President’s Report to Senate

Meetings:

On Monday, April 27^th, I met with Dr. Laguerre. My first impressions of him still remain true. He is a man of integrity who is planning on staying at Solano for the long haul. When he asked me what Solano needs from its new Superintendent/ President I responded that we need a strong guiding hand and that we would continue to need some of the leadership skills that Dr. Jensen has shown. In particular I mentioned that the Accreditation sanctions have put the College in a real position of change and that I was hopeful that he would be able to identify the healthier elements of change and to support them.

There hasn't been a Shared Governance Meeting since we last met but FABPAC has met. Dr. Jensen mentioned that the ACCJC visiting team thought that we'd made "good progress" and that we "got it". There was also an extensive discussion on the "Summary Budget Savings/ Reductions/ Revenue Enhancements" document. Areas to watch are:

• Programs rely on statewide funds but in reality can encroach on general funds.
  
• Community Service programs (Contract Ed, SBDC) will need to "chase money for their salary"
  
• The EC will evaluate the most up-to-date numbers in July and then review them in September and January.
  
• The FTES "oops" seems to be less severe, not 2.2 million but perhaps somewhere between 1.5 and 2 million.
  
  • It seems that it may be possible to negotiate with the System's Office to establish a payment plan.
    
  • We will need to add any payments necessary to the deficit.
    
  • However; we are doing an internal audit to double check past FTES to see if we missed any under reported FTES to offset the deficit.
    
• Dr. Steinback reported our current FTES situation looks very good! She will speak to this at Monday's meeting.
  
• The items that are "on the table" for committees to discuss are 1.2, 1.16 and 2.9.
  
• Dr. Jensen firmly believes that our Centers need to be "Cost Centers" in that what they generate in FTES should go directly to them, not simply into the SCC pot-o-cash.
  

Accreditation Visit:

I met with three of the four ACCJC representatives. They were all very positive about the work we had done and in general were impressed with the steps taken to turn the College around. One of my messages for them was that there is much change afoot at Solano but that we still need time for the seeds of change to take root. I assured them that we do have a plan and are working for the betterment of the College. When asked if I thought that the changes we were making to "live the Standards" of accreditation would stick or not, I assured them that we have the will and the commitment to move forward. For me, it is not only about change but creating a living manual, vibrant processes and outlines, for change. When I think of our old planning models that led faculty and staff to go to the Board for change I know that our newly re-vamped Integrated Planning Process is one piece of the puzzle that promises a much more accessible and accountable means of change. At the end of the day, WE are the ones who will have to live the changes and hold ourselves, our colleagues and the Board accountable. The visiting team report will go to the Commission and Dr. Jensen will have a chance to comment on it for accuracy. We should have the Commission's decision by mid-June.

Items for your consideration:

I have received a request from Shirley Lewis about graduation on May 22 at 7:30 PM in the Gym. She needs two faculty marshals and four faculty presenters. Any takers? Graduation is a great opportunity to celebrate our students' success.

Also, we have about $1,300 in travel and conference money available. Because we are currently in a budget freeze I asked Dr. Jensen about sending two faculty members to the Faculty Leadership Institute June 18-20. He has approved funding with the caveat that those who present would need to report out on their experience. Any takers?

Letter from the SCFA:

It would appear that the union believes that the Senate doesn't understand its role. The Academic Senate received an e-mail on April 29, 2009 from Tom Grubbe (SCFA President) on behalf of the SCFA Executive Board. They present concerns that, in addition to discussing our different roles, the Senate continues to discuss letters sent by CTA Attorney Joe Colton. SCFA presents that there are those on campus who would put a wedge between SCFA and the Senate. Additionally, they comment that SCFA has made it clear to CCA that they do not want the Association placed front and center in the statewide debate on SLOs and yet maintains that SFCA won't undermine CCA's efforts.

They ask that the Senate:

• Modify the letter that we are considering to ACCJC Chairperson Gaines (giving us a copy with highlights and revisions they suggest).
  
• Remove all reference to the 'Colton letter' from the Senate President's blog
  
• Discontinue mention of this 'issue' in:
  
  • Meetings and Communications with
    
    • the Board,
      
    • the faculty,
      
    • the public,
      
    • the administration,
      
    • and the ACCJC
      

If we don't agree with their recommendations they would like to set up a meeting our two groups and Mark Wade-Lieu and Ron Reel.

I am interested in hearing Senators' comments and thoughts on this topic. Today's meeting should be a good one to build consensus.