Communication Committee Minutes
Date: Tuesday, 04/13/04
Members Present: Martha Lucey, Francine Podenski, Joe Jah, Tom Blair, Andrea Niosi
Members Absent: Elizabeth Brent, Attila Gabor
Resource People Present: Tom Hetherington
AGENDA ITEMS:
1.
CATALOG UPDATE
Blair reported the 04/05 catalog is currently at the printer. It will be available to see in early
May.
2.
Eatv-Ch27 UPDATE
Podenski attended the California Community College Satellite Network meeting. She reports
that EAtv is eligible to receive free programming via the California Community College
Satellite Network. Blair suggested that the bulk of the programming should stay with
SCOLA and that when looking at future changes, quality should be assessed. Programming
changes cost time and money. Podenski mentioned that the EAtv-CH27 is scheduled for
Program Review next year; any major changes should be assessed and written into the
goals and objectives of the program review. It was mentioned that many in San Francisco
think that Comcast should provide a 24 hour channel for SCOLA.
The City of San Francisco has begun negotiations for a new cable franchise in the city.
Educational Access Television (EAtv-Ch27) receives $60,000-$80,000 a year from San
Francisco’s franchise fees (1/3 of .2% of the total franchise fees paid to the City). This
amount is disproportionately low compared to the funds budgeted for San Francisco’s
Public Access and Government Access channels.
Cable access channels need support. San Francisco residents need to let city supervisors
know the importance of cable access channels. Podenski monitors this issue and will
inform the committee when to write to supervisors to advocate for cable channels. It was
agreed that coordination is important. One message should be agreed upon and issued.
The message would include wording such as “maintain access channels and increase
budgets for equipment and operations.”
Orders of business for EatvCh27 include: 1) secure channel; 2) solicit Comcast for money;
3) hire staff to advocate for the channel, research and produce grant proposals and PR. All
of these items should be objectives in the channel’s next program review.
3.
CCSF HOMEPAGE
SBC has funded a pilot project to create a template for websites for instructors. The
website template will house instructor’s handouts, syllabus, class notes, etc. Carol Reitan
is coordinating the project. Ten instructors will be trained in using the software
(Macromedia “Contribute”. Trainees will mentor 4 other instructors in software use. Diego
Rivera art may be used in the template. It was mentioned that other art representing
other cultures should be offered for future template options. Niosi will contact Reitan to
suggest that there be a permanent link to the library homepage on the template to provide
easy access to resources for students from their instructor’s website.
In a discussion on linking instructor’s homepages to the Faculty in Review, it was decided
that a notice should be printed in City Currents beforehand to inform instructors of this
change. Podenski will announce this project at the next Academic Senate Executive Council
meeting.
Outdated departmental websites are a problem. Two such sites were mentioned: the
Theater Arts page and the Guardsman. Hetherington mentioned that if the department
does not have a web savvy person to continually update the page, departmental sites
should not have dates on the site.
4.
ENHANCED SELF STUDY (ESS) RECOMMENDATION
Committee members will read the ESS handout and this topic will be placed on next
month’s agenda.
5.
NEW BUSINESS
Lucey showed the committee the 2004 PRO Award the college catalog won from the
Community College Public Relations organization. This is the second award the catalog has
received. Podenski suggested the Communication Committee present Tom Blair with a
framed certificate of appreciation for all of his hard work that went into the new catalog.
The committee agreed that Blair should be recognized for his leadership and contributions
to this project.