Notes - October 3, 2005
De Anza Academic Senate
Approved Notes for the meeting of
October 3, 2005
Senators and Officers present: Argyriou, Bresnan, Bryant, Capitolo, Chenoweth, Cordero, Dolen, Dunn, Fritz, Goodwin,
Hearn, Jensen Sullivan, Joplin, Kline, Logvinenko, Moreno, Olsen, Osborne, Setziol,
and Sheirich
Senators and Officers absent: Annen, Mjelde, Mosh, Winters, Zarecky, and Zill
DASB:
Classified Senate: Patlan
Administrative Liaison:
Guests: Dan Mitchell and Laura Raffaelli
[NOTE: Item numbers are reflective of agenda numbers in the order they are actually taken up at the meeting.]
The meeting was called to order at 2:32, a quorum being present.
I. Approval of Agenda and Notes: The agenda was approved as distributed. There were no notes to approve as the notes for the last meeting (June 13th) had been approved by mail in June.
II. Introductions: Brief self introductions occurred.
III. Needs and Confirmations: Kline distributed a Tenure Review Committees spreadsheet prepared by Rich Schroeder. After it was carefully explained that the presence of two departmental faculty on one committee was not by design, all of those proposed for service on tenure review committees were confirmed.
A Teaching and Learning committee is being formed District-wide. Each college is responsible for having two faculty members represent the college.
IV. Opening Day Feedback: There was general appreciation for the format of the day and the presence of a large number of interesting sounding workshops. A suggestion was made that perhaps some sessions which were really aimed at, say classified staff, be so labeled. It was noted that the timing of at least one of the Kirsch Center tours made timely attendance impossible. It was also noted that the tour of the Foothill wellness center was completely unprepared and that there were mixed responses to Brian Murphy's requests for discussion of retention and equity issues.
V. Avenues for Campus Dialogue: Hearn began by asking whether the preference for the film series discussions should be Thursday afternoons, evenings, or Friday afternoons. The Senators overwhelmingly responded with Thursday afternoons or evenings. She went on to suggest that there could presentations on pedagogy at Senate meetings or at special sessions, possibly culminating in a conference by De Anza faculty and staff and for De Anza faculty and staff. She then opened up the topic for the contributions of others. It was then suggested the staff development facilities and staff could be involved. Setziol reminded the group that the Senate had a specific responsibility for faculty development and that it had largely ignored that responsibility for several years, which, in turn, had resulted in many not knowing that it was a Senate responsibility. A suggestion that people from the statewide Academic Senate Executive Committee be brought in to talk about topics of statewide interest was well received. During the discussion, Hearn mentioned that these things could be discussed at upcoming division meetings. Much to her surprise, at this point it was revealed that, apparently, many divisions and departments meet no more than once a quarter, some as little as once a year. After expressing some consternation, Hearn pointed out that this presented an unacceptable situation which needed to change. Further discussion pointed to technology as a way to at least bridge some of the communication and dialogue gap, especially for those larger groups where schedules make meeting face to face difficult if not impossible.
VII. Joint Katrina Fundraising: Sanjeet Heyer from the DASB was present to promote faculty participation in fundraising for the educational victims of hurricane Katrina. There was considerable concern and confusion about the logistics of money collection and tax deductions. Hearn will work on the logistics. She also suggested a target date for faculty to pack their own lunches and to contribute money saved that day.
IX. Financial Aid Update: Kevin Harral was present primarily to prepare the Senators to recommend that faculty invite him to visit their classes and, generally, to inform students that there is a wide range of financial aid possibilities. He distributed a flyer on the topic. Cordera vouched for Kevin's effectiveness in classroom presentations.
VI. Harassment and Discrimination Policy: A draft proposal from Jane Enright was distributed and preliminarily discussed. Although discussion was limited, it was apparent that the document in its current form was unlikely to be approved of by the group. Two sections in particular were said to require further discussion and modification, the "visual" subsection of "Harassment" and "Academic Freedom"
VIII. Plus/Minus Update: This is the fourth and last quarter of data collection prior to the analysis of Plus/Minus data for presentation to the Board of Trustees. The full implementation will proceed for the Fall of 2006 unless the analysis of the data shows substantial harm to students. The earliest that the addition of plusses and minuses would be calculated on student transcripts would be at that time.
X: Academic Senate Orientation: The item was held over.
XI: Good of the Order:
- The group was reminded of the grand opening ceremonies for the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies on October 14th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
- Hearn is working with Brian Murphy to secure an additional campus copy machine for faculty and staff use.
- A question was raised about the location and accessibility of the scantron machine formerly located in the mail room.
- An announcement the annual De Anza Night of Magic was distributed. The proceeds this year will go to the Student Services and Counseling building, not "programs" as written on the announcement.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:33.