LEEWARD COMMUNITY COLLEGE

2004-2005 Faculty Senate

APPROVED Minutes of the April 20, 2005 Meeting

James Goodman, Chair

Nancy Buchanan, Vice Chair

Susan Lum, Secretary

SENATORS PRESENT: N. Buchanan, J. Chernisky, L. Currivan, R. Flegal, K. Fujishima-Lee, C. Ganne, J. Goodman, K. Hill, B. Hotta, S. Laycock, R. Liongson, P. Lococo, S. Lum,

C. Martin, D. Matsumoto, S. May, A. Ross, W. Teraoka. S. Wood

SENATORS EXCUSED: K. Mohanan, D. Sakai, L. Yamada

GUESTS: Tyler Hawkins, Gail Levy, Michael Reese, Victor Sdnek, Jennie Thompson

CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 3:20 p.m. with a quorum.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:

The minutes from March 30, 2005 were approved unanimously.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

BUDGET AND PLANNING – No report.

FACULTY COMMITTEE – No report.

ELECTION COMMITTEE – No report.

ACADEMIC/INSITUTIONAL SUPPORT – No report.

LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS COMMITTEE – Senator Ross and Senator Chernisky submitted a Legislative Relations Report to the Senate and reported on a meeting that was held with Garrett Toguchi, Hawaii State Senator, Clayton Hee’s Chief of Staff. Chief of Staff Toguchi discussed areas of interest and concern which include community college access, workforce development and career preparation, liberal arts programs, target groups, and LCC’s relationship with UHWO.

STUDENT COMMITTEE – No report.

PROGRAM REVIEW COMMITTEE – Senator Hill highlighted the following changes in the revised Program Review Policy:

• The scope of program review has been expanded
• Program reviews of the academic degree programs drive all of the other reviews, studies, and action plans on campus
• An assessment team has been created to oversee the program review process for the College
• A representative from the Faculty Senate will be a member of the assessment team
• A timeline has been created to schedule academic program and support area four-year comprehensive reviews
• The Program/Support Area Assessment Template has been modified to clarify assessment reporting
• A flowchart has been included to clarify the program review process

The revised Program Review Policy will be voted on at the Senate’s next meeting.

CURRICULUM COMMITTEE – Senator Lococo presented a number of course proposals which were reviewed and passed by the full Curriculum Committee.

Math 112 Math for Elementary Teachers II is an introductory level college transfer course for pre-education majors. UHM will begin requiring this course for Education majors beginning fall 2007.

Motion 05-20 : To accept and approve Math 112 Math for Elementary Teachers II as a new course for pre-education majors.

PASSED – Unanimously

GG 103 Geology of the Hawaiian Islands is a course currently offered at UHM, UH Hilo, KCC, and WCC. GG 103 will complement the GG 101 course taught at LCC. There was some discussion as to whether the course is a science course and how it will transfer. Senator Lococo added that GG 103 will articulate with UHM under Diversification.

Motion 05-21: To accept and approve GG 103 Geology of the Hawaiian Islands as a new course.

PASSED – Unanimously

The following ESL courses are no longer taught and are recommended for deletion. The courses have been replaced by other courses:

ESL 2 Basic Speech for Non-Native Speakers

ESL 3 Basic Reading for Non-Native Speakers

ESL 4 Basic Writing for Non-Native Speakers

ESL 5V Skills Development Lab

ESL 9 Intermediate Reading for Non-Native Speakers

ESL 10 Intermediate Writing for Non-Native Speakers

ESL 100 Expository Writing

Motion 05-22: To accept and approve the deletion of ESL 2, ESL 3, ESL 4, ESL 5V, ESL 9, and ESL 100.

PASSED – Unanimously

The following ESL courses underwent modification to add, delete, and/or correct the course information recorded on Curriculum Central:

ESL 1A Beginning Speaking/Listening for Speakers of Other Languages

ESL 2A Beginning Reading for Speakers of Other Languages

ESL 3A Beginning Writing for Speakers of Other Languages

ESL 8B Intermediate Reading for Speakers of Other Languages

ESL 9B Intermediate Writing for Speakers of Other Languages

ESL 18 High-Intermediate Reading for Speakers of Other Languages

ESL 19 High-Intermediate Writing for Speakers of Other Languages

ESL 21 Advanced Reading for Speakers of Other Languages

ESL 22 Advanced Writing for Speakers of Other Languages

ESL 23 Editorial Grammar for Speakers of Other Languages

Motion 05-23: To accept and approve modifications to ESL 1A , ESL 2A, ESL 3A, ESL 8B, ESL 9B, ESL 18, ESL 19, ESL 21, ESL 22, and ESL 23.

PASSED – Unanimously

AD HOC COMMITTEE - Committee to Study the Impact of the Elimination of the “N” Grade

Michael Reese presented the Final Report of the Committee to Study the Impact of the Elimination of the “N” Grade. Three recommendations resulted in the committee’s findings:

1. The committee recommends that instructional faculty continue using the present grading options. These grading options do not include the “N” grade.

2. The committee recommends that the administration and divisions inform faculty of the meanings/purposes of and deadlines for the existing grading options, including any related appeal processes for special circumstances (e.g., death of students during the semester, military exceptions, pregnancy, health problems, etc.). In turn, instructors and administrators will relay this information to students.

3. The committee recommends that in fall 2005, the Faculty Senate appoint a committee to identify the student groups/special circumstances not well served by the present grading options and to develop alternate grading options, if appropriate.

Chair Goodman thanked the Committee members: Nancy Buchanan, Joe Chernisky, Candace Hochstein, Gail Levy, Raymund Liongson, Michael Reese, Ed Wiggers, and students Christina Hunt, J. Kyle Espinosa, and Teancum Satot for their hard work and outstanding report.

NEW BUSINESS:

Chair Goodman presented a proposal from the All Campus Council of Faculty Senate Chairs (ACCFSC) to approve revisions to the ACCFSC Charter. A draft of the ACCFSC Charter was distributed and discussed at the December 15, 2004 Senate meeting. At that time, Senators requested that article B, Section II of the By-Laws be stricken as it severely limited full participation of all ACCFSC members. The ACCFSC approved the Senate’s request.

Motion 05-24 (Flegal/Fujishima-Lee): To approve the ACCFSC Revised Charter & By-Laws

PASSED – Unanimously

Senator Lococo gave a PowerPoint presentation outlining the pros and cons of the LCC A.A. Core Revision Committee’s recommendations. Among the eleven recommendations, the committee recommends that LCC adopt UHM’s Categories and Hallmarks and the “Focus: Hawaiian, Asian, Pacific” (HAP) category, which will operate similar to the Writing Intensive model. The committee also recommends that implementation of the revised core not take place earlier than fall of 2006.

Discussion ensued on other recommendations, including those brought up by two memos, one from the Business Division, and the other from the Counseling Unit of the Student Services Division.  Both memos state a concern with the committee’s recommendation to continue to require 9 credits to fulfill the Diversification:  Arts & Humanities category, as opposed to 6, which is the new requirement at UHM, KCC and HCC; 9 credits in Social Sciences and 10 credits in Natural Sciences.  The fear is that credit requirements may affect the number of students graduating with an AA degree.  Senator Lococo responded that LCC graduates three or four times as many AA degrees as KCC and HCC, and that in remaining at 9-9-10 credits, the number of electives required by the degree remains relatively stable and comparable to KCC:  LCC = 17 electives, KCC = 18 electives, HCC = 29 electives.

Senator Lococo expressed that due to concerns which have been brought up recently regarding UHM’s acceptance of our “HAP” designated courses, the committee’s recommendations will be addressed further in the fall of 2005.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

Motion was made by Senators Lococo/Currivan to go into Executive Session to allow Chair Goodman to report on recent discussions between campus leadership and President McClain, concerning LCC’s administrative positions.

Vote passed unanimously.

CHAIR’S REPORT:

Chair Goodman had two separate meetings with the Commissioners of the ACCJC, Dr. Barbara Beano and Mr. Joe Ritchey on April 4 and April 7 at the Dole Street Office.  Dr. Marie Smith, also from ACCJC, was at the second meeting while UH Asst VP Mike Rota attended both meetings.  The first meeting involved the Senate Chairs from all of the UH Community Colleges (UHCC) and at the second meeting, administrators and campus leaders from those CC campuses that did not have specific recommendations, i.e. Kauai CC, Hawaii CC, and LCC.

The topic at both meetings was the Academic Warning that the ACCJC recently placed on the UHCC system.  Chair Goodman asked the visiting team why Leeward was lumped together with the other campuses in this warning while LCC had made significant progress towards addressing the recommendations from the last accreditation report.  Their reply was that there continues to be problems with the UHCCs and the long-standing issue (about 12 years) of assessment. This issue is made even more challenging with the current UH system structure and the elimination of the Chancellor's Office.  

The ACCJC expressed the view that the University of Hawaii Community College system has “suffered a tremendous upheaval” in the recent restructuring—more than any other in the nation and they commend us for dealing with it as well as we have.  But, they noted that in the restructuring, there is now no formal structure within the UH system that specifically supports the mission of the Community Colleges.  So far, any CC coordination of efforts has operated on former relationships and personalities.   Coordination and support of the CCs could not be expected to last once these personalities change through retirement, position changes, etc.

The warning to the UH system regarding the Community Colleges was their only way to address what they see as deficiencies and potential deficiencies of support and coordination devoted to the mission of the Community Colleges.  With the decline of state funding—the concern of the ACCJC is that the CCs continue to be funded and supported and not lose out to the demands of the four year campuses.     

On the subject of assessment, the visiting team reported that every campus is working feverishly to produce templates and processes independently of each other—in essence crafting different size tires that may not fit the same car. There is a disconnect from campus to campus and from the campuses to the system.  What is needed is more “buy-in” from the campuses and cooperation among the campuses to create a common template that will provide the data for Mike Rota, Mike Unabesame, and David McClain to go before the BOR and the State to ask for funding.  This is all about how to gain additional funding and support from the system and the state.  

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 5:40 pm.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: Susan Lum, Secretary