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 Withdrawn.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.