October 21, 2024

I. Call to Order

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Welcome

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Approval of Agenda and Minutes from Oct. 14th, 2024

James Tallent moved, Ravjeet Singh seconded to approve both minutes and agenda. No objection. Agenda and minutes approved by unanimous consent.

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Public Comment

Ravjeet Singh: International student in hybrid class is a victim of rental fraud. Student had to move and now commutes 3 hours to school. International students are required to take a certain number of on campus classes to maintain their status.

Lisa Mesh has a student in a similar situation.

Students should contact their immigration office advisor and consult with their international student counselor, ISP. 

Mary Pape: as long as the class has the Y designation it is considered a on campus class even if the class only meets an hour.

Someone last week was asking about how to determine if their property was within. Go to the County of Santa Clara Office of the Assessor. Do a real property search. Put in your address to get the answer.

Comment on the banging noise. That is the demolition of the Flint Center happening just on the other side of those windows.

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II. Consent Calendar

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ASCCC Faculty Convening Faculty Volunteers

Jayanti Roy moved, Cynthia Kaufman seconded to approve John Jimenez, Caitlin Kepple, Vinh Nguyen, Marek Cichanski, and Nick Chivers. No objection. Motion passed.

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III. Needs and Confirmation

District and College Needs (Attachment)

Faculty Representative:
“Student Grievance and Student Conduct Hearing Board”

AS Scholarship Committee members

COOL Committee

CCN Workgroups - Part III

They really need volunteers to serve, especially in Biology, Anthropology, and Sociology. The state will be setting up the templates on how these classes will be taught. People need to participate to have a voice. Otherwise, they will be stuck with whatever determination until at least 2027.

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Confirmations

Brandon Gainer as member of IEPI, institutional effectiveness partnership initiative, grant supported workgroup

No objection. The Senate acknowledged his appointment.

1 – Faculty Representative from De Anza to serve on the PDL Committee. No volunteers.

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IV. New & Continuing Business

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Quick Updates

Senate Social

Next Senate Social: Wednesday, 10:30 AM Oct 30

Idea for Senate at Villages-senate touring hour

Erik asked if members will participate at the villages

Senate Lunch?

Last year the Senate hosted a lunch for executive members to socialize, get to know each other, and build community.  Will do a survey to determine interest and time

Fire alarm safety and access to evacuation areas

There was a fire alarm that went off in the chemistry building, science building, biology, chemistry and biology labs. When people went to their evacuation point, the football field, the access points to the football field were locked. Erik will check for updates on evacuation procedures. 

Biology was always told that their evacuation point was parking lot E. But there's no safe place to stand in the parking lot. Chemistry was told not to go to the parking lots anymore, but to go to the football field. They never got any more updates. How do people know and how is the information communicated?

Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee

Erik has reached out to Vice Chancellor Dela Rosa regarding the committee. 

ASCCC exemplary program award. 

There is a call for nominations for the exemplary program awards. Every year the ASCCC recognizes exemplary programs at the schools. This year's theme is Integrating, Advancing, and Sustaining Open Educational Resources for Access and Equity. If anyone is part of or knows of a program in this category, please submit a nomination. The Senate will vote on nominating the program next week. Each school may nominate one program.

STAR Award for Mike Appio

A shout out to Mike Appio, who was named this year's De Anza College Educator of the Year by the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce which presents their STAR Awards to individuals who make outstanding contributions to the community. Mike is very hardworking and puts a lot into his program. Kudos to Mike. Congratulations from the Senate.

Fraudulent Students Questions

What is the current experience of De Anza instructors with regards to fraudulent students?

Erik will be sending out a survey to faculty to get feedback on this topic. Send him suggestions on questions or problems. 

Bob Singh mentioned a presentation in his division on opening day. Kim Te stated that the problem has been largely contained using technology solutions that identify fraudulent students before they get onto the roster.

Cynthia Kaufman highlighted the horrible problems in the other direction with real students being flagged and unable to register. There's some equity issues, especially with undocumented students.

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Orientation to Senate

Intro To Senate 2024

• Purview (The 10+1)
• Norms and Practices
• Constitution and By Laws
• Relation to other Governance Bodies

Erik Woodbury summarized the previous topics that he has presented.

What is the Academic Senate? 

What does the Academic Senate do?

How are Academic meetings organized?

Erik concluded the presentation with part 4

How are Academic Senate meetings run? (start at slide 28)

There were 3 basic topics

How to have discussions? How to make decisions? What are the roles and rights of the public?

The meetings are facilitated by Robert's Rule and decisions are made by consensus. Robert's Rules of Orders is a parliamentary procedure that gives structure to communicate and come to a decision. The goal is to avoid the chaos and have a structured conversation where people get to talk, take turns, and provide order to the decision-making process.

Consensus by definition is a unanimous decision. The Senate has combined consensus decisions with decisions by voting.

Erik went over the Goals of Meeting Facilitation and the Role of the Chair. He explained the procedures and strategies for handling motions. Motions should be clear and direct and not overly complex. Once a motion is made and seconded, the body may enter a debate. There are the protocol and general rules for a debate. Erik shared a useful short guide to Robert’s Rule (slide 37)

At the end of the debate the chair will summarize/synthesize the debate and motion before the vote is taken. He may ask for consensus. There is one other option which is passing the motion by acclamation. That is a voice vote, all in favor.

There are alternatives to Robert’s Rule of Order (slide 40). Anyone interested in altering the way the Senate runs their meetings may consult and bring up another alternative for consideration.

The public’s place and rights at the table. (slides 41-42)

The Senate is a legislative body that is publicly funded. The public must have access to all the meetings and the right to speak on issues. The public is welcome to come into the meeting room. They're welcome to join the meetings on Zoom. They're welcome to go to any of the other remote locations published in the agenda and join from there.

Reminder

This is a public meeting in a public space. The meetings can be recorded. No one at any of these meetings has an expectation of privacy. While someone is in the meeting, whatever they say is a matter of public record. 

Last slide

We're public servants. We represent our college and our communities. We're conducting the public's business and expending public funds.

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Academic Senate Scholarship Committee

Rubric: Financial Aid Scholarship from the De Anza Academic Senate

Application example:  Academic Senate Award Application

Mary Pape expressed appreciation for all the work Felisa Vilaubi and the previous scholarship committee did last year on setting up the rubric and the application form for the academic senate scholarship. The committee was passionate about making the scholarship student centered and accessible. The committee members are no longer executive members. 

The scholarship has not been publicized to faculty and students. The current need is to form the scholarship committee to finalize and implement the scholarship. They need faculty volunteers to promote, read, and award the scholarship. Volunteers do not have to be on the executive committee

The Senate has a separate scholarship fund. Last year the Senate allocated $3500 in its budget for the scholarship. The Senate also conducted a membership drive and committed to contribute the new membership dues to the scholarship fund.

Bob Singh volunteered to serve on the committee. He also asked if a scholarship may be named in honor of a faculty.

The topic will be brought back for more clarity and discussion next week.

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GE Committee Development

The Senate discussed and worked together on the following charge to the GE Committee

Charge

Review General Education philosophy and make recommendations on changes as needed 

Review General Education criteria and make recommendations on changes as needed 

Develop criteria for locally defined GE Areas  

Review and report on current efforts to support and review the integration of GE elements present in the Course Outline of Record into classroom teaching and make recommendations on changes as needed 

Review current policies and practices of the curriculum committee as they relate to General Education and develop recommendations on changes as needed 

Confirm that all GE policies and practices are in alignment with state and federal laws.

Bob Singh moved and Sherwin Mendoza seconded to approve 6 items in the charge as listed above. No objections. Charge Approved.

The Senate will determine Membership and Timeline in the next meeting. Someone suggested more work on the preamble.

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Door Locks and Campus Safety

Reference: Recent FH Resolution - Resolution on Preventing Mass Casualties through Improved Door Locks

Mary Pape reported on last Thursday’s PCAC Police Chiefs Advisory Committee meeting. They reviewed a survey that had been given to all the members of the PCAC from last year. One of the questions on the survey was “how important to you is security, locks and alarms?”

Vice Chancellor Christopher De La Rosa was there. He mentioned that a study of the present safety conditions at both campuses has been completed under Measure G funds. ​​The next steps would be to survey both campuses to ascertain the steps needed to bring the schools up to safety standards. The attendees expressed their concern over the ability to lock both their office doors and their classroom doors from the inside.

They planned to address the automatic lockdown across the campus at a later date. Someone asked for interim recommendations.

The challenge with moving forward was the different types of locks on campus.

The door lock issues are mentioned in the Foothill resolution that was finalized and approved last week. The link to the resolution is above.

Erik Woodbury asked if Senate members had heard any response to the issue? 

Cynthia Kaufman has heard conversation regarding tasers and that door locks should be a higher priority for our safety.

Do people care about door locks?

Meghan; locks are really important as basic safety measures. In the science buildings they have hex keys that could quickly lock their lab doors but not the general office areas. Does the campus have a way to track people going in and out of the buildings for basic safety. Having lockable doors is essential to general safety.

Shagun Kaur in chat: I think we should adopt and pass the same motion at De Anza to add weight and support to what FH is trying to do. It is ridiculous that we do not have control on our spaces, in case of any crisis. I think with the added weight of both senates, maybe movement will happen and then we can get a group to explore specific concerns being mentioned here. I think the board needs to hear these concerns and that will only happen with a resolution. Remember folks, resolutions are how our voices are heard.

Jamie Pelusi in chat suggested some sort of panic button system installed in  vulnerable and targeted spaces.

Christina Wright volunteered to work on the resolution.

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Good of the Order

Grimm’s Hollow: A Haunted Family Experience. Grimm's Hollow is the Bay Area's premier family Halloween adventure! An experiential journey and a fully immersive attraction for all ages! This year's adventure will take visitors beneath the waves on a self-guided tour through The Pirate’s Abyss, where adults and children will interact with an amazing array of characters and take in the spooky sights both above and below the sea.  https://www.grimmshollow.com/

The automotive food drive is still happening.

Euphrat Museum, new exhibition, Glimmers, art with a message of hope and inspiration.

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Attendance

In person

Erik Woodbury, So Kam Lee, Mary Pape

Veronica Avila Acevedo, Viviana Alcazar, Megan Brophy, Umar Douglas, Mark Hamer, Kevin Glapion, Lauren Gordon, Cynthia Kaufman, Sherwin Mendoza, Lisa Mesh, *Aura Ozturk, Christian Rodriguez, Jayanti Roy, Lakshmikanta "LK" Sengupta, Ravjeet Singh, Sukhjit Singh, James Tallent, Lianna Wong, Christina Wright

Online

Mary Donahue, Mark Landefeld

Absent

James Adams, *Deborah Armstrong, *Sam Bliss, Dawnis Guevara, Shagun Kaur, Leah Smith

*non-voting members