College Council

Draft Minutes of May 24, 2018

3:00 – 5:00 pm

Present: Ola Sabawi, Khaled Haq, Anita Muthyala-Kandula, Toño Ramirez, Precious Gerardo, Christina Espinosa-Pieb, Pam Grey, Karen Hunter, Lorna Maynard, Rob Mieso, Mallory Newell, Edmundo Norte, Carolyn Nguyen (DASB), James Nguyen, George Robles, Marisa Spatafore, Tim Shively, Danielle Wells (notes)

Approval of Minutes

The meeting minutes of May 10, 2018 were approved.

Capital Project Needs List

The project list for the bond or parcel tax is mostly for infrastructure. There are a lot of projects on the list. The committee reviewed the specific items and combined similar entries to create overarching categories such as “Fire Alarm Upgrades”. The list included some large construction projects such as a new Art Complex, L4 & L5, and replacing the current A Quad with a new student services building. A number of these projects were on the original Measure C bond funding list but are being transferred to the new bond list as all Measure C construction funds have been depleted. The project list total for Foothill and De Anza is close to $1 billion. De Anza is not proposing to add any new square footage. The specific project list is subject to change so the categories will remain broad. Espinosa-Pieb reminded the members that the College prepares a facilities masterplan every five-years. It is drawn up by a committee and goes through the participatory governance committees and finally gets approved by the Board. The link to the current facilities master plan is: http://www.deanza.edu/gov/campus_facilities/documents/FHDA_FMP2016.pdf

 PBT Reports

Grey presented the APBT report. Budget reductions effective July 1, 2018 have been finalized with no layoffs. Budget reductions with the effective date of July 1, 2019 will be much more difficult. The final plan for the July 1, 2019 reductions, although not finalized, will most likely consist of the elimination of a vacant cashiering position, one grounds and one custodial position. There is also a proposal to restructure, however, this is confidential at the present time.

James Nguyen presented the IPBT report. The IPBT voted and ranked the two additional faculty position eliminations as Japanese and Librarian bringing the total eliminations to 12 vacant faculty positions. Viability committee has met with 10 programs and are meeting with 11 more programs to make recommendations to IPBT.  Program eliminations consequences are carefully considered. No decisions are made by the viability committee; they make recommendations to IPBT where there are student representatives who participate in the decision-making process. De Anza was hoping to gain enrollment on the late start classes but the enrollment data was disappointing.

Mieso stated that SSPBT has completed the budget reductions effective July 1, 2018. They are now in the process of identifying the additional budget cuts for July 1, 2019. There are limited areas to target cuts as much of the SSPBT budget is comprised of categorical funds. The second round of cuts will impact six classified positions. SSPBT budget reductions will directly impact students and De Anza will not be able to provide the current level of service to students. Additional cuts will include positions that are currently filled. Robles suggested that Tamica Ward and Sheila White-Daniels be present at the College Council meeting where the next tier of budgets will be approved to thoroughly discuss and provide a complete understanding of the devastating effects the proposed position eliminations will have on De Anza students.

Student Services Scorecard Presentation

Newell presented the student success scorecard. The information comprised of students who did not complete their coursework over three years. This presentation is different from previous data in that it last time it covered six years and included students who did complete. The State is thinking of replacing the student scorecard with something new to reflect the various new State programs such as Guided Pathways. De Anza typically gives students three years to complete transfer level coursework. Usually, De Anza is at the top when it comes to statewide 6-year scorecard completion rates. While De Anza maintains its status as having one of the highest community college completion rates in the State, there is currently a downward trend in completion rates. Downward trends in Remedial English, Math, and ESL have been identified. De Anza’s goal is one year completion rate for transfer level English and Math. When compared with other California community colleges, De Anza is doing well with a 52% completion rate even though the goal set by the State is 100%.

Ola Sabawi presented the scorecard file analysis of the last four cohorts which reflected whether or not they achieved completion. The good news is that De Anza still has 45% of the 2015-16 cohorts currently enrolled. Staff will reach out and offer them the tools needed to succeed and reach completion. Of the 3,157 students in the 2015-16 cohort, 24% completed while 76% did not complete. Out of the 76% not completed 41% are not enrolled, and 59% are currently enrolled. 40% of these can be changed to completed by encouraging them to take transfer level courses. Cohort 2015-16 struggled the most with EWRT001. Of the 59% currently enrolled, 30% need basic skills and 56% need to pass EWRT1A. Looking at the entire cohort, Math 114 was the highest non-passing. The Passed and non-passing grades were Math 10, Math 114, and Math 41. In Math, 86% are not passing degree/transfer level math while 14% need basic skills. By ethnicity: The largest populations are Asian, Latino, and Caucasian. The highest degree transfer rates in the 2015-16 cohort are Asian and Caucasian while the lowest degree transfer rates are Latino and African-American. The good news is that the majority of students that did not reach completion are still currently enrolled. 

In response to the concerns of taking concurrent prerequisite classes, Newell clarified that the data shows students are not taking math and english concurrently anyway, making this a moot point. Robles questioned if and how De Anza captures students close to completion and nudges them to complete. A discussion ensued. Mieso commented that Outreach received a list of past students who did not re-enroll and reaches out to encourage them to re-enroll. Unfortunately, Outreach does not have the resources or the capacity to perform outreach on the scale needed in order to re-capture/ re-engage and constantly follow up with all students. Outreach does a great job in capturing high school students and then following up to increase retention. To address the needs that Newell’s data reflected the College would need to undertake institutional-wide planning. Newell pointed out the issue is in the classrooms – students are enrolling and almost half are failing. De Anza needs to get to the students who are in the classrooms and help them pass. Hunter suggested faculty and staff remind students that they do not need to be full time students; it is possible to be just as successful as a part-time student. Hunter suggested it’s our responsibility to remind students that they are successful just by persevering. Mieso commented for clarification that there is no longer a full-time enrollment requirement for priority enrollment and that institutionally De Anza has taken steps to make sure all students (full and part-time) know that they are welcome. Norte mentioned that with shrinking resources the College needs to access our faculty and look at equity gaps; that is where students are not succeeding. Norte asked what things faculty can do in their classrooms to establish rapport, check in with students and capture them within the first two weeks of class.

Vision Statement Review

Newell wanted to be sure College Council was able to view the vision statement that is being put forward for the campus. It is an overarching broad goal that may not be attainable, but reflects what is strived for. The current vision statement is, “Empower all students to attain their educational goal, develop an equity-based mindset, and become civic leaders in their community.” Shively suggested we make the goals plural. Newell requested that feedback on the vision statement be sent via email to newellmallory@deanza.edu. The feedback on the vision statement will be reviewed by the committee at the next meeting.

Instructional Faculty Hiring

Chemistry Department went through a hiring process for a new faculty and were presented with two good candidates. As chemistry is currently greatly impacted, the hiring committee requested permission from IPBT to hire two new chemistry faculty members. The number one complaint from students is that De Anza does not offer enough chemistry classes. The two positions ranked by IPBT as least likely to be eliminated are CIS and chemistry. The IPBT voted on hiring the extra chemistry position out of cycle and hiring the additional chemistry position. Espinosa-Pieb clarified that we are not taking away hiring but will have to go deeper in another area to reach budget reduction goals. The members approved the second Chemistry hire.

As mentioned previously, IPBT is permanently removing two faculty positions from the IPBT list. They are Japanese and a Librarian. The members approved the permanent removal of these position from the IPBT list.

Annual Governance Reflection

Newell presented the annual shared governance survey which was sent out to every governance group. It is for reflection and planning for the future. College Council completed the survey as a group.

  1. As College Council, how did our work help fulfill our mission, values, strategic initiatives, Institutional Core Competencies and commitment to equity:
  • Discussion in College Council helped the members consider and clarify the college’s institution values.
  • As a group, the committee makes decisions that helps support the college’s strategic initiatives and values such as budget decisions and equity goals.
  • The committee upholds a commitment to shared governance as the overarching group where all constituent groups have a seat at the table.
  1. Reflecting on your governance group’s processes and practices over the past year, please identify what has been working and what changes you plan to implement over the next academic year to ensure continuous improvement:
  • Starting this year and moving forward each planning and budget team will report out on their work at CC meetings to broaden the dissemination of information.
  • The committee will continue to ensure that student voices are heard and represented.
  • DASB would like to exercise their voting right within the group moving forward.
  • Starting this year, and moving into next year, a committee member will meet with the student representatives prior to each meeting to serve as a mentor.
  1. Reflecting on your groups’ ability to disseminate information to its stakeholders, what are some strengths and weaknesses in regards to ensuring that all stakeholders are informed of the committee’s activities, processes, policies, and decisions? How can you improve your process for information dissemination next year?
  • Members give committee reports to their constituent groups at each meeting, report outs should be added to the agenda as a standing item to ensure that it takes place.
  • Agendas and notes are posted online.
  • Meetings continue to be open to the public and scheduled in advance.
  • With the new website, we can develop a clear process for posting governance committee agendas and minutes.

As an aside, Espinosa-Pieb is concerned that using BoardDocs may hinder information sharing as some parts require a password. Furthermore, there is a concern about the ability to have free access to committee information. The chancellor’s office shared that all items that fall under the Brown Act will need to use Board Docs by January 2019. The tech team is looking into how BoardDocs interfaces with the new website. The technology team is also looking for ways to improve the current website.

Open Items & Quick News
  • Classified Professionals had a great professional development day last Friday. Next year’s date is already scheduled for May 17, 2019. The Classified Professionals Week kick-off breakfast was Monday. The ice-cream social was today. There was a good turnout at both.
  • The athletic scholars’ awards were presented today.
  • This evening is the Puente Graduation Celebration at 6:00pm in Conference Rooms A&B.

Meeting adjourned at 4:47pm.

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