April 29, 2024

I. Call to Order

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Welcome

Erik Woodbury reminded representatives to complete their report out.

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Approval of Agenda and Minutes from April 15th, 2024 and April 22nd, 2024 (District Senate Meeting)

Mary Pape moved, Mary Donahue seconded to approve both minutes and agenda. No objection. Agenda and minutes approved by unanimous consent.

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No Public Comment

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II. Consent Calendar

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Approval of Consent Calendar (Attachment)

Tenure Review Committee, Ramona Gabriel, Instructor, ADMJ 

Elvin Ramos, Dean, SSH 

Susan Thomas, Psychology, replaces James Suits, ADMJ

Jayanti Roy, Child Development

Cheryl Balm, At Large, Mathematics,

Tenure Review Committee Leah Smith, Counselor, Student Development and EOPS 

Michele LeBleuBurns, Dean, Student Development and EOPS

Pauline Wethington, Counselor, replaces Anita Vazifdar, Counselor

Melinda Hughes Counselor, Student Development and EOPS 

At Large Representative, *Phase III, At-Large Representative not needed

Cheryl Balm moved to pull the second item from the Consent Calendar and to approve the first item. Mary Pape seconded. No objectives. Approved first item.

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III. Needs and Confirmation

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District and College Needs (Attachment)

Hiring Committee, Vice President, Administrative Services

Need Two (2) Faculty Representatives

There was a request that at least one Academic Senate Officer serve on this committee, to be approved by the Senate next week. Both Erik and Patty are willing to serve. Representatives should bring this need back to their divisions and constituents.

Curriculum Co-Chair

Catherina Wong will step down at the end of this quarter.

There is a real need for someone in this position.

The committee cannot function without the co-chair.

Mary Donahue asked about the compensation or release time.

Erik Woodbury: full details will be posted with the job description.

Tenure Review At-Large Representatives

The Senate has set the goal of forming the tenure review committees for the new hires in the spring quarter, to be ready to go in the fall, to avoid a mad rush during the first 2 weeks in the fall.

The commitment is for 2 years. 

Erik Woodbury shared the benefits of  serving outside one’s area and discipline; meeting people and learning about other areas. PGA credit.

Other needs:

COOL Committee

AS Scholarship Committee members

EO Representatives for Hiring Committees

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Confirmations (Attachment)

Tenure committee for Leah Smith

Cheryl Balm pointed out that this committee was just changed and approved on April 15. Why is it back?

Leah Smith moved from one division to another. The Senate approved Melinda Hughes for her committee on 4/15. Then, they discovered that Anita Vazifdar will be on PDL, therefore the need for a replacement.

Cheryl Balm moved to approve the committee. Ravjeet Singh seconded. No objections. Committee approved.

COOL Committee

There are 7 volunteers from 5 divisions. 

The committee calls for representations from 12 divisions, 3 affinities groups, plus 1 instructional designer and 1 student, for a total of 17 seats.

There were discussions over approving all 7 volunteers or stick to the original plan of 1 representation per division. That requires voting to select 1 representative per division.

Shagun Kaur pointed out that the Brown Act meeting requirements, to meet in person or online within district boundaries, was a challenge for some faculty.

This committee, like the Curriculum Committee, as a subcommittee under the Senate does fall under the Brown Act.

There was a suggestion to delay the formation of the committee by one week to continue to recruit more people to fill the seats. The concern was for areas not represented. Those areas will not have a voice and communications with the committee. 

However, it was assumed that those interested or are willing to commit have already responded.

Someone asked if additional members from the unfilled seats may join after the formation of the committee, or would they have to wait until the fall.

There was a suggestion to have the deans nominate representatives rather than relying on volunteers.

The argument against joining midstream was that people need to be engaged in the whole conversation, not just part of it.

There was a clarifying question on quorum. The answer was that empty seats do not count toward quorum.

The delay will severely impact what the committee will need to get done this quarter. Erik asked for comments from James Capurso.

James Capurso would like to get the committee passed today because they have a lot of work to get done. If the committee starts meeting on May 6, that gives them 3 meetings this quarter to set up for the fall.

These meetings are to set up and to figure out the process. The original goal for COOL was to get everything ready to go in winter and have it fully up and running in spring. It has gone slower than they planned.

He liked the idea of adding all 7 volunteers to the committee and appreciated their volunteering. He was  also okay with sticking to the original plan to pick one representative from each division for a total of 5.

Mary Pape motioned, Shagun Kaur seconded to stick to the original plan of having and elect 5 from the 7 candidates to represent their divisions.

Shagun Kaur volunteered to serve as the Language Arts rep on COOL. Veronica Avila Acevedo seconded.

Ivan Kojnok, the second volunteer for BCAT, was changed to represent CTE.

Steve Nava, the second volunteer for SSH, was changed to represent DALA.

That takes the seats to 8, representing half of the areas.

People liked the idea of filling as many seats as possible today, with the option of adding more people later.

There was a call to confirm all the volunteers following the original plan, with each one representing a different area. No objection. Committee approved.

Hiring Committee,Vice Chancellor, Business Services 

Mary Pape moved to approve Erik Woodbury to replace Mark Landefeld on the hiring committee. Mary Donahue seconded. No objections. Erik Woodbury approved.

Mary Pape moved to table the next two agenda items. Mary Donahue seconded. No objections. Approved.

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IV. New & Continuing Business

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Senate Membership Drive

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Request for Support of DASG Resolution: Resolution for Block Scheduling in De Anza Biology, Chemistry, and Physics Lab Offerings

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AVID Postsecondary Presentation

Michelle Hernandez, Dean of Equity and Engagement, introduced Dr. Trent Mohrbutter and Dr Betty Krohn. They gave a presentation on AVID and the possibility of bringing AVID to DeAnza. AVID provides high engagement strategies that could be employed for all levels of learners on De Anza campus. She would like faculty feedback on the possibility of moving forward with the program. There is funding available for the program.

AVID’s mission is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness and success in a global society.

Dr. Trent Mohrbutter and Dr Betty Krohn went over the AVID benefits for students.

They went over some of their strategies to EMPOWER STUDENT for college readiness and success.

What is AVID and how might it enhance teaching and learning or student’s success on your campus?

They went over the AVID College & Career Readiness & Success Framework explained in their presentation slide.

AVID employed Simon Sinek's Golden Circle theory that inspires action and drives student success. The Golden Circle consists of three components: Why, How, and What. By starting with the “why” and understanding the purpose behind their actions, students can create a strong foundation for success. 

They also went over Think-ink, a way to communicate with students, to share why? Also a way to engage students holistically?

They also went over their instructional framework focused around the WICOR: writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading 

Another method they shared was pause and reflection.

They talked about using AVID’s WICOR tools to provide instructions with the flexibility to add tools and enhance learning across all content areas.

The goal is to inspire students to become responsible for and accountable for their learning.

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Information on Proposal to Allow Campus Police to use Tasers

Submitted Documents:
"Tasers Kill" Binder Notes

Mary Pape had 2 comments/conclusions on this proposal. The use of tasers could lead to injury or death. It is not as safe for the person being contained as pepper spray, but not similar to using a baton. Second, there is a perception that tasers are used on people of color on college campuses at a higher percentage than on the entire population of that college. ​​If that is true, then the use of tasers on De Anza campus is an issue with deeper systemic implications.

Chief Daniel Acosta, FHDA Chief of Police, explained how they came to the conclusion of tasers as a tool they need. He pointed out that in the history of the police department, not one shot has been fired. The officers have taken off weapons from individuals that included  lethal weapons. When they made their decision, they made the effort to put it out to different groups.

They have been gathering information on how and how often tasers are used on college campuses. Which other campuses are using it? 

San Jose City Evergreen got their tasers in 2008. It has been used twice since 2015.  West Valley Mission got their tasers 2 years ago. They had 2 situations. One, a burglary escalated to using the taser to take down the suspect safely. They are working on getting information from other colleges. They are reaching out to the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement. Association to gather more data.

Compared to 2019 pre-pandemic level, calls for service have gone up 28% in 2023 despite having half the population on campus. Staffing has gone down. In 2018 there were 17 officers. By May 15, it will be down 10 officers

These are some of the reasons why they are looking at the tasers. They will put together more data.

There were discussions and comments on the selection, training, and deployment of such weapons.

People were encouraged to bring this information back to their constituencies. They should bring back questions and concerns to the chief and his committee.

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Subcommittee Updates

AI Subcommittee Survey Results

Erik shared the survey result from the AI Working Group. (See slides)

It includes how faculty uses AI. The concerns and potentials for AI. The ways faculty have integrated AI tools in their teaching. Many faculty would like a college policy on the ethical use of AI.

Chesa: The survey results show the need for a more centralized place to disseminate information like the library, live guides, different Canvas sites etc.  There are resources like college-wide and district wide workshops on using Generative AI. Another thing that came up in the research was that people think it should be up to the individual instructors, academic freedom, rather than a totally prescriptive policy.

Liliana Vilaubi moved to table the rest of agenda items, Ravjeet Singh seconded. No objections.

Senate Governance 

• Constitution
• By-Laws

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Pattern Proposal

GE Proposal Presentation
Proposal for New GE pattern - Work in Process.docx

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Reminders:

Program Consultation Committee Proposal

Please review all report outs

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Adjournment

Mary Pape motioned, Mary Donahue seconded, to adjourn, no objection.

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Attendance

In person

Erik Woodbury, Patty Guitron, So Kam Lee

Veronica Avila Acevedo, Ian Ang*, Cheryl Balm, Sam Bliss*, Mary Donahue, Kevin Glapion, Lauren Gordon, Mark Hamer, Elsa Jimenez-Samayoa, Rusty Johnson, Shagun Kaur, Sherwin Mendoza,  Lisa Mesh, Anna Nguyen, Mary Pape, Jayanti Roy, Lakshmikanta "LK" Sengupta, Ravjeet Singh, Leah Smith, James Tallent, Felisa Vilaubi, Glynn Wallis, Catherina Wong

Online

Mirsaeid Abolghasemi, Lydia Hearn*, Cecilia Hui, Mark Landefeld, Liliana Rivera
Rachel Silveria

Absent

*Deborah Armstrong, Shagun Kaur, Li Wei Sun