Gavilan College Academic Senate
Tuesday, October 7, 2014 at 2:30 p.m. (note new time)
Mayock House
MINUTES
ATTENDANCE
Bea Lawn, Herb Spenner, Jen McMillen, Marilyn Chap, Sabrina Lawrence, Julian Kearns, Lorraine
Burgman, Rey Morales, Johanna Stewart, Neal Andrade, David Perez
GUESTS
Steve Kinsella, Kathleen Rose, Dennie Van Tassel, Randy Brown, Susan Sweeney, Dave DiDenti,
Kathleen Moberg, Fred Harris, Erin Crook
I.
Opening Items:
(5)
A.
Call to order at 2:35 pm
B.
Welcome and Roll Call led by the senate president
C.
Approval of Minutes September 2, 2014
MSC (Julian Kearns/Herb Spenner). Vote: unanimous. Approved with a correction in
the call to order from 3:35 to 2:35
D.
Approval of Agenda
MSC (Jen McMillen/Sabrina Lawrence). Vote: unanimous. Approved as presented.
II.
Public Commentary:
(5)
None.
Reports: (all 3-minute)
(20)
A.
Standing Reports:
a.
ASB
Dave DiDenti reported that ASB had endorsed the SSSP draft and that ASB has
changed its meeting day from Tuesday to Thursday, keeping the time of 9:4511:05 a.m.
III.
b.
College President
President Kinsella informed the Academic Senate that there will be two forums
to discuss how President’s Council and other institutional committees operate
and how shared governance feeds into President’s Council. Administrators
have been asked to attend institutional committees, where they will be
spectators and/or resources.
c.
Executive Vice President
Kathleen Rose reported that three more associate degrees for transfer were
approved by the Curriculum Committee on Child Development, Psychology,
and Business. The focus will soon shift to local degrees.
d.
Senate President
Bea Lawn reported that two faculty submissions for Employee of the Month
were chosen for the honor for the months of August and September and
encouraged more nominations. All feedback regarding the drafts of the
Student Success and Support and Student Equity plans was compiled and sent
to the respective teams. At President’s Council, Kathleen Moberg reported
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9/16/2014
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that $1 million was allocated to Gavilan College to support student success
areas, and the plan for spending those funds must be included in the SSSP plan
that will be submitted. Also, at President’s Council, the new arboretum will be
named after Ray Williams, the original landscaper for the campus. The Health
Facilities and Grounds Committee will begin debating a drought action plan.
e.
B.
IV.
Senator reports
The Counseling Department reported that all counselors are keeping extremely
busy with students coming for educational plans and with GUID 210.
Committee Reports: None
New Business:
(55)
A.
Status of Coyote Valley and Hollister Campuses (Steve Kinsella)
What is the current status of the plan for these two campuses? What challenges exist?
What changes in the use of Measure E funds for that plan have been made, if any? If
so, what is the rationale?
Information (15)
Steve Kinsella reported on the status of the two campuses. He prepared a written
report that was distributed at the meeting. With Measure E funds, Gavilan College
acquired property in Coyote Valley in 2006, 55 acres, and has been working on
mitigating environmental impacts since 2008. The Santa Clara Conservation Plan
determined that there was a well on the property, and this has caused many delays. In
2008, Gavilan College bought property outside of Hollister city limits, in San Benito
County. Fish and Wildlife agencies, state and federal, have not been able to agree on
impacts to wildlife. As a result, Gavilan is not close to the development of the
properties. Recently, the Board made Coyote Valley a priority because there are over
1,000 FTES in the greater Morgan Hill service area, which includes 500 FTES from the
South Bay PUblic Safety Consortium. In addition, Evergreen Valley College will be
converting the property in which the consortium operates to a commercial
development, so a new training site is needed in order not to lose the 10% of our
current credit enrollment that comes from the consortium, or $ 2.4 million. The
requirement for an educational center has been raised to 1,000 FTES. Since that
enrollment already exists in the Coyote Valley/Morgan Hill area, the Board authorized
the submission of a Coyote Valley Educational Center application to the State
Chancellor’s Office on July 30, 2014, and has allocated $12 million to Phase I of its
development. The estimated cost for the project is $17 million, but the South Bay
Public Safety Consortium will pay for funds in excess of the $12 that Gavilan College
will contribute. In San Benito County, there has been much discussion with
community members to consider other parcels for an educational center. Additional
money was expended to review alternative sites, but no site was determined worthy
of additional consideration. Enrollment in Hollister is in the range of 300 to 350 FTES.
A needs assessment will also be developed for the property although there cannot be
additional operational support from the State until 1,000 FTES are generated.
B.
Faculty Participation/Shared Governance Recommendations (Bea Lawn)
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Based on our prior discussion on the subject and on a reformulated draft, what
recommendations does Senate have on the subject? What concrete steps should the
Senate take? How do we proceed?
Information/Discussion (15)
Bea Lawn directed attention to the reformulated draft of the recommendations on
faculty participation and shared governance. She asked if there were any important
points missing and if the tone was positive. She discussed possible actions for Senate:
e-mail the faculty with the recommendations, e-mail the entire staff, speak to
department chairs about the recommendations, pass a Senate resolution. Senators
did not endorse any of the options. They expressed concern that the Senate come
across as reprimanding or telling others what to do. There was a comment about the
need to include a value statement that pointed to why there should be faculty
participation and why shared governance was important. There was a comment about
the need for every full-time instructor to serve on at least one committee. Bea Lawn
will bring the issue back at a later meeting to see if the Senate wants to take any
action. She expressed concern that it can all remain talk, but she accepted the
difficulty in taking concrete action.
C.
Institutional Effectiveness Committee (IEC) Report (Erin Crook)
We will get highlights of the IEC Report. How do the IEC Committee and the Academic
Senate interconnect?
Information/Discussion (15)
Erin Crook discussed the basic configuration the IEC Committee and the programs it
reviewed in the 2013-2014 academic year aside from the status reports from
previously reviewed programs. Program review work is laborious and much time and
effort is required from committee members and staff doing the review. Erin Crook
asked if Senate wanted to work on having a more explicit link between IEC and Senate.
She felt such a connection was in the interest of both groups. Bea Lawn agreed that
increased communication between the two groups would enable each to know the
larger issues that arose. Erin Crook will take the information back to IEC to discuss it
with the members.
D.
Learning Council (Bea Lawn)
What role does the Academic Senate have in the Learning Council? How is the
relationship between them configured? Can it be improved?
Discussion (10)
Susan Sweeney, Learning Council co-chair, shared the active FIGs approved by Learning
Council for this year. Copies of the 2013-2014 final report and copies of the latest
September Learning Council minutes were distributed. Bea Lawn discussed the
uniqueness of Learning Council since it both reports to the Academic Senate and to
President’s Council. She said that senators and faculty had expressed some concerns
regarding Learning Council operation, and that she had discussed them with Dr. Rose.
The discussion centered around the need for more frequent reporting to Senate on
Learning Council discussions. When reporting, perhaps a faculty member who is a
member of both Learning Council and Senate can serve as liaison and provide more
communication. Also, annual reports should be brought to Senate in a more complete
form so Senate can weigh in on them before they are sent to President’s Council. Last
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May, Senate had received a very brief report that did not include the level of detail
later provided to President’s Council. It was clarified that Sente meets over the
summer. Also, because there is a large administrative presence in Learning Council, it
is important that all actions and recommendations be put through the shared
governance process so other groups can be informed and give feedback. Many
committees lack the infusion of administrative support found in Learning Council.
Susan Sweeney pointed out that there were many administrators at Senate, not just as
Learning Council. Kyle Hull will be asked if he can serve as liaison between both
groups. The Academic Senate wants to provide another forum for discussion of
instructional improvement in addition to Learning Council.
V.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Closing Items:
(5)
Open Forum: Johanna Stewart asked about the news that some colleges will be
selected to pilot bachelor’s degrees. President Kinsella said he has not heard that
Gavilan College is one of the selected fifteen colleges.
Announcements: None
Items for next agenda by 2:00 p.m. on October 14, 2014
Next meeting: Tuesday, October 21 at 2:30 p.m.
Adjournment by consensus at 4:05 pm
MSC (Julian Kearns/Herb Spenner)
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9/16/2014
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