The Academic Senate met on December 3 for its last meeting of the Fall 2020 semester. Key items include:
- Institutional Effectiveness Committee: Vincent Chandler was appointed to serve as Academic Senate representative on IEC for Spring 2021. The IEC is still seeking a faculty co-chair to begin in Spring 2021 on the restructuring of IEC and its new oversight of Comprehensive Program Review. Please contact Leigh Anne Shaw or Karen Wong if you are interested.
- Senate President: Leigh Anne Shaw anticipates resigning her position mid-term and the senate will need to find a one-year replacement for Fall 2021 – Spring 2022 (regular term election to occur in Spring 2022). The senate engaged in a discussion on faculty leadership. Academic Senate bylaws stipulate that the candidates must have served one full year on the Senate. Pres. Shaw is reserving Academic Senate offices hours on Dec 7 and Dec 14 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm by Zoom for interested faculty to visit and talk about how to get involved as a faculty leader; faculty are encouraged to visit the Zoom link: https://smccd.zoom.us/j/91532912254
- Class Size: Rika Yonemura-Fabian and Marianne Kaletzky, representing the AFT Anti-Oppression Committee, presented an AFT/DAS joint resolution on the reduction of class size during the current pandemic.
- Advisory Committee on Employee Development (ACED): The senate appointed Kim Saccio-Kent and Pia Walawalkar to the ACED committee.
- OER and ZTC: Ame Maloney shared a written Online Education Initiative update with key information on Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) and additional ASCCC OER-related items.
The next Academic Senate meeting will be January 21, 2021. On behalf of the Academic Senate, best wishes for finals, and please enjoy a restful and rejuvenating break full of health, safety, and happiness.
By Leigh Anne Shaw
