Speaking of the Senate: Time to Act

by Michael Scott

Academic Senate President

In September, the Senate has been very productive. For the first time in three years, we have worked on action items. In the previous three years, the Senate spent the month of September discussing only current issues that emerged during the summer breaks. We are committed this year to getting the work done in a timelier manner.

The following motions were passed during the month of September:

• Motion 2012-18, 3 nays The Senate recommends that if an instructor is repeatedly late to class during the semester, the student should report the lateness to the division chair responsible for the instructor.
• Motion 2012-20, 2 nays The Senate approves the change to Admin. Reg. 7120 Tenure Track Hiring Procedure
• Motion 2013-22 The Senate adopts the 2013-2014 Senate Rules and Procedures.
• Motion 2013-23 Noting the unique circumstances surrounding the suspension of the Pace Program, the Senate approves the petitions of three graduating PACE students who took Humanities 106 in Spring 2013 to waive the Cultural Diversity Requirement because no Cultural Diversity Humanities was offered or other Cultural Diversity course was offered as part of the PACE program during Spring 2013.
• Motion 2013-24 The Senate rejects the revisions to AR 4000 Mutual Gains Agreement.
• Motion 2013-25 The Senate rejects the revisions to AR 6200 The District Budget.
• Motion 2013-26 The Senate approves the request by the Health and Physical Education Division to change its name to the Kinesiology Division.
• 2013-29 Approval of the 2013-2014 Senate budget.
• 2013-30 Senate approves the accreditation chairs.

The only motion to fail was Motion 2013-04 The Senate approves articulating with reputable institutions that are not WASC accredited.

We also tabled two motions, Motion 2012-22 The Senate approves the changes made to Admin Reg. 4228 Course Repetition-Significant Lapse of Time and Motion 2013-13 The Senate forms a taskforce to address the problems with AR 4227, 4228 and 4229 in regard to repeatability issues due to the changes in Title 5 requirements, until March.

Accreditation

As many of you heard at Institute Day, we have a lot of work to do on SLO’s and PLO’s before semesters end. It is no longer a goal to be at 100% completion by December, but a mandate. GCC will probably be sanctioned if we are not at the 100% for all our learning outcomes. SLO’s/PLO’s have been accreditation recommendations for almost three years. At three years, we find ourselves at the end of our accreditor’s patience.

I stated at Institute Day how much I hate all things SLO/PLO. But that does not mean I did not take part in the process. I wrote the SLO’s and core competencies for 24 courses and added my input on SLO assessments for the courses I teach. All of us must participate and get these things done regardless of how we feel about them. No more excuses!

Rather than point out those divisions that have not finished the work, I will single out those who, as of this writing, have finished all their SLO and PLO work. Congratulations to our Biology, Credit ESL, Mathematics, and CE ESL Divisions. Now we just need the rest of us to finish. A report of our progress will be submitted to the Board at its October meeting and at all subsequent meetings through February 2014. The world will know our progress. We can do this.

Visit us on the web: www.glendale.edu/senate

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