Academic Senate President’s Report

Because of the Thanksgiving break and because I'm trying to be more succinct… here is my abbreviated report:

Accreditation Ad Hoc Committee: I met with more of the representatives of this group and we were able to move forward on the overall scope and design of our future efforts with accreditation. The full minutes are available. A diagram of what the committee would look like is available. Part of the question is where should this committee reside? Under the Academic Senate or under Shared Governance Council?

Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges (ASCCC) Accreditation Institute 2009 will be held at the Dolce Hayes Mansion in San Jose, CA on January 23-25, 2009. Each day will be filled with presentations and discussions that will help senates create a successful self study and develop outcomes and assessment. There will be opportunities throughout the Institute to ask questions, share issues and strategies, and develop action plans for our campus. Registration is $350. Single occupancy rooms are $725 and double occupancy is $575. Should we attend and if so who?

In discussions at various meetings over the semester there has been talk of (re)instituting a College Hour at Solano. The idea is that this would provide a single time slot each day or several times a week that is dedicated to promoting better teaching/learning/ idea sharing, meetings, SLO discussions, community building, etc… Any thoughts?

Final Exam Schedule/ scheduling: How does the Senate want to proceed?

A colleague raised the question/ issue about College policy regarding Sabbatical replacement hiring. In essence, we have no specific policy on these hires. Dr. Christiansen explained to me that they are treated as temporary hires, much like other part-time positions. Should we work on such a policy?

At the Board of Trustees meeting from November 19^th, they Approved Curriculum Actions as Submitted by the Curriculum Committee, a Subcommittee of the Academic Senate. Click here for the agenda and list of courses. Also, interestingly enough there was no closed door session (no discussion of contract negotiations).

Lastly, while I have no news about Mary Swayne's condition it is necessary to interview her temporary substitute. I will be holding those interviews tomorrow at 11:00 and 1:30 in the Senate office. Would you like to participate? Do you have any questions you'd like me to ask?