Santa Monica College Faculty Association

Representative Assembly Meeting

October 19, 2006 – Business 144 11:15 am- 12:35 pm

Present: Barbara Baird, Fariba Bolandhemat, Chuck Brinkman, Espy Bolivar-Owen, Sandi Burnett, Fran Chandler, Tom Chen, Steve Contarsy, Gail Edinger, Tracey Ellis, Richard Goldenson, Martin Goldstein, Toby Green, John Kennedy, Richard Lavallee, Suzanne McDonald, Colleen McGraw, Melissa Michelson, April Mizuki, Mitra Moassessi, Launa Nelson, Jim Pacchioli, Nick Pernisco, Pauli Peter, Kathryn Pope, John Quevedo, Guadalupe Ramos, Jenny Resnick, Elisha Shapiro, Lantz Simpson, Eleanor Singleton, James Smith, Howard Stahl, Michael Strathearn, Kathy Sucher, Sumy Takesue, Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein, Odemaris Valdivia, Alicia Villapando, Edward Wilkinson, David Zehr.

Absent: Maria Alvarado, Lee Axelrod, Rory Barnett, Sharon Bell, Vicki Blaho, Ken Buckner, Lydia Canalita, Troy Cardenas, Brandon Ceballos, Susie Chapman, Becky Curtis, Ronn Davis, Gwen Dophna, Lawrence Driscoll, Karen Dumas, Makiko Fujiwara-Skrobak, Claudia Garcia, Pierre Goueth, Michael Gougis, Patricia Halliday, William Hogan, Christian Hart, Michael Kerze, Peter Lee, Emily Lodmer, Ed Markarian, Walter Meyer, Joan Mills, Dana Morgan, Jeffrey O'Connell, Ernie Padilla, Boris Ricks, Ruth SanPietro, Jennifer Schofield, Michael Schwartz, Peter Sheridan, Linda Sinclair, Leon Singleton, Rita Soshnik, Susan Sterr, Gary Todd, Frank Turner, Robert Tyler, William Van Benschoten, David Wu.

Excused: Vini Angel, Dennis Frisch, Fran Manion, Kym McBride, Brenda Ness.

Guests: Nancy Greenstein, Andrew Walzer, Dave Phillips.

I. Special Guests – Nancy Greenstein and Andrew Walzer

After brief opening statements by the candidates, faculty asked questions of the candidates including:

•  Will the Board commit to contributing money toward the funding of the CCCI initiative campaign/petition drive?

•  What do the candidates expect the new Board composition and dynamics to be?

•  Will the candidates support the non-smoking ban in Santa Monica ?

•  Can the Board work towards more mature dialog with faculty?

•  Can the Board become more involved in enforcing the 75/25 law?

•  Will the Board hold someone accountable for the current FTES problem?

•  Will the candidates consider disseminating a monthly newsletter? (one not written by the administration)

•  What do you see as the role of part-timers on campus?

•  Why does SMC have such a high ratio of administrators to faculty? If other campuses can survive with lower ratios, why can't SMC?

•  Because of inflated job titles, perhaps an area of administrative reorganization can include an examination of the ration of VPs/FTES vs. deans/FTES.

II. Approval of the Minutes from Oct. 5, 2006 – approved as corrected.

MOTION: (M/S: Zehr/ Moassessi) Nick Pernisco will replace Sara Brewer as representative from the Communications Dept. Passed unanimously.

III. President's Report - Lantz Simpson

- Postcards and letters in support of candidates Walzer and Finkel were distributed.

- DPAC Budget Committee met this week. Use of Compton FTES and stabilization was discussed; a recommendation will be made in 2 weeks. In the discussion of the root cause of the FTES decline, specific additional data has been requested.

-“ No on 85” - Sumy Takesue disseminated invitations to a fundraiser.

- Dynamic Enrollment Change – The Assembly discussed the Administration's recent action changing current Dynamic Enrollment practices (in the hopes of generating more FTES) to allow students to enroll in classes through the computerized enrollment system without an instructor add card up through the night before the second class meeting.

Arguments against this change include:

•  There has been no systematic determination of the reason(s) for declining FTES;

•  Adequate time has not been provided for faculty discussion of the impact of this change;

•  Allowing students to enroll in courses ever later diminishes instruction and standards;

•  This new practice communicates to students that the first days of any course are unimportant;

•  The change may have the unintended consequence of preventing classes from filling before the first day of class.

•  Faculty control over enrollment, beginning the first day of class, has proven to be an effective faculty tool in dealing with administration intransigence.

Arguments in favor: none were presented

MOTION: (M/S: Sucher/Goldstein) The Representative Assembly opposes any change in the deadline for students adding courses. Passed unanimously.

IV. Endorsement of School Board Candidates

MOTION: (M/S: Tahvildaran/Goldstein) The Faculty Association endorses the following School Board Candidates: Emily Bloomfield, Oscar De La Torre, Kelly Tye, and Barry Snell. Passed unanimously.

V. Approval of the Executive Committee for 2006-7

MOTION: (M/S: Pacchioli/Bolivar) The Executive Committee for 2006-7 should be approved.

VI. Motion from the Executive Committee

MOTION: The Executive Committee recommends 20% reassigned time for Tracey Ellis (Fall 2006) for her work as Political Director.

VII. Motion from the Executive Committee regarding an additional contribution to an independent committee.

MOTION: The Executive Committee recommends making an additional contribution of $15,000 to “Friends of Santa Monica College .” Passed, one “no” vote.

VIII. For the Good of the Order

Faculty are encouraged to write to the local press in support of the “Friends of Santa Monica College” committee actions, as one letter has already been published in opposition to the committee's work.