President’s Report to the Senate

Meetings:

Shared Governance Council (SGC): The Senate and SGC met to vote on the accreditation document. The Special Report was approved unanimously.

Process Evaluation and Review Team (PERT): This group met for the first time officially and we reviewed the charge, scope and composition of the PERT. Additionally, we prioritized our first set of objectives for the year. We will meet regularly for the next few Fridays and then less frequently after that. I appointed Ruth Fuller and Tracy Schneider to this committee as our faculty representatives. The Senate President is an ex-oficio member.

Superintendent/ President Laguerre: During the "Presidents Meeting", Dr. Laguerre mentioned that the hiring committees for HR Director and the VP of Business and Administrative Services are moving forward. He announced that Vice President of Technology and Learning Resources Jay Field has taken another position at Long Beach City College. There was some discussion as to how to adjust for his absence. Of immediate concern is who will lead the IT Department and the Library. There were several ideas discussed, including the formation of a collection of learning resource areas into something similar to the Center for Academic Success that Butte College has. As details come forward, I will pass that along to you.

Accreditation:

The Report: Dr. Steinback advised us that the final draft of the report is available on the Intranet. Because there have been some minor revisions, it is important for the Senate to read and ensure the final product is not substantively different from the one we approved last week.

Training: Last week Friday a team of Solano College faculty and administrators went to an ACCJC standards and self-study training. Because we have become, unfortunately, such experts on accreditation, there wasn't a great deal of new material. However, it was a good opportunity to meet some of the commission employees, ask direct questions about standards, and to come together as a team from SCC. Additionally, it was important to hear yet again that the Standards are not some arbitrary guideline established by the ACCJC in isolation but rather produced by us and our peers. I did receive an e-mail questioning why SCC was obligated to participate in the training. The answer is that we could have refused to participate. However, eligibility requirement 21 requires the college to maintain a healthy and professional relationship with ACCJC. Not going would have damaged that relationship.

Division Deans: I am in the process of meeting with Division Deans. My goal is to get feedback from them on the accreditation process at SCC, to see how they might contribute, and to on their division agendas to speak directly to faculty to answer any questions they might have and the solicit help for the next reports… especially the self-study in October.

Other items:

The Senate office has been moved to 422.