Academic Senate Highlights

March 13, 2007

 

Public Comments:  Trustee McShane addressed the Senate, introducing himself and emphasizing the importance of open communication, especially during this time of transition of the President.  He provided his contact information: steve@mcshanesnursery.com  and 970-4141 (cell), and 455-1876 (w)

Senators made comments to him about the importance of a thorough Presidential search and the concern that the Board not rush through the process.

 

President’s Report:  President Fellguth has met with counselors about the responsibilities and opportunities for serving on governance committees. 

 

She and Cathy Noble have finished the draft of Hiring Procedures and will bring it forward to the next Steering Committee meeting.  This is an important document to revise since there have been admitted shortcomings in the hiring process.  Faculty have also been reporting violations of the Equivalency Process.

 

The Accreditation Site Visit Team has an appointment with the Academic Senate on Tuesday, March 20 from 3:15 to 3:45 in the Distance Learning Room (113) in the Library.

 

Committee Reports:  Curriculum—The CurricuNet presentation will be Thursday, March 15 at 2:00 in the Distance Learning Room (113) in the Library.  Anyone interested in finding out about the product should attend.  Also, faculty should get their curriculum in since there are only 3 more Curriculum Committee meetings before summer.

SLO—They have been having good attendance of about 10 members and the are ready to bring the final proposal for addition to the committee structure and the Committee Handbook as an action item at the next Senate meeting.

Budget Committee—They met this month and were provided with information to use for actual budget development.  Faculty members see the potential for this committee to change and be more closely linked to planning and the budget development process.  They have a special meeting called for Thursday, March 15 at 2:30 in the Board Room.

 

Action Items

The Academic Senate Response to the Self Study was unanimously approved.  It is posted on the Senate website http://www.hartnell.edu/academic_senate/documents.html

Ignacio Pando commended the subcommittee that worked on this, saying that it truly reflects the concerns of faculty. As faculty the College is our home and the document reflects what is, but also shows what is possible.

 

The Proposal for revising the governance structure was adopted unanimously with minor revisions to the timeline.  The document is also available on the Senate website.  The Task Force will be formed this month and meetings with each of the committees to gather information will begin in April.

 

The following committee appointments were made:

Faculty Hiring Committee--Melissa Stave, Liz Estrella, Susan Hovde
Diversity Committee--LeeAnn Emanuel, Liz Estrella
Matriculation Committee--Wayne Davis, Stelvio Locci, Tony Anderson
Staff Development Committee—Hetty Yelland
All committee membership and meeting times and dates are now posted on the Senate website http://www.hartnell.cc.ca.us/academic_senate/governance.html

 

Discussion Items

Departmental Moves—Currently students can make a departmental move at any time in the semester with only the signature of the instructor they are adding.  The Senate discussed whether there should be policies about when or how this can occur.  It also discussed the need for the instructors to coordinate regarding grade/attendance records for work done in previous course.  Mary Dominguez from A&R will be invited to the next meeting since some of these issues may relate to regulations about student records.  The Senate would like to know if there are existing policies, before pursuing any new policy.

 

Disciplines List—The Disciplines List is the listing of minimum qualifications for hiring faculty.  To download the document, go to the Chancellor’s office website:

http://www.cccco.edu/divisions/esed/aa_ir/psmq/min_qual/min_quals%20_revFeb2206.doc  Minimum Qualifications are determined at the state level and go through revision on a two (used to be three) year cycle.  Input is sought from local Senates for the revision process.  Faculty should review the current minimum qualifications for their disciplines and any related disciplines and determine whether they would like to propose revisions.  The proposal would go through the local senate and then to the state level for approval.  Faculty should also review the minimum qualifications because these qualifications apply to ALL faculty teaching in the discipline (full- and part-time).  When asked to review adjunct faculty applications, these are the standards that apply.