MINUTES
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Minutes
RCCDFA/CCA/CTA/NEA
October 28, 2014
RCC, DL 404
Present
Dariush Haghighat (Faculty Association Pres)
Shari Yates (Secretary)
Rhonda Taube (Riv FT Rep)
Leo Truttmann (Treasurer)
Mark Sellick (Riv VP)
John Sullivan (Riv PT Rep/CCA)
Cindy Mahon (MV PT Rep)
Joe Eckstein (Nor VP)
Fabian Biancardi (MV VP)
Chris Rocco (MV FT Rep)
Tim Wallstrom (Nor Rep)
Mark Carpenter (Guest)
Cyn-D Gobatie (Guest)
Absent
Dorothy Reina (Nor PT Rep/CCA Dist K Dir.)
1) Call to Order 1:05pm
2) Motion (Sullivan/Eckstein): To approve minutes. Approved unanimously.
3) President Report—Dariush Haghighat
4) Dariush distributed Rhonda Taube’s draft of the SurveyMonkey that will be distributed to the
faculty next week. A suggestion was made to include all the articles. Rhonda will update the
document.
5) Dariush has been involved in discussions with Chancellor Burke regarding CSEA’s concerns
with opt-discuss listserv. From the very beginning, Chancellor Burke has clearly articulated
his position that he is adamantly against any censorship of freedom of expression in our
district. The Faculty Association has also shared with the Chancellor that freedom of
expression is a sacred principle for the Association and it will not consider nor accept any
suggestion for assigning a moderator for the opt-discuss listserv. Dariush has shared with the
Chancellor that if anybody dislikes any of the discussions on the opt-discuss listserv they
always have the option of deleting that message or even opting out of that listserv. If the
staff union insists on changing the format of opt-discuss or add restrictions to it, then the
Association would simply request that the staff and faculty listservs would be separated so
the freedom of expression of faculty will not be compromised.
6) Dariush is absolutely convinced that Chancellor Burke is a steadfast supporter of freedom of
expression and will not initiate anything to hamper or undermine such freedom in our
district.
7) Dariush has requested Chancellor Burke to do some research on the possibility of a golden
handshake for those who are interested for an early retirement. Chancellor has promised
Dariush to look some numbers and get back to him.
MINUTES
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8) Vice Presidents’ and Representatives’ Reports
9) Moreno Valley College—
10) Fabian Biancardi. Fabian reported that he received a query from an MVC faculty about
whether one can reject high school students in his/her courses. Fabian replied that faculty
may not restrict enrollment.
11) Chris and Fabian have not received any response from the Public Interest Investigations (PII)
firm since Chris and Fabian requested that all questions be submitted 24 hours in advance of
any interview of faculty.
12) Cynthia Mahon. Dean Vakil came to the part time faculty workroom and asked if
everything was okay. Cynthia appreciated the kind attention that is being paid to the part
time faculty members.
13) Norco College—
14) Joe Eckstein. Joe quoted Sarah Burnett that using Trak-Dat software will provide a more
efficient process for assessment data.
15) A Norco faculty member was concerned about the high-intensity labs that are being proposed
that the process will snowball into a multiple of disciplines requesting approval for highintensity labs.
16) Joe reported that, Sheryl Tschetter was asked by a CSEA representative, why a part-time
faculty member was not rehired at Norco College. Cheryl handled the issue well and
responded appropriately, reminding the CSEA representative that part time faculty are
represented by the Faculty Association and not the staff union.
17) Riverside City College—
18) Mark Sellick. Mark attended the district budget advisory committee (DBAC).
19) Mark wrote a letter in response to a department chair when a CSEA member asked why a
part time faculty member was not hired.
20) Treasurer Report: Leo Truttmann. Leo found out that plans are moving forward to build
a greenhouse on the roof of the Math and Science building. It will be located on the top of
the chemistry lab. Leo has spoken with faculty members that are adamant against the
greenhouse being built on the roof. There are current problems with the building. Faculty
do not want more trouble with the building and do not want more headaches.
21) Secretary Report: No report
MINUTES
22) Open Session: Mark Carpenter. Mark attended the District Academic Senate. The nine
metrics were presented with the metric of “efficiency” being judged most heavily.
23) Closed Session—Three items discussed.
24) Adjournment 2:55pm
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