June 8, 2020

Minutes of June 8, 2020

I. Approval of Agenda and Minutes from June 1, 2020 Meeting

• Agenda approved.
• Minutes approved.

II. Public Comment on items not on agenda (Senate cannot discuss or take action)

• Tim S: reported an misuse of the Foothill part time faculty listserv by one of the co-managers over the weekend, to campaign for the FA election; Tim read the statement put on listserv that crossed the line from communicating to using a district owned resource for their own benefits while other candidates did not have the same opportunity. Tim advised those who have not voted to take that into consideration. He has alerted all the other candidates. They may decertify the candidate should she prevail.
• Mary P asked if the FA bylaw and constitutions has a statement that addresses the use of district resources for campaigning and its ramifications. Tim was not aware of such a statement, but he considered it an unfair advantage and an abuse.
• Bob S shared a link from FACCC and invited people to register their opinions with the governor regarding the current budget and budget situation, especially around Calbright, to ensure a friendlier budget for the California Community Colleges. https://faccc.salsalabs.org/supportthelegislatures202021statebudget/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=e0a858bf-6021-495a-8ebb-266c063d029e
• A reminder to vote in the FA election.

 

III. Full Time UMOJA Counselor Position

Recognizing De Anza's Persistent Equity Gaps for Latinx and Black Identified Students

• De Anza senior staff, Christina, Lorrie, Rob, Pam, and Marisa, were present for the discussion regarding a full time UMOJA counselor position.
• Christina: last week the senior staff met with BFSA and were presented with eight action items. The senior staff sat back, listened, learned and reflected. Within 48 hours, they decided to act upon the number one, immediate asked item for a full time tenure track UMOJI counselor position. After meeting with the BFSA, they realized that the college has been operating on systems that do not support them; systems that are institutionally racist. They looked at the current decision processes and decided that they could not wait for things to be done in the right order, but must do what is right. They have come to the Academic Senate to ask support for this position and to bypass all the current procedures, like having first and second readings in each approval committee.
• Ishmael thanked the senior staff for their swift response to the serious concerns that the Black Faculty and Staff Association have put forward; although BFSA have other concerns beyond this position, he was fully in support of the acceleration of the process
• Allexys Cornejo, student: it is important to bring this program to light as well as the funding of a counselor. As a student, she would not have been successful if there had not been an academic setting and support to educate brown women at De Anza. Our black students, especially now, need our support. We don’t want to push black students away from achieving higher education.  We need to create a welcoming environment for them at De Anza.
• Allexys’ name will be in the Academic Senate Statement of Solidarity. She has drafted a letter with specific requests for faculty on behalf of concerned and activist students.
• Paige Wallace, student representative: I fully support this decision and appreciate the action of senior staff in listening and acting on the asks of the Black Faculty and Staff.
• Mae Lee : As a college that prides itself on the principles of diversity, inclusion, and equity...and now anti-racism, De Anza would do well to put its money where it's mouth is. For that reason, I support the proposal to fund a full-time, tenure-track coordinator for UMOJA.
• Get an SSRS Director who can further support UMOJA and other programs served by that office.
• Alicia Cortez, Latinx Association, Dean of Equity and Engagement; thank senior staff for taking the time to reflect and moving swiftly. She asked why has it taken us so long to recognize this in our systems. The marginated community continues to be marginalized. She and many others in chat wholeheartedly support this program. She pointed to institutional processes that have not been reflective of our students, student voices, or student demographics. She urged taking time to do some inward work, looking at our respective programs, divisions, demographics; look at who gets on those committees, their perspectives, are they narrow or global. How are they looking at the needs with respect to equity gaps. There has been no action.  Nothing happens. How to best use and allocate resources. These support programs and counselors work for student successes, to make sure students complete courses and certificates for degrees and transfers. We need to work more in harmony with each other; we have to change; it is systemic; how do we change some of the ways we do share governance on this campus? challenging all of us to change our processes, structures and system!
• Pauline Wethington: Black students need to identify with a counselor or someone on campus. and know that they have support. They have been able to have a black graduation for the last 15 years. This has been a painful year. She didn’t know of black students eligible to graduate this year.
• De Anza has had success with Sankofa at NCORE, a nationally renowned conference on race and ethnicity, years back. It took too long to support, but good to know we are moving in the right direction.
• Vanessa Bermudez (she): Speaking as a student who has participated in an FYE/Umoja cohort last year and attended the Umoja Conference with my cohort, I want everyone to know I FULLY support any steps to reviving the Umoja program, and that includes funding a Full-time Umoja counselor.
• Alexis acknowledged black athletes on campus. They showed up, worked hard, brought more students into the program, and won championships. There is no counselor for them to help them succeed and transfer. This is messed up, they are doing so much and the system is not reciprocating
• Christina: There is a need to look at the institutional racism that exists in the systems. She admitted to being part of the problem, and wanted to be part of the solution. She recognized the pain, and said that is ok to be angry. We still need shared governance, but it needs to be shared decision making. But, what needs to change is the system used to make decisions, like who should sit at the table and whose voice we listen to.
• Paige Wallace, DASB representative: fully support this decision and appreciate the action of the senior staff, listening and acting on the asks of the Black Faculty and Staff Association.
• Edmundo, IIS and the Equity Action Council. The issue across the country and around the world is systemic structural racism. This calls for systemic change.  It’s not just about personal unconscious bias, which is a necessary but not sufficient dimension of work.  We must now look at the System we have been using that has chronically given us the same results.  This is reflected in policies, practices, structures, and the assignment of resources. There is a need for a change in attitudes, assumptions and beliefs.
• Great comments and resources in chat.
• The system needs to change. Nationally, some departments are defunding the police. This means shifting resources to prevention programs and programs that support poor communities.
• Identify, name, describe and dismantle!
• https://www.participatorybudgeting.org/
• #JustTransition https://movementgeneration.org/justtransition/
• https://nationalequityproject.org/services/consulting/black-teacher-project ? Focuses on k-12
• Mae had a question for the senior staff: given the kind of attention and great urgency in addressing the institutional and systemic nature of racism on campus, what other steps do you intend to take and what other initiatives do you have in mind in addition to supporting the UMOJA Counselor.
• Christina shared the list of 8 requests from BFSA. She stressed that this is just the beginning. It is not all inclusive, not exhaustive.  The yellow highlight marked the three items they have focused on.
• Full-time Tenure UMOJA Counselor. (first commitment)
• Support and visibility for our black students/safe place for our students (Pam is working better spaces for all the cohort programs once we are back on campus.)
• Official Black Student Union (BSU) (Encourage students to take the lead to recreate the union.)
• Establish budget for all programs (Have to take action. Plans on establishing a scholarship, and funding for black graduation.stay true to the Black Lives Matter Movement; this is a population that continues to be marginalized and underserved)
• Opening Day - speaker (Joy DeGruy); they have bypassed all the normal processes with the support of the Chancellor to confirm and to invite Dr DeGruiy to be the keynote speaker.
• Recruitment for black students/staff and faculty. (On this item, there was failure to follow through that created the situation of individuals feeling unheard and unseen. Looking at what needs to be fixed moving forward.)
• Opportunity for staff - professional growth and advancement particular for black staff (They are committed to working on professional growth.)
• Support to maintain and establish black studies courses (Would like to engage the Academic Senate and and IIS Division to work together.)
• Melinda Hughes thanked Christina for staying true to her word and coming through. She described this to be a rough and difficult time, especially for BFSA and gave a shout out to all their allies, those who spoke up and rallied for them. It took an unfortunate event to get the attention of the administration and be heard. She hoped that this is the beginning of change for De Anza and for the whole world. To go forward, it is necessary to be honest with each other, and that honesty could be painful. In the end, this would make a great difference how they can serve the students, serve and respect each other.
• Mayra Cruz in chat : The time calls for rebel leadership. According to the National Equity Project, “rebel leadership requires us to make inequities visible; disrupt discourse, practices and policies that perpetuate harm; and create new ways to engage and co-design with our communities so that each of us and our children can develop, thrive and experience a sense of belonging.  Rebel leadership now requires that each of us SEE the system, ENGAGE and ACT differently than we ever have before.”
• Casey in chat: For those of you who are asking about FT positions for other groups; we need to fully support our black community on campus because they are underserved and under-represented. Now is not the appropriate time to ask about it. We need to uplift them.
• Maristella Tapia: This is badly needed. Black students have been hurting ever since Cassie was dismissed. There is a lot of healing that needs to be done and this a step in the right direction. Take a strong look at the needs of black students and the needs of the students of color on campus. Every year, departments do program reviews that seem like an exercise in futility. The reviews list the resources needed for the programs. These should be public and functional, not just bureaucratic documents. It is time to start having real conversations about what people have been asking for; what has been written in program reviews for years. Unless it is voiced publicly, it is too easy to get buried
• Terence motioned, Susan seconded, to extend discussion for another 10 minutes, 17 yes.
• Glynn: For this systemic change, undoing, reshaping the system will take time and effort. Helping and supporting black students and staff and faculty will make the community stronger. An old African proverb, “ it takes a village to support a child.” This helps the entire village. Equity, and equality are two different things. He shared how this incident made him feel as a black man in America. But seeing support from those who don’t look like him created hope for him that things could change; This is something to work continually forward together and be fully supportive of each other in addressing this particular problem. Show support by sending students and show up for events, like the African Educational Conference, movies or meeting.
• (in chat)“The Black Teacher Project works with university partners, school districts, and educational leaders to develop and sustain the leadership capacity that Black teachers need in order to transform schools into equitable learning environments.
• (in chat) A2MEND is the organization that puts on conferences for the CCC to address how to best serve Black students.
• Karen: This has been a powerful discussion and powerful coming together that is too rare and has been a problem in shared governance. There have been expressions of frustration and sadness. Why has it taken so long for these issues to remain marginalized. Finally, there is institutional will to address these issues head on and devote resources. Karen urged everyone to hold our institution accountable and she is committed to take it to the state level. In chat, people recognized the need for other groups like the LGBT and other underrepresented groups.  In the State Chancellor’s Call to Action Zoom last week in Chancellor Miner’s Zoom, people were forcefully calling for institutional change at the state, district, and college level. There is the need to stay active and carry the movement forward.
• Demi Yang, alumnus student in Ethnic Studies: She was the only person graduating from ethnic studies last year. She explained the benefits for students to take ethnic studies classes beyond the GE requirements. As an immigrant from Taiwan, she knew nothing about race or racism before taking her ethnic studies classes. Most people learn racism from their families. Demi had to unlearn everything related to race from her family upbringing. She wanted other students to take the same opportunity to relearn and unlearn racism. The IIS division has Intercultural studies, woman studies, international studies, and world languages. Ishmael moved for unanimous consent for the Academic Senate to bypass the normal procedures and support the senior staff in hiring a full time UMOJA Counselor, Shagun seconded; 23 votes; motion passed.
• Christina: it is a historical day for De Anza, one that should have happened a long time ago. She is committed to working and looking at the systems. She apologized for taking part in having created it. She acknowledged that there are other underrepresented groups. However, their immediate focus is the Black Lives Matter Movement, working with the black community and the BFSA to understand where and how they have failed. She and the senior staff appreciated all the support for the Senate decision and will start the hiring process immediately.
• On July 1, Christina will step down as Acting President and return to her VP of Instruction role

Needs and Confirmations

2020-21 IPBT Faculty Members Confirmation

• Mary: The voting has been done. However, she asked the Senate to rethink the normal practice of using numbers to determine the three representatives that will move forward. Should numbers be the indicator for the decision making. Going by the number may not achieve inclusion and diversity.
• The remaining IPBT members with another year are: Mary P (CIS), Ed Ahrens (CIS & PT), Cheryl Balm (Math), Erik W (Chemistry)
• Karen asked senators to look at PDF with candidate names, statements, and department affiliations.
• Someone wanted clarification on the results of the election and if it failed to reflect diversity.
• Mary: one way is to have the numerical outcome determine the decision or have officers make the final decision if there are extremely good reasons against the numerical outcome. She pointed out the systemic inequity (as previously discussed) when people who personally identify with the underrepresented students often are not elected.
• Many wanted to see the voting results before continuing with discussion.
• The results were shared on the screen and read.
• Ishmael: we had an election; people made choices. To overturn the results of people who have duly elected is disrespectful to people who voted, is disrespectful to the candidates and it is absolutely undemocratic.
• Erik: There was a long discussion about ensuring equity. When the result of an election is not equitable, the confirming body has the choice as well as the duty to re-examine that election process.
• There was a precedent for overturning an AS vote. It was made on Feb. 24 and it nullified the Psych hiring committee.
• There is also the prior history of the academic senate officers making the recommendations for the executive committee to approve.
• Diana Alves de Lima, one of the candidates, also an incumbent that has served as an IPBT voting member, volunteered to step aside to allow new input on IPBT.
• Veronica agreed with Ishmael about honoring the voting process.
• There were discussions and suggestions on beginning a new process. It is long overdue. The system has not been fair, here’s an opportunity to create an equitable system.
• Terence motioned to extend discussion time for 15 min. Susan seconded 20 votes
• There those who wanted to honor the votes and confirm the top three after Diana withdrew. Some asked about a re-vote to re-distribute Diana’s vote. There were serious concerns about the process.
• Cynthia motioned to confirm the top 3, Daniel, Terence, and Mayra, Susan Seconded, 17 no, 1 yes, 3 Motion did not carry.
• Mari: This decision process reflects campus processes that reinforces status quo and unjust systems. How has IBPT served, or not served us? In this structure, everyone is fighting for crumbs, fighting for a voice at the table. It is not representative nor democratic. To be equitable, every area should have a seat at the table, each area should decide on its own representative.
• There was interest in taking the opportunity for change. What would happen if these positions are not filled. Is there a faculty quorum? We will be entering the year with new leadership, and a very difficult year in terms of budget, but still using the same broken system; some areas are over represented, some underrepresented; there are limited seats; who comes up with the system.
• Ishmael moved for a re-vote; then withdrew his motion.
• Susan moved for a re-vote; also withdrew the motion.
• Karen asked for a motion to suspend the remaining agenda items to next week.
• Christina: She supported the call to examine the system Martha Kanter created the IPBT system in the early 90s. With a new president, this is a perfect time to revamp the system. Christina will be co-chairing the committee with Mary P next year. There is not a single black or Asian person on IPBT; this committee makes very important decisions about the entire campus. She will  go to the College Planning Budget Committee and the College Council to ask for revamp. She wanted to make sure there are equity voices; have representation from every division. She will ask for more members, got to have more voices who live the experiences of and advocate for the underrepresented students
• Diana: to do things differently, we shouldn’t have the same people who always served continue to serve. She plans to be an active participant, whether voting or not.
• A lot of support to revamp IBPT. More campus side discussion.
• Mae motioned to not fill the IBPT positions with the intention of forcing a restructuring/rethinking of IBPT, Betty seconded. 19 yes. Motion carried
• Next week, final meeting; end by 4 pm; followed by recognitions for the newly tenured and retirees, as well as other acknowledgments.

Concerns Received Regarding Academic Senate Election Results

Distance Education Online Hybrid Forms Discussion - Tabled

Name	Position	Present
Karen Chow-	President	✔
Mary Pape	Vice President	✔
So Kam Lee	Notetaker/Secretary (F19)	✔
Ishmael Tarikh-PT	Representss part-time faculty	✔
Mary Donahue - PT	Represents part-time faculty	✔
Vacancy	Applied Technologies
Pete Vernazza	Applied Technologies	✔
Bob Kalpin	Biological, Health & Environmental Sciences	✔
Anna Miller	Biological, Health & Enviromental Sciences
Vacancy	Business, Computer Science
Mary Pape	Business, Computer Science	✔
Vacancy	Creative Arts
Ilan Glasman	Creative Arts
Nellie Vargas	Child Development
Betty Inoue	Counseling	✔
Barb Dahlke	Counseling	✔
Anita Vazifdar	Disability Support Program & Services	✔
Kevin Glapion	Disability Support Program & Services	✔
So Kam Lee	Intercultural/International Studies	✔
Marc Coronado	Intercultural/International Studies	✔
Terrence Mullens	Physical Sciences, Math & Engineering	✔
Lisa Mesh	Physical Sciences, Math & Engineering	✔
Shagun Kaur	Language Arts	✔
Lauren Gordon	Language Arts	✔
Susan Thomas	Social Studies & Humanities	✔
Daniel Solomon	Social Studies & Humanities	✔
Louise Madrigal	Physical Education & Athletics	✔
Rusty Johnson	Physical Education & Athletics	✔
Tom Dolen	Learning Resources	✔
Mary Sullivan	Student Development	✔
Cynthia Kaufman	Equity & Engagement	✔
Erik Woodbury	Curriculum Committee	✔

Guests Present (✔)

Name	Position	Present
Thomas Ray	Administrative Representative	✔
Paige Wallace	DASB Representative	✔
Bob Stockwell	Faculty Association	✔
Christina Espinosa-Pib	Interim De Anza President	✔
Rob Miesa	VP of Student Services	✔
Lorrie Ranck	Actin VP of Instruction	✔
Pam Grey	Interim VP of Administrative Services
Hyon Chu Yi-Baker	Director of College Life & Student Judicial Affairs	✔
Marisa Spatafore	Associate VP of Communications & External Relations	✔
Scott Olsen	Classified Senate President	✔
Genevieve Kola	De Anza Student Trustee
Mallory Newell-	Institutional Research	✔
Moaty Fayek	Dean of Business/Computer Info Systems	✔
Renee Augenstein	Articulation Officer
Mary Bennett	Tenure Review Coordinator	✔
Daniel Smith	Dean of Creative Arts	✔
Eric Mendoza	Dean of Physical Education and Athletics	✔
Alicia Cortez	Dean of Equity and Engagement	✔
Randy Bryant	Dean Isaac Escotoreer & Technical Education (CTE)	✔
Isaac Escoto	Foothill Academic Senate President
Mary Pape	FHDA District Academic Senate President	✔
Pam Grey	Associate VP of College Operations	✔
Laureen Balducci	Dean of Counseling, DSPS & Title IX Coordinator	✔
Anita Kandula	Dean of Biological, Health, and Environmental Sciences	✔
Michele LeBleu-Burns	Dean of Student Development/EOPS	✔
Lisa Mandy	Director of Financial Aid
Nazy Gayloyan	Dean of Enrollment Services	✔
Edmundo Norte	Dean of Intercultural/International Studies	✔
Jerry Rosenberg	Dean of Physical Sciences, Math & Engineering
Judy Miner	FHDA Chancellor
Dawn Lee Tu	Faculty Director of Office of Professional Development	✔
Elvin Ramos	Dean of Social Sciences and Humanities	✔
Patrick Gannon	Director, Book Store
David Ulate	FHDA Research & Planning	✔
Mae Lee	Curriculum Committee Vice-Chair	✔

 Other Guests:

Deborah Taylor, Leah Smith, Cameron O’leary, Ryan Dickson, Patty Guitron, Molina Magali, Jamie Joseph, Melissa Aguilar, Pauline Wethington, Monica Ganesh, Veronica Avila, Casey Cosgrove, Chrissy Parker, Kristin Skager, Samuel Bliss, Edward Ahrens, Christian Rodriguez, Brandon Gainer, Felisa Vilaubi, Liliana Rivera, Kimberly Lam, Diana Alves de Lima, Melissa Aguilar, Allexy Scornejo, Truly Hunder, Claudia Barbosa, William Wishart, Patricia De Rio, Claudia Guzman, Dennis Cima, Alma Garcia, Melinda Hughes, Andrew Stoddard, T Chung, Mai Kha, Denica Kelly, Andrea Santa Cruz, Tim Shively, Christine Chai, Mayra Cruz, Chesa C, Vanessa Bermudez, Chris Tsuji, Thomas Bailey, Kenny Solorio, Adriana Garcia, Steve Nava, Sabrina Stewart. Takuya Fujiwara, Khari Crawfordd, James Nguyen, Khoa Nguyen, Mike Appio, Lorna Maiynard, Cheryil Balm, Natasha Joplin, Yvette Campbell, Amy Wong, Gilbert Wong, Brandon Bailey, Mylinh Pham, Andrew Stoddard, Raymond Brennan, Ryan Dickson, Nautica Rosas, Fatima Cervantes, Jose Santa Cruz, Maristella Tapia, Demi Yang,  Dave Capitolo, Phong Lam, Jose Santa Cruz, Liliana Rivera, Alicia De Toro, Anu Khana,