Ventura College Academic Senate
Minutes
Thursday, 6 September 2012,     MCW-312

I.	Call to Order
This meeting was called to order at 1:33 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
Horigan, Andrea—Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities
Kim, Henny—English and Learning Resources
Lange, Cari—Senate Vice President
Mitchell, Nancy—Career and Technical Education
Morris, Terry—PE/Athletics, Communication Studies, Foreign Languages, and ESL
Parker, Jennifer—Career and Technical Education
Pauley, Mark—Senate Treasurer, Curriculum Co-chair
Rose, Malia—Mathematics and Sciences
Sandford, Art—PE/Athletics, Communication Studies, Foreign Languages, and ESL
Sezzi, Peter—Senate President
Wendt, Patty—Student Services
The following guests were present:
Arevalo, Gloria—Articulation Officer

II.	Public Comments
No public comments were made.

III.	Acknowledgement of Guests
No guests were publicly acknowledged.

IV.	Approval of minutes, 23 August 2012
One correction to those minutes was requested, regarding the Division to which one attendee was attributed. Hendricks motioned to approve the minutes with the requested correction, Horigan seconded. The motion carried unanimously. 

V.	Study Sessions
a.	VC Academic Senate Goal Setting for 2012–2013
The list of goals generated at our last meeting was presented. The following goals were selected as priorities for this year: Support the faculty, have board members attend senate meetings, improve commnications with Human Resources (especially regarding hiring and class asignments), redefine “program” and/or rename “program review”, address W deadline, explore +/– grading option, continue work on academic calendar. In light of many upcoming changes regarding management positions and our accreditation status, two additional goals (continue oversight of VC management and continue oversight of district operations) were merged into one—develop succession planning and accreditation strategies.  The final list will be edited by Senate Exec presented as an action item for approval at our next meeting. 

b.	VC & VCCCD Accreditation reports
The merged VC & VCCCD Accreditation reports had its first reading at the Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, and it will go to the Commission no later than October 15th. Sezzi reported that Chancellor Moore is hiring a consultant to help us with accredditation requirements. Sezzi will sign the report if just minor changes are made to it; only with substantive changes will Sezzi bring it back to this senate for a second reading. 

c.	Statement on Professional Ethics
This senate had previously agreed to re-evaluate our statement of professional ethics (independent of obligations associated with accreditation). Our statement is essentially the same as that of the AAUP with some minor edits. Consensus was reached that the existing statement is good as it is; we will simply vote on its reaffirmation at a future meeting. 

VI.	Action Items
a.	District & College Committee Appointments
CPC: For CTE positions, four people have expressed interest in two CPC position. After reading statements by the candidates, senators voted for Ralph Fernandez and Sandy Melton to fill the positions. Other CPC positions were discussed in which the number of volunteers matched the number of available positions. Marian Carrasco-Nungaray and Mary Jones are the two Student Services faculty interested in serving on the CPC. Will Cowen and Alex Kolesnik will fill the two vacant General Ed positions. 

Sabbatical leave: Stacy Sloane-Graham was appointed to this committee.

DCAA: There were originally three volunteers for two positions on this committee, but Pauley withdrew his name from consideration. Gloria Arrevolo and Angelica Gonzales were then appointed to this committee. 

DTRW-SS: There were more volunteers for this committee than available positions. Senators agreed to wait on appointments to this committee until statements from the candidates could be evaluated. 

Mitchell motioned to appoint these committee members as discussed, Forde seconded. The motion carried unaniously. Sezzi solicited senators’ help in going back to their divisions to help fill vacancies in other campus committees to which we do not appoint faculty members. 

b.	VC Academic Senate Goals for 2012-2013
Senators will vote on these at our next meeting, as described in section V.a., above.

c.	VC Accreditation Follow-Up Report (Second Reading)
d.	VCCCD Accreditation Follow-Up Report (Second Reading)
Ford motioned to approve, Sandford seconded these two reports. Sezzi will bring back these reports to Senate for a third reading only if substantive changes are proposed. The motion carried unanimously.

e.	BP/AP 6200—Budget Preparation and BP/AP 6250—Budget Management (Second Readings)
Sandford motioned to approve these documents, Wendt seconded, and a brief discussion ensued. The wording associated with the amount of recommended reserves was changed to “7% or enough to meet cash flow requirements.” The motion carried unanimously with this minor modification. 

f.	VC SLO Report for ACCJC (First Reading)
Kathy Scott will complete a draft of this report by next week; the final version is due by October 15th. Sezzi will forward this to senators for review in advance of our next meeting.

g.	Re-affirmation of VC Senate Resolution on Program Discontinuance ONLY through Program Review (First Reading)
Pauley motioned to approve this resolution, Horigan seconded. A discussion ensued, centered on the process and the utility of discontinuing a program if no change is made to actual classes and no money is saved. Additional discussion followed regarding how to prevent subsequent tier changes to classes whose programs have been discontinued. The motion carried unanimously. 

VII.	President’s Report
a.	DCAS
Sezzi reported that we can opt into the State Mandated Reimbursements Block Grant (AB 1464) without losing our claim to all prior year monies owed us by the state. The mechanism of distributing block grant funds to campuses is up to District administration but the rates of prior years’ state mandated reimbursements would play a major role in how these block grant monies are distributed. For areas such as Brown Act compliance that do not go to any particular program at a College or a District, these percentages of the block grant monies would go to reserves. This grant block will be an “opt in/opt out” option available to us as a District every year. 

b.	DCHR
BPs/APs were discussed, and a few regarding hiring practices were identified for a detailed and close first reading at our next meeting. All others will be presented as a slate approval at a future Senate meeting.

c.	Consultation Council report
Chancellor Moore is hiring a consultant to help the district with our accreditation effort, as described in section V.b., above.

d.	Administrative Council report
There was nothing significant to report.

VIII.	Information/Discussion Items
a.	Senate Dues Drive in September/October
A flyer will be distributed next week reminding faculty of this matter. Those contributing must agree to do so by the end of this month. 

IX.	Senate Subcommittee reports
a.	Curriculum Committee report
Pauley discussed the course repeatability issue.  A list of affected courses published soon, Arrevolo will be helping instructors of affected courses. 

b.	SLO Oversight Committee—(ISLO mapping, PSLO and CSLO updates, TracDat info)
Sezzi reminded senators of this semester’s processes. 

c.	Other Senate Committees
There was nothing significant to report.

X.	Campus Committee reports
a.	College Planning Council 
Sezzi informed senators of the programs on the list of consideration for discontinuance. 

b.	Other Campus Committees
There was nothing significant to report.

XI.	Adjournment
This meeting adjourned at 3:10 p.m.