the
Sunday workshop included considerations of the suggestions that came out of the budget
listening sessions and a discussion on how to cover the shortfall even in the worst case
scenario if the tax measures are not approved in the fall. Listening session suggestions
resulted in about $200,000 in savings and included recommendations to close the
McKinleyville and Arcata sites and to renegotiate the lease for Eureka Downtown. In order
to close the loop and plan for future resource allocations, the BPC is recommending that all
areas that receive funding complete a form that addresses whether the funding met the
goals of the Strategic Plan, the Education Master Plan, and the student and program
learning outcomes.
6.4 College Update: Interim President Goswami reported that, as directed by the Board of
Trustees, negotiations with CRFO are occurring to explore options prior to faculty layoffs.
Utpal also reported the following progress toward meeting the ACCJC recommendations:
(1) As indicated by Human Resource files and timeline, 100% of evaluations are
completed; (2) A random survey of syllabi on file indicated that a couple were missing, but
that has now been corrected; (3) By March 9 the safe, off-campus storage of student files
will be completed; (4) Work on a professional development plan has begun, and the plan is
expected to be completed by May; and (5) Recommendation 8 will be addressed by the
Board, and the college will be informed of what direction the Board will take.
6.5 ASCR Update: ASCR representative Solomon DeCamp reported that ASCR is working on
updating their Bylaws, and they are attempting to recruit new members. Students from the
Del Norte campus organized a trip to Sacramento to participate in the March in March
community college advocacy event, and several Eureka students are also planning to
attend.
6.6 College Council February Meetings: Copresidents Winter and Richards reported that
BP/AP 7310 Nepotism proposals were approved for constituent review, and BP/AP 3280
Grants proposals were approved with revisions that include (1) Curriculum Committee
approval if there are substantive changes to curriculum, and (2) the need for a district
advocate if the grant is being proposed from the outside the college. College Council was
informed that there are 120 policies and procedures that still need to be updated to the new
numbering system.
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March 2, 2012
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6.7 February 7 and February 27 Board of Trustees Meetings: Copresident Winter reported that
the February 7 Board meeting included: (1) a Sabbatical Leave presentation by Dave
Bazard; (2) a Board discussion on redistricting; (3) a statement by Mark Winter on the
college’s Show Cause accreditation status; (4) a Board request for more information before
approving the tenure recommendations; (5) a decision to move the March Mendocino
Coast Board meeting to three meetings on the Eureka campus; and (6) the approval of
Sabbatical Leaves for Susan Nordlof, Chris Romero and Mark Renner. At the February 27
meeting, the Board approved a redistricting proposal, and included in the report out from
closed session was a directive from the Board to the president to explore all options with
CRFO prior to possible faculty layoffs.
7. Announcements and Open Forum
7.1
2012-2013 Eureka Faculty and Associate Faculty of the Year Call for Nominations:
Copresident Richards presented the Eureka 2012-2013 timeline and nomination process,
and he encouraged faculty in each of the divisions to take the opportunity to forward award
nominations.
7.2 Book of the Year Speakers: As part of the CR/HSU Book of the Year events, civil rights
scholars and professors Dr. Tiyi Morris and Dr. Emilye Crosby are scheduled to be on the
CR Eureka campus on Thursday, April 5, to discuss the context surrounding Kathryn
Stockett’s book, The Help. The presentation is scheduled for 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. in the Forum
Theater and is free and open to the public.
8. Adjournment: On motion by Allen Keppner, seconded by Kady Dunleavy, the meeting was
adjourned at 3:12.
Respectfully submitted by Sally Frazier, Administrative Secretary to the Academic Senate.
Next Meeting:
Friday, April 6, 2012, 1 p.m.