ACADEMIC SENATE
Minutes
March 7, 2007
C. Britton called meeting to order at 4:03.
Present: D. Bezayiff, P. Boudreaux, C. Britton, D. Hensley, C. Hodges, J. Keele
Y. Kim, R. Osborne, S. Regier, Merci Herrera for M. Roman, L. Syrdahl, J. Wiens
Guests: A. M. Wagstaff, G. Wallace
Absent: M.J. Jordan, D. Williams, curriculum chair representative
M: to approve and table reports - D. Bezayiff
S: L. Syrdahl
C: Unanimous
Budget Allocation Model –
Recent developments – The Academic Senate at BC will vote down the BAM due to changes Chancellor Serrano made after the chancellor’s cabinet meeting.
The chancellor did not allow discussion about the Budget Allocation Model at the district board meeting of March 18, 2007, but instead, included it as an information item to the board.
Chancellor-initiated changes include
1. The district office being able to carry over funds from one year to the next. BAM’s recommendation is to pay the district office based on its expenses. If the district office is allowed carry-over, this defeats that purpose. The BAM recommendation would not preclude the district from carrying over money designated for a particularly needed project that had not yet been completed, so long as the budget committee agreed that the project was necessary.
2. Transfers of money between the district office and district-wide budget without district budget committee input. The district-wide budget is for district-wide expenses. It makes no more sense for the district office to be able to transfer funds into “district-wide expenses” than it would for any other entity in the district to do so. Also, these transfers make the district budget much less transparent.
3. Strategic funding comes from reserves instead of “off –the-top”. If this occurs, every college’s allocation goes down. It is like robbing Peter to pay Paul. If that is how the Strategic Fund is generated, no college will support it.
4. Deletion of the District-wide Enrollment Management Committee as well as many items for review and evaluation that BAM recommended.
AB1725 states how the Academic Senate and School Board need to work together in budget planning. We expect the board to vote on this issue of the new allocation model. Chancellor Serrano’s seeming understanding of this issue is that she will have the final say in the budget model whether the three colleges approve or not. It is disheartening that after so much input from the various college committees and meetings that the chancellor would unilaterally change the model despite objections from all three academic senates.
Three handouts were given out:
1. The district-wide committee version of the Budget Allocation Model
2. The chancellor’s model (containing her changes).
3. The BAM Evaluation Tool developed by the BAM committee. This has not been incorporated into the current BAFM yet.
M: To give Craig the authority to act on our behalf to express a negative note in conjunction with the expected negative votes of the other two campus senates. (D. Bezayiff)
S. L. Syrdahl
U: Unanimous
2. CCA (Bezayiff)
Tabled
3. Curriculum (Britton)
Tabled
4. PC Foundation
Tabled
5. Division Reports
Tabled
Discussed during President’s Report above.
1. Science & Math Building (off-line Fall 07)
Some faculty and department heads were only told this week that the science building was in fact going off-line and no new portable classrooms were being planned. Now we have five weeks to schedule classes.
Consensus was that not only science, math, and social science should change their schedules, perhaps every department can share in the inconvenience.
Science courses are expected to be taught at a high school. Concern was raised about students’ perception of such a move, classes being offered only at night, ability of students to take more than one science class, security, and storage room for lab prep and chemicals/supplies.
C. Britton suggested the retro-fitting of the PT building. Special vented trailers had been mentioned previously, but are evidently no longer planned.
Past professor experiences were mentioned of high school teachers who would lock up their overheads and supplies, and write “do not erase” on all their boards so that an incoming visiting professor would not be able to teach effectively.
It was mentioned that West LA City College and Consumnes River College put up many portable classrooms on their campus to increase FTES. They then put bond issues to the voters for permanent buildings.
Since there are so many unanswered questions, changed plans, and not plans, the Senate asked Craig Britton as AS President to contact President Carlson and ask for an all faculty meeting with Chris Addington (interim executive director of facility planning for KCCD) and Kevin Cobb (architect ).
2. Night services for students
Reduction of night service – from 8:30 PM to 7:00 PM.
Gary Wallace reminded the Senate that during a previous financial crises the cafeteria and bookstore had closed for a period of time between 3-5 PM. It is now still open during the afternoon. Currently the cafeteria and bookstore are thousands of dollars in the red due primarily to the 16 week calendar (shortened student time on campus).
This closing was due to one worker resigning. Since the lowest earning power of the cafeteria is between 7:00 and 8:30, Gary Wallace thought best to close early.
Solution: Students can use vending machines. The cafeteria will be well lit until 8:30 for student safety and convenience.
The question arose whether the college should pursue bringing in Starbucks, Taco Bell, or another food supplier (as the high schools do) to provide food service for the college students. It is expected that a food provider would pay the college a percentage or fee for the opportunity to sell on campus.
Merci Herrera brought up the fact that the counseling department had instituted an online counseling service link on the Porterville College webpage.
3. Cal-Cards
C. Britton stated that the district is in the process of phasing out all Cal-Cards, however it was mentioned by others that different versions of this information as been given out from the business office.
4. Curriculum Committee Chair
Ron Glahn has will fill the position for the remainder of the 2006-2007 school year.
5. BEMAP, Enrollment Management
Table
6. Division Reorganization
Business and applied technology divisions propose to combine due to the small number of full-time faculty in each division (Business 3, Applied Tech – 2). There are no objections from anyone within the divisions. Advantages – the faculty can work together to provide representation to the many college committees, also, they can coordinate dispersal of VTEA funds. There is the possibility of child care (1 full-time faculty) joining also. This will be discussed with M.J. Jordan.
VIII. Adjournment: 5:25 PM
M: P. Boudreax
Respectfully submitted
J. Wiens