Ventura College Academic Senate
Thursday, March 5, 2009
1:30-3:30 pm
Campus Center Conference Room

I.	Call to Order
	This meeting was called to order at 1:40 pm.
	The following senate members were present: 	
Algiers, Kammy
Anderson, Lisa
Garcia, Jennifer
Gonzales, Angelica
Lange, Cari (Secretary)
Lew, Warren (Treasurer) 
Mitchell, Nancy
Morris, Terry
Munoz, Paula
Pauley, Mark
Pollack, Deborah (VP)
Sezzi, Peter (President)

	The following guests were present:

Jimenez, Jacquie (ASVC VP)	              

Medina, Susan (ASVC rep)
II. Approval of minutes
a.	Dec 12, 2008
	Will be approved at the next Academic Senate meeting on March 20, 2009. 
b.	Feb. 5, 2009
Motioned by Pauley, seconded by Anderson. Approved unanimously.
c.	Feb. 19, 2009
Combined Senate and Staff Development Committee activity. No minutes to approve due to lack of quorum. “Notes” from the event were distributed for review only.
III.	Guests
a.	Sue Royer, Bookstore Manager – Textbook Ordering 
Royer explained the new “InSight” faculty online textbook adoption process for the VC bookstore. 

Ventura College’s textbook requisition/adoption schedule for 2009-2010 (using this new system) will strictly adhere to the following deadlines:
Term	Start Date for Book Orders	End Date for Book Orders	
Summer 09	March 2	March 27	
Fall 09	March 30
(This is the first date that applies to all departments)	April 24	
Spring 10	Oct. 5	Oct. 30	
 
The new online requisition form is linked to from the faculty and staff page of the college’s web site: http://www.venturacollege.edu/faculty_staff/index.shtml 
 All orders must be placed using this system. The bookstore will no longer accept “paper” requests, and will not fill out the online form for faculty. Any faculty not comfortable with using this system should speak to their department chair for possible accommodation. 

IV.	Action Items
a.	Academic Senate Meeting Day and Time commencing  Fall 2009 (First Reading)
Senate members were asked to consider moving the regular Senate meetings permanently to Wednesdays, 3-5 pm beginning Fall 2009. This time change is to facilitate the Senate President’s attendance at regular district meetings also held on Thursday afternoons. Members were requested to check their schedules and consider appointing a replacement if their schedule cannot accommodate the change. This item will be further discussed at the next Senate meeting.
b.	DCSL:  Academic Procedures 4010, 4020, 4022, 4050, 4070, 4101, 4230, 4232, 4235, 4240, 4300 (First Reading)
The first reading of the above mentioned Academic Procedures brought up the following specific discussion items:
	4020- Program, Curriculum, and Course development: Senate was assured that this procedural change does not change the implementation of Program, Curriculum, and Course development as stated in the VCCCD Governance Handbook. 
	4070-Auditing and Auditing Fees: As understood, this applies to formally audited classes only. Sezzi will check with DTRW to find out if unofficial auditing is permitted and under what criteria it would be acceptable, and why official audits are limited to one per semester.
 It was stressed that all formal audits are at the sole discretion of the instructor. 
	4230- Grading and Academic Record Symbols: Senate suggested that the MW grade (Military withdraw) needs to be added to the grade designation list. The W (withdraw) application deadline was discussed. It was suggested by several Senate members that the late semester W deadline is not of benefit to students as it is not the typical model used in other districts and at the University level. Other Senate members explained the benefits of marinating the current W deadline. Sezzi will look into if this date can or cannot be modified.
	4235- Credit by Examination: It was suggested that DTRW needs to review the credit by examination fee schedule on a program-by-program basis, as the fees are not compatible with certain program requirements, such as in the nursing program. 
V.	President’s Report
a.	Board of Trustees meeting report
Sezzi reported that there was no discussion following the reading of the Senate’s prepared statement on the defining of “Core College” and proposed budget cuts.
b.	Administrative Council report
Eighty (80) instructional sections were approved for removal from the Fall 09 schedule. However, it was stated that if the state government’s approved 17-month budget remains intact, then the sections will be incrementally added back in. Specifically named for first consideration were the Divisions of Physical Education and Social Sciences.  This brought up the concern that it would be difficult to add these classes back into a schedule that has already gone to print. It was suggested that instead of having the class incrementally added back into the Fall schedule, that the district considers not cutting any sections from the Spring schedule, as anticipated. 
c.	Consultation Council report
		Nothing to report.
d.	DCAS/DCSL/DCHR/DTRW/DACW reports
i.	DCAS: Allocation Model
Sezzi indicated that having heard no objections to the proposed allocation model when this was first presented to the Council back in February and further given that the change will end up financially aiding Ventura College within two (2) years of implementation, Sezzi voted in favor of this modification at the last DCAS on behalf of the Senate. A discussion then began on defining productivity. It was agreed that at a future Senate meeting there will be discussion regarding class size.
ii.	DCHR: Honorific Academic Rank/Titles
Working in collaboration with his Academic Senate President colleagues at our sister colleges in the District, Sezzi developed a composite policy for using current qualifications of all three colleges in the district. This will be an action item that can be discussed at the next Academic Senate meeting.
iii.	DCHR: Recruitment and Selection Procedures for F/T Academic Hires
Senate members were urged to read the policy along with Becky Hull’s input. The policy will be emailed for discussion at the next Academic Senate meeting. Sezzi requested that special attention should be paid to the Presidential interview section, and faculty input is urged. 
iv.	DTRW: Committee charge 
It has been suggested that the process for gaining approval of experimental courses (88 and 89) be shortened, and that deleted courses can be reinstated without going though curriculum committee if resurrected within two years. This DTRW committee charge has already been reviewed and approved by our local Curriculum Committee.
v.	DTRW: District Gen Ed requirements, Title of Area G (Ethnic/Women’s Studies) 
There was a short discussion on Moorpark College’s Curriculum Committee’s suggestion to change the wording of Area G from Ethnic/Women’s Studies to Ethnic/Gender Studies. There was no objection to such word-smithing.
VI.	Vice-President’s Report
		Pollack reported that she’d presented the SLO form to Department Chairs who will 			distribute it to their departments for completion.
VII.	Treasurer’s Report
a.	Senate dues
	Lew reported that we still need to collect Senate dues, and emphasized the importance of faculty getting their money in promptly so that the Senate may determine the mementos for retirees and award winners. 
	Sezzi added that up to $5,000 can be forwarded to the Foundation to set up an endowment for scholarship funds to be matched by the Foundation.
VIII.	Committee reports
a.	Curriculum Committee report
Due to time constraints, there was no report.
b.	Professional Development Committee report
i.	“Classroom Management: How to Handle the Dangerous and/or Disruptive Student” – Thurs, Feb. 12, 1:30 pm (Guthrie Hall)
Senate members were encouraged to attend this event.
c.	Educational Master Plan Advisory Committee report
There was no report.
IX.	Information Items
a.	Proposed Changes to Statewide Minimum Qualifications
Sezzi noted that he has distributed proposed changes to Minimum Qualifications for Faculty positions to the respective faculty to whom these changes might affect. He will speak on their (and the Senate’s) behalf at the Spring Plenary session if he hears back from anyone regarding these proposed changes.
X.	Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 3:30pm.