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Present: Katharine Harer, Victoria Clinton, John Kirk, Yaping Li, Karen Olesen, Anne Stafford, Eric Brenner, Nina Floro, Romy Thiele, Rick Hough, Anne Nichols, Murielle Rose, Teeka James, Dan Kaplan, Ernie Rodriguez, Chip Chandler, George Goth, Kate Motoyama

The meeting began at 2:30 pm

The minutes of the meetings of May 9, 2002 and May 24, 2002 were approved as corrected.

Katharine Harer gave the President's Report. In particular she stated that at Skyline it was certain that there would be both union and senate representation on the SAIF committee which would recommend budget cuts and reorganization moves in line with the reduced budget. She asked what was happening with this at Canada and CSM.

Ernie Rodriguez said there had been no communication at Canada regarding this issue and that he was impressed with what was happening at Skyline. 

Katharine Harer said that prompt action by the Senate had led to faculty involvement.

Dan Kaplan said that at CSM the attitude was that this would all be 'no problem.'

Anne Strafford said that at a Senate meeting at Canada it had been stated that the money had been 'set aside.'

Rick Hough said that we have to be careful that any cuts are not blamed on the faculty salary raise.

Katharine Harer also said that we have to be vigilant but that, at least at Skyline, the process was in place. She also said that she and Joaquin Rivera had written to the Chancellor asking for details about the reorganization but have yet to hear back.

Kate Motoyama said that the District needs to work on defining limits of authority for the administration and senate and that she cannot locate the documents which define these limits. There are eleven separate issues on which the Senate can be expected to be 'collegially consulted,' that is on which the Administration must either relie primarily on the Senate or reach agreement with the Senate. She was particularly concerned about the Chancellor's hiring process and stated that the Senate should have been involved in it and, as a Brown Act committee doing the public's business, the process should have been sunshined.

Kate Motoyama continued, saying that the hiring of a permanent chancellor over the Christmas break was inappropriate and that the Board of Trustees should have started a standard hiring process after the interim appointment. She said that other community colleges were very concerned that, if the appointment be allowed to stand, it would act as a precedent.

Katharine Harer said that Board President Richard Holober was going to each campus and meeting with the Senates on the issue of the chancellor's hiring. He has also sent an e-mail to all employees giving the Board's position.

Teeka James said that Holober's e-mail made it seem as if the whole situation was the result of only Kate Motoyama's actions alone. She said we should generate support for her.

Dan Kaplan said that it was unfortunate that the Skyline and CSM Senates, which had called for an open hiring process, had not given her more support, although that it was not too late for them to do that. He said that the whole process was turning into a political battle between the State Chancellor's office and the Board of Trustees, with the State Chancellor, apparently, threatening to reduce or eliminate funds for EOPS and other programs.

Ernie Rodriguez asked if we had any sense of what the timing of the next actions would be.

Dan Kaplan said that the District would formally respond to the State Chancellor within five days, wait thirty days for a response and then, if necessary, sue.

John Kirk discussed grievances, most of which come from Canada. Some, from last semester, such as the canceling of a post retirement contractand the charging of sick days to an officer of FACCC when that teacher attended meetings, have been settled. However, the more fires we put out, the more the administration at Canada sets.

To wit, an instructor there was told there had been student complaints and that the instructor should leave campus immediately but would be placed on 'administrative leave' and would continue to be paid. There are quite a number of problems here. First, when the union asked for copies of the complaints, they were denied because they were 'confidential.' Second, a high level administrator discussed particulars of the case at a divisional meeting, violating confidentiality. Third, there is no such thing as 'administrative leave' and, if there is to be, it has to be negotiated. In short, we will probably not only be filing a grievance but an unfair labor practice as well.

Katharine Harer discussed the AFT retreat. A list of the recommendations made had been distributed in the packet and she asked if any needed comment at this time. Teeka James said that, regarding outreach, we should try to get load issues uniformly applied. She said that, in particular, writing courses count at 1.25 * load when one has four of them but only 1 * load when one has less than four. She said that this was killing off the teaching of literature since it made no sense to teach three writing classes and one literature class. She also mentioned lecture/lab equality.

Victoria Clinton and Karen Olesen had attended the District Shared Governance meeting. They said the chancellor had said, repeatedly, that new proposals on hiring by the State Chancellor's office were in violation of Proposition 209.

Dan Kaplan said a new budget for the local had been drawn up. We will discuss it at the next Exec meeting.

Katharine Harer urged members to attend the CFT Women's Conference in LA on Oct 11 - 13. The local can pay for 4 or 5 to go.

Karen Olesen discussed the social that will be held in a few weeks at the race track. We voted to give the Board of Trustees and the Chancellor free tickets. She said if we sell all the tickets, we will get a voucher for $100. It was decided to use some of this money to buy some sort of gift for a person or persons who will not be named here.

Chip Chandler said that, at Skyline, she will be holding meetings with individual divisions rather than trying to get everyone together at the same time.

The meeting adjourned at 4:36 pm.

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