SANTA MONICA COLLEGE FACULTY ASSOCIATION
REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING

April 24, 2008

Members present: Dianne Berman, Chuck Brinkman, Sandra Burnett, Fran Chandler, Rebecca Curtis, Gail Edinger, Tracey Ellis, Ron Fitzgerald, Dennis Frisch, Martin Goldstein, Ben Jimenez, John Kennedy, Richard Lavallee, Suzanne McDonald, Colleen McGraw, Melissa Michelson, Mitra Moassessi, Brenda Ness, Eric Oifer, Jim Pacchioli, Pauli Peter, Franklyn Phillips, John Quevedo, Jenny Resnick, Lisa Saperston, Elisha Shapiro, Lantz Simpson, Eleanor Singleton, Michael Strathearn, Kathy Sucher, Odemaris Valdivia, Sal Veas, Alicia Villapando, David Zehr.

Guests: Toni Randall, Janet Harclerode, Amber Katherine.
Excused: Kym McBride, Susan Sterr, Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein.

Members Absent: Diana Aghabegian, Maria Alvarado, Vini Angel,  Jill Assadi, Rory Barnett, Espy Bolivar-Owen, Tom Chen, Gwen Dophna, Lawrence Driscoll, Jolia Einstein, Don Emery, Donald Gantner, Richard Goldenson, Jeff Gordon, Michael Gougis, Toby Green, Patricia Halliday, Veronica Herrera, William Hogan,, Peter Lee, Ed Markarian, April Mizuki, Fereshteh Mobasheri, Sue Moisin, Dana Morgan, Jeffrey O’Connell, Nick Pernisco, Dave Phillips, Tom Peters, Guadalupe Ramos, Elaine Roque, Jennifer Schofield, Mario Semere, Tara Shima, Howard Stahl, Sumy Takesue, Nina Theiss, Gary Todd, Esau Tovar, Joy Tucker, Frank Turner, Edward Wilkinson.                                                                                    
                                         
I.      Approval of Minutes – April 3, 2008.  Sal Veas suggested to remove his name from the members present. Martin Goldstein made a motion to approve the minutes, and Michael Strathearn seconded the motion. Passed with one no vote.

II.      President's Report:  The deadline to vote in the FACCC Election is April 30. Be sure to vote for Dennis Frisch for Vice-President and Mitra Moassessi for Governor at Large.

The CPFA (California Part-Time Faculty Association) Conference will be held Saturday, May 3 at SMC.  Please attend the conference.  The FA will pay the SMC faculty’s registration fee.  Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

The CCCI Conference is also being held on May 3.  Kathy Sucher, Mitra Moassessi, Dennis Frisch, and Howard Stahl will attend.

A motion was made by Sandy Burnett and seconded by Howard Stahl to approve Eric Oifer as Faculty Association Representative to the Food Services ad hoc committee.  Motion passed unanimously.

Special elections:  Ballots will be counted May 1 before noon.  The elections committee seeks volunteers to help count ballots.  The Faculty Association vote counts are open to observation to any and all members who want to observe.

FA President responds to an email sent to the Senate Executive Committee concerning the April 1 minutes of the Senate Executive Committee meeting, which contained misleading statements about the Faculty Association.  The content of the email contained information about collective bargaining issues over the department reconfiguration of Athletics and Kinesiology.  FA President Lantz Simpson sent an email saying that the Senate should not be discussing collective bargaining issues.

The recent spring “green” issue of the FACCTS journal is now available and being mailed to SMC faculty. Becky Curtis wrote one of the featured reports on the SMC environmental audit.  The summer issue will contain an article written by Lantz Simpson and Dennis Frisch, and there will be another article written by Becky Curtis on part-time issues. 

III.    Negotiations Report – Mitra Moassessi: the District agreed to the salary schedule adjustment for full-time faculty.  Over the next three years the salary schedule for full-time faculty from steps 8 through 19 will move up one step every year for three consecutive years.

There is a meeting next Monday to sign the contract.

The FA and the District have reached verbal agreement on compensation for faculty who are affected by the KDR, Dance, and Athletic Departments re-configuration.

IV.     Approval of Salary Adjustment MOU: Kathy Sucher made a motion to approve the MOU for salary schedule adjustment, and Martin Goldstein seconded the motion. Passed unanimously. The MOU will be posted on the FA website.

V.      Nominations for Spring 2008 Faculty Association Elections – Kym McBride. Sandra Burnett substituted for Kym McBride. Nominations were taken from the floor. Martin Goldstein nominated Becky Curtis for Secretary.  Jackie Scott was nominated for Assembly Representative. Nominating ballots will be sent to all FA members on May 5.  The deadline for returning those ballots will be May 15; the election will begin May 19. The ballots will be counted on June 2.

VI.     Government Relations Report – Dennis Frisch:  Dennis urged everyone to go to the FACCC website and click on the FACCC Legislative Center and follow the directions to send an email to the legislators regarding AB 2277, the community college property tax back-fill bill. http://www.faccc.org/govrelations/index.cfm?gr_event=billsdisplay&action=list

VII.    For the Good of the Order:
Michael Strathearn reported that there is a state regulation that requires the District to comply with 2½  hours of emergency testing for faculty or the District could lose funding. There was discussion suggesting that this is an institutional issue and has to be done on an institutional flex day.

The LAANE Women’s Luncheon will be held next Friday, May 2 at the Biltmore Hotel.

Respectfully Submitted,

Becky Curtis
Recording Secretary