Academic Senate President Report to the Board

For a word version of this report, click here.

Meetings:

Since my last report to the Board I have been in what seems to be constant and continual communication with S/P Waits and VPAA Steinback about Accreditation, the Chancellor's visit, Special Trustee Tom Henry, the budget, and divining the future about the ACCJC report due the first week of February.

Flexible Calendar:

The college is coming off the heels of our most recent professional development days on campus. The overarching theme was orchestrated between our DSP faculty and staff and our Flex Cal Committee chaired by Chuck Spillner. The day was geared to help faculty and staff better understand how to serve our students with disabilities. We learned how to refer students, what kinds of assistive technologies there are, how to devise effective interventions to classroom behavior problems, and discussed the results from a recent survey on crisis intervention.

There was, of course, an array of other opportunities for faculty to better serve our students including MySolano for Faculty, eTeachers Best Practices, eCollege workshops, Transfer and Articulation Issues for Faculty, and a discussion on Accreditation Standards and our next Self-Study.

Dr. Waits introduced soon-to-be Special Trustee Henry to the campus community and he graciously answered about three and a half hours of questions throughout the day.

Joint Meeting with Educational Administrators:

During this morning session the Academic Senate and the Division Deans (led by VPAA Steinback) hosted an informational presentation by Lesley Kawaguchi from the ASCCC entitled "Accreditation: A Campus Wide Event". Shared Governance, Executive Council, all faculty and staff and the Board were invited. Ms. Kawaguchi gave a very thorough, informative and useful talk that allowed those present to discuss the accreditation process and possible steps forward for the college. It was the first of what will be many informational meetings on accreditation.

Regular Senate Meeting:

During the regular meeting Ms. Kawaguchi accompanied the Senate and was able to answer questions. Rob Simas walked us through our Accountability Reporting for the California Community Colleges (ARCC) report and requested Senate input on the document. For more information on ARCC, see here.

We also discussed the need to clarify the mission statements, membership, and process for establishing our Standing Committees.

The Senate also recognized the work of our new Substitute Administrative Assistant Ms. Christy Martin who began working recently and has done an admirable job of learning the ropes and bringing the Senate back up to speed on minutes and other items.

Final Comments:

As we move into the next few days, weeks, and months in a new era of uncertainty at the college I wanted to stress the importance of both trust and leadership at Solano College. The faculty and staff are anxious and concerned. I would think that all of us can attest to the hard work and dedication of all campus employees. What we need is to rebuild trust between the Board and the college. We are willing and able to do our part. We will work and produce and change. I think I can speak for all faculty and staff when I say that we expect no less from our Board of Trustees and look forward to a more open professional relationship. We have all the tools to positively change our accreditation status and create a culture of living the accreditations standards. Everyone I've spoken to would agree that the four recommendations we face are a valid criticism of the college. The question is, are we willing to make the necessary changes to live the standards of accreditation? I am confident that we can and will as long as we work together.