Right off the bat, we discussed the
calendar issue—that is, the proposal to compress and shift our calendar in an
effort to please the increasingly surly hoi
polloi. As explained previously, the college is grappling with low enrollments,
and some theorize that our “stretch” calendar is a student-repellent. (I do
believe that we’re surveying students in an effort to identify their actual druthers.)
Judging
by conversations I’ve had with colleagues, it appears that we in H&L are divided;
some view a “compressed calendar” as paradise; others view it as Hell on Earth.
Despite his intimate familiarity with
Satan, VPI Dennis White clearly agrees with the paradise group. I may be mistaken,
but it also seems to me that our Dennis sees his “leadership” in this massive project
as his ticket to Mount Rushmore . I can already
hear the chisel. Tink, Tink.
Dennis has spent time on the phone with administrators
of neighboring community colleges that have experienced the awe and majesty of
the compressed calendar. He has sought the advice of state officials. He says he
dislikes OCC’s “train schedule” approach to compression (i.e., starting and
stopping classes at weird times). He says the various versions of compression
and non-compression all have “positive and negative implications.”
The D Man further declares that any input needs
to be put in pronto, cuz he hopes to
emerge from summer with a definite proposal, with bugs all worked out. Having a
proposal by early Fall is necessary, he says, if we’re to meet the various
deadlines for adoption of the new calendar in Fall of 2006.
Dennis showed us three versions of
compression, one of which he seemed to favor. Back on the 23rd,
Linda emailed us about the calendar initiative; she described Dennis’s preferred
version. She described it, in part, as follows:
The fall semester will begin after Labor Day and end
on Dec. 21.
Jan. 2-Jan. 29 will comprise a 4-week intersession.
The spring semester will begin on Jan. 30 and end, as
usual, near the end of May.
Though Dennis did not refer directly to summer
sessions, the calendar he lays out allows for a 12-week summer period.
There would be one 5-day FLEX period during the last
week in August; no FLEX period in spring. [End]
For details, please consult Linda’s email.
(Jan and I also have handouts, including colored charts—in black in white.)
Dennis explained that, owing to the
“unique ways” that the state “counts minutes,” even if there is no increase in
the number of students and the number of classes students take, a switch to Dennis’s
Favored Proposal would yield a FTES increase of 8%. (I believe that FTES stands
for “full time equivalent students.”)
I noted that our district is on basic aid,
a form of funding which disconnects funding from FTES levels. (We get a set proportion
of local property taxes, whatever our enrollments. Hell, we could be teaching
15 students—Ray’s 15—and we’d get the same moola.)
Dennis responded by stating what I already
knew: that the board funds the two colleges according to what they would receive if they were funded by the
state.
That reminds me of a joke. A young man
nervously prepares for his first date. He asks his dad for advice. Dad says,
“Well, things can get uncomfortably quiet, and if that happens, just talk about
food, cuz people like to talk about food.
If that doesn’t work, talk about family.
Yeah. And if that doesn’t work, talk about philosophy.
Food, family, and philosophy—you can’t go wrong!”
So the kid goes on his date and, sure
enough, things get uncomfortably quiet. So he asks his date, “Do you like yogurt?”
She says no. Silence.
He tries the topic of “family”: “Do you have a brother?” he asks.
“No,” she says.
At this point, he’s desperate. He resorts
to philosophy. He thinks a bit; after a few seconds, he asks:
“Well, if you had a brother, would he like yogurt?”
Dennis’ favored proposal includes a winter
intersession. Repeating a concern expressed to me by Maddy, I asked Dennis if
these intersessions aren’t in fact “money-losers.” Dennis assured me that such
is not the case. You’ve just got to offer the right sorts of classes during
intersession (viz., only large lecture courses) and you must conscientiously cancel
any low-enrolled classes, he said. Dennis exuded confidence. We smiled, stupidly.
Dennis reminded us that teaching during
the summer or during intersession is strictly optional. It’s an “overload”
situation, he said.
What about Saddleback College
Senate Prez Wendy asked that people send
their “input” about this calendar business to the “asenate” email address.
“Don’t write stuff like ‘This is a nightmare’,”
said Wendy. “That doesn’t help.”
Emails to “asenate” should be specific and
detailed about nightmares.
Priscilla suggested that, if we move to a
compressed calendar, room use issues would indeed become nightmares, especially
at night. Dennis seemed to pooh-pooh her worry, as with all others. On the
other hand, he seemed to assume that each school has its own rooms, and
Priscilla noted that such is not the case.
Wendy acknowledged the “gawdawful” amount
of work Dennis had done re the calendar issue. “I didn’t need those weekends
after all,” whispered Dennis with thudding false humility.
He added that he will be making the rounds
at School meetings, explaining his proposal and, I suppose, soliciting input.
Tink, Tink.
Wendy asked Ray for a report on Accreditation.
We stared at Ray. Despite the use of words like “hostility,” “cynicism,”
“despair,” and “fear” in the Accrediting Report for IVC, Ray was beside himself
with joy; he announced that, accreditation-wise, things are grrrrrrrreat! Heck, we got a full-on,
whiz-bang, “6-year” rating, chirped
the Rayster.
Suddenly, Ray’s pal, Dale, broke into loud
and solitary applause. It seemed as though we were in a large dank cave, and an
idiot in the corner had commenced—well, clapping.
We stared at the fellow, but the
clapping continued. Then it petered out. Then: nothing. You could hear a pin
head.
Wendy explained that the hearing for our
Appeal of the court’s district-friendly decision concerning the new “faculty
hiring policy” has been postponed until May.
The court first judged that the district
had failed properly to include the senates in developing the policy. (Faculty
hiring policies are supposed to reflect mutual agreement between district and
faculty senate.) But after he ordered a new committee and process, and that
process yielded a new policy—the current one—that was wholly unacceptable to the senates, the judge opined that, since
faculty were on the policy development committee, the policy it produced was
ipso facto mutually agreed upon by all participants.
That’s daft. We’re hoping the trio of Appellate
judges will agree.
The delay means that, for the current
round of hires, we really will be operating under the bad new hiring policy.
Think of the legal mess that will unfold when the Appellate court nixes the
“new” hiring policies!
Item 10 concerned the Chancellor’s
proposed response (“strategies”) for addressing the recent Accrediting
recommendations. Ray to the contrary notwithstanding, the latter are decidedly un-chirpy.
The Chancellor’s proposed strategies are
ridiculous. For instance, he suggests that we can overcome “hostility,
cynicism,” “despair” and “fear” by “recognize[ing] and celebrat[ing] the
accomplishments of individuals in all constituent groups….”
Uh-oh. More poinsettias.
The Chancellor’ strategy for eliminating
board micromanagement is the following: “The
Board of Trustees will address this goal.” Now, that’s a strategy! The bold
fellow!
Jan H advanced the idea that each
constituent group should independently produce recommendations for responding
to the difficulties identified in the Accrediting reports. All of that stuff should
be sent straight to the Accrediting agency. Jan’s idea seemed to be pretty
popular.
Item 13 concerned greater availability of
“reassigned time,” an old bone of contention, since Trustee “I love Central California ” Fortune instituted extreme restrictions
on this sort of compensation. Wendy, as Senate Prez, has been invited to
discussions about this matter during an upcoming Administrative Retreat.
Item 14 concerned the attempt to find a
faculty chair for the “Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)” Task Force. Jerry R
won’t do it. Many worried that the chair of the task force would likely end up
a “puppet” of the Chancellor. The issue of “reassigned time” again arose. In
the end, we decided to email the Chancellor in an attempt to get a clearer
picture of what role he envisions for the Chair.
Item 15 concerned the “Articulation
Officer.” Nominations have been open. I do believe that Kate C was identified
as a candidate and that we voted to approve her. Guess which two senators voted
against her?
Item 16 concerned the district’s new
“workplace violence” policy. You’ll recall that, back in ’98, the district
ordered me to anger management counseling, based on my having allegedly violated
both the district’s “discrimination” and “workplace violence” policies.
(Do you remember the crashing Nazi
jet—piloted by Trustee “No Holocaust” Frogue—that I put on the cover of Dissent during the final days of the
Recall? Such graphics, said the Chancellor, revealed my “obsession with
weaponry.” My use of the phrase “Mr. Goo” was “racist,” the Chancellor said.
Why? Cuz it’s obviously an allusion to the word “gook.”)
Federal Court ultimately ruled that the
district’s “workplace violence” policy was unconstitutional. The new and
improved policy evidently passes Constitutional muster, says Wendy.
A Board Policy, authored by Lewis on
behalf of the senate, is being proposed as a way to expedite the faculty’s
participation in Board Policy development. (Policies and Regulations adopted by
the board in recent years actually preclude faculty participation! Hence the
need for new policies.) It appears that, owing to the negative Accrediting
reports, the district will cooperate.
Item 17 concerned Commencement. It has
been suggested that graduates of the Honors Program should be allowed to wear
special medallions.
Some senators sported quizzical looks.
There was an awkward silence. “Why the hell not,” said someone.
We bemoaned the moving of IVC’s
commencement to early afternoon. Why had that happened? Cuz that’s most
convenient for the board.
Wendy et al. will try to change the time
back to 6:00 p.m., but don’t hold your breath.
We discussed the possibility of an “all
college meeting,” including both Wendy and Glenn. In the end, we supported the
idea, as long as there’s a clear agenda and the chancellor doesn’t show up.
Vice Prez Ted W explained that being the
senate Prez is a “tough gig.” He said that this is difficult time for faculty;
it’s not a good time to change faculty leadership.
The problem is that, according to the new
bylaws, each year, the Vice Prez advances to Prez. We discussed our options. In
the end, it was agreed that Ted should resign and then place himself on the
ballot for Vice Prez (again). Wendy will run for Prez (again). Etc.
Lisa has indicated an interest in stepping
down from the Recorder job. (She’ll soon by the Chair of English.) During the
meeting, Lewis praised Lisa’s many years of service and the quality of her
work. He then nominated Traci F for that job. She accepted.
At some point, Lewis said, “I have no more
mental capacity left.” That’s how I feel right now.
--ROY
The fall semester will begin after Labor Day and end
on Dec. 21.
Jan. 2-Jan. 29 will comprise a 4-week intersession.
The spring semester will begin on Jan. 30 and end, as
usual, near the end of May.
Though Dennis did not refer directly to summer
sessions, the calendar he lays out allows for a 12-week summer period.
There would be one 5-day FLEX period during the last
week in August; no FLEX period in spring.
The length of the fall and spring semesters will be 15
weeks plus final exam week. This
compression will be accomplished by instituting what I understand as the 70-min
hour. As Dennis explains this, 61 of
those minutes will be devoted to instruction, and 9 minutes will be time for
passing between classes. (After speaking
with State officials regarding passing time, Dennis walked across campus; the
walk took him 9 min.; hence, he has configured 9 min. into his calculations.)
Dennis reports that other colleges (he noted Miramar
Dennis said twice that his office will not designate
which classes are to be offered during the January intersession.
During subsequent conversations, however, Kathy
Schmeidler noted that "experiential" classes seem to work well in
this very short period of
instruction:
foreign language immersion, for example, or film studies, or classes
designed around field trips. She also
noted that some departments may (she named English) may see an opportunity for
new curriculum designed for the abbreviated period of instruction.
It goes without saying, too, that faculty days off
campus are increased by this calendar proposal.
And there you go.
LT
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