COLLEGE OF MARIN
ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING MINUTES
FOR Feb. 19, 2009
12:45 p.m. – 1:59 p.m.
Student Service Building, Conference Rooms A & B
Senators Present: Yolanda Bellisimo, Michael Dougan, Ron Gaiz, Erika
Harkins, Robert Kennedy, Arthur Lutz, Sara McKinnon, , Radica Portello,
Derek Wilson, Eric Dunmire, Joe Mueller, , Patrick Kelly
Senators Absent: Joetta Scott, Meg Pasquel, Blaze Woodlief,
Guests: Rinetta Early, Matthew Markovitch
Minutes
I. Approval and Adoption of the Agenda: Agenda accepted
II. Reading and Approval of the Minutes of Feb. 12, 2009: Minutes
accepted
III. Officers’ Reports
President: In writing. Attached. Includes creepy image that you don’t want
in your head.
Vice-President: No report.
IV: Committee Reports
Curriculum (Derek Wilson): About a dozen courses were approved at the
last meeting. Memos still are needed regarding class sizes and dean’s
signatures. The Fine Arts Department raised the course repetition again.
Further discussions will ensue.
Academic Standards (Rinetta Early): She raised the question of a minimum age limit at
COM. Is there one? Apparently not. Sen. Kenney says a reasonable age, say students in
the 9th grade, needs to be established, but at the same time a system needs to be
formulated to deal with exceptions. Sen. Bellisimo asks Ms. Early to find out what other
colleges are doing along this line.
Community Education (Erika Harkins): The emeritus staff has parking problems. Spots
reserved for them for three decades have disappeared as a result of the campus
construction project. It is a “big catastrophe” because of their age and mobility
limitations. Also, problems with Banner have been noted. These impose false restrictions
on enrollment in some cases. Must be fixed.
Governance (budget) (Wilson): At the next meeting, an employee will present the
committee with the school budget and explain it.
V. Consent agenda:
The Senate accepts language clarifying course repetition policies, as well as legal
language relating to the academic calendar.
VI: Action Items: None
VII. Discussion:
Athletic Dept Request to Discontinue Football Program
Without a Three-Year Discontinuance Procedure
(Markowitz/Kennedy)
a) Athletic Department Request to Discontinue Football Program without a ThreeYear Discontinuance Procedure (Markovitch/Kennedy): Last year the IPC asked
the department to look into its unsuccessful football program, marked by poor
academic performance on the part of team members and a national record for
most consecutive losses of any community college football team. Athletic
Director Markovitch said coaches voted to discontinue the program, which cost
$59,000 last year. He said it would take a significant infusion of additional money
to make the program successful, and asked whether the program was serving the
students who participated. He listed several reasons why the program had failed:
most participants came from out of the county, with an apparent goal of playing
football and not pursuing an advanced education, highly regarded football schools
Santa Rosa Junior College and San Francisco City College drew the most
desirable athletes away from COM, and the team would have to more than double
in size to even stand a chance to compete on a level field.
Sen. Kennedy noted that COM has other teams it needs to support, including two
new women’s teams, and that athletes in these sports might be more inclined to
succeed academically.
Sen. Lutz expressed concern that the football team had served mostly minority
students, who will lost the opportunities that it presented to them.
Sen. Bellisimo suggested that the motion be amended to include a provision that
money saved by the elimination of football should remain within the athletic
department for the development of other team sports.
b) Syllabus Requirements from ACCJC (Wilson): WASC and Title 5 say the school
must have on file a complete syllabus for every course. Sen. Bellisimo said it
must be publicly available to students, and that is best achieved by posting it
online. Sen. Wilson said it could be attached using the MyCom portal.
Sen. Lutz noted that while the rule may require that a syllabus be available for
every course, nothing requires the instructors to actually write one, nor can they
be punished for failing to do so. Others countered that they would not want
anyone but themselves to craft syllabi for their courses.
Sen. Wilson offered a motion that a request be sent to department chairs that a
course syllabus be on file with department secretaries or posted on-line when
possible. This will be included as an action item next week.
c) Procedure for No Smoking with our without Designated Smoking Areas
(Bellisimo): The Gold Book Task Force has asked the Senate to query
constituents on the preferred policy for smoking on campus. The original idea was
to create a non-smoking campus both at Kentfield and IVC, but some fear that
IVC smokers will sneak off into the woods and accidentally start fires. For that
reason, a designated smoking area at IVC might be desirable, while no such need
is noted at Kentfield.
Senate members disagreed on the wisdom and viability of this policy. Sen. Kelly
said that a smoke-free campus is not a realistic goal. Sen. Mueller said academic
institutions should set examples in areas like this. Sen. Harkins said it is an
unreasonable imposition to ask people not to smoke if they are in an outdoors
environment.
d) Full Time/Part Time Faculty 75% Ration (Bellisimo): Discussion postponed due
to lack of time. This item will be moved to the top of the discussion agenda at the
next meeting.
VIII: Adjournment: 11:59 p.m.