Academic Senate Meeting

10/7/04

Voting Members Present: (Senators) Donna Ayers, Terri English, Maria Fenyes,

 Pat Flood, Leslie Foster, Clive Gordon, Paul Kubicki, Eloise Cantrell, Stan Levine,

Vickie Oddino, John Orozco, Gary Prostak

(Exec. Members) Angela Echeverri, Louise Barbato, Gwen Walker,

Margie Long, Leslie Milke, Michael Climo, Dale Newman, Roxanne Dalrymple

Faculty Present:  Lorraine Manoogian, Said Pazirandeh, David Jordan, Sonia Soto-Bair,

Tricia Johnson, Cindy Cooper, Phoebe Rivera, Ralph LaRosa, Dena Feldman,

Louis Zandalisini, John Klitzner, Lilamani De Silva, Deborah Paulson, Alex Nikolaychuk, Carolyn Daly, Myriam Mekelburg, Bob Smazenka, Debby Wong, Mark Pursley, Jeanne Cassara, Sandy Thomsen, John Morales

Guests Present: Elizabeth Saldivar, Student Trustee; Martha Soto, Dean of Academic Affairs; Bill Farmer, Vice President of Academic Affairs

Voting Members Absent: Rick Scuderi, Charles Dirks, Janice Silver

 

I.                   President Echeverri called the meeting to order at 1:40 p.m.

 

II.                Approval of Minutes (MSC KUBICKI/OROZCO) TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF

 SEPTEMBER 2, 2004

 

III.             Officer’s Reports

A.     President (Angela Echeverri) Submitted the following report:

 

 

Enforcement of Prerequisites at Los Angeles Mission College

Background and History of Prerequisites in California Community Colleges:

 

What do the Title 5 Regulations and LACCD policy say?

Title 5 of California Code of Regulations (Adopted 1993)

Section 58106: Limitations on Enrollment

In order to be claimed for purposes of state apportionment, all courses shall be open to enrollment by any student who has been admitted to the college, provided that enrollment in specific courses, or programs may be limited as follows:

Enrollment may be limited to students meeting prerequisites and corequisites established pursuant to Sections 55200-55202 of this division, etc.

Title 5 Section 55201:

(c) (2) The prerequisite will assure, consistent with section 55002(a)(2)(D) that a student has the skills, concepts, and/or information that is presupposed in terms of the course or program for which it is being established, such that a student who has not met the prerequisite is highly unlikely to receive a satisfactory grade in the course for which the prerequisite is being established.

LACCD Policy on Prerequisites and Corequisites, and Advisories (Adopted 10/94)

I. A. Information in the Catalog and Schedule of Classes

Each college shall provide the following explanations in both the college catalog and schedule of classes:

1.      Definitions of prerequisites, corequisites, and limitations on enrollment.

2.      Procedures for a student to challenge prerequisites, corequisites, etc. (Title 5 Section 55201 (e)): Must include, at a minimum, the specific process, deadlines, and various types of challenges allowed. Decision should be made by someone knowledgeable about the discipline, but not the instructor of the section in which the student wishes to enroll

3.      Define advisories on recommended preparation, the right of a student to choose to take a course without meeting the advisory, and circumstances under which a student is encouraged to exercise that right.

II. A. Validation of Prerequisites, Corequisites, and Advisories

1. Levels of scrutiny: Depends on the type of prerequisite (Title 5, Section 55201 (b)(1)). The most common

 ones would be:

a. Standard prerequisites and corequisites (not English or Math skills): Prerequisites for transferable courses require basic content review plus identification of at least three UC or CSU courses with the same prerequisites and corequisites. (e.g.: Biology 3 for Microbiology 20).

b. Sequential Courses Within and Across Disciplines: Require documented content review and identification of exit skills, knowledge, concepts, and/or information that are covered in the prerequisite course (e.g.: FSM 101 for FSM 102).

c. Courses in Communication and Computation Skills (Title 5, Sec. 55202 (b)): English and Math prerequisites require a high level of scrutiny including: a list of specific skills needed to succeed in the course and sound research justifying the prerequisites and corequisites (e.g.: Math 115 for CSIT 407 or English 28 for Art 101).

d. Other Limitations on Enrollment: Include assessment instrument cut scores, G.P.A., program prerequisites, health and safety (e.g.: TB test), performance courses, honors courses, and blocks of courses (e.g.: PACE), and recency. Level of scrutiny varies.

e. Advisories/Recommended Courses: Require basic content review.

I. D. Program Review  (Title 5 Section 55201 (b)(3)

As a regular part of the Program Review process or at least every six years, the college shall review each prerequisite, corequisite or advisory to establish that each is still supported by the faculty in the discipline or department and by the curriculum committee and is still in compliance with all other provisions of this policy and with the law.

Prerequisites or corequisites established between July 6, 1990 and October 31, 1993, shall be reviewed by July 1, 1996.

(Note: If prerequisites were not validated by this deadline they had to be removed from catalog and schedule; their enforcement is illegal).

What was the problem with the automatic enforcement of all prerequisites on file with Academic Affairs in Fall 2004?

Violations of Title 5 Regulations and District Policy

Fall 2004 schedule contains 99 courses with prerequisites (out of a total of 339).

Out of these, at least 28 courses (with 45 sections) have prerequisites that were never validated including:

-Accounting 1, 2, and 15

-Art 304, 305, and 306

-Admin. Justice 5

-Computer Science 407

-Food Service Management 101, 102, 104, 106, 225, and 325

-Music 322, 323, 324, and 341

-Photography 12

-Psychology 2, 3, and 17

-Sociology 11 and Spanish 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6

Note: All these course outlines date from between 1991 and 1993. Prerequisites that were not validated should have been removed in 1996.

What is the solution?

A meeting with President Barrera, Vice-Chancellor Rocky Young, District Academic Senate President Leon Marzillier, District AFT President Carl Friedlander, AFT Chapter President, Maria Fenyes, and LAMC Academic Senate President Angela Echeverri took place on Tuesday, October 5th, to address these problems.

The following courses of action were agreed upon at the 10/5/04 meeting:

1.       Review all course outlines and prerequisite validation forms on file with Academic Affairs. Remove all course prerequisites (or corequisites) that have never been validated from the Spring 2005 schedule of classes. Course prerequisites that have been validated, but not reviewed within the last six years, will remain in the schedule of classes for now, but should be reviewed as soon as possible. (Note: Classes with advanced course status will remain in effect for Spring and Summer 2005 to allow faculty time to update course outlines and validate prerequisites, as well as protect the integrity of academic programs.)

2.       Print an addendum for the 2004-2005 college catalog to correct the invalid course prerequisites in the current catalog. Distribute addendum to counselors, faculty, and others. Additionally, make the same corrections to the website catalog.

3.       Begin a validation process through the Curriculum Committee of the Academic Senate to determine which, if any, of the invalid prerequisites should be validated.

4.       The Curriculum Committee shall develop a challenge procedure for students to be approved by the

      Academic Senate. The challenge procedure shall be published in the Spring 2005 schedule and in the

     college catalog as mandated by LACCD Policy.

5.       Stop the enforcement of all prerequisites that have not been validated.

6.       Set up a program review process to review all prerequisites on a six year cycle.

Caution: Not validating prerequisites for transfer courses, may result in the loss of articulation! Removing necessary prerequisites may impede student success. Clarification: While it is important to make the best effort to enforce validated prerequisites, it is not illegal not to do so. However, it is illegal to enforce invalid prerequisites.

Advanced Course Status

            Advanced classes have lower enrollment requirements to prevent cancellation (8 students versus 15 for non-advanced classes). According to the contract, the President (or designee), AFT chapter President, shall after consulting with the college Academic Senate, determine which classes are “advanced”.  However, the Academic Senate has not formally approved a uniform advanced course policy. Today we are submitting a draft policy for approval by the Academic Senate (see attachment).

The current guidelines in use at LAMC state that advanced status may be designated to courses that have two validated college level prerequisites, which satisfy graduation requirements.

The advanced classes currently on record with Academic Affairs are:

Italian 3 and 4

Engineering 121*, 151*, 152*, 220, 240*, 243*, and 281*

Food Service Management 108

English 102, 200*, 208*, and 240

Math 215, 225, 227, 235*, 238, 240, 245, 260, 265, 266*, 267*, 270*, 275*, and 291*

Biology 6         Microbiology 20          Physiology

Chemistry 65, 52, 101*, and 102*```Physics 1, 2, 3*, 6, and 7*

*: Courses marked with an asterisk have prerequisites that have not been reviewed in six years. Unless they are reviewed, they will lose their advanced status.

Elimination of PACE Program: Last week Bill Farmer informed me that he was putting together a proposal to eliminate the PACE program and replace it with a new program called ACE (Accelerated College Education). He stated that in his proposal, the current PACE director position held by Mark Pursley and the full time secretary would be eliminated. Mark Pursley would return as a regular faculty member to the Department of Social Sciences (Chair John Morales), with 0.4 reassigned time to help coordinate the new ACE program. I asked him to put his proposal in writing so that the Academic Senate could discuss the proposal. See attached memo form Bill Farmer dated 10/4/2004.

DAS/LACCD 7th Annual Leadership Summit:  Grading Shared Governance: Faculty Roles in Planning and Decision Making. Was held on Friday, September 24, 2004 at the Marina del Rey Hotel. Summit was very well attended, 8 out of 9 college presidents participated. LAMC faculty attendees were: Pat Flood, Leslie Foster, Louise Barbato, Mike Climo, Gary Prostak, Angela Echeverri, Gwen Walker, Dale Newman, and Margie Long. LAMC administrators in attendance were: Maury Pearl, Ed Zayas, and David Green. Breakout sessions were: Linking Budget and Planning, Program and Viability Review, Facilities Planning, Shared Governance, Interest-based Problem Solving, Student Learning Outcomes, and Student Success.

Review of LAMC Shared Governance Committees: In September, President Barrera had a meeting with the chairs of all standing committees and asked us to examine our charters, effectiveness, and roles. A survey was distributed to all committee chairs, who were asked to seek input from committee members. A meeting is scheduled for October 27th to discuss the findings. The President also formed a “Budget Task Force” which has two full time faculty out of a total of 12 members (Dr. Barrera, Zoila Rodriguez, Jerry Huang, William Roane, Joyce Holloway, Guadalupe Jara, Dale Newman, David Green, Maury Pearl, Bill Farmer, Angela Echeverri, and Karen Hoefel). They have met twice.

Discussion on President’s Report.

1.  LACCD Prerequisite Policy: There was a lengthily discussion on this issue, which included validation

and program review. Echeverri explained the difference between not validated and not updated courses.

 A copy of district policy was circulated. It is legal not to enforce prerequisites, but it is illegal to enforce

unvalidated ones. Leslie Foster asked for clarification as to why the curriculum committee was being charged

 with creating challenges. The reason is that we need a standard procedure for the college. Bob Smazenca

pointed out that we are to use the process currently in the catalog. Gwen Walker replied that although there is

 no issue with English, ESL, and math, the counseling office was bombarded by students wanting to challenge

prerequisites for other disciplines.

Dean Soto stated that because the Spring schedule goes to print in a few weeks,  any additional information

needed to be sent to her right away. Mike Reynolds added that chairs should create the biggest distance

between themselves and the process. Paul Kubicki also brought up the financial loss to faculty whose classes

were canceled due to illegal prerequisite enforcement.  Louise Barbato brought up the loss of LAMC students

 to other colleges. Trustee Saldivar expressed concern that there be a way to let students know about which

 prerequisites would be enforced before they enrolled in other campuses. Kubicki thanked Echeverri and

Fenyes for all their work putting together the highly informative  handout about prerequisites.

 2. Future of Pace Program: There was major concern over the elimination of a program without faculty input

as well as the start up of a new program without faculty input. This would also lead to the elimination of a faculty

 position without consultation with faculty and the creation of a faculty position without consultation with faculty.

Gwen Walker reminded us that last year there was a committee to look into PACE. Leslie Milke replied that they

 met and determined that our program was out of compliance with the contract. They recommended that we

change the way it is administered so that it would be in compliance.  Maria Fenyes stated that the AFT did not

take a stand on this. Mark Pursley reported that the changes did happen with faculty hiring. Bill Farmer pointed

 out the lack of team teaching and a theme. Faculty believe that the real issue was more one of taking action

 before hard data was consulted.  When a similar proposal was made at Valley, and the hard data was evaluated,

their conclusion was negligible so they did not make the change. John Orozco warned that cutting expenses here

 might hurt the college. The following motion resulted from this discussion:

(MSU KUBIKI/OROZCO) THAT THERE BE A STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FROM THE

ACADEMIC SENATE FOR THE PACE PROGRAM AND FOR MARK PURSLEY AND THAT

 THERE BE FULL CONSULTATION WITH THE SENATE BEFORE A FINAL DECISION IS

MADE WITH REGARD TO PACE.                                                                                 

B.     Treasurer (Margie Long): Long reported the following amounts in scholarship accounts:

1.      Carla Bowman--$3,156.62

2.      David Lee Moss--$553.49

3.      Gallagher Memorial--$0

Long then reported that the expenses for the Faculty Association were $100 for the Full-Time scholarship,

 $100 for the Part-Time scholarship, $100 for the Graduating Transfer scholarship and $300 for food for

 the graduation reception. She made a deposit on October 1, 2004 of $740 from dues collected. After

subtracting the above $600 from the balance of $1,102.87, there was a balance of $502.87 in the

 Faculty Association account.                                                                                     

C.     Parliamentarian (Gwen Walker): Because there have been many questions regarding the process

     for tuition reimbursement and conference attendance, Walker distributed a flow chart listing each

     step necessary for reimbursement. The conference attendance fund will pay up to $250 to full-time

     faculty and $125 to part-time faculty. She also handed out copies of the conference attendance and

     tuition reimbursement forms.

IV.              Public Address: Student Trustee, Elizabeth Saldivar thanked the faculty for their support in helping students

            participate is the ASO. Faculty sponsored Eva Macias, the ASO secretary.

 

V.                 Reports of Senate Committee Meetings

A.     Curriculum Committee report (Leslie Foster):

1.       There is a new transfer program SCIGETC, which is like IGETC for biology majors. Foster

       asked for input for the district curriculum committee.

2.       In the ongoing effort to encourage faculty to update their courses, there will be a Curriculum

       Workshop on November 2nd, at 1:30pm room TBA.

3.      Concern was brought up regarding students being mislead with courses which are no longer

      offered at LAMC, have not been updated and have not been in the catalog (in over 8-10 years),

      but continue to be posted on ASSIST. Committee agreed to post this policy on the website under

      "Course UPDATES" as follows:  If the course is not offered and the outline is not updated the

      course will be removed from the catalog and consequently ASSIST.

4.      There was also a discussion about when prerequisites can be enforced and the motion approved

      at the last Senate meeting.

5.      Submission for UC transferability for courses is due this month.  The courses being submitted are

     Journalism 101 and Oceanography 1.Submissions for IGETC and CSU-GE will be done in

    November. There were some changes in the Natural Sciences requirements that will affect

    articulation/transfer to the UC system.  Any Bio, Physics, and chemistry courses that are

    FOR MAJORS ONLY must have a prerequisite or a traceable prerequisite of Intermediate

    Algebra.  This was decided by the UC faculty, stating, . . . "transfer students who complete their

    science courses prior to transferring to UC should receive the same prep and level of exposure

    as students entering during their freshman year." Articulation is currently working with Natural

    Sciences on this. 

B.     EPAC (Sonia Soto-Bair): Summary of September 21, 2004 meeting.

1.      Issues related to TOP Code Project, Faculty Hiring E-100 (Serving Students with

     Disabilities—postponed due to John Clerx’s absence.

2.      AAUP Statement of Academic Freedom—Deferred to October

3.      AAUP Statement on Professional Ethics—Required by accreditation but needs

      review by local senates. Discussion will take place in October.

4.      15-Unit limitation of Course Repetition—EPAC recommends no unit limitation on

     course repetition except for mandated limits such as financial aid, major, and other consideration.

5.      Policy on the Prohibition of Instructors Selling Textbooks and/or Instructional

      Materials—needs review by local senates.

6.      Discipline Review Process—The deadline for submitting changes is approaching.

7.      Minors in Classroom—John Orozco stated that he was on the K-8 committee and that

 minors have the right to take our classes. This issue is beyond the control of the senate.

 

VI.              Reports of other campus committees:

A.  Resource Analysis Report (Angela Echeverri): The committee met in September. and reviewed financial and enrollment projections for 2004-05. Members were given a survey and asked to evaluate the charter and role of the committee.

Action items: Committee approved the expenditure of funds to pay for half of the college webmaster’s salary for 90 days. For the remainder of the Fall semester, committee will meet on October 27th, November 24th, and December 15th.

B. Staff Dev Events - Oct. - Dec. 2004 Submitted by David Jordan, updated: 10/05/04

1. That's Amore - a taste of Italy (Faculty Lunch Talks)
Date: next Weds. Oct. 13th, 11:30, Room 1007 - Culinary Arts
Sandi Lampert will take us through the vistas and panoramas of beautiful Italy. also enjoy Italian food, and music - Dean Martin, and others. cost $10 per person. please call Louie Zandalasini at ext. 7849 to confirm.
2. Showcase of Excellence in Teaching - a new event. "teachers showing teachers" - roundtable discussion and teaching demonstrations by interested faculty. LRC 205 - Thursday, 4:30 pm, 10/04, 10/28, 11/04 & 11/18. come join us.
3. Etudes and How to Construct your own webpage - Prof. David Jordan will show you how you can use etudes and your own webpage for your class materials and easy access by your students. date and time TBA. Thursday, 5:30 pm, LRC 205, 10/04,10/28, 11/04 & 11/18 come and join us.
4. Practical uses of GPS systems - Come join Abu Rahman of the Geography Department as we use his GPS system to track down items around the campus. time and date TBA.
5. Myers-Briggs testing and its implications - Join Psychology Prof. Patricia Johnson in this spirited testing, discussion, and application to yourself and your students. time and date TBA.
6. Student Learning Outcomes - how can these new materials help you and your students in your classes. time and date TBA.

C. Assessment and Planning Committees Report (Guadalupe Jara):

Assessment and Planning met on September 15, 2004. Members present:  Maria Bates, Bill Farmer, Rosalie Hilger, Guadalupe Jara, Barbara Kerwin, Mary Mendoza, Gary Prostak, Zoila Rodriguez-Doucette, Geri Shapiro, and Sandy Thomsen

1.   Bill Farmer presented the budget projections for FY 04-05 and informed the committee that there was a projected deficit of nearly two million dollars. The increase in expenditures is mainly due to salary increases and employee health benefits. Costs have increased but state funding has not. To help compensate, there have been cuts in areas such as printing and supplies, but most categories of cost cannot be reduced since they are salary accounts. In addition, LAMC's current fall enrollment has decreased in comparison to past fall semesters. This decrease has a direct effect on FTES funding which can be determined as WSCH, DSCH or as Positive Attendance. A & P is represented by G. Jara on the task force established to review the college’s current budget and financial outlook.

2.   The chair informed the committee that Dr. Barrera has proposed that each committee review its governance structure. Dr. Barrera has given us five questions to review ranging from the composition of the membership to how to improve communication between committees. The committee will meet on October 6, 2004 to start the review and have a progress report ready by late October.

                       

VII.           Old Business

A.     Academic Rank—Echeverri handed out an application including criteria. If you are interested in

     obtaining rank she asked that you fill it out and forward it to Margie long. Two people so far have

    applied. The Part-Time issues group is working to get academic rank for part-time faculty.

    Jeanne Cassara reported that such a process exists at Pierce. She will bring a proposal for the

    next senate meeting. 

B.     Advanced Courses—Policy Draft: As there is currently no policy, Maria Fenyes submitted a draft for

     consideration.  “An advanced course must be a third level course. For the purpose of this

   definition. A third level course is a course which has two degree applicable prerequisites

    (not necessarily in the same discipline).” A process was suggested with a proposed effective

    date of Fall 2005. “Until then, the current status of advanced courses, as previously established

    will be used.”

                    (MSU FENYES/OROZCO) TO ADOPT THE ADVANCED COURSE DRAFT PRESENTED

                     BY FENYES

 

VIII.        New Business

Outreach and Courses on High School Campuses

Margie Long presented the following motion to the executive committee and   forwarder from the

 exec. to the body:  (MSU) IN LIGHT OF THE ENROLLMENT CRISIS, THE ACADEMIC

SENATE  MOVES TO:

1.      REINSTATE THE HIGH SCHOOL OUTREACH PROGRAM UNDER THE AUSPICES OF

      THE COUNSELING DEPARTMENT

2.      GIVE SCHEDULES AND CATALOGS TO ALL NEW STUDENTS

3.      OFFER CLASSES AT LOCAL PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS WITH THE FOLLOWING

      CONDITIONS:

A.     FULL APPROVAL OF THE DEPARTMENT CHAIRS IN THE PLANNING,

      SCHEDULING, AND STAFFING OF THESE CLASSES.

B.     SCHEDULING OF THESE CLASSES IN COMPLIANCE WITH LACCD

     BOARD RULES, TITLE 5 REGULATIONS, AND CALIFORNIA ED CODE,

     THUS ENSURING THAT THESE CLASSES ARE PUBLISHED IN THE

    COLLEGE SCHUEDULE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.                      

                                                                                                                                                        

The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

Submitted by Dale Newman, Secretary