REDWOODS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
Meeting of the Academic Senate
September 7, 2012, 1 p.m.
 Eureka: 7351 Tompkins Hill Road, SS 202 (New Board Room)
 Del Norte: 883 West Washington Boulevard, Crescent City, Room E4
 Crescent City: 118 Sea Foam Drive
 Mendocino Coast: 1211 Del Mar Drive, Ft. Bragg, Room 106 B
Members Present: Mike Richards, Bob Brown, Dave Bazard, Steve Brown, Brie Day, Solomon
DeCamp, Kady Dunleavy, Ryan Emenaker, Marcy Foster, Jennifer Gardner, Dave
Gonsalves, Utpal Goswami, Cindy Hooper, Todd Olsen (meeting substitute for
Bruce Wagner), Vinnie Peloso, Sandra Rowan, Maggie White.
Members Absent: Chris Gaines, Bruce Wagner.
1. Call to Order: Copresident Mike Richards called the meeting to order at 1:02.
2. Introductions and Public Comments: Copresident Mike Richards welcomed senators and guests,
and he called for public comments. No public comments were forwarded.
3. Approve the May 4 Meeting Minutes: On motion by Kady Dunleavy, seconded by Steve Brown,
the minutes were approved as written.
4. Action Items
4.1 Approve Academic Senate Proposed Appointments: Copresident Richards presented the
proposed appointments. On motion by Dave Bazard, seconded by Maggie White, the
proposed appointments were unanimously approved by the following roll call vote: Bazard
– y, Brown – y, Day – y, Dunleavy – y, Emenaker – y, Foster – y, Gardner – y, Gonsalves
– y, Hooper – y, Olsen – y, Peloso – y, Rowan – y, White – y.
4.2 Approve 2012-2013 Faculty Development Funding Resolution: Copresident Richards
presented the resolution, and he explained that it reflects a 20 percent reduction from last
year’s funding. On motion by Kady Dunleavy, seconded by Maggie White, the resolution
carried unanimously by the following roll call vote: Bazard – y, Brown – y, Day – y,
Dunleavy – y, Emenaker – y, Foster – y, Gardner – y, Gonsalves – y, Hooper – y, Olsen –
y, Peloso – y, Rowan – y, White – y. In light of President Lehner’s statement that all travel
would be suspended due to budgetary reasons, senators questioned whether the funding for
faculty development might be suspended. They were informed that there has been no
indication from the administration that the funding would be suspended, and it was pointed
out that the money supports the ACCJC Recommendation 7 that addresses professional
development opportunities.
5. Reports
5.1 Executive Committee May 17, 2012 Meeting: Copresident Richards reported that at its
May 17 special meeting, the Executive Committee approved the May 11, 2012 Curriculum
Committee recommendations.
Academic Senate Minutes
September 7, 2012
Page 2
5.2 Accreditation Oversight Committee (AOC) Update: Faculty Co-chair Dave Bazard
reported that President Lehner was recently informed that the report due to the ACCJC by
October 15 needs to inform the Commission how the college is meeting each of the
Standards. Therefore CR’s report will need to be more like a self-study rather than the
summary of how the district is meeting the Standards as was originally understood. To that
end, the AOC has appointed teams that are tasked with addressing each of the Standards.
The teams are gathering evidence from the Accreditation work groups, which will be used
to write narratives for the report. Draft responses to Recommendations one through eight
and Recommendation one from 2008 will be forwarded to the Board for review on
September 10, and Dave asked faculty to read the drafts for omissions or errors, and forward
feedback to him. In addition, Dave reported that Special Trustee Tom Henry is drafting a
Closure Report, which has been forwarded to the administration. Copresident Richards
thanked Dave for the report and for all the work he put in on accreditation efforts over the
summer.
5.3 Budget Update: President Lehner, Special Trustee Tom Henry, and Vice President of
Administrative Services Lee Lindsey presented the budget update and responded to
questions. Referring to the budget documents distributed at the all-college forums held on
Thursday, September 6, and again at the Senate meeting, President Lehner explained that
the budget was adjusted for accounts receivable, which resulted in the loss of $1.5 million in
revenue. Some of the losses were made up with retirements and positions left vacant, but at
the same time expenditures such as employee benefits and the cost of accreditation efforts
have increased. Potential savings from anticipated negotiable items were removed from the
current budget, and President Lehner reported that if no fiscal adjustments are made, CR
will end the year with a deficit and a reserve of about 2.24 percent. Special Trustee Henry
added that the college has had an historical structural deficit of spending more than it takes
in, which needs to be corrected, especially in light of reduced revenue from the state while
operating costs are going up. Tom also informed the Senate that because the college’s fiscal
stability affects all aspects of the institution, the ACCJC will examine our Annual Financial
Report using a three-levels-of-risk assessment tool. With a potential of $2 million in cuts
needed by the end of the year to balance the budget, President Lehner stated that serious
decisions will need to be made that are based on an analysis of all programs and an
examination of everything we do. Senators’ questions included: (1) Once the books are
closed will there be a breakdown of actuals and what was realized through the SERPS? (2)
Will there be additional specificity in how the budget numbers were derived? (3) What is
the timeline for balancing the budget? (4) Regarding fiscal sustainability, how long can the
college maintain cuts and remain within the 50% Law? And (5) What are the benchmarks
used by the ACCJC to assess fiscal stability? Trustee Henry and President Lehner
responded to the questions and they suggested that questions be sent to them and to Vice
President Lindsey in advance so they can provide answers at a future Senate meeting.
President Lehner emphasized that in order for the college to realize fiscal sustainability,
everyone must participate in an institutional self-assessment and prioritize what is needed in
order to move forward and meet the district’s mission and vision statements. Copresident
Richards thanked Lee, Tom and Kathy for attending the meeting and participating in the
budget discussion.
5.4 Curriculum Updates: Prior to giving his report, Copresident Richards thanked Peter for his
work on the Accreditation Oversight Committee over the summer.
5.4.1 2012 Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Curriculum Institute:
Curriculum Committee Chair Peter Blakemore reported that attending the Institute
Academic Senate Minutes
September 7, 2012
Page 3
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
was very important for learning what is going on at the state level and what changes
to expect throughout the coming year. Peter reported on a session he attended
regarding widespread institutional dialog focused on student learning outcomes that
included information on how other institutions have successfully increased the dialog.
He also attended sessions on changes to course repeatability and one on articulation
and transfer to UC’s. With the Student Success Task Force mandates moving toward
affecting academic issues, Peter stressed that the college needs to review prerequisites
to be prepared for the changes. Peter encouraged senators to access a link on the state
Academic Senate’s website to learn more about the content of sessions presented at
the Institute.
5.4.2 Prerequisite Review Ad Hoc Committee: In light of what he learned at the
Curriculum Institute and the changes that will be implemented through the Student
Success Task Force, Peter asked for the Senate’s support in appointing an ad hoc
committee of Curriculum Committee members to draft a plan for reviewing the
college’s prerequisites and co-requisites. Peter suggested a disciplinary review of
perquisites, and he reported that we also need a board policy that meets the Standards
that have changed. There was Senate consensus for Peter to move forward on
forming the ad hoc committee.
5.4.3 Curriculum Committee’s Review of Changes to Program Learning Outcomes
(PLO’s) Proposal: The Senate supported Peter’s suggestion that the CCC 511 Nonsubstantial Changes to Approved Programs form include a notation of any changes to
the PLO’s. No changes to the PLO’s should also be noted on the form, and if only
the PLO’s are being changed, a memo with that information can be submitted to the
Curriculum Committee.
Library Book Collection Assessment: This report will be presented at the September 21
meeting.
North West eTutoring Consortium: Director of Distance Education Geoff Cain and Director
of the Learning Resource Center MaryGrace McGovern presented an update on changes to
tutoring services available to CR students. With Tutor.com on the Board agenda to be cut
due to budget considerations, Geoff and MaryGrace discussed alternatives. An inventory of
what tutoring services are currently available on campus and what ones are available online
led to the creation of an online source of tutoring with links to many other tutoring services
in a variety of disciplines. A training for CR tutors is scheduled for next week, and
following the training information will be distributed to students informing them how they
can access the site. Geoff reported that each member of a consortium provides at least one
tutor to the service, and every student of each participating institution has access to all the
tutors. In response to how tutorial services on this campus are evaluated, Geoff replied that
it will be on the Distance Education Advisory’s agenda, and that faculty input and feedback
is very important to the process.
Vice President of Instruction Update: Vice President of Instruction Utpal Goswami had to
leave the meeting prior to presenting his report.
College Council August 27 Meeting: Copresident Richards reported that he and Copresident
Brown attended the special session of College Council in which a number of policies were
reviewed that were revised by Special Trustee Tom Henry to bring them into compliance
with ACCJC Standards. With a narrow timeline for constituent review, Mike asked senators
to access the proposals on the College Council website and send feedback or suggestions to
him and Bob prior to the September 17 Council meeting.
Academic Senate Minutes
September 7, 2012
Page 4
6. Announcements and Open Forum
6.1 Combined CRFO/Academic Senate faculty meeting: Copresident Richards announced that
as a result of discussions at this morning’s CRFO/Senate Liaison Committee meeting, it was
decided that a combined faculty meeting will be scheduled for Friday, September 14, from
11:30-1:00. An agenda with the meeting location will be distributed next week.
6.2 ASCR Update: Student Representative Solomon DeCamp reported that ASCR is sending
senators to the American Student Government Association Summit in Washington D.C. on
September 27. An additional ASCR trip to Washington D.C. is being planned in January to
attend the presidential swearing in ceremony. One student from each site, along with four
or five senators will be selected as trip participants. Solomon also reported that applications
for open positions on the Student Senate are being accepted until September 13, and he
asked faculty to encourage students to check their emails and submit applications.
Respectfully submitted by Sally Frazier, Administrative Secretary to the Academic Senate.
Next Meeting:
Friday, September 21, 2012