Executive Summary
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Executive Summary,
Harbor College Academic Senate
Regular Meeting,
1:30, Thursday, September 4, 2008
Call to order and approval of agenda
Ms. Smith reviewed the contents of the binder distributed to all senators to contain Senate-related materials and currently including [1] the legal definitions of the role of community college academic senates in California; [2] the 1997 agreement between the Senate and the College President applying those standards at Harbor College, [3] our Academic Senate Constitution, and [4] the latest edition of the State Academic Senate "Update".
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the May 29 meeting were approved as distributed.
Administrative Report
Dr. Spink commended the progress of accreditation preparations so far and urged maximum feedback on the preliminary interim report e-mailed college-wide last Friday. She announced the new district deadline of September 24 for presenting our proposed budget cuts, stating that cuts beyond what CPC authorizes will change the very character of the college and, whether it costs her her job or not, she will not propose further cuts in the absence of a proper dialogue with the district on the larger issues involved. Participation in planning for our 60th Anniversary is welcomed. The Chancellor will be on campus on September 18 for an open forum coordinated with our next Senate meeting. Questions were raised about the dumpster area and about northeast academic and Lot 8 parking.
Later in the meeting Ms. J. Smith announced the need for additional attendees, including students, at the district sustainability conference, for which she will soon be distributing formal notice.
CONSENT ITEMS
Laison with ASO
Ms. McMurray was appointed as the Academic Senate's laison with the ASO.
Harbor College 60th Anniversary Committee
Carmen Carillo was appointed as the Senate's representative on this committee.
ITEMS/MOTIONS FOR ACTION SEPTEMBER 4
Professional Growth Committee
Ms. J. Smith expressed the appreciation of the Senate for Mr. McKenzie's years of service chairing this committee, which allocates conference attendance. She also announced that Mr. Young has been named as the AFT representative on this committee and that Dean Richards will apparently continue to represent the administration. Unanimous consent to designate Harvey Siegel and Len Glover as the Senate's representatives on the committee.
Consolidated Schedule of Planning-Related Timelines
Dean Humphreys distributed the proposed schedule and motivated it briefly. Ms. J. Smith commented that the document had been vetted in Division Council. Unanimous consent to adopt the schedule to replace the planning calendar in the current Planning Policy and Procedures Manual.
ASO E-Mail Accessibility
Dawn and Liz commented on the proposed resolution and Dean Humpreys stressed the safety-related aspects of it:
Proposed: That the Academic Senate and Associated Student Organization Senate request the investigation and recommendation regarding instituting a ticker tape feature on the LAHC website. This feature would be used for urgent communications that affect students, such as canceled or changed shared governance meetings. While it need not always contain a message, access should be provided through multiple sources at short notice in order to increase needed communication of high priority items. Many students and student senators do not have cellphones, nor are messages sent to cellphones easily accessible due to the no cellphone policy within classes.
MSU (Stanbery/Young) to adopt the motion and refer it to the Work Environment Committee for implementation. Jonathan Lee has said he can and will implement the resolution if adopted.
Senate Representatives on College Committees
Unanimous consent to appoint Mark Wood, Lauren McKenzie, and Lora Lane as the Senate’s representatives on the College Planning Council.
The following names were placed in nomination for consideration at the next Senate meeting:
Academic Affairs: Mark Wood, Brad Young, Lauren McKenzie, Evelyn Lum, Jonathan Lee, Susan McMurray, Joyce Parker
Student Services: Marian Lacascio
Administrative Services: Sally Fasteau, Lauren McKenzie, Jan Sandell, Michael Song
President's Cluster: Elena Reigadas
Budget: Lauren McKenzie, June Smith, Joyce Parker (alternate)
Facilities: Brad Young, Harvey Siegel, William Hernandez, Gary Miller
Staffing: Michael Agopian
Staff Development: Jan Sandell, Frederick Ho, Isuki
DAS: June Smith (ex officio); Susan McMurray, Pam Watkins
Meeting Timelines
MSC (McMurray/Wood; 12/1 to adopt the motion as noticed [see addendum].
College ISLOs
It was pointed out that the proposal includes no assessment measures [see attachment]. Unanimous consent to postpone consideration by two weeks while APPC devises specific measures.
Department realignment
Ms. Wakins took the chair in the temporary absence of Ms. J. Smith. MS (Glover/Parker) to adopt Mr. Glover’s motion as noticed:
Proposed: That the Electronics/Computer/Engineering Technology Dept. transfer from the Math/Science/Tech Division to the Administration of Justice /Behavioral Science Division as of this F'08 semester, per Article 17.A.2 in the current Agreement, on the grounds that the Administration of Justice and Fire Technology are CTE programs, just as the EL/CT/ET Dept is, and this commonality of CTE and future new programs will be a natural match for these Depts. to work together to develop new programs in the areas of Port Security, Cargo Container RFID, Network Security, etc.
MSC (Stanbery/Lane; 8/2/1) to refer the main motion along with the general question of division realignment to the Academic Affairs Committee.
Program Review Forms
Dean Humphreys distributed and summarized his proposed adjustments in the sample forms appended to the Program Review Manual. Referred to APPC for incorporation into the proposed revised manual.
ADDENDUM
Meeting Timelines for Accreditation:
The new standards for accreditation were first published by the Accrediting Association for Community and Junior Colleges in 2002. In the first few years, colleges relied on the understanding of the AACJC that it would take some time to put processes in place to meet the new requirements. Good faith efforts and assurances that actions were “in process” were sufficient.
In 2008, however, we are learning that “in process” is no longer enough. The accreditation teams want to see completed cycles of program review, assessment of student learning outcomes, and data driven-planning processes. They have made it clear that each school has twenty-four months from the time that recommendations are made to the time when completed actions occur. While we are making some significant progress in some areas in some disciplines, a massive, singular effort is now required to move the college forward. While some us might not agree with the direction that AACJC has taken, foot-dragging will only prolong the misery and end, perhaps, catastrophically in probation.
To expedite the processes that we have begun, we provide the following incentive:
Disciplines that are 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