COLLEGE OF MARIN
ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING MINUTES
March 6,2008, 12:45 – 2:00
STUDENT SERVICE BUILDING, CONFERENCE ROOMS A & B
Senators Present: Carol Adair, Yolanda Bellisimo, Michael Dougan, Ron Gaiz,
Erika Harkins, Patrick Kelly, Robert Kennedy, Arthur Lutz, Sara McKinnon, Joe
Mueller, Meg Pasquel, Radica Portello, Derek Wilson, Blaze Woodlief,
Senators Absent: Ingrid Schreck,
Guests: Sandra Douglass, Maula Allen, Becky Reetz, Kathleen Kirkpatrick, Kerry
Staebner
Summary
 Consent given for forwarding as Senate nominees for Golden Bell Award: Yolanda
van Ecke and Walter Turner
 Consent given to establish time-line for Spring Senate elections
 Consent given for committee appointments. Instructional Equipment Committee, Greg
Grist. (DETAL)Distance Education, Technology-Assisted Learning, Frank Crosby.
 Consent give to bring forth as action items: Academic affairs BP 4100; 4225; 4226.
4240; 4250; 4260.
Minutes
I. Agenda approved
II. Motion to approve minutes of February 28, 2008. Since the text is detailed,
Senator Lutz requested time to read. Approval of the minutes tabled until next
week.
III. Officers’ Reports
President: WASC has changed the date of its visit. The committee’s visit was
scheduled for the middle of April. Now the WASC’s visit will be on April 1st. To have
things ready for them, we are asked to have the following sections finished by March
17th:
 Instructional Equipment
 Facilities/
 Student Access and Success
Completed program reviews are due on April 27th.
Vice President. No report.
Treasurer. Presented account balance.
IV. Committee Reports –
 Curriculum: Derek Wilson. 14 courses reviewed; 4 approved. all of these have
already been approved by UDWC. CC discussed nomination of a new chair and will
vote on March 20th. If nobody wants position, CC will ask the Senate to fill this
position.
 Academic Standards: Rinetta Early. AC is working on rewrites of policy and
procedures for the Gold Book. Will discuss changes on Thursday.
 Community Education: No report
Governance Committees
 Budget Committee: Ron Gaiz. So far Academic chairs are unable to see their
department accounts. Yulian Ligioso, (Director of Fiscal Services) showed the
Budget Committee members how to access their accounts on Banner. Because
every chair needs easy access to his/her department budget in order to track
expenditures, Derek Wilson will create and distribute the directions. However
there is an even bigger problem and that is the requirement to have a transparent
budget. Apparently, we will soon have reporting software that will allow the
college to publish the budget so that all can see.
 Governance Review Council: Blaze Woodlief. The GRC oversaw the joining of
the Student Services Committee and the Equity & Diversity Committee into one
committee, now called the “Student Access and Success Committee” This newly
formed committee has met with a charge for program review. The committee will
look at the student success of the whole college, not of any individual program,
and will make college-wide recommendations.
V. Consent Agenda
 Golden Bell Nominees: Yolanda van Ecke and Walter Turner received the most
nomination.
a) Discussion: Senator Lutz feels that singling out individual members to
reward is a bad policy for Academic Senate especially in divisive times
because we should not honor certain people when many others are just as
honorable. Also, the Senate should remember that President White could
override its nominations. Senator Dougan agreed stating that studies show
“employee of the month programs, designed to improve morale, actually
destroys morale.
b) Consent for nomination given.
 Senate Election Time Line: Our constitution requires that we elect eight
members on even years and seven members on odd years. We are currently out
of compliance, which requires that one of the part time seats elected last year
must run for re-election again this year.
a) 6 of the full-time seats are up for election
b) 2 of the part-time seats are up for election
c) The stipulated time line requires that ballots are counted by Friday, May 9
so that on Thursday May 15 the vote may be ratified, the new Senate
seated, and the new officers elected.
d) Consent for time line given.
 California State Academic Senate Executive Board: Greg Granderson spoke
briefly. He reminded us that there are more budget cuts in the future. The Basic
Skills Initiative is not yet on the cut list, so colleges should get their BSI funding
for 08/09, but not for 09/10.
 Committee Appointments: The Academic Senate appointed Greg Grist to the
Instructional Equipment Committee and Frank Crosby for Distance Education,
Technology-Assisted Learning (DETAL) Consent for appointment given.
VI. Action Items: No action items.
VII. Discussion: Academic Affairs Policy. For Gold Book. Policies: 4100; 4225; 4226.
4240; 4250; 4260. These are all available on the intranet. All were moved to
action items for March 13.
 BP 4100. Graduation Requirements for degrees and certificates.
add to third paragraph after the words, the Superintendent/President, “shall rely
primarily on the Academic Senate to establish procedures”
add to policy….. Students must complete at least 12 units in their major
 BP 4225. Course Repetition.
add headings: For substandard grades/ For C or better grades
add may repeat credit courses for a maximum of two times.
 BP 4226. Multiple and Overlapping Enrollments
add in each paragraph after the words, the Superintendent/President. “shall rely
primarily on the Academic Senate to establish procedures”
 BP 4240. Academic Renewal
add after the words, the Superintendent/President, “shall rely primarily on the
Academic Senate to establish procedures”
 BP 4250. Probation, Disqualification, and Readmission
add to second paragraph, after may submit an appeal “of probationary status”
add to second paragraph, after the words, the Superintendent/President, “shall
rely primarily on the Academic Senate to establish procedures”
add to final paragraph, after the words, the Superintendent/President, “shall rely
primarily on the Academic Senate to establish procedures”
 BP 4260 Prerequisites, Co-requisites, and Advisories
add to first paragraph the Superintendent/President, “shall rely primarily on
the Academic Senate to establish procedures”
add “and other limits of enrollment” three times, each time after the words
“Prerequisites, co-requisites, advisories”.
VIII. Public Requests to Address the Senate on Non-Agenda Items
Sandy Dougless: Reported that students are worried that the faculty forum, to be
held on Friday, will decide that the college will be closed. She reminded
the Senate that students need to be informed but not alarmed and asks
the leaders to acknowledge the students at the meeting and reassure
them. She also stated that the student groups have no concrete
leadership are flying in a vacuum.
Becky Reetz, Kathleen Kirkpatrick: Read an open letter to the Academic Senate and
the college community from the Classified Senate, the CSEA Executive
Board and 90 staff members. This letter (attached) asks the entire
college community to support the efforts of the Academic Senate to get
necessary Board policies approved.
Kerry Staebner – Stated that she, as a parent and community member, is concerned
about any discontinuance policy that might affect a program such as
computer science.
IX. Adjournment: 2:00 PM
For questions or information concerning the Academic Senate Minutes, please contact
Carol Adair: carol.adair@marin.edu X7367
ATTACHMENTS
An Open Letter to the College of Marin Community…
The classified staff is committed to maintaining College of Marin’s status as an accredited
California Community College. We support the efforts of the Academic Senate to get
necessary Board policies approved in a timely fashion, as part of becoming compliant with
California state law and meeting WASC requirements. We hope the entire college
community will join us in setting aside any political or personal viewpoints that might
impede our ability to move forward, and work together to meet the deadlines put forth by
WASC. We recognize that continuing on probation or losing our accreditation not only
threatens our job security, but also puts the future of this valuable educational institution
at risk. The staff will continue to do our part to support the revitalization of College of
Marin, and hope that you will too.
Signed,
The Classified Senate,
The CSEA Executive Board,
and more than 90 individual staff members