President's report August 2008

August 12, 2008

As your new Academic Senate President I look forward to the 2008-09. I have been extremely fortunate in that I am following in the footsteps of our gracious, articulate and open-hearted former Senate President, Gail Kropp. I am quickly learning that being Senate President is a complex job. Gail made it look easy and has been willing to give me advice and support at every turn. For that I am thankful. We are lucky to have her at Solano Community College.
What follows is an update on Senate business from over the summer.

Faculty Leadership Institute

From June 12 – 14, I attended the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Faculty Leadership Institute in New Port Beach, California. I participated in sessions on Engineering Faculty Leaders, Minimum Qualifications and Equivalence, Tools for Running a Senate, Budget, Creating Alliances, the ASCCC webpage and many others. The institute was very well organized and provided a great deal of helpful information. As a new Senate President it was very helpful to know that there is a statewide Senate that has a wealth of resources at our disposal. I strongly recommend that faculty familiarize themselves with the ASCCC webpage (http://www.asccc.org/). Additionally, I would recommend that any Senator or faculty member who is interested should be encouraged to participate in the 2009 Faculty Leadership Institute that will be held June 18-20, 2009. The institute will take place at the Granlibakken Conference Center & Lodge in Lake Tahoe, CA.

Hiring Committees and Appointments

There were two major hiring committees that needed faculty appointments: the Dean of Health Occupations and the Superintendent/ President.
At the end of the Spring semester, former President Gail Kropp and I appointed faculty to the Dean of Health Occupations hiring committee. This committee was able to interview several candidates and has forwarded their recommendations on the Superintendent/ President’s office.
More recently, I put forth the names of the faculty who will serve on the hiring committee for the Superintendent/ President. Of note is that the Board of Trustees is in the process of deciding on which search firm, if any, to use for this extremely important position. As Senate President at the last Board meeting I offered up faculty assistance in choosing which firm the college might use. I have not heard back from the Board if they plan on accepting my offer.
There were a few concerns and issues that arose during hires that occurred over the Summer. In general, I would say that it is extremely important for faculty to familiarize themselves with our hiring policies and to take a professional interest in ensuring that these policies are followed. It is in our best interests.

Senate Election Results

Up for vote was the adjunct Senator position and the straw poll on proportional representation. There were two candidates for adjunct senate representative: Louis McDermott and Renza Nassab. Louis McDermott won the election and was notified via e-mail. The issue of proportional representation passed with 48 to 34 votes.
I recommend that we start the election process earlier in the year, that we eliminate paper ballots in favor of electronic ones. There are at least two reliable websites (http://www.zoomerang.com/ or http://www.surveymonkey.com/) that could work for this purpose. Finally, if we stay with paper ballots, I recommend that we include voting instructions with the ballots.

Summer Meetings

Over the Summer I met twice with the Superintendent/ President Gerry Fisher, once with Vice President of Academic Affairs Robin Steinback, and several of the Division Deans. Additionally, I attended some of the Board meetings.
In the meetings with President Fisher we discussed the Presidential search committee, he gave a Measure G update, we talked about the progress of the accreditation report and finally his work on a K-16 bridge program that he will announce and go into further detail on during Flex Cal. The meeting with VPAA Robin Steinback had to do with the accreditation report, a joint venture between Academic Affairs, Student Services and the Academic Senate to review and revise Board policies series 5000 and 6000, Basic Skills Initiative funding, and the results of the BSI Summer Bridge program. My conversations with the Division Deans were mainly geared to introduce myself as the Academic Senate President and to ensure that the lines of communication between the Deans and the Senate are open and transparent.

Other News

I received a letter from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) in late July regarding Commission Membership. The ACCJC is soliciting nominations for individuals to be considered for membership. Commissioners are appointed for a three-year term and may serve a maximum of six years. The position for which they are seeking applications are two Commission member representing the public. The deadline is September 19, 2008. If you are interested, please contact me or the ACCJC directly.