Academic Senate, January 13, 2014 – Minutes
Taft College Academic Senate Minutes
Monday, January 13, 2014 Cougar Conference Room
Attendees: President Tony Thompson, Vice President David Layne, Secretary Linda West,
Jennifer Altenhofel, Nancy Artiga, Sam Aunai, Kanoe Bandy, Michelle Beasley, Wendy Berry, Paul Blake, Adam Bledsoe, Kamala Carlson, Joe’ll Chaidez, Christopher Chung-Wee, Candace Duron, Geoffrey Dyer, John Eigenauer, Sharyn Eveland, Bruce Ferguson, Tori Furman, Greg Golling, Lourdes Gonzalez,
Daniel Hall, Danielle Harris, Agnes J.Eguaras, Vicki Jacobi, Brian Jean, Craig Johnson, Diane Jones, Kelly Kulzer-Reyes, Steve Lytle, Julián Martinez, Mariza Martinez, Mike Mayfield, Michelle Oja, Ruby Payne, Harold Pease, Joseph Polizzotto, Robin Polski, Juana Rangel-Escobedo, David Reynolds, Denise Romero, Jeff Ross, Becky Roth, Terri Smith, Sonja Swenson, Susan Vaughan
The meeting was called to order at 12:19 p.m.
Public Commentary
None
Review of December 2, 2013 Senate Minutes
A motion was made by Diane Jones and seconded by Sharyn Eveland to approve the minutes as presented. The motion carried.
Vice-President of Instruction Attendance at Senate Meetings – Tony Thompson
Tony asked the membership if we thought it would be beneficial for Mark Williams to attend Senate meetings. Tony stated that attendance of Instructional V.P.s at Senate meetings across the state was “all over the map”. Many attendees felt Mark’s attendance would improve communication. Some felt there might be occasions when we need to discuss issues without an administrator present. It was stated that Senate meetings are subject to the Brown Act and Mark should be encouraged to attend.
A motion was made by Kanoe Bandy, and seconded by Michelle Oja to extend an open invitation to the Vice President of Instruction to attend Academic Senate meetings with the caveat that he be asked to excuse himself from the meeting if a sensitive topic is introduced. The motion carried.
Quest for Success (QFS) Update – Agnes J.Eguaras
Agnes reported that we are currently in the fourth year of the five-year QFS grant. The grant funding will end in 2016. The grant has funded campus programs designed to improve success rates in basic skills courses including tutoring and supplemental instruction, alignment of ESL with English courses, and acceleration of ESL, reading, English, and Math courses. Agnes stated that she’s also looking into expenditures and making sure they’re aligned with the purpose of the grant. She also stated that
successful programs funded by the grant should be institutionalized and carried on as part of the Taft College culture. We want to make sure we’re in alignment with the Student Success Act.
Nancy Artiga has been working as a temporary, part-time QFS counselor serving students at the basic skills level. She works with students at the lowest level of basic skills and conducts workshops throughout the semester.
Water Technology Program Status – Sam Aunai
Sam reported on a proposed water technology program at the college. He shared that he had been approached by local water agency representatives for some time regarding the need for a water technology program in the Central Valley. The closest programs are located at Columbia College and College of the Canyons. We could lose 50% of our water and waste water operators in the next few years due to retirement and the existing programs can’t offset the replacement need. In addition to meeting the need for training new employees, current operators must be certified and are required to complete training courses annually. Within a 50-mile radius, 151 of 236 operators have licenses that will expire this year.
Sam stated we’re looking at implementing a pilot phase with two water classes required for continued certification. The next step would be a certificate program. Sam said we’ll be asking water agencies to commit resources and we will have to find adjunct instructors to teach the classes.
College Status Report on SLO Implementation – Vicki Jacobi
Vicki distributed copies of the Accrediting Commission’s Taft College SLO implementation status report. The report shows we’re making progress, but are still behind where we should be in several areas. SLO implementation is a campus-wide issue and is not “going away”. The college is supposed to be at the sustainability level by this point in the implementation process.
Vicki divided the attendees into multi-disciplinary workgroups to explore strategies for improving the college’s SLO implementation outcomes. The strategies were submitted to Vicki at the close of the session.
Meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 3, 2014.
Respectfully submitted by
Linda West, Academic Senate Secretary