Executive Summary

Executive Summary,

Harbor College Academic Senate

Executive Committee Meeting,

9:30 AM, Friday, August 14, 2009

Administrative Report

Dr. Tomlinson updated those present on the latest budget figures. The District Allocation Grant Task Force will again be visiting all campuses showing an indicated deficit for 2010-11; and because our allocation is still several million dollars below our current budget estimate, including all cuts already planned, we expect the district to mandate additional cuts along the lines some other campuses have been making perhaps involving virtual elimination of certain programs.

ACTION ITEMS/MOTIONS NOTICED FOR ACTION AUGUST 14

Statement on Campus-Wide Involvement in the Accreditation Process

At the invitation of Ms. J. Smith, Mr. Stanbery briefly summarized each provision in the Statement, resulting in various questions, comments, and adjustments in the phrasing, after which there was Unanimous connsent to approve the Statement as revised for issuance campus-wide prior to the all-college meeting August 27, the Statement to read as follows:

STATEMENT ON CAMPUS-WIDE INVOLVEMENT

IN THE ACCREDITATION SELF-STUDY

[adopted by the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate

8-14-09]

In recent years the Accreditation Commission has become much stricter in requiring due conformance with accreditation standards. This includes the requirement that the updating of the college’s Accreditation Self-Study be a continuous process in which participation is campus-wide.

The Self-Study, along with everything on which it is based, is this institution’s essential tool for defining what Harbor College is and can become. So involvement in the Self-Study process is an essential of working here – for all of us: a form of engagement in the life of the college that should be as exciting as it is continuous.

The responsibility for faculty is defined in Article 13, Section 8, paragraph ‘d’, of the faculty collective bargaining agreement:

It is the responsibility of all monthly rate faculty assigned under the provisions of this Article to be involved in college activities. These activities may include, but are not limited to, evaluation of student performance, curriculum development, sponsorship of co-curricular groups, college or District committee work, faculty meetings, or in-service training or staff development.

Accordingly the Academic Senate resolves as follows:

1. That the Senate president appoint an Interim Accreditation Steering Committee to facilitate the Self-Study process until the Senate authorizes the establishment of such a committee on a formal basis;

2. That the Senate approves an update of the due-dates related to the Self-Study in the college planning calendar posted on the college website;

3. That the Flex Committee adjust campus flex requirements to require a minimum of 6 hours of service in Category C (“Instructional Improvement”) and to specify that credit for Category J (“Committee and College Activities Participation”) may include service on Self-Study committees beyond the minimum of 6 hours provided for instructional improvement;

4. That full conformance with flex obligations be enforced;

5. That division chairs be provided with an appropriate committee service form to be completed at the start of every academic year to secure full conformance with contractual committee service requirements, and that committee meeting schedules along with membership and meeting attendance be documented in accordance with contractual evaluation forms and as the accreditation process requires, with increased use of Fridays for committee meetings where necessary to prevent conflicts in meeting schedules;

6. That regular faculty members who feel unable to fulfill their contractual commitments for committee service due to a lack of sufficient time should refrain from seeking hourly teaching assignments in addition to their regular teaching loads;

7. That administration fully enforce the Senate resolution of September 4, 2008, providing that “divisions not up to date on program review, assessment of student learning outcomes, or unit planning will not receive VTEA funding, will not receive Block Grants, will not be permitted to submit requests to FHPC”;

8. That an accreditation secretary be hired to facilitate accreditation-related meetings and fulfillment of accreditation-related due-dates, and to assist members of the Accreditation Steering Committee as the Committee may direct.