College Council
June 21, 2018 Notes
Attendees
Christina Espinosa-Pieb, Precious Gerardo, Pam Grey, Khaled Haq (DASB), Karen Hunter, Lorna Maynard, Rob Mieso, Brian Murphy, Anita Muthyala-Kandula, Mallory Newell, Carolyn Nguyen (DASB), James Nguyen, Newsha Nikfarjam (DASB), Toño Ramirez, Lorrie Ranck, Marisa Spatafore, Tim Shively
Guests: current and former massage therapy program students
Approval of May 24, 2018 Notes
The meeting minutes of May 24, 2018 were approved
Discussion
Vission, Mission, and Strategic Initiatives
Newell presented for approval the final Vision, Mission, and Strategic Initiatives that has circulated the governance groups on campus. The 2017-2018 charge of the College Planning Committee this was to review the Mission statement and Strategic Initiatives and to develop a Vision statement. Community, Equity, and Education were the top 3 words that came to mind when committees were asked what best captured De Anza College about De Anza College. The committee used this information to make certain members were capturing key elements when developing the mission.
When asked for clarification on what Equity meant in regard to the Strategic Initiatives, Murphy responded that it meant to meet each student where he or she is and to engage them with what they need in order for them to be successful
The Mission Statement, reaffirmation was approved without opposition or abstentions. The Vision Statement was approved without opposition or abstentions. The Strategic Initiatives, reaffirmation was approved without opposition or abstentions.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
Reaffirmation of Our College Values - Applying the Equity Lens
Kaufman explained that the reaffirmation circulated the De Anza governance groups by the Equity Action Council to help keep De Anza's values front and center while making budget decisions. The committee members read through the statement to everyone attending the meeting. Once the statement is reaffirmed in College Council, it will be taken to the Board of Trustees.
Comments from members included:
Newell pointed out that the statement is aligned with the mission and values she just presented on behalf of the CPC and they complement each other.
Some affirmed that the statement was respectful of what De Anza stands for during this budget process.
A student said the Chinese character seemed out of place. DASB has raised this observation as well. Kaufman said she believes the character was left in the document to help draw attention to the idea the character represents.
The statement was approved without opposition and one abstention from Shively.
PBT Budget Reports
Murphy reviewed the budget process. As part of the shared governance process, the three PBTs presented their proposed budget reductions to College Council. After College Council, the decisions regarding the budget proposals are then forwarded to the president for consideration. The president has the authority to respond to the proposals and make amendments with supporting rationale. The budget proposals are ratified and sent to the District management. Of the $10 million budget shortfall, 50% is from De Anza, 37% Foothill, and 13% District. Tier 1 was previously ratified and sent to the District. Tier 2 is scheduled to be covered and Tier 3 was added due to the added budget shortfall that now totals $7.6 million for De Anza.
APBT Presentation
Grey presented budget reductions for APBT, including that one vacant position each in grounds, custodial cashiering position will be eliminated. Fifty percent of the classified Postal Services position would be moved to the self-sustaining Bookstore fund. Grey also said there will be discussions over the summer regarding how to reduce custodial workload, for example moving trashcans out of offices to a central collection point. Custodians cover approximately 34,000 square feet a week, while the industry standard is 17,000. Currently there are 6 grounds workers for 112 acres.
A member inquired about state funding for facilities. Murphy responded that all budget received from the state, when it is reduced, affects all area budgets as well. As an aside, he noted that the state legislature will not raise community college fees.
The ABPT reduction proposal was approved without opposition or abstention.
Click HERE for the full presentation.
IPBT Presentation
The initial reduction target was $4.6 million for Instruction, which is still in process. Espinosa-Pieb said that the IPBT will need to identify more programs for the Viability Committee in the fall. There will not be any layoffs until July 1, 2019.
Nguyen explained that the membership of the Viability Committee consists of Academic Senate leadership, Faculty Association leadership, Vice President & AVP of Instruction, Curriculum Co-Chair, the Articulation Officer, Dean of Equity and Engagement, SLO Coordinator, Institutional Researcher, Classified Senate Leadership, and ACE reps.
Espinosa-Pieb presented the Viability Committee’s recommendations to IPBT, which voted to propose three programs to College Council for elimination: Massage Therapy, Paralegal Studies, and the Tennis program. Click HERE for the full list of twenty-three programs reviewed by the Viability committee, posted on the IPBT June 5, 2018 meeting minutes.
In addition to the reductions above, there will be a reduction of 475 sections in the coming year, beginning with summer quarter. However, the section reductions are a part of the $3.2 million 1320 reduction and not a part of the $4.6 million reduction. In order to account for the $134,000 shortfall, IPBT will need to cut a total of 600 sections. Espinosa-Pieb explained that while these were not easy decisions to make, if IPBT doesn’t reach their goal, deeper reductions would fall to other seriously impacted areas, such as Student Services.
Espinosa-Pieb further explained that when programs are eliminated, it doesn’t mean they will immediately disappear. All the programs will be phased out over a two- to three-year period. All students enrolled in a program on the elimination list are able to finish the program they are enrolled in. All eliminated programs would cease to take new students beginning in the fall 2018 quarter.
Several students and outside businesses attended the College Council meeting to speak on behalf of the Massage Therapy program. Liz Digiulio, a Massage Therapy program assistant, said the program is a gateway to other healthcare programs. One attendee stated a concern that the college was not actively marketing the individual program. A former student and business owner felt there would be a shortage of massage therapists with proper training since the cost of many other schools is too high. Classes from private schools cannot be transferred, and several felt other massage therapy programs are not high quality. Many Massage Therapy students also assist with the De Anza APE program.
Espinosa-Pieb noted that De Anza has been over-offering classes that have not filled with enough students. Any class with fewer than 37 students loses money. The class seat count also cannot be raised since the Faculty Association bargains the class size. There will be fewer number of the same class offered, but Instruction does look at the data to try to make sure they meet demand for when and what times students need classes.
Murphy thanked the speakers, noting that their comments were helpful. Espinosa-Pieb assured College Council that De Anza will not eliminate the Intro to Massage class since it is well-attended for general education. Espinosa-Pieb clarified that no individual in Instruction has the authority to revise the decision of the Viability Committee. In the fall the Viability Committee will revisit the programs still under review.
College Council approved the IPBT Tier 2 budget reduction proposal was approved without opposition or abstention.
SSPBT Presentation
Mieso presented the Tier 2 and 3 budget reductions for SSPBT, posted on the SSPBT budget webpage. In the first tier, only vacant positions were eliminated: 2 classified and 6 faculty. The committee’s Tier 2 recommendations were that 10.5 classified and an additional 6 faculty positions would be eliminated. Student Services has many categorical-fund areas; some areas also have a Maintenance of Effort (MOE) match requirement to receive money from the state. Therefore, the bulk of the reductions must come from only a few general-fund areas.
Murphy said that he deeply respects the work of all three PBTs. He went on to note, however, his belief that the proposed reductions to front-line counselors are too deep and would too gravely impact students. He said that Mieso, as the new vice president of Student Services, should review reorganization options that lessen the impact on counselors and advisers, instead assessing reorganization options with a particular focus on administrator workload. He said he would memorialize this viewpoint in writing.
The SSPBT Tier 2 budget reduction proposal was approved by College Council members with the President's reccommendation that Student Services review administrative reorganization options in order to mitigate the loss of counseling and advising staff, lessening the impact on service to students. Murphy concluded that in the case of the budget recommendations, to accept them is not to believe it is a good thing.
Open Items & Quick News:
FA and the District have come to a tentative agreement and the Work to Contract is ending so faculty will be able to attend commencement.
The graduation commencement speaker has been announced along with the major award winners that will be presented at the commencement ceremony.
Lavender Graduation is at 5 p.m., with the Pride Ball beginning at 7 p.m.
Murphy’s farewell party will be held next Wednesday, June 28.
Hunter presented Mr. Murphy a book titled Radical Transformational Leadership from author Monica Sharma that was purchased by the Academic Senate.
Murphy commented that this was his last College Council in his 14 years at De Anza. He believes that shared governance is one of De Anza’s greatest attributes. It doesn’t work every time and doesn’t solve everything, but everyone should be very proud of this and it has been remarkable for him to experience as president.
The meeting adjourned at 5 p.m.