AFT Seattle – Local 1789

Approved Minutes of the Faculty Senate
North Seattle Community College
Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Call to Order:   2:35 in IB Math/Science/Social Science Conference Room
	
Present:   

Scott Bernhard
Dave Conners
Val Donato
Dave Eberhardt
Tracy Furutani
Carol Hamilton
Brian Holt
Ralph Jenne
Frank Jump
Pam Lippert
Lydia Minatoya
Dawson Nichols
Vince Offenback
Christine Purdy
Trish Root
Karen Stuhldreher
Betty Williams
Jennifer Wu

Presiding:	Carol Hamilton, Co-President

Student Guests:	Alexis Baranov, Edouard Tjoa, Cayla Small

Handouts:	Agenda				Dodson letter to Board of Trustees (11/13)
November Draft Minutes 		Dodson letter to Board of Trustees (11/25)
		RCW 28B.15.045 – Guidelines governing Services and Activities Fees
				
DISCUSSION AND ACTIONS 

1.  November minutes discussed and approved with very slight changes.

2.  AFT Seattle Plan to face State of Washington Budget Crisis.

Carol explained that the Executive board and Senate members from each campus met last week.  The union has decided that we will stand behind the principle of not cutting classes or faculty members.  We will present this message as a united front and at all levels.  It will be communicated to the Chancellor, the district, the Presidents, the VPs, and the Deans.  Senators recognized that, with the level of cuts being discussed, some classes may have to be cut, but the principle that these should be the budget cuts of last resort stands.

The Senate then discussed the ramifications of budget cuts and possible alternatives to cutting classes or faculty.  Access to budgetary information is crucial, and a committee of union members that includes Brian and Dave C. have been appointed to look into the district budget.

According to our contract, budget information is to be made available – through regular reports and through documentation – to Senate Presidents.  Carol reported that this was not being done.

Carol reported that in yesterday’s Executive Board meeting it was revealed that $1.8 million dollars was taken from the District reserve monies and given to SCCTV.  SCCTV is supposed to be – and claims to be – a self-supporting entity.  There have been other questionable distributions as well, and the union committee will be looking into these matters.

Other ramifications of the budget cuts were discussed, including tuition increases, increased class sizes, and augmented use of PT Faculty.

How to effectively lobby the legislature was discussed.  

The President has said that he is going to look to the College Council to lead the discussions surrounding how to react to budget cuts.  Two additional Faculty members for the CC are needed.

3.  Student Leadership Council

The Faculty Senate met with three visiting members of the Student Leadership Council.  Carol answered questions about the composition of the Faculty Senate following which there was a discussion of student concerns on campus.
Open Access – Student leaders expressed their commitment to the college’s mission of open access enrollment.  They expressed concern that in the current budget crisis this principle not be, in their word, ‘betrayed.’  The Faculty Senate agreed that this should be a guiding principle of the college, especially during difficult economic times.
Tuition Increases – Student leaders confirmed that they were opposed to tuition increases.
Textbook costs – Faculty members shared the concern of student leaders that textbook costs are too high.  The Faculty Senate is eager to work with student leaders to develop ways to make textbooks more affordable.  Suggestions to look into include:
•	Examining and possibly renegotiating the contract the college has with Barnes and Noble.
•	Making use of open coursework materials available online.
•	Utilizing textbook-on-demand technology such as the Espresso Book Machine.
Polaris – In response to a question from Tracy, student leaders confirmed that they were still trying to restart the Polaris.  They want to make sure that it is restarted in such a way that it can continue and thrive.  Lydia suggested that an online journalism course from all three SCCFT campuses might serve as a curricular anchor for an online version of the magazine and even a paper copy. 
The faculty senate urged the Student Leadership Council to be proactive in making their budget priorities known to NSCC administrators.

4.  Report from Senators who attended President’s Emergency Budget Meeting

Senators reported that the president began his meeting by affirming that NSCC needs to make decisions with its primary mission in mind and that protecting actual instruction at NSCC was the main goal.  He then went on to outline a number of possible ways to cut the budget by the presently asked for 20%, but many of his proposed methods seemed to directly affect instruction.

Discussion of some of the specific ideas followed and it was noted that many of the potential cuts were to programs that serve disadvantaged communities.  It was suggested that the hard division between operation budget and capital budget might be reassessed, but this would have to be done by the legislature.  

Difficulties students encounter when paying tuition were discussed.

It was decided that a committee should be formed to draft a position statement about NSCC faculty priorities for the coming budgetary cuts.  This committee was formed and will consist of Ralph, Carol, Tracy, Brian, Dave C., and Dawson.  They agreed to meet in the next week to brainstorm something that would complement Lynn Dodson’s letters.

5. Etcetera

Dawson was nominated and appointed to the College Council.  One more faculty spot is still available.

Carol urged Senators to make a concerted effort to contact new faculty employees, who may be feeling anxiety in these uncertain times.

The next Faculty Senate meeting will be on January 7th.  Faculty Senators are urged to meet with their respective deans prior to this time so that we can report to one another about how the budget crisis is being handled across the college.

6. Grievance Report

The Faculty Senate went into executive session to hear the grievance report.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m.

Submitted by Dawson Nichols, Secretary