ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES – MARCH 12, 2014 11
Minutes
of the Academic Senate Meeting
March 12, 2014
PRESENT: Aaron, Alex, Brown, Chan, Duran, El Naga, Eskandari, Farmer, Garver, Ghazanfari, Guyse, Halati(Proxy-Guyse), Hall, Kilduff, Kopplin, La Munyon, Leon(Proxy-MacNevin), Lloyd, MacNevin, Mao(Proxy-Tang), Metlitzky(Proxy-Eskandari), Monemi, Moustafa, Pearlman, Pernalete, Polet, Prichard-Schmitzberger, Salem, Sancho-Madriz, Shah Fairbank, Shen, Speak, Tang, Wachs(Proxy-Garver), Winer, Bautista
GUESTS: M. Ortiz, L. Rotunni, D. Freer, E. Merritt, D. Lewis, c. Pinter-Lucke, S. Srinivas, R. Lapidus, F. Ewers, J. McGuthry, M. Kelly, t. Hartney, G. Urey, DD Wills, M. Woo, K. Abedini. S. Fallah-Fini, A. Sadat, U. Mai, C. Gonzales, C. Hall
1. Minutes –February 19, 2014
M/s/p to approve the February 19, 2014 Academic Senate Minutes.
2. Information Items
a. Chair's Report
Elections- The Academic Senate Elections and Procedures Committee will be overseeing the following elections:
· CSU Academic Senate – ongoing
· Senate Seats – CLASS and Engineering
· URTP
· CRTP
· Professional Leave Committee
· Faculty Development Center
· Council for Graduate and Faculty Scholarship
· Senate Chair and Vice Chair – The Senate Chair and Vice Chair nominations will be open on April 16 with an election being conducted on May 21
· Executive Committee- The Executive Committee nominations will be open on May 21 with an election being conducted on June 4
Semester Conversion Steering Committee – The Executive Committee will elect the two faculty representatives today.
Advisory Committee to the Trustees Committee for the Selection of the President - nomination materials are due Friday, March 14, 2014 at noon. The Executive Committee will review the nominations on March 19.
b. President’s Report
President Ortiz reported that his Monday Message for this week was his report.
The Monday Message can be found at: http://polycentric.csupomona.edu/2014/03/pres_video_mar102014/#.Ux5PloVFCro
The topics include:
· Brand Awareness and Perception Survey
· Provosts’ Award Recipients
· Basketball Teams
c. Vice Chair's Report
Vice Chair Kilduff reported.
NEW REFERRALS: (3)
AP-008-134 Science, Technology and Society Program Review
FA-002-134 Time-Line for Periodic Evaluation of Temporary Faculty
FA-003-134 Academic Senate Representation for Part-time Temporary Faculty
SENATE REPORTS FORWARDED TO PRESIDENT (1)
AS-2441-134/AP Academic Program Review for Kinesiology and Health Promotion
PRESIDENT REPONSES TO SENATE REPORTS: (5)
AS-2435-134/AP Move of Construction Engineering Program from Engineering Technology Department to Civil Engineering Department - APPROVED
AS-2439-134/AA Academic Calendar by Quarters –2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 - APPROVED
AS-2436-134/AP Academic Program Review for the General Education Program
Program – REQUEST DELAY
AS-2437-134/AP Discontinuation of the Molecular Modeling and Simulation Option for BS in Chemistry– REQUEST DELAY
AS-2438-134/AP Revision of Double Counting Policy and Major GPA Calculation– REQUEST DELAY
REFERRALS WITHDRAWN BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
GE-007-910 ENG 422/PHL 422, Philosophy Through Science Fiction
d. CSU Academic Senate
Senator Monemi reported.
The CSU Academic Senate will meet on March 19, 20 and 21 in Long Beach. Dr. Monemi highlighted several resolutions that will be second reading items:
· Support of Ethnic Studies Programs
· Pilot for Community Colleges offering Baccalaureate Degrees
· RSCA Funds
· Shared Governance
e. Budget Report
John Lloyd, Budget Committee Chair, reported that he had no formal report. The Budget Committee is scheduled to meet with the Provost to discuss Conversion. The Budget Committee is also scheduling a meeting with Steven Garcia, Vice President for Administrative Affairs, to go over next year’s budget early in spring quarter.
f. CFA Report
DD Wills, CFA President, reported.
Bargaining
Be aware. Be active. You may be under the impression that contract negotiations have been all sweetness and light. Certainly, we are getting much better treatment from the new chancellor than we did from Chancellor Reed. However, ‘nice’ is not an acceptance of our proposals. We can best support our bargaining team by remaining visibly active on our campuses and in our communities, on two fronts: the budget for the CSU and our needs and conditions as faculty. It is very important for Sacramento and Long Beach both to know how serious we are about the resource problems we face as a university, and the salary, workload, job stability, working conditions, and inequities we face as faculty. All of them directly affect students and the quality of the education WE provide. Neither the legislators nor the trustees understand our work. They understand what a demonstration is, however, and if they know we can organize one around any issue that’s important to us, they will take it more seriously.
Chapter elections
Elections for President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Statewide CFA Assembly Delegate-at-Large, and Lecturer Representative will be held during Spring Quarter. Other positions open include Council for Affirmative Action Chair, Faculty Rights Committee Chair, Department Representatives Coordinator, Political Action Chair, Elections Chair, and Membership Chair. Please consider running or volunteering for one of these rewarding service opportunities.
Membership – The membership drive is part of the support for bargaining campaign. Our numbers for tenured/tenure-track faculty, librarians, counselors, and coaches are excellent, less so for lecturers. Please remind your colleagues of the hard work done by your union on your behalf, and of the many benefits of membership, such as $1 million of liability insurance.
Meetings and events
a. Mar. 25 – Board of Trustees meeting. We want a big presence at Golden Shores. We need faculty from the arts, science, and technical fields to speak to the trustees about the teaching, laboratory, research, and scholarly requirements for their disciplines. Not too late to sign up.
b. 100 Days of Stories – March 23 begins a hundred-day countdown to the end of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. Naturally, we hope to have a much improved contract by June 30th, which will go smoothly into effect on July 1st. Bitter experience has taught us this is not a guarantee. During the countdown, to keep building our support for bargaining, we will be making videos of faculty and student stories that illustrate the salary, workload, learning conditions, and other topics on the table. Together we are powerful! Let’s count down the 100 days with a lot of activity.
c. April 1-2 – Lobby Days in Sacramento. Fly up Tues. evening or Wed. morning for a full day of meetings with our State representatives. We also have local lobby days coming up, TBA.
d. Bargaining Update with Lil Taiz, CFA President, TBA.
We will let you know about other up-coming Spring Quarter events.
Representation
CFA represents faculty individually as well as in the collective bargaining process. Faculty encountering difficulty or questions about their treatment during RTP, lecturer evaluation or in other ways are advised to contact CFA. The first point of contact for the Faculty Rights Committee is Dr. Gwen Urey ().
g. ASI Report
Jomel Bautista, ASI Senator, reported.
ASI President Christine Hall will be appointing the student representatives for the Advisory Committee to the Trustees Committee for the Selection of the President.
The ASI will be appointing the student representative to the Semester Conversion Steering Committee.
h. Staff Report
The Staff Senator position is vacant.
3. New Business
4. Academic Senate Committee Reports – Time Certain 3:45 p.m.
a. AP-017-123, Academic Program Review for the Geological Sciences Department – SECOND READING
Senator Garver presented the report.
M/s to adopt the report.
RECOMMENDATION
The Academic Programs Committee recommends approval of AP-017-123 Academic Program Review for the Geological Sciences Department.
The motion to adopt passed unanimously.
b. FA-001-134, Faculty Office Hours Policy – SECOND READING
Senator Sancho-Madriz presented the report.
M/s to adopt the report.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Adopt the following as the new University Policy on Office hours.
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Faculty Office Hour Policy
Faculty members are expected to be available to their students for instruction-related support and advising. Faculty office hours shall be scheduled, synchronous and posted online and at the department office.
Tenured and tenure-track faculty shall maintain a minimum of four office hours per week. Two of the hours must be face to face and conducted over at least two days.
Full time temporary faculty shall maintain a minimum of four office hours per week over at least two days. The department faculty may develop its own policy on the mode (online vs. face to face) for temporary faculty office hours.
For part time faculty (tenured track/tenured or temporary), the number of hours will be adjusted in proportion to the time base of the appointment.
DISCUSSION -- The Faculty Affairs Committee met and considered the input from the Senate. The following amendment replaces the above policy:
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Faculty Office Hour Policy
Faculty members are expected to be available to their students for instruction-related support and advising. Faculty office hours shall be scheduled, synchronous and posted online and at the department office.
Tenured and tenure-track faculty shall maintain a minimum of four office hours per week. Two At least two of the four office hours must be face to face and conducted over at least two or more days.
Full time temporary faculty shall maintain a minimum of four office hours per week over at least two or more days. The department faculty may develop its own policy on the mode (online vs. face- to- face) for temporary (full and part time) faculty office hours.
For part time faculty (tenured track/tenured or temporary), the number of hours will be adjusted in proportion to the time base of the appointment.
Discussion – A senator expressed the opinion that faculty should be on campus. There are a lot of opportunities to interact with students outside of the formal office hours. Several senators agreed.
Questions were raised about the email office hours. Dr. Sancho-Madriz stated that all the office hours on campus or online needed to be posted. He also stated that answering email is not an online office hour. The policy is acknowledging the fact that faculty do spend time answering email.
It was pointed out that online office hours give more accessibility. Students do not have to drive to campus to interact with the professor.
The motion to adopt passed – one nay vote.
c. AP-013-123, Pilot Proposal for MS in Systems Engineering - FIRST READING
Senator Garver presented the report.
M/s/p to receive and file the report.
M/s to waive the First Reading.
Committee Chair Garver explained that the IME Department faculty have requested the First Reading on this pilot program be waived because the implementation date is planned for Fall Quarter. It has scheduling and admission implications.
The motion to waiver the First Reading passed – 3 abstentions.
M/s to adopt the report.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Academic Programs Committee recommends approval of the referral AP-013-123 Pilot Proposal for MS in Systems Engineering.
Discussion – This program is a 45 unit program that would allow students to have experience in both the Engineering and Management side of their profession. The pilot would be reevaluated in three years and a decision would be made to convert it to a permanent status. This is a self-supporting program through the College of Extended University.
A question was raised what happens if it is not profitable? Dr. Pinter-Lucke explained that the university has had some programs where the department and college help subsidize until the program gets going. Also, the program can be closed. There are no fixed rules. The College of Extended University prepares a budget to make sure the program budget is in the black.
The IME faculty members explained that the program is competing with USC. The College has received written letters of support from industry. Also, there is some financial support from industry.
The question was raised if this is not profitable, who will foot the bill? Dr. Pinter-Lucke explained that it would be subsidized by the College of Extended University, the department or the College. The plan is to get a minimum number of students and it will be self-supporting. There are no plans for subsidizing this program.
The point was made that we assume there is a plan. Is there any plan? Was a budget included as part of the proposal?
Dr. Pinter-Lucke responded that there is still discussion on the Budget with the College of Extended University. There is a minimum for the first quarter – 20 students to be profitable.
A question was raised how many courses are specific to the program? How many unique courses? Four courses are currently in the graduate program, the remaining courses are new.
The IME faculty was asked to describe the type program this would be. This is a 45 unit graduate program. Students will be going through as full time students. It will take approximately two years. Most of the faculty teaching will be from industry.
The point was made that this program was driven by the local industry need.
The motion to adopt passed – 3 abstentions.
d. AP-006-134, Cessation of Curricular Changes for the Quarter System – FIRST READING
Senator Garver presented the report.
M/s to adopt the report.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Academic Programs Committee recommends:
1. The university put an end to all curriculum proposals (not just for new programs and courses) that relate to the quarter calendar effective June 15, 2014.
2. All curriculum proposals submitted after June 15, 2014, will pertain to the semester system only and will be acted upon by the appropriate senate committee after the semester conversion curriculum processes are clearly established.
Discussion – The Academic Programs Committee was asked to consider a timeline for completing the quarter curriculum proposals in preparation for the transition to the semester conversion. This will allow time to finish the proposals that are in progress.
Chair Speak stated that anything that does not get through the Senate by June will be formally sunsetted by the Executive Committee.
Questions were asked about the courses that are in the process. In practical terms we are not going to close down the curriculum changes for the quarter system. The programs in process will be completed.
A comment was made that we should not stop progress. Three years is a long time.
Chair Speak stated that although quarter and semester seem like different calendars, in terms of Senate work they are not so different. If a referral is not finished this year and it is carried over to next year, the Senate would not complete its work until later in the academic year.
Committee Chair Garver stated that the Academic Programs Committee had a problem with this referral because there is no structure for the conversion. We are asked to consider the semester based proposal and we are not sure how to do it. The structure needs to be defined. Dr. Garver stated that the Academic Programs Committee plans to clear out the referrals for this year.