Speaking of the Senate: Fall Plenary

by Cindy Pollack

2nd Vice President, Academic Senate

November was an exciting month for the Senate as it was the month that the Academic Senate of California Community Colleges’ Fall Plenary was held. For three days, senators met with one another from all over the state to share ideas and discuss important issues that affect our schools both academically and professionally. The final day culminates in the voting of resolutions that affect our programs. To see what daily topics were discussed and the resolutions that were brought forward, please visit asccc.org and go to ‘events’ and then ‘plenary.’ Anyone can attend these plenaries and you do not need to be a current senator. The discussions this year centered on the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges and accreditation standards.

For my adjunct counterparts, there was one resolution that affected us specifically and that was resolution 2.07 f13. This resolution stated that “part-time faculty should be considered an integral part of their departments and given all rights normally afforded to full time faculty in the areas of book selection, participation in department activities, and the use of college resources including, but not necessarily limited to, telephones, copy machines, supplies, office space, mailboxes, clerical staff, library, and professional development.” The ASCC voted unanimously to pass this resolution!

Also, keep in mind that the state Academic Senate has a part time caucus which is free to join. We discuss hot topics and create resolutions. One current resolution on the table is the ‘nomenclature resolution’ where we are attempting to replace the title “adjunct” faculty with “part-time” faculty. Check out our website at http://www.asccc.org/part-time-faculty-caucus and http://asptfacultycaucus.info/ for more information.

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season.

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

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