SANTA MONICA COLLEGE FACULTY ASSOCIATION

REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING

March 6, 2008

Members present : Maria Alvarado, Vini Angel, Dianne Berman, Chuck Brinkman, Sandra Burnett, Fran Chandler, Tom Chen, Rebecca Curtis, Gail Edinger, Tracey Ellis, Dennis Frisch, Martin Goldstein, Ben Jimenez, John Kennedy, Kym McBride, Colleen McGraw, Melissa Michelson, Mitra Moassessi, Dana Morgan, Brenda Ness, Jim Pacchioli, Pauli Peter , Tom Peter s, John Quevedo, Jenny Resnick, Elaine Roque, Lisa Saperston, Tara Shima, Lantz Simpson , Susan Sterr, Michael Strathearn, Kathy Sucher, Esau Tovar, Joy Tucker, Odemaris Valdivia, Sal Veas, Alicia Villapando. Edward Wilkinson, David Zehr.

Guests: Leslie Kawaguchi, Toni Randall, Jackie Scott.

Excused : Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein.

Absent: Diana Aghabegian, Jill Assadi, Rory Barnett, Espy Bolivar-Owen, Gwen Dophna, Lawrence Driscoll, Jolia Einstein, Don Emery, Ron Fitzgerald, Donald Gantner, Richard Goldenson, Jeff Gordon Michael Gougis, Toby Green, Patricia Halliday, Veronica Herrera, William Hogan, Richard Lavallee, Peter Lee, Ed Markarian, Suzanne McDonald, April Mizuki, Fereshteh Mobasheri, Sue Moisin, Jeffrey Nick Pernisco, Dave Phillips, Jeffrey O'Connell, Eric Oifer, Franklyn Phillips, Guadalupe Ramos, Jennifer Schofield, Mario Semere, Elisha Shapiro, Eleanor Singleton, Howard Stahl, Sumy Takesue, Nina Theiss, Gary Todd, Frank Turner.

I. Approval of Minutes –Mitra Moassessi made a motion to approve the minutes from February 21, 2008. Martin Goldstein seconded the motion. Passed unanimously.

II. President's Report - Kathy Sucher reported that the Faculty Association has been having technical problems. These problems have been taken care of and the FA is back on-line.

Union dues - Lantz Simpson made a presentation concerning chargeables. Lantz explained how at the end of the year, the auditor reports chargeable and non-chargeable expenditures. These Faculty Association expenses are recorded for the purpose of reporting to agency fee payers. All Faculty Association officers and other members of committees prepare time sheets, and the auditor makes her calculations based on this information. Following the auditor's opinion, Lantz Simpson sends a letter to agency fee payers explaining what the percentage of non-chargeables are, and he asks if there are any fee payers who want their non-chargeables refunded. If anyone wants a copy of the auditors report, they can send Lantz Simpson an email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

DPAC met last week and approved the GASB Task Force recommendation to pre-fund retiree health benefits. The Task Force recommends that the college put aside $500,000. Each year for the next four years, and that this money should come directly from the general fund. DPAC voted 5-3 in favor of the recommendation. Administrators, managers, the Academic Senate, and the students voted for GASB to be pre-funded; the CSEA and the Faculty Association voted against it.

Questions were raised. Lantz reported that the money allocated for GASB will stay in an irrevocable trust, and the beneficiaries are the members who receive retiree health benefits. Lantz suggested that what really protects health benefits is the collective bargaining agreement.

He also reported that research is showing that many large cities that are putting money away for GASB, such as the City of Orlando, Florida, will no longer grant retiree health benefits for new employees. The Peralta CC District in Oakland has just done the same thing.

Kings Game - Maria Alvarado, Membership Chair announced that the FA has a group package for a Kings game at the Staples Center, Saturday, April 5 at one p.m. It is the last game of the season for the Kings. The FA package includes: admission tickets, a free pass for all the food and soft drinks members and guests can consume. The FA also receives Kings hats for the game and a group picture on the ice. Tickets are $35. If you want tickets you can email Maria Alvarado, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

III - MOTION : The Executive Committee recommends that the Assembly approve the repayment of the October 2006 loan to the PAC by allocating $35 per FA member ($35,000 total) for the purpose of repaying the loan. The PAC annual allocation from the general fund should be put to a vote of the full membership. Motion passed. 1 nay.

The FA loaned the PAC $45,000 for the 2006 election to elect our current Board of Trustees. The PAC has paid back $10,000 and still owes $35,000.

Discussion: Will dues increase? – NO. The FA shall take a portion of current dues and dedicate it to the PAC. To put it to a vote of the Faculty Association membership lets the community organizations in Santa Monica know that the faculty supports the FA's Board elections efforts.

•  MOTION: The SMCFA Executive Committee requests an SMC seat plus additional part-time representation on the FACCC Board Of Governors, as well as a written commitment by FACCC to reassess its primary goal which should be to make solid steps toward 75/25 faculty ratio and regularization of part-time faculty. Passed unanimously .

FACCC raised its dues for individual members. FACCC has requested that SMC faculty increase our FACCC dues as well.

In discussion and response to questions, Lantz said that the SMCFA members were supposed to get a 10% discount in its member's dues, as we are a contract school.

V. Membership Education Discussions – The FA would like to implement a membership education item to the agenda.

A list of ideas was generated through discussion, including:

How to write a self-evaluation?
How to respond to “needs further evaluation.”
How to read your paycheck.
How to get a response from payroll.
Retirement/health benefits.
How to be able to speak to Trustees effectively.
Explanation of case studies of past grievances.
Salary Schedule.
Load Factor.
What is COLA: definition, history.
Payroll deduction--why does payroll pay so late?
Associate faculty rights.

If you have any suggestions please contact FA VP Kathy Sucher : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Retroactive pay : Marcy Wade told the FA that April is the target date for retroactive pay. Thank you Mitra.

Respectfully Submitted,

Becky Curtis
SMCFA Recording Secretary