Ventura College Academic Senate
Friday, November 19, 2010
Campus Center Conference Room

I.	Call to Order
	This meeting was called to order at 3:20 p.m. The following Senate members were present:
	
	Chen, Albert - Social Sciences & Humanities
	Gardner, Ty - Math & Sciences
	Haines, Robbie - Math & Sciences
	Morris, Terry – Health, Physical Education & Athletics
Pauley, Mark – Senate Treasurer
	Pollack, Deborah - Senate Vice-president
	Pourmoghim, Salomeh – Communication & Learning Resources
	Reynolds, Andrea - Social Sciences & Humanities
	Sezzi, Peter – Senate President

	The following guests (all members of the Staffing Priorities Committee) were present:
	Algiers, Kammy –  Math & Sciences
	Farris, David – Student Services
	Hall, Luke – Staffing Priorities Co-Chair 
	Prell, Ted – Career & Technical Education
	Turner, Steve – Student Services 

II.	Campus Committee reports
a.	Staffing Priorities Committee report
Sezzi noted that we had a single item to discuss: the results of the Staffing Priorities Committee’s (SPC) deliberations.  The five top-ranked positions were revealed to the Senate and Haines moved to accept the committee’s recommendations (see Attachment A for the recommendations); Morris seconded the motion. The ensuing discussion clarified the SPC’s process and dealt with concerns about the nature of the top-ranked positions. An amended version of the motion was moved by Haines, seconded by Morris, and unanimously approved.
Hall and Sezzi, the Co-Chairs of the SPC, will present to President Robin Calote the five top-ranked positions recommended by the Staffing Priorities Committee and as approved by the Senate.  If she indicates that we will be able to hire more than five faculty members, Hall and Sezzi will provide the next three ranked positions, which is the next natural break in the rankings.
III.	Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 3:45.

ATTACHMENT A:

Nov. 19, 2009    
Staffing Priorities Committee 
PRIORITY LIST - Rationale 

Dear Campus Community:

The following is a brief review of the Staffing Priorities Committee’s (SPC) hearing, evaluation and ranking of requests for faculty growth positions. As defined by the SPC’s “Procedures and Norms” document, presentations before the committee were limited to only those departments that had requested faculty through this year’s program review “lite” process. While 14 presentations were made to the SPC on Nov. 19, an additional six (6) departments that had requested faculty on their program review “lite” documents elected not to make a presentation before the SPC. As agreed to by the SPC at its organizational meeting on Oct. 29, committee members only ranked the first (5) positions (i.e., 1-2-3-4-5) and gave all other positions an equal rating  (i.e., 6). The SPC began hearing presentations at 8:20 am and concluded its hearings by 2:30 pm. Deliberations finished by 3:15 pm, at which time the following five (5) positions were ranked in priority order and presented to the Senate Council:

#1	Computer Science
•	Currently has no full-time faculty in this area;
•	Department contains courses that serve a half dozen areas (e.g., Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, Information Science, Computer Science);
•	Increasingly outdated curriculum is reaching a point where courses may no longer articulate;
•	Some of the courses no longer align even to the MC Computer Science courses;
•	If the curriculum is updated and has the leadership of a full-time faculty, the program will thrive once again. 

#2	Educational Assistance Center (EAC) Counselor
•	Only one (1) full-time faculty member who is presently splitting her time as both program coordinator (50%) and counselor (50%);
•	The determination of eligibility for EAC is made by the singular EAC counselor/coordinator; 
•	While only half-way through 2010-11, academic year to date departmental contacts have already numbered 900. In past two (2) academic years, the department averaged c. 1300 contacts; 
•	Increasingly, the department is finding that it can no longer meet its legally mandated services. 

#3	Learning Disabilities Specialist (LDS)
•	This is an instructional position and helps meet our mandated requirement to provide services to learning disabled students;
•	Working at 100% load, the LDS is now administering only about 20-25 assessments per semester, down from 80 assessments per semester when only 20% of the LDS’s load was directed toward the administration of assessments;
•	Because of increasingly limited resources, the LDS can no longer perform necessary outreach to courses outside of the department;
•	Presently, there is a three (3) week wait time to even get assessment appointment to see the LDS specialist—and that figure doesn’t even include the time it takes to perform the assessment process.
(NOTE: The following points for the LDS are from last year’s recommendation for an LDS)   
•	Serves as a resource to the entire campus, not just the EAC and its students, and is a liaison with Nursing, Math, English, ESL, and Basic Skills for core curriculum;
•	Currently 1 LD Specialist and this is the 6th consecutive year presenting/requesting for a 2nd LD Specialist (note: Moorpark has 2.5 and Oxnard has 1);
•	Program has received state and national recognition;
•	Students in the program have a higher graduation rate than the campus at-large;
•	“universal design of learning” is going to be promoted with this position.

#4	Political Science
•	Only two (2) full-timers in the discipline, but only 1.6 actually serving in the discipline;
•	Each of the two (2) full-timers in the discipline has between four (4) to five (5) preps each semester, an unsustainable situation;
•	Program does not have sufficient resources to offer the full compliment of a well-rounded Political Science department;
•	Commonly articulated major prep courses are not as regularly offered as they would be if the department had an additional full-time faculty member. 

#5	Agriculture
•	Currently has no full-time faculty in this area
•	We live in an agricultural community
•	A full-timer in this discipline would be a service to our community
•	Lots of resources purchased recently to support this area that should be used.

After some discussion, the Senate Council motioned, seconded and accepted the SPC’s recommendations of the above five (5) faculty growth positions. Additionally, the Council charged the SPC Co-Chairs to present the SPC’s next three (3) positions should the College President indicate that the college may be hiring more than five (5) faculty growth positions. Both the top five (5) and the next three (3) ranked positions presented natural breaks in the tally process. Also in ranked order are the next three (3) positions: 

# 6 	Art (2D)
# 7	Biological Sciences (General Biology)
# 8	Geosciences (Geology)	

Upon the conclusion of the Senate meeting at 3:45 pm, the SPC Co-Chairs presented the Senate’s recommendations to the College President, at which time she did indicate that the college might indeed be hiring more than five (5) growth positions so all eight (8) ranked positions were therefore presented to her. 

Lastly, the following is an alphabetical listing of the remaining six (6) positions that presented before the SPC:
 
#9	Anthropology
	Coaching/Physical Education/Health
	Communication
	EOPS Counselor
	Librarian
	Sociology
As defined by the SPC’s “Procedures and Norms” document, these recommendations shall remain the position of the Ventura College Academic Senate until June 30, 2011. 

STAFFING  PRIORITIES COMMITTEE  MEMBERS  2010:
Luke Hall 	      	Past Academic Senate President (Co-Chair)
Peter Sezzi 	      	Academic Senate President (Co-Chair)                            
Deborah Pollack     	Academic Senate Vice-President
Mark Pauley            	Academic Senate Treasurer
Cari Lange               	Academic Senate Secretary 
Steve Turner           	General Education                                      
Albert Chen                 General Education                                        
Ted Prell                      Voc/Tech                                                    
David Farris                 Student Services                                         
Michelle Hagerman     At Large                                                     
Kammy Algiers            At Large