Ventura College Academic Senate
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Campus Center Conference Room
I.	Call to Order
This meeting was called to order at 1:31 p.m.  The following senate members were present:

Algiers, Kammy—Math & Sciences
Arquilevich, Gabe—Communication & Learning Resources
Corbett, P. Scott—Social Sciences & Humanities
Guillen, Guadalupe—Student Services
Haines, Robbie—Math & Sciences
Lall, Sumita—Communication & Learning Resources
Mitchell, Nancy—Career & Technical Education
Munoz, Paula—Student Services
Pauley, Mark—Social Sciences & Humanities
Pollack, Deborah—Senate Vice-President
Sezzi, Peter—Senate President
Zierhut, Trevor—Associated Students Representative

The following guest was present:
Bob Moskowitz—Social Sciences & Humanities

II.	Approval of minutes
Motion to approve March 4, 2010 meeting’s minutes was made by Corbett and seconded by Mitchell.  Motion was approved 8-0-3, with 3 abstaining.
III.	Action items
f.    Proposed Changes to Statewide Minimum Qualifications(First & Second Reading)—Bob Moskowitz
Moskowitz informed the senate that while instructors with master’s degrees in art history are not qualified to teach studio classes, the reverse is true, since instructors with MFA degrees are required to take art history classes.  He noted that art historian Anne Bittl agrees with this assessment.  Currently art history is not recognized statewide as its own discipline, so Moskowitz is proposing changes in current statewide minimum qualifications to include the creation of this discipline and to make changes to the existing discipline of art.
Corbett proposed accepting Moskowitz’s recommendation, Pauley seconded.
Proposal passed with 1 abstention.

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a.	 VC Anti-Smoking Regulations (Second Reading)
Corbett moved to approve the regulations, Guillen seconded.
Discussion included concerns about students having sufficient time between classes to smoke in the parking lots and that stronger laws are being developed for a problem whose current rules aren’t being enforced.  The policy does, however, work on other campuses and would not render VC a completely smoke-free campus.
Regulations were approved 6-1-3
b.	AP 4104—Contract Education (Second Reading)
With the addition noted in the 3/4/2010 Senate minutes, Haines motioned to approve, Pauley seconded.  Approval was unanimous.
c.	 AP 4105—Distance Education (Second Reading)
With the addition noted in the 3/4/2010 Senate minutes, Arquilevich motioned to approve, Munoz seconded.  Approval was unanimous.
d.	 AP 4400—Community Service (Second Reading)
Guillen motioned to approve, Haines seconded.  Approval was unanimous.
e.	 BP 7205—Employee Code of Ethics (New Version) (Second Reading)
Haines brought in feedback from a colleague who wishes to reinstate the four bullet points at the end of the document.  A discussion ensued on the difference between values and ethics, since job performance with which much of this BP deals differs from ethical considerations.  Corbett proposed retitling this BP Employee Code of Operations, but what accreditation requires is a Code of Ethics.  Munoz moved to approve the revised BP, Corbett seconded.  BP passed 10-1-0.  Sezzi will carry our revision forward to DCHR.
IV.	 Information/Discussion Items
a.	 Spring Plenary Session Resolutions
Sezzi will email the link detailing these resolutions to all Senate members in order to collect feedback before he votes on them.  He advised the Senate to pay special attention to:
4.01, 4.02, 4.02—transfer degree
6.01, 6.02,--BSI funding, 50% law
8.02—Title V
9.02--curriculum
10.02—cases in which no equivalent to the associate’s degree exists for minimum qualification
13.03—publishing of administration expenses
Sezzi encouraged Senate members to pass along any comments on these resolutions to him by 4/14.
V.	President’s Report
a.	 Board of Trustees Meeting
Sezzi reported with sadness that the board did not vote on tenure for the four Ventura College candidates for whom tenure was recommended by their committees.  
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b.	Administrative Council report
i.	Textbooks
Sezzi pointed out that the addition to the Faculty Handbook “Selling Instructor Prepared Materials to Students” will remove any hint of impropriety in this area.  The policy does not apply to readers copied by Canon and sent to the bookstore for students to purchase.
c.	DCHR, DCSL, DTRW, DCAS, DAWC
1.	 DTRW
Sezzi reported that board policies on graduation requirements and program discontinuance will be brought to the Senate as they evolve.  He plans to bring all other policies to the Senate once they are ready for voting, which may not be until Fall ’10.
2.	DCAS
Sezzi talked about current budget reserves of $13.5 million, of which the colleges could use about $5 million now.  He sought Senate input on how quickly this money should be spent.  After some discussion about the Oxnard College Academic Senate’s proposal to spend down some of the reserves for 2010/11, Corbett moved and Guillen seconded that the $5 million should come out of unallocated reserves to directly support instruction and services to students in 2010/11.  Approval was unanimous.
VI.	Vice-President’s Report
None
VII.	Campus Committee reports
a.	 Curriculum Committee
Pauley reported that there will be one more meeting of this committee this semester.
b.	 Core College Design Team
Pauley noted that the instructional group, a subgroup of this team, has extended its meetings.
c.	 Accreditation Team
Sezzi urged Senate members to email Calote and copy him with any comments on the Accreditation Report available through the portal.
VIII.	Adjournment
Before the meeting was adjourned, Corbett asked the Senate to affirm the right of faculty to select their own textbooks. Algiers noted that departments sometimes choose group text adoption, but Sezzi reminded the Senate that this can’t be enforced if a faculty member chooses to use a different text.  This will become an information item at the next Senate meeting; Corbett will compose a resolution.
This meeting was adjourned at 3:05 p.m.

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