Ventura College Academic Senate
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Campus Center Conference Room

I.	Call to Order
This meeting was called to order at 1:32 p.m. The following senate members were present:

Algiers, Kammy – Math & Sciences
Arquilevich, Gabriel – Communication & Learning Resources
Aubry, Michael – Career & Technical Education
Corbett, P. Scott – Social Sciences & Humanities 
Haines, Robbie- Math & Sciences
Lall, Sumita - Communication & Learning Resources
Lange, Cari – Senate Secretary
Mitchell, Nancy - Career & Technical Education
Morris, Terry – Health, Physical Education & Athletics
Pauley, Mark- Senate Treasurer
Pollack, Deborah - Senate Vice-president
Sezzi, Peter – Senate President
Suel, Tim- Substitute Rep, Student Services

The following guests were present:
Beatty, Donna- Math & Sciences
Coad, Kadeem- ASB Rep

II.	Approval of minutes
a.	Motion to approve Feb. 4, 2010 meeting’s minutes was made by Pauley, and seconded by Corbett. Motion was approved 10-0-0.  Lall and Lange were not present for this vote. 

III.	Action Items
a.	Resolution on the Importance of Value of Sabbaticals (Second Reading) 
Motion to approve the Senate resolution regarding  the importance and value of sabbaticals was made by Arquilevich and seconded by Pollack. Motion carried 11-0-1 with Lall abstaining.

b.	Resolution on Having Faculty Present During Presidential Interviews (Second Reading) 
Motion to approve the resolution regarding faculty inclusion for presidential level interviews was made by Haines and seconded by Pauley. Motion unanimously passed.

c.	BP 72XX – Emeritus status (Second Reading)
Motion to approve the above board policy with the suggested modification, “Only the Board may grant emeritus status.” Was made by Corbett and seconded by Morris. Motioned carried 11-0-1 with Haines abstaining. 
 
d.	AP 7120-C – Recruitment and Hiring of Part-Time Faculty (Second Reading)
This item will appear as a third reading during the next senate meeting.
e.	AP 7350 – Resignation (Second Reading)
Second reading of Academic Procedure 7350 lead to Senate discussion that while the procedure is sound in content, it may actually be cumbersome in practice. As the procedure stands, Corbett motioned to approve AP 7350. Algiers seconded. Motion passed 10-0-2 with Arquilevich and Mitchell abstaining. 

f.	BP 5030 – Fees (Second  Reading)
It was noted that this fee will apply to duplicate diplomas only. Motion to approve BP 5030 was made by Morris and seconded by Algiers.  Motion unanimously passed.

IV.	Guests
a.	Robin Calote – Q&A with the College President 
President Calote was present to update the Academic Senate on the status of our accreditation review, budget outlook,  and to field general questions. 	
	Calote informed us that the accreditation self-study report will be due the end of May or beginning of June. As faculty and staff provide feedback, new iterations of the self-study will be posted on the VCCCD web portal. Calote anticipates a new draft to be posted in about three weeks. She encouraged us to review the most current self-study report to provide feedback. The state accreditation team is scheduled to be on campus October, 2010.
	On the topic of the district’s budget situation, Calote informed us that we still do not have a clear picture of how severe cuts will be for the 2010-2011 academic year. The District will start spending out of reserves to cover any cuts that exceed 5% for Ventura College. Colet further painted a grim picture for the 2011-2012 budget projections, and joked that we will likely refer to our current budget situation as the “good times.”
	In response to the senate’s study session involving charging special admit students the standard price per unit, Calote noted that VC currently enrolls approximately 1000 special admit students. Seeing as we get full state funding for these students, Calote feels it would not behoove us to take any actions that may discourage these students from enrolling in classes especially given that we are currently down in enrollment numbers for the Spring 2010 session.  When queried about the causes for our drop in enrollment, Calote was at a loss for an answer. 
Algiers suggested that enrollment is likely impacted by our inability to offer many large section classes and the cutting of many regular sections from our schedule. Clearly, if we cannot serve students, they will be discouraged and likely not enroll in classes that do not meet their ultimate goals or work with their schedule.  Following this line of logic, we can expect to see our enrollment numbers further impacted as we are required to cut more and more sections. 
	
V.	Study Sessions
a.	Charging Special Admit Students the Price/Unit for Classes

b.	Finals Week Schedule

Haines motioned that the Senate affirm that we approve the traditional block scheduling for final examinations week to be used for instructional purposes. Lall seconded. Motion unanimously passed.

VI.	Information/Discussion Items
a.	Faculty & Finals
Please refer to the study session notes above.

VII.	President’s Report
a.	Administrative Council report
Sezzi reported that there may be a campus reorganization in the works involving student support and business services. Unfortunately, as a result of this reorganization, there could potentially be a loss of classified positions.  The exact nature or even if there is a campus reorganization afoot remains unclear.

b.	Board of Trustees meeting report 
Please refer to the study session notes on finals week above.

VIII.	Vice-President’s Report
Nothing to report out.

IX.	Campus Committee reports
a.	Curriculum Committee report
i.	Reading Competency
Curriculum Committee affirmed that the English/Reading departments of the district may meet to review the current reading skills competency evaluation.
ii.	Units for Degree Requirements
Curriculum Committee approved the lowering of the number of required units for certain degrees.  Career & Technical Education may be the first to explore revising curriculum to reflect this change.

b.	Core College Design Team reports
Handout was provided. The report was approved in principle at the last CRC meeting.

c.	Accreditation Team report
Please see notes under Q&A with the college president.

X.	Adjournment
This meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.