COLLEGE OF MARIN
ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING MINUTES
FOR October 8, 2009
12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Student Service Building, Conference Rooms A & B
Senators Present: Yolanda Bellisimo, Michael Dougan, Joetta Scott, Ron Gaiz, Erika Harkins,
Robert Kennedy, Arthur Lutz, l, Radica Portello, Christine Li, , Blaze Woodlief,
Senators Absent: Eric Dunmire, Joe Mueller Sara McKinnon, Derek Wilson, Meg Pasque
Guests: Rinetta Early
Minutes
I. Approval and Adoption of the Agenda: adopted
II. Reading and Approval of the Minutes of October 1, 2009: adopted (as amended)
III. Officers’ Reports
President (Yolanda Belissimo): Written. Attached.
Vice-President (Derek Wilson): No report.
Treasurer (Ron Gaiz): Sufficient funds are in the bank to donate $300 to the “Leave Them
Laughing” fundraiser screening, as requested last week by Senator Lutz. However, we should be
aware that our current budget can be thrown out of whack by a surprising number of
retirements.
IV. Committee Reports
Academic Standards (Rinetta Early): The committee wondered if there could be a supplemental catalog issued
because of all the eorrors in the current catalog. Senator Bots because any entering student operates off of the
catalog they used to enter. If they have two catalogs for the same period of time, that makes it difficult for
students. But it’s true that we do have errors in our current catalog. Senator Wilson said the online version could
be corrected, and the printed catalog could include a refernce to the online’s error-correction pages.
.
Curriculum: No report.
Community Education (Erika Harkins): Fall classes have started. The department is experiencing its largestever number of applications from new teachers (“The economy is talking to us.”) They are very high-caliber
people with masters degrees who have specialized in teaching adult education in their careers. Most specialize
in writering (poetry and prose), as well as history, art and music. The department will be offering its first class
in the Farsi language.
Governance Committees (Yolanda Bellisimo): No governance committee’s met last week.
V: Consent Agenda
a) To Accept Co-Sponsor “Leave Them Laughing”: Consent granted.
b)
VI: Action Items
a) To Approve:
AP 4026 Philosophy & Criteria of International Education. Approved.
AP 5012 International Students. Approved.
AP 4102 Career/Technical Programs. Approved.
AP 4104 Contract Education. Approved.
BP/AP 5010 Admissions. Withdrawn.
b) To Approve as Amended:
AP 4101 Independent Study. Approved.
c) To Approve Sending Class Maximums & Charge Memo to Superintendent/President and
Vice President of Student Learning: Senator Bellisimo said many frustrated inistructores
have tried to lower their class maximums and have gone to the Curriculuml Committee,
which came out with a memo containing criteria for when that decisoion is justified. UPM
was asked to give it a read and tell is where in the contract there is language on this issue.
Guest Ira Landsing, president of UPM, sent around a copy of the contract page and other
related documents. He said that in a perfect world, the Academic Senate would present its
criteria to the union, which would take those into negotiations. Senator Bellisimo osaid part
of the problem is inconsistency in administratyive decision-=making. We are interested in
establishing acriteria that everyone would use to determine whether or not a class size
should be sreduced. We consider this to be an academic decision. Is that negotiable?
After an extended discussion, it was agreed that Senator Wilson woud work with the union
to put together critera that can be brought back to the Senate. Ira Lansing said that was a
good way to begin.
The motion was
b)
c)
To Accept Referendum Results: The referendum to alter the Senate Constitution to
provide for elections by departments was defeated. Those results were accepted formally.
Committee Appointments: Patrick Kelly was appointed to the Planning and Resource
Allocation Committee. President Belissimo will send notes to current committee members
asking if they wish to retain their positions.
d) Wording Correction for Course Repetition Policy (Rinetta Early): Title V says we can’t mix W
grades with substandard gradces when making decisions regarding course repetition. The
po9licy will now seprate them out so that students can have seven attempts to repat one
coure (3 for W grades and 3 for substandard grades, neither including the first attempt).
Counselors don’t like this policy, and believe the numbers should be reduced from three to
two attempts in each category. The issue will be taken back to them, then a changed policy
will be presented to the Aug. 27 meeting.
e)
Student Secretarial Support for 09/10: Approved.
VI: Action Items: None
VII: Discussion
a) Referendum on 2/3 Vote for Amendments (Ron Gaiz): During the unsuccessful referendum to
make Senate representation a departmental matter, a supporter of the measure was asked
what would happen when new departments were formed. She reportedly replied that
whenever that happened, a new amendment would be passed to accommodate the change.
Senator Gaiz said he doesn’t want to see a situation exist, as it currently does, where the
constitution can be changed easily on a month-to-month basis. (As of now, a simple majority
is all that is required for a constitutional amendment to pass). He proposes a referendum to
alter the constitution to require a 2/3 vote for all future amendments. He said he has
obtained the required number of signatures (15) in a petition to place the issue on a faculty
ballot. It will read, in part: “This constitution shall be amended by a two-third majority of the
faculty voting in an election for said purpose.” That represents a minor change in wording
from the original petition (“shall” replacing “may”). Senator Gaiz is obtaining the consent of
those who signed for this change.
b) MOU Blueprint: Senator Scott thanked President Bellisimo and the Academic Senate for
giving counselors the opportunity ti have input and to work with the language on this. She
said the Senate had “done a good job of being inclusive of people who are directlyh affected
by the MOU.” President Bellisimo responded by expressing hope that the counselors
understand how much the Senate appreciates their efforts and how important they are to the
process. She said counselors have been stressing for years how important it is that
departments create class schedules that serve the needs of the students. Senators Scott and
Bellisimo also expressed their gratitude for research conducted by Senator Kennedy that has
already resulted in more classes being scheduled in the afternoon slots. Senator4 Scott said
that “students are liking them.” Senator Pasqual said more tweaking is required to address
the needs of student athletes, who encounter conflicts between classes and scheduled team
practices. Several senators noted that the MOU will actually make life easier for some of the
faculty and deans who first opposed them. Scheduling and canceling of classes will be done
using a comprehensible formula with plenty of faculty as well as reliable data. Approval of
the Blueprint/Master Schedule MOU will be placed on the Aug. 27 agenda as an action item.
c) Resolution 4.01 CCC GE AP: Placed on the Aug. 27 schedule for action.
d) Lab Merger Update (Meg Pasqual): It’s a divisive issue, pitting the college skills faculty
against the English department. The administration should just make it happen “and stop
making enemies of us>”
e) Bolinas Lab Update (Joe Mueller): Notes incomplete due to technical difficulties.
In other business:
Senator Kennedy reported that he had attended a meeting of the athletic department, and
been powerfully impressed by the new emphasis on academic achievement embraced by
departmental leaders.
Senator Kelly resigned from his seat. Nominations for his replacement will be accepted. The
matter will be placed on the Aug. 27 consent agenda.
ADJOURNMENT: 2:00 p.m.
For questions or information concerning the Academic Senate minutes, please contact: Michael
Dougan: michael.dougan@marin.edu, X7336.