Minutes of
General Membership/Executive Committee Meeting
February 13,
2008 at
Present:
Guests: Jeremy Ball, Carla Campillo, Patty Dilko, Ann Freeman, Helen Hausman, Patricia Miljanich, Martin Partlan, Masao Suzuki, Jeff Westfall
Meeting began at 2:30
Facilitator: Rick Hough
- Welcome and Introductions
- Conversation with Trustee Patricia
Miljanich and Trustee Helen Hausman
Ernie began by saying he wanted today’s meeting to be positive, collaborative and supportive, and compared our District to a family that is experiencing some tension. Some of the discussion focused on specific issues or topics while some of it was more general.
Ø The state budget: Both Pat and Helen felt we need to wait until the Governor’s May revise to fully understand how the District will be affected.
Ø Accreditation Reports at CSM and Cañada: Pat and Helen were both shocked to learn that the two campuses had been put on warning and said they hadn’t seen that coming. Helen’s sense is that we are doing what we should be, but haven’t put those things in writing in a way that satisfied WASC/ACCJC. The Board has asked the Chancellor to respond to the public’s concerns, which have begun coming in. Though there is an appeals process, the Board has not discussed this yet.
Ø Administrative salary increases: Pat said essentially that we will have to agree to disagree on this one. She feels the increases were long overdue.
Ø Communication between AFT and Board of Trustees: In response to our concerns about AFT’s relationship with the Board of Trustees, Pat agreed that she would like it to be less adversarial. She said she would like to see more opportunities for discussion and assured us that though some tension is unavoidable, the Board really does want to hear from faculty. In particular, she urged the AFT to discuss issues with the Board before writing about them in The Advocate and to try to be more positive in The Advocate, using it not just to highlight problems but also some of the good work that is being done in the District. Rather than simply disagreeing with the Board or the Chancellor about issues, she would like us to offer suggestions or solutions. She also suggested that the AFT work to strengthen its relationship with the Chancellor. More than one EC member pointed out the difficulty of being positive or offering constructive suggestions when, in fact, the AFT is frequently presented with information from the District at the very last minute, and sometimes not at all. Questions about what mechanisms exist for more direct communication between the AFT and the Board didn’t really get answered.
Ø Concurrent Enrollment: In the context of our discussion about communication between the AFT and the Board, two different EC members asked Pat and Helen to clarify the Board’s position on Concurrent Enrollment; in particular, what is their vision for how it fits in to everything else we do as a Community College District? Pat was clear that the District hopes to expand SMCCD course offerings at the high school level. She was under the impression that CSM faculty are generally supportive of expanding Concurrent Enrollment in the high schools, but that we don’t trust the high school faculty to teach our courses. We spent some time explaining that our position is far more complex than that. As Jeremy Ball reminded everyone, the initial proposal for expanded Concurrent Enrollment was very specific (the so-called “AP replacement” model). After that was deemed unworkable, the District proposed other models. To faculty, it seemed that the particular models, as well as the goals, continued to shift, while at the same time, the Task Force promised by the District never materialized. Faculty also continued to be frustrated by the District’s lack of research into existing Concurrent Enrollment models. Fortunately, Patty Dilko has now done a good deal of research into existing models and has learned that of the few successful programs out there, the ones that seem to work best have required a lot of funding to start up, include counseling and college success courses as a critical component, and benefit the most vulnerable students the most. The message seems clear – if we don’t get it right (which will require significant funding), we will ultimately do a disservice to the very students we are trying to help.
- Conversation with District Academic
Senate President Patty Dilko, Cañada Academic Senate President Martin
Partlan, CSM Academic Senate President Jeremy Ball, and Skyline Academic
Senate President Carla Campillo
The EC agreed that we would like to continue inviting Board members to our meetings as a way to strengthen our relationship with the Board.
One EC member expressed concern that Board members do not seem to have all of the pertinent information regarding issues such as expanding Concurrent Enrollment, are not asking the appropriate questions about curricular issues, and do not adequately understand the role of the Academic Senate. In particular, our Board of Trustees has apparently not been in communication with the high school Board of Trustees around the Concurrent Enrollment.
- Minutes of the January 30 EC meeting
Approved
- Grievances
John Kirk distributed a written report.
- Statements from AFT members on
Non-Agenda Items
None
- Open Discussion /meeting critique
Meeting adjourned: 4:45