• December 4, 2014: the Women's Studies issue

ACADEMIC SENATE

1.     GUESTS:  Lewis L. , Michael C., Julie P., Dan S., Cathleen G., Craig J.

2.     PUBLIC COMMENTS:  Tracy F.  - First Friday Hike cancelled due to rainy weather.  Also, suggests two curriculum chairs to help with backlog, brought from her school. Bob U.  Marie De La Palme - read a note from Marie - she has entered hospice. She is asking for faculty not to contact her as her time is brief and will be with immediate family. She says it’s been her privilege and pleasure to know all of us and be a part of IVC. Counseling department is offering counseling for those who want it. Julie P. - part time faculty in Women’s studies - giving her background and teaching experience including 17 hears part time at IVC. Lewis Long: Willing to serve as Past President on the Senate.  Nominated. Michelle S.  Transfer Center update.

3.     EXECUTIVE REPORTS:             President Kathy S. - A) Calendar proposal -  2 calendars proposed by Saddleback for 2016-2017.  Our reps on the calendar committee continue to argue for the later January start closer to Martin Luther King Jr day.  Saddleback College and one board member continue to argue for the January 3rd flex week start date due to the nursing program with 11 faculty who have to start earlier.  Although, they would get compensated. Nursing students are assigned clinical rotations from outside the district.  However, the Faculty Association have negotiated an MOU for 2 paid extra days and are currently negotiating for 4 days.  We have argued the longer interval benefit technology, A/R, Maintenance , counseling departments in getting things completed including more counseling time for students.  PLEASE GIVE ME A SENSE OF WHAT YOU THINK - IS THIS A FIGHT YOU WOULD LIKE OUR REPS TO CONTINUE - YES OR NO?  B) Full Time Faculty Hiring - the board policy is in discussion. Kathy wanted it on the January board agenda to get the process moving to see if we can get it in practice for the next hiring round.  Board wants a presentation on faculty hiring as well.   VP Bob U. - A) Report from Sacramento - budget updates - take a look at the report to see info on growth and money available and other issue.  B) Capital Improvement Submission to the district   C) AB 86 Regional Plan Final  - also on Academic Senate website to look at.  D) New format coming for the resource request. Any resource requests still in the system and not funded will be rolled over. Funding for resource requests approved will be announced shortly.  New due date for new requests and rollovers:  8am on the first day of classes in January.  Will be finalized and announced.  Asking for authors to select funding source - the form will have those on their with explanation so you can identify alternate funding choices.  Take your time and identify what you think the funding category can be - i.e.. - each choice you select once clicked will give your the parameters and questions to make sure you have selected an appropriate category.  This is transparency for us - what money is available and where it goes and who pays for what.  ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Brent M- - Next meeting is next Tuesday - last one was October due to holidays.  Discussion about  Women’s Studies will be top of the list for “civil discussion”.  Curriculum Committee is looking into this topic to inform the rep council. Curriculum is almost entirely in the faculty pervue.  Programs involve more groups than faculty due to funding etc. So Academic Affairs and Curriculum will be looking at the programatic and articulation aspects of the discussion.  Kathy asks please to make the discussion about the topic and not ad hominem.  The move of Women Studies to a new school is more complex than just moving schools because it is not a program but a collection of courses so the move is not simply moving a program to a new school.  Roy mentioned that we need to keep in mind that it is a question of housing the the three courses not a question of personnel and who teaches it - that can stay the same.  He reinforced that the School of Humanities is behind the proposal - it is not coming from one or two people as some seem to think.The other part, Kathy points out, is that there is also discussion about developing a complete program sometime in the future so this is complicating the discussion.  Tracy suggests proposing a new interdisciplinary program and send it to curriculum  instead of keeping the existing one.  

4.     BOARD POLICIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS:  Look at AR 6113  regarding distance ed - please send comments.  ,

5.     MASTER AGREEMENT PROPOSAL UPDATE:  Lewis - asks for feedback regarding proposals and answer questions .  Please send senators any feedback you want forwarded to Lewis. Senate made a motion to affirm that we are in favor of using student evaluations for instructional improvement and not for faculty evaluation pre or post tenure.  We have a standardized evaluation tool - it exists. There was a lengthy discussion about this - we have to have it - so the Association is trying negotiate the best possible language and procedure.   Lewis to take this to negotiations.

6.     SAFETY UPDATE :  We voted and approved the safety committee to move forward with looking into the following items A) Campus emergency alarm system upgrade  first on the safety list.  b) faculty trained in emergency evacuation c) ability to lock the building  from the inside. d) personal safety training for students e) installation of cameras in the parking lot with a phone call box f) training for faculty in other issues - for example first aid for field course instructors.

• November 20, 2014: nadir of the Scholarship Program? Faculty evals

Academic Senate meeting: 11/20/14

FRIENDLINESS STICKERS.

     Murmur…murmur…murmur…murmur. That’s all I seemed to hear at today’s senate meeting. My deafness helps explain that, but, so too does a kind of late semester madness.

     Lewis Long attended the meeting and turned out to be The Guest Who Had Something To Say. It was all correct and important, I’m sure. But pretty much all that I heard was murmuring.

     As usual, there were “public comments.” Diana H of Curriculum reminded us all that “friendliness” stickers were available. Stick ‘em on your office door, I guess. It says you’re arms are open to LGBT folks? I’m not sure, even though I asked a peevish Diana to explain what she was talking about. She snarled a bit, opened her mouth, and I just flat failed to listen to what came out.

     Tracy F said something peevish, too. Something about copyrights.

     Piscilla R, a good egg, noted that five or so of today’s agenda items concern “safety.” More on that in a moment.

     Somebody said something about accreditation, aka the eternal return.  How could it possibly matter what they said?

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

     There was considerable yammering about our long-troubled Scholarship Program. The system is so broken and so apparently irreparable that various sensible people have suggested putting the thing on pause for a year while we finally fix the damned thing (or abandoning it and go it alone). In response, Ac Sen Prez Kathy Schmeidler has made the predictable noises: “No no no. Must have scholarships.” That sure sounded like something that Glenn might say, sans cogitation (i.e., in his customary manner).

     She also tends to say essentially: the folks who handle the mechanicals of the scholarship program are very willing, now, to correct any mistakes or problems in the system. I.e., “It’s a new day.”

     Alleged evidence of this new-day-itude is the availability of the following mechanism: one can impersonate a student and apply in their behalf. See if the student you’ve defined is guided to the right scholarship!

     In the meeting, it seemed to be a known factoid that our very own Lisa A had availed herself of that mechanism and that, predictably, the system failed to guide her to the appropriate scholarship. Natch, she apprised The Mechanicals Squad, whereupon I said, “we’ve been here many times before. Watch them fail.”

     Luckily, in the room, there was no need to argue that, owing to Lisa’s experiment, it was clear that the broken system remains broken. But, once again, Kathy insisted that it’s a “new day,” and we should keep testing the system until it works. If you’re really having trouble with it, said Kathy, contact Karen Orlando of the Foundation Office. Discover and address the glitches now. The “drop dead” date for these fixes, evidently, is December 3. It’s “put up or shut up,” said Kathy.

      Tracy asked: do these people have the expertise to fix this thing? “Blah blah blah” was the answer.

BIG CONTROVERSIAL HIRES.

     The thick peevitude of that discussion led to yet another peevitudinal episode: the dean for Arts/Business and the Foundation “Exec Director” issue. We need replacements, and nobody’s too happy about that. (“They’re gonna hire an idiot again; they’re gonna screw us again.”)

      Kathy assured us, however, that, for both, a “nationwide search” would be conducted.

EARLY COLLEGE.

     Next came carpage about the college’s Early College Program. Tracy explained one unfortunate phenomenon: high school instructors are territorial about their rooms and, so, they leave all sorts of peculiar writing on the board, etc. She alluded to “all those problems and more.”

Kathy suggested that we let “Academic Affairs” do their work to address these problems.

FACULTY EVALUATION IN THE MASTER AGREEMENT.

     In deference to ex-Senate Prez Lewis Long, we jumped ahead to item 11, which concerned efforts to draw up the “master agreement” (faculty employment). In particular, the Faculty Association (union’s) Long was there to consult with the Senate re “faculty evaluation,” etc.

     Lewis explained that the district is pursuing narrowness with regard to what may be allowed in an instructor’s “portfolio”; the union is much more open to what may be included.

     Further, the FA is advocating allowing an “advocate” (for the probationary faculty) to serve on the TRC (Tenure Review Committee—for probationary faculty), since TRC members are in the difficult and sometimes conflicting position of being both evaluators and mentors. What if the faculty can’t handle the classroom? He or she would not want to bring this to a member of the (status quo) TRC. He could, however, ask the advocate for help.

     Finally, as things now stand, the process permits reference only to what comes up in the “observation” of the classroom. (This seems to be a residue of the “Mathur” regime. Faculty pursued this constraint to protect themselves. But those days seem over.) The FA feels that the instructor should be able to add things that are not part of the observation.

     The discussion led to mention of “student evaluations” (i.e., evaluations of instructors by students). By law, evidently, SEs must be a part of the evaluation process. But, in fact, our district has not used SEs for some time and, amazingly, it doesn’t even possess an “instrument” for such evaluations! Some Senators guffawed and bloviated over this scandalous law-breakage; others, including Lewis, responded with noises and gestures that said: “So what else is new in this district?”

     Lewis said that we should change the evaluation document so that it includes five grades, not three.  Having only three seems to encourage giving only “excellent” marks to those who are doing an adequate job. Etc.

     So, in the spirit of launching a “conversation” or a “discussion” about evaluations, we “continued” the item. Be sure to give us input asap. Lewis will return to the next senate meeting and we’ll likely decide then whether to approve the proposed document.

     Item 7 concerned the ongoing board policy and AR review process. Kathy noted that, at the last board meeting, the Saddleback Ac Senate caused our old friend BP 4011.1 (I think that’s it)—faculty hiring policy—to be pulled. Our Senate had no objection to it but our southern colleagues were displeased that, according to the modified policy, the Vice President could be replaced with a dean at the second level (Presidential level) interview. I think I got that right. Not sure.

STUDENT RIGHTS AND GRIEVANCES.

     Among the BP/ARs in the hopper (not yet up for vote) was BP/AR 5530 (Student Rights and Grievances). Lewis was also determined to opine about that. The FA, he said, has “serious concerns” about the policy, owing to its failure to include crucial criteria for violations, etc. As it is written, every grievance will be rejected, necessarily. Not good. Also, as it is written, the policy lacks “teeth.”

     In the end, the body (the senate) approved a motion expressing our agreement with the FA: this policy ain’t kosher.

SAFETY.

     We were running late. Priscilla briefly described the raft of recommendations that she and her colleagues on the Safety Committee had come up with:

•    Campus Emergency Alarm System Upgrade (the existing system has failed often)

•    Emergency Building Marshals (volunteer Marshals)

•    Locks on the inside of classroom doors (in case of lunatics)

•    Campus personal safety training (Regular training for students and employees?)

•    Parking areas cameras (Install ‘em?)

•    Emergency preparedness training (Flex events)

     My notes fail me here. Did we just say “yes” to all this? I think so. If not, we will surely do that next time, ‘cause Priscilla is a good egg.

Your Senator,

ROY

Your senators:

Roy Bauer (Philosophy): rbauer@ivc.eduBrittany Adams (History): badams26@ivc.edu

• November 6, 2014: Women's Studies realignment proposed

11/6 meeting

Public comments:

     There was once again mention that there will be updates for an improved plan for maintenance.  Once again, nothing really solid to prove it.

     There was concern also voiced about the way in which deans have their contracts not renewed (aka the way they are fired).  Very little to zero input has been taken from faculty.  People are concerned about the amount of overturn that is seen among deans (especially in Biological Sciences and Businesses).  It was also announced that David Gatewood will not have his contract renewed and he will finish the remainder of the academic year.

     Beverly De Nicola and Cathleen Griener presented the new AB86 (adult education) plans.  There wasn’t much content presented.  At the end of it, it only became clear that it is unclear exactly what the role of IVC and California Community Colleges will be in adult education.  This may or may not affect faculty as curriculum could potentially have to be written (and then of course taught…though no one ever mentioned that).

VP report:

     SPAC has sent spending recommendations for resource requests.  We are waiting on the president to make decisions about what will ultimately get funded.

     On November 17^th at 1:30PM, there will be a meeting about building and architecture projects at ATEP/"The College of the Future.”

     We have also received basic aid funding for better classroom technology. There are discussions about lecture capture and voice lecture capture being put into classrooms.  (If this goes through, I plan to videotape myself once and then simply just plug in a video of myself teaching while I browse instagram and shop online. Good deal!). [Please note: academic humor.]

Academic Affairs Report:

     The bad news: all professional development funds are spoken for.

     The good  news: you are encouraged to still submit as often there is money left over.  Additionally, it makes a better argument that we need more funding for next year if more money is requested than budgeted.

Curriculum Report:

     When new degrees are submitted or new revisions are submitted for degrees, you will have to fill out six additional pieces of the narrative.   As new degrees are created or revised, we will have to seek advice from our curriculum reps to figure out how to do this properly. (More evidence that the state never ever wants us to do anything new ever again.)

President’s Report and Actions Taken:

     There are new AR and BP that discuss and define the duties and responsibilities of the academic department chair.

     A board hiring policy was pulled by Saddleback (we reported about this last month), and so for now, we have no new board hiring policy.

Arguably most important developments at the meetings:

     It was announced to the entire Senate that we, of the Humanities and people who understand that gender is a social construction, are going to try to realign Women’s Studies. Curriculum has been tasked with making a recommendation to AAC about this.  They are charged with looking to see what other schools do with their women’s studies departments (this should work in our favor as 0% of California campuses have women’s studies in G&C).  They are also to look at the way that counseling has updated their women’s studies curriculum (since G&C hasn’t updated them substantially aside from deleting older courses since curricunet has existed, this should also work in our favor).  Eventually the Senators are going to take action and vote on realignment.  This should not happen for a few more weeks.  Don’t worry, I will let you know when and where you should show up.  I have been working on channeling the spirits of Alice Paul and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.  I will be ready at Senate, but we are probably going to need to bring out the forces to show our school’s support.  Roy and I will let you know the dates where we will need support to show up in solidarity.

     The scholarship document that had been circulating was approved with a few stipulations, including the requirement that two faculty members be trained how to use the STARS scholarship system.  This was agreed to by those tasked with the scholarship process, who attended the past two meetings in some show of understanding that there was major faculty concern.  They are not the same people who ran the system last year though they are still from financial aid.  Hopefully this will translate to an improvement in the process.  We were promised that new descriptions and requirements for scholarships will be sent out to the people that offer or support the scholarships to make sure they are correct.  Additionally, there is acknowledgment by our VPSS that this needs to work better than it has. We will see.  There have been loud voices among Senate to try to improve this system.  If it doesn’t work, this will be a continued battle.

     And perhaps most important, Roy reported to the Senate that we in Humanities are no longer disgruntled, but “pleased as punch.”  It was quickly noted that there was irony in his voice.

IVC Open Forum, Nov. 4, 2014

     Our good friend (and honorary school member) Brooke C sent me these notes on yesterday's "open forum." Evidently, few attended.

IVC Open Forum Nov. 4, 2014: Notes

Attendance: 3 Faculty + Kathy S.; 1 dean; Total: 14 when started, then 7 more came later.

Dr. Roquemore:

• ·      ATEP building underway
• ·      ATEP business partnership with Edwards Medical Tech
• ·      Will use Solidworks software (which we have classes on)
• ·      They might move their Edwards University training program to ATEP
• ·      CCC budget not looking well
• ·      Strategic planning underway
• ·      Richard Morley leaving. Starting national search for new Foundation director.
• ·      Edwards going to district as ATEP building director

Robert Charles, student rep for ASIVC:

• ·      +/- grading proposal: Students do not support
• ·      Installation of security cameras: Students okay w/ in public areas
• ·      Native gardens being planted: Student support
• ·      SEP: Students support
• ·      No smoking policy: Students support

Kathy Schmeidler:

• ·      Brief explanation of Academic Senate. Let me know if there are questions (there were none).

Davit Khachatryan:

- Admin services consists of:

• ·      IT
• ·      F&M
• ·      Fiscal
• ·      Police

- Capital aid building projects list/ planning underway

- Custodial staffing model being developed & translate into staffing needs

• ·      CASBO; tasks broken down into standards and staff hours needed to complete

IT:

• ·      Two forums took place. Online forum still up and open to posting suggestions.
• ·      Workday: HR forms go live Jan.; Fiscal goes live in July

Police:

• ·      Considering becoming a 911 Call Center which then would receive fed funds for the position. Kathy: Just at IVC or SC too? Davit: SC considering, IVC for now.
• ·      CA Great Shakeout: Not all phones read announcement. Found out why (licensing issue) & addressed it. This is good that we had a test.

- At end of Resource Request ranking/process from last spring. Plan continue to improve this timeline/process.

- New allocation formula being processed by CCCCO based on colleges unmet (fin aid use; unemployment rates, etc.) need. Will present at BDRPC tomorrow.

Vince Cooper:

• ·      Seeking classified participation in accreditation process.
• ·      Recognized Kathy for her efforts on the strategic plan, GP, etc.

Linda Fontanilla:

• ·      New asst. dean of Fin Aid and Supportive Services, Denise Donn
• ·      Dennis Gordon, Acting Director of Student life- doing great
• ·      Aileen, Liz, Nancy, Becky, Ben Guzman- acknowledged their fine work
• ·      Thurs. Vets celebration 1pm in Student Service Lobby
• ·      Passing of new Matric Bill = Student Service updating processes to meet these new standards. (Orientation, assessment, etc.)
• ·      $1.4M to IVC for Student Success Plan implementation
• ·      Working on Student Equity Plan: $380,000 to IVC to support 7 groups of students (ESL, vets, older students, African American + African students, Latino males, foster youth) who are underperforming
• ·      Implementing software Advocate which will track student discipline reports, will go live for spring
• ·      Student ambassadors program wants to offer a talent show
• ·      Sexual assault prevention:

o   New laws in place

o  Nov. 18^th region 8 meeting on this re: how to come into compliance

Craig Justice:

• ·      55% increased enrollment this year: reached FTES of middle-sized college
• ·      Presented enrollment trends to the BOT

*I had to leave during the last report/presentation, which was Craig’s.