Ventura College Academic Senate
Minutes
Thursday, 4 October 2012      MCW-312

I.	Call to Order
This meeting was called to order at 1:38 p.m. The following senators were present:
Chen, Albert—Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities
Enfield, Amanda—English and Learning Resources
Forde, Richard—Career and Technical Education
Guillen, Guadalupe—Student Services
Haines, Robbie—Senate Secretary
Hendricks, Bill—Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities
Lange, Cari—Senate Vice President
Mitchell, Nancy—Career and Technical Education
Morris, Terry—PE/Athletics, Communication Studies, Foreign Languages, and ESL
Muñoz, Paula—Student Services 
Parker, Jennifer—Career and Technical Education
Rose, Malia—Mathematics and Sciences
Sezzi, Peter—Senate President
The following guests were present:
Arevalo, Gloria—Articulation Officer
Calote, Robin—President, VC
Valenzuela, A.J.—Student Trustee

II.	Public Comments
Muñoz informed the Council about Propositions 30 and 32 in the upcoming election. Appropriate means for instructors to publicly express political opinions was briefly discussed; it was agreed that posting signs is acceptable in offices and homes, but not in classrooms. 

III.	Acknowledgement of Guests
a.	Robin Calote (Agenda item V.a., Time certain: 2:00 p.m.)
For discussion of this item, see section V.a., below.

IV.	Approval of minutes, 20 September 2012
Forde motioned to approve these minutes, Guillen seconded. The motion was approved 11–0–1 with Muñoz abstaining. 

V.	Study Sessions
a.	“Tiering” of Courses: Rubrics/Criteria and Processes (Continued)
Calote introduced the idea that a tiering rubric should be clear and easy enough to follow that it provides institutional memory to newer managers after current managers retire. She and Sezzi previously discussed and co-wrote the draft being considered today; since Sezzi participated, it was therefore influenced by Senate feedback. Calote welcomed discussion. Sezzi stressed the importance of participating in the development of this rubric so that faculty have a say in what courses are scheduled. It was pointed out that the rubric fails to achieve this goal if it places all courses in Tier One. Senators expressed concern about certain classes designated as Tier Three, opining that many of those classes are the most urgently needed. Calote responded that VC still offers many Tier Three courses. 

The English Department representatives expressed concerned about not offering ENGL V04 because it’s that department’s only open-access class. In response, Calote reminded senators that it was a Board action to limit the scheduling of classes that are two tiers below college level; because of this, the best action to oppose this rule is to discuss it with the Board. It was noted that English is working on a way to transition students into ENGL V03 by another route, such as a realigned of the placement exam or via prerequisities into ENGL V03 from ESL courses. 

The coordination between campuses with respect to which Tier Three courses were cut was discussed next. The goal of this coordination could be cutting different Tier Three courses at the different campuses to maintain a diversity of offerings within the District. Calote suggested that this coordination should be collegial, not officially mandated, for a variety of briefly discussed reasons. 

It was opined that conversations as a college should involve not just particular courses being offered or not, but also the scheduling of those courses. Arevalo noted that our articulation agreements require that courses necessary for degrees must be offered at least once every two years. 

Lastly, it was pointed out that we should keep our eyes open for possible changes to our tiering mandated by SB1456, particularly with respect to English and Mathematics. 

VI.	Action Items
a.	District & College Committee Appointments
Perry V. Martin Jr. and Paula Muñoz were added to the pool for Student Grievance and Student Discipline committees. Hendricks motioned to approve these additions, Chen seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. 

b.	Ventura College “Effect/Impact” of Response to District-wide Accreditation Recommendations (Second Reading)
Haines motioned to approve this response, Forde seconded. The motion was approved 11–0–1 with Muñoz abstaining.

c.	VC SLO Report for ACCJC (Second Reading)
Sezzi noted that our compliance numbers have increased—98% courses, 100% of service areas are in compliance with SLO requirements. Guillen motioned to approve this document, Hendricks seconded. The motion was approved 11–0–1 with Muñoz abstaining.

d.	VCCCD Functional Map (Chart) (Second Reading)
Centralization vs. decentralization in our district was discussed. A minor change to financial aid was discussed and suggested to be made to the document. Hendricks motioned to approve this document, Forde seconded. The motion was approved 11–0–1 with Muñoz abstaining. Sezzi reported that a more robust and detailed version of this document is forthcoming this spring.

e.	Re-affirmation of the VC Senate Resolution on the AAUP Statement on Professional Ethics (Second Reading)
This statement was found to be the same as in previous years. Upon careful review, it was determined that this document meets our needs as a statement of professional ethics. Haines motioned to approve this document, Muñoz seconded. The motion was approved 11–0–1 with Rose abstaining.

f.	AP 7120 A–Recruitment and Hiring: Academic Managers (Second Reading)
The changes we proposed at our last meeting were presented to DCHR by Sezzi. Some of our comments were well received, some were not. After the next DCHR meeting, Sezzi will report out to Senate which recommendations were incorporated and which were not.

g.	AP 7120 B–Recruitment and Hiring: Full-Time Faculty (Second Reading)
Sezzi reported that the comments from our last meeting are likely to be accepted. 

h.	AP 7120 C–Recruitment and Hiring: College President (Second Reading)
Sezzi reported that most of the comments from our last meeting are likely to be accepted, but probably not the removal of a current community college president. 

i.	AP 7120 D–Recruitment and Hiring: Part-Time Faculty (Second Reading)
We had no comments at our last meeting for Sezzi to represent. 

j.	AP 7120 E–Recruitment and Hiring: Vice-Chancellor(s) (Second Reading)
Sezzi reported that the comments from our last meeting are likely to be accepted. Forde motioned to move these five APs forward to second reading, Hendricks seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. 

k.	BP/AP 5010–Admissions & Concurrent Enrollment (First Reading)
It was noted that the current version of this document does not include required language mandated by the Dream Act. Senators agreed that this should be discussed at our next meeting, after the required language is added. 

l.	VCCCD Integrated Planning Manual (First Reading)
Sezzi introduced the topic and the document. Lange motioned to move this document forward to a second reading, Forde seconded. The motion was approved 11–0–1 with Muñoz abstaining. 

m.	Revised VC ISLOs/ISUOs (First Reading)
Sezzi introduced the topic and the ISUOs that were added. Lange motioned to move this document forward to a second reading, Forde seconded. The motion was approved 11–0–1 with Muñoz abstaining.

VII.	President’s Report
a.	Board of Trustees meeting report, VCCCD Board Goals & Objectives
There was no Board meeting since our last Senate meeting. Sezzi did point out the recently approved (i.e., Aug 2012) changes to Board Goals and Objectives. 

b.	Consultation Council Report
Sezzi reported that there was nothing to report. 

c.	Administrative Council Report
Sezzi noted Ramiro Sanchez’s recent email regarding with late adds after census. Sezzi recommends that faculty deal with unregistered students at census week, since they might not be approved for adding the course later. Significant difficulties with co-requisite courses and lecture/lab co-requisites were discussed; Susan Bricker will be invited back later in the semester to provide solutions to this problem. 

d.	DCAA, DCAP, DCHR
DCAA: Sezzi reported that an ad hoc combined meeting (be it virtual or real) of each campus’ Philosophy & General Education Subcommittee of each campus’ Curriculum Committee will be looking at our general education pattern (i.e. the numbers of units and types of courses required for local degrees).  Sezzi asked at DCAA and all at that meeting were in concurrence that all three colleges must agree on any changes to these patterns; no changes will be made if all colleges don’t agree. DCAP: There was nothing to report. DCHR: One Senate goal was to improve communication between Human Resources and faculty—Sezzi reports that this has already been accomplished. They didn’t realize this was an issue, but EVP Ramiro Sanchez and Vice-Chancellor of Human Resources Patricia Parham have agreed to change this process. Henceforward, the new HR process will be that when a work offer is declined, HR will inform the Division Dean, Admin Asst. and Dept. Chair. Parham also indicated a desire to attend a future Senate meeting at our choosing to talk with us about what her Dept can do in service to our adopted Senate goals on “succession planning” and on “improving communication with District HR.”

VIII.	Vice-President’s Report, Department Chairs’ & Coordinators’ Committee Report
Lange reported that the Program Review timeline has been changed to allow for more time to complete Program Reviews (and, therefore, less time to evaluate those Reviews). Kathy Scott has secured more secretarial support to populate Program Review shells with appropriate data, as requested by Department Chairs. Course repeatability in athletics was briefly discussed. Mary Jones from the Health Center developed a new accident report form, which must be filled out within 48 hours of any incident. If a student is unsure whether or not to submit a report, he or she should do so within this 48 hour deadline.

IX.	Information Items
a.	Announcement of Nominations for Senate Officer Positions for Academic Years 2013–14/2014–15 
Nomination for these positions is now open. All four Senate Exec positions will likely be open next year. 

b.	VCCCD Board Resolution on Proposition 30 
Sezzi noted the Board’s resolution supporting Proposition 30. 

c.	SF Chronicle article on Shared Governance
Consensus was reached that Sezzi should draft a resolution in support of shared governance. 

X.	Senate Subcommittee reports
a.	Curriculum Committee report
Sezzi reported on small changes to local Business degrees and certificates and our nascent compliance efforts with regards to repeatability and the creation of levels, or “families”, in certain disciplines. 

b.	SLOOC report
Sezzi pointed out some inconsistencies in rubrics. 

c.	Other Senate Committees
Sezzi reported that the Sabbatical Committee’s timeline will be coming up soon. 

XI.	Campus Committee reports
a.	CPC
Sezzi notified senators that VC’s Mission Statement will be discussed at the next CPC meeting. 

b.	Other Campus Committees
There was nothing to report. 

XII.	Adjournment
This meeting adjourned at 3:31 p.m.