Santa Monica College Faculty Association

Representative Assembly Meeting

November 14, 2002

Members Present: Rebecca Anderson, Anthony Archer, Garen Baghdasarian, Robin Briggs, Sandi Burnett, Fran Chandler, Nick DiCamillo, Charlie Donaldson, Gordon Dossett, Gail Edinger, Carolyn Feruzzi, Robert Flores, Dennis Frisch, Kai Ganado, Claudia Garcia, Carolyn Holmes, John Hoover, Marcella Kelly, Richard LaValle, Arnold Lessing, Ann Maddox, George Marcopulos, James Martin, Ken Mason, Robert Massey, Kym McBride, Richard McColl, Colleen McGraw, Richard Mednick, Mitra Moasessi, Dana Morgan, Brenda Ness,  Lyle Nichols, Claudia Garcia, Jim Pacchioli, Ernest Padilla, Rich Robinson, Lantz Simpson, Eleanor Singleton, Michael Strathern,  Lydia Strong, Sumy Takesue, Beverly Tholen, Esau Tovar, Leslie Vaughn, Sal Veas, Alicia Villapondo,

Members Absent:  Maria Alavarado, Vini Angel,  Ed Bermudez, Juanita Burris, Tom Chen, Paul Churchard, Becky Curtis, Patti delValle, ,  Naja El-Khoury,  Don Emery, Mark Foster, Teresa Garcia, Bill Hogan, Ridgeway Knight, Jim Lemmon, Karl Lisovsky, Alan Litt, Fran Manion, Ben Martin, Catherine Matheson, Elaine Morton, Brenda Ness, David Phillips, Juan Quevedo, Boris Ricks, Paul Roberts, Saul Rubin, Stuart Sam, Christine Schultz, Mario Semere, Elisha Shapiro, Kathy Sucher,  Nina Theiss, Michael Tracey, Denise Travis, Joseph Vargas, Andrew Walzer, Robert Ware, Betty Wong, David Zehr

Members Excused: Melody Nightengale, Pauli Peter

Guests:  Espy Bolivar-Owen, Alan Buckley, Mike Soldatenko

The meeting was called to order at 11:15 A.M.

I. President's Report-Lantz Simpson

      A. Mr. Simpson announced that Nancy Greenstein was elected to the SMC board of Trustees.  The Faculty Association endorsed Ms. Greenstein and we now wish her congratulations on her victory.

       B. Mr. Simpson explained the dues structure of the Faculty Association in relation to the blanket membership of all FA members in FACCC.

II. Presentation and Approval of Faculty Association Budget-Mitra Moassessi

     A. As requested by some members at the last meeting, Ms. Moassessi presented a balance of the FA budget as of September 1, 2002.  A discussion of investment procedures ensued.

     B.  The Executive Committee motion to approve the 2002-03 budget was presented.

            The motion passed with one abstention.

     C.  Robert Massey made and Charles Donaldson seconded a motion requesting the Executive Committee to investigate the possibility of socially and environmentally responsible investments and report recommendations to the Assembly.

          The motion passed unanimously.

III. Guest speaker Marcus Harvey of the American Association of University Professors spoke concerning issues of tenure rollback, increasing use of contingent faculty, and the proliferation of administrative positions as universities and colleges rely more and more on a business model of operation.  He also addressed the threats to academic freedom represented by current political conditions and stressed the need for unions to be aware of workplace conditions as they relate not only to collective bargaining but also to professional advocacy and shared governance.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:35 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Ann Maddox