Approved Minutes
Sacramento City College
Academic Senate
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
President: Ginni May
Vice-President: Greg Rose
Secretary: Troy Myers
Past-President: Connie Zuercher
Senators Present: Cathy Chenu-Campbell, Jang Ha Oh, Joshua Carboni, Amy Zannakis, Gayle Pitman, Dena
Chubbic, Andrea Greenwell, Robin Roffey, Pamela Richmond, Liam McDaid, Lori DeLappe, Alex Ishchuk,
Heather Watson-Perez, Marcia Bonawitz, Deborah Gambrell, Kris Janssen, Irma Rodgriguez, Adam Freas,
Gabriella Nuttall, Debra Crumpton, Niefia Zupancic, Andrew Jones, Joseph Steever, Hsiao Wang, Chris Seddon,
Nadine Kirkpatrick, Julia Kehew, Steve Cirrone, Lori Petite, Glennda Wagner.
Senators Absent: Norman Lorenz, Josh Roberts, Jonathan Segal, David Fabionar, Lewis Bair, Mitra Fabian,
Lynne Giovannetti, Jared Anderson, Robyn Waxman, Robert Crawford, John Herlihy.
Guests: Valerie Cox, Sandra Ruedas.
PRELIMINARIES
Call to Order: meeting called to order by Ginni at 12:00.
Approval of Minutes: minutes from 10-16, 10-23, and 10-30 approved by consensus.
Introduction of Guests
Announcements
a. Website: a focus group of faculty and administrators is meeting to discuss updates to make the SCC
website more use friendly and accessible.
b. Executive Council is addressing the issue of students sitting in hallways. One solution is to install
benches so that their legs are not sticking out into the walkway areas, which might pose a hazard.
c. Faculty have volunteered for the Accreditation Organizing Committee.
d. Executive Council is still reviewing the Blue Book.
e. A request to delete SCC’s Motorcycle program has been submitted. A committee must be formed to
address the request.
INFORMATION ITEMS
C-Cert/A.C.E.S.
V. Cox
Action Coordinators for Emergency Survival: this is the building evacuation program for the district. If there is
an emergency, there needs to be a safe way to get persons out of the building. This program is looking for
volunteers to be trained so that they might assist others in the event of an emergency.
Campus Emergency Response Team: this is a group of individuals trained in first aid, triage, and light search
and rescue. There will be training on November 30th, December 7th, and December 14th. Anyone interested must
participate in all three training days. This is an excellent opportunity to provide service to the campus. Flex credit
is available for these trainings.
DECISION ITEMS
Program Discontinuance Committee (2nd Reading)
S. Cirrone
Steve has received no comments since the last meeting and there was no further discussion at this meeting.
Moved and seconded to accept the document. Motion passed.
ITV and TV courses
(1st Reading/2nd Reading)
J. Hadsell/L. Larson
Tabled until our next meeting.
+/- grades (2nd Reading)
S. Cirrone
Steve has gotten no new feedback on plus/minus grades from faculty. He has spoken to student government and
has received no input yet from students either. A senator noted that the Business department is not in favor of
plus/minus grading. Someone else noted that if we went to plus/minus grading, it would have to be availalble
district wide. Could instructors choose to not use plusses and minuses? Yes. Would an A + help GPA? No, it
would count the same as an A. Another Senator asked, what do most community colleges do? No one was sure.
Will this affect transfer? Perhaps. Why can’t we use the C minus grade? Because it is in Title 5 language. Another
senator noted that her department had a mixed view and would like more discussions. Counseling’s consensus is
that they are opposed. Someone else liked the phrase, the minuses would hurt more than the plusses would help.
Someone else feels that using plusses and minuses is a more fair assessment of student skill level. Someone else
does not like that we cannot assign a C minus. Someone else said that if our grades are transferring to four year
schools and many four year schools are using plus and minus grading, we should be grading on the same scale.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Resolutions at Plenary
Ginni distributed a list of all the Resolutions at Plenary. There was no input from the Senate.
Hiring Requests: Process and Senate Ranking
Ginni received several comments after our second hiring meeting. Mary has said she is available if we have
questions for her. Ginni wants us to speak freely but not use this time to lobby for one position over another. A
senator raised concerns about how we were asked to make Nursing a critical hire; multiple senators raised this
concern, though a feeling of concern over this issue was not unanimous among senators. Another senator noted
that the Senate process is important and needs to be respected. Another Senator noted that we need a clear,
concise definition of what a critical hire is. Who can provide this for us? District? Another Senator noted she felt
Mary answered questions in a way to favor certain positions. Mary and Kathryn have agreed to have Senate
leadership in the room when administration re-ranks the positions. This seems to show a desire for transparency
on administration’s part. Someone asked, who participates in the re rankings after the Senate ranks positions?
What is the administrative process? Is there a rubric, for example?
Another person noted they wished that Mary had made Nursing a critical hire and pulled it off the list but not
asked us to vote to take it off the list. Someone else noted that large administrative changes in ranking from the
Senate list should not be dramatic, and the reasons for those shifts are generally shared after those decisions are
made.
Ginni does believe that Mary is trying to communicate and is trying to honor shared governance. Several senators
agreed that does seem to be the case. Someone else noted that if we had voted down the critical hire for Nursing,
our wish to not pull it from the list might have been honored.
We will discuss this issue further. Ballots are due Wednesday, tomorrow at noon.
REPORTS
SLO “Best Practices” Committee
J. Roberts
This will be on the Agenda for our next meeting as Josh was not present.
Faculty Handbook Committee
G. Nuttall
An email has been sent to Mary and the committee is waiting for a response.
Academic Calendar
G. Rose
There are certain holidays that by law we must observe. This committee meets to discuss the placement of these
days and also to make sure we meet for the correct number of days. The 14/15 calendar is progressing without
much debate. When is Veteran’s Day celebrated? It will be celebrated on the actual Veteran’s day, November
11th, regardless of what day of the week that falls on. This is in response to requests from veterans’ groups.
Upcoming Meetings
1. Next Senate Meeting: Tuesday, November 20, 12:00-1:00, RHN 258
Decision items (Anticipated 1st Reading):
a. SLO “Best Practices”
b. Faculty Handbook
Discussion items:
a. Re-ranking of Hiring Requests
To place items on future agendas, email Ginni May at mayv@scc.losrios.edu