COLLEGE OF MARIN
ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING MINUTES
Thursday, November 8, 2007
12:45 – 2:00 pm
Student Service Building
Conference Rooms A & B
Senators Present: Carol Adair, Yolanda Bellisimo, Michael Dougan, Ron Gaiz, Erika
Harkins, Robert Kennedy, Arthur Lutz, Sara McKinnon, Meg Pasquel, Radica Portello,
Blaze Woodlief
Senators Absent:
Ingrid Schreck, Patrick Kelly, Joe Mueller
Guests:
Russell
Hoa-Long Tam, Jim Geraghty, Bernie Blackman, Paul Christensen, Mark
Approval of Agenda & Minutes
 Motion made to approve the agenda
 Motion made to approve the minutes
Officers’ Reports
The President’s Report
 A written report was submitted:
1. The WSCH visit is in process. The college will probably remain on warning
with the mandate that every program on campus go through review. Also
by May, the college must give clear evidence that all budget decisions are
based on program review.
 Mark Wade Lieu, President of the State Academic Senate, discussed the Basic
Skills Initiative, and the Spring Plenary Session, both of which demonstrated a new,
more collaborative tone. He also discussed the recommendations sent to the new
Chancellor about assessment. These include recommendations to:
1. Fully fund assessment in community college.
2. Add resources to assess students in high schools.
3. Create a system-wide data collection base so that students can
understand the equivalency of assessment tests throughout the system.
4. Create a comparability table with commercial tests such as Accuplacer.
5. Create a pilot program to unify select freshman English in order to norm
curriculum with comparability table.
6. Create a system to validate prerequisites.
7. Define what “multiple measures” means.
8. Create assessment for non-credit programs.
V.P Report: No report.
Treasurer’s Report: No report
Committees
 Curriculum – No report.
 Academic Standards – No Report
 Community Education – CE thanks Yolanda for her remarks to the Board.
 Basic Skill Initiative – Blaze Woodlief - The BSI committee is creating an internal
self-evaluation document and considering a initial steps toward an integrated support
system for students in basic skills courses.
 Governance Review Council- Blaze Woodlief – A few governance committees have
more members than they need and others are wanting members. In order to achieve
balance and efficiency, the GRC is seeking to lower the number of members on some
committees (while keeping faculty balance) and, perhaps, to collapse other committees,
for example, by uniting the Student Services Committee and the Accessibility
Committee.
Consent Agenda
Action Items
 Written Protocol for Visitors:
Motion to direct Senate President to develop a summary or set of procedures to
address agenda and non-agenda items that will be available on the website, in
Senator Binders, and in informational handouts for guests.
Discussion
 Article 16 (Christensen) Paul Christensen addressed the senate on behalf of the
UMP Executive Council. Paul suggested that the UPM Executive Council & the
Academic Senate call upon the college administration to begin hiring immediately. He
reminded the Senate that in order to begin hiring, administration would have to withdraw
hiring freeze, that the college has not hired since 2004 and that the full time ratio is now
below 60%. A discussion followed on the possibility of the union including a Senate
proposal for a Senate Hiring Committee in the negotiations for the next contract.
Adjournment: 2:00 PM
Carol Adair, acting secretary