Special Meeting of the Academic Senate

M I N U T E S

April 7, 2004

3:00 p.m. - BC214

 

 

Members Present: Barbara Bell, Susan Broderick, Gary Carroll, Jim Chesher, Esther Frankel, Jack Friedlander, Michelle Fulton, Tom Garey, Peter Haslund (Chair), Tom Mahoney, Kim Monda, Kathy OšConnor, Peter Rojas, Lana Rose, Jan Schultz, Sonia Zuniga-Lomeli.

 

Members Absent: Sheri Shields, Bob Stockero

 

Guests: Mangai Pitchai, The Channels, Laurie Vasquez

 

 

Note: The Special Meeting of the Academic Senate was called for the purpose of continuing the proposed Constitutional Amendment discussion.

 

 

1.0                CALL TO ORDER

 

1.1.             Approval of Minutes w/ corrections

M/S/C To approve the Minutes of the Academic Senate, 3/24/04 (Carroll/Garey)

1 abstention

 

                  1.2          Approval of the Agenda

 

 

2.0                SINGLE ACTION ITEM

 

2.1                Proposed Constitutional Amendment Petition

To change the length of the president elect and past president terms from two semesters each to one semester each and to change the election of the Senate president from the spring semester to the fall semester.

 

President Haslund began by observing that some members may feel that the approach taken by the petitioners who support the amendment has been inappropriate or has violated tradition.  In fact, the approach has been entirely in keeping with our Constitution.  Finally, of greater importance than any single issue coming before us is the question of how we relate as colleagues in this deliberative body.  Issues will divide us and we will succeed only to the extent that we develop the capacity to listen carefully to the viewpoints of others and resist the temptation to vilify those with whom we disagree.

 

Mr. Garey then spoke on behalf of the signers of the petition expressing apologies for perceptions that have arisen from this process. As this idea emerged and formed into a proposal there was a sense of urgency resulting from the timeline established in the Constitution for the election of a new president and division representatives along with the rapidly approaching end of the semester. Also, rightly or wrongly, the petitioners felt that this was not a controversial issue. The idea arose out of the fact that the Senate has been concerned with the conservation and best allocation of resources and how to make the operation of the Senate more efficient. As one of the original authors of our Constitution, Mr. Garey stated that at the time there was considerable discussion about adopting a president-elect and past-president structure and the terms of such offices following which the decision was made then to try it out.

 

Mr. Garey continued that there was no process or effort to circumvent the Senate to get this idea through. The petitioners believed this was a fairly innocuous proposal and in order to meet the current timeline as stated in the Constitution the petition was drafted. Given the controversy this petition has caused within the Senate and in order for this to be successful an endorsement from the Senate is being requested.

 

M/S/D That the Senate endorse the proposal and recommend the adoption of the petition as presented by our colleagues?  (Garey/Chesher) 6 aye 8 nay

 

Concerns from dissenting Senators:

ˇ          There was no opportunity or process available to amend or make recommendations to the petition.

ˇ          This seems like a desperate measure and a breakdown in collegiality

ˇ          There was a perception that the Petitioners did not speak to or present the proposed Constitutional change to their Divisions.

ˇ          There was a question about how the proposal will affect representation on CPC.

 

In the absence of Senate approval, Mr. Garey recommended that the amendment be withdrawn.

 

 

3.0                INFORMATION  (Announcements, Communications)

 

3.1                Appoint Committee to Elect Academic Senate President.

3.1.1         Peter Rojas, Gary Carroll and Kathy OšConnor with Past-President Lana Rose as Chair.

 

3.2                The Division Representatives election timeline will be presented at next Senate meeting.

 

3.3                EVP ­ Attended a workshop on Student Learning Outcomes and was very impressed.  The workshop struck the right chord ­ the middle ground for developing SLOšs. This will be addressed in more detail at the next Senate meeting and in particular how it will affect the previously proposed workshops on the new accreditation requirements.

 

3.4          It was announced that Chancellor Mark Drummond will be visiting SBCC tomorrow (4-8-04) and that he will be speaking in PS 101 from 3-4:30. All are invited and encouraged to attend.

 

 

4.0          ADJOURN ­ at 4:10 P.M.

 

Next regular meeting scheduled for April 14, 2004 at 3 pm.