ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING

MINUTES

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2007

SEVEN HILLS CONFERENCE CENTER, NOB HILL ROOM

2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Absences: Behrooz, Maziar (abs); Chelberg, Gene (exc); Davis, Harvey (Skip)(exc); Gonzales, Dan (abs); Hubbard, Donna (abs); Jaimes-Guerrero, A.J. (abs); Jones, Terry (abs);

Mahan, Dianne (exc); Mercado, Claudia (abs); Williams, Robert (exc)

Guests: Patricia Bartscher; Gail Whitaker; Susan Shimanoff; Marilyn Verhey; Helen Goldsmith; Bob Cherny; Linda Buckley; Maggie Beers; Alex Katz; Elaine Fischer-Kohn; Toby Garfield; Matthew Luskey; Ramon Castellblanch; Mitch Turitz; Tendai Chitewere; Logan Hennessy; Cyrus Ginwala; Jose Acacio de Barros; Tanya Augsburg.

The meeting was preceded a performance by the Alexander String Quartet: Zakarias Grafilo, Frederick Lifsitz, Paul Yarbrough, Sandy Wilson.

CALL TO ORDER: 2:22 p.m.

Chair Kohn asked for a moment of silence in honor of those who died in the attack on the World Trade Center 9/11/2001.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Freshmen in the class of 2011 were greeted before the start of classes with two Welcome Days. Participants included 2500 students and 3500 parents and guardians. The principal organizer was Joey Greenwell, Office of Student Programs and Leadership.

2. The Romberg Tiburon Center has completed a remodeling of some of its facilities. Faculty are reminded that this center can house small conferences and meetings.

3. Student participation in Senate activities and other forms of shared governance will be supported by the Center for Institutional Change (CIC) in the College of Humanities. Participating students may sign up for CIC courses and, upon completion of appropriate associated academic activities, receive credit for their participation.

4. The Senate reminds the campus that, because of the paucity of available Mondays in the Fall 2007 semester, finals will be held on the first and last Saturday of finals week.

5. Gene Chelberg, Director of Disability Programs and Services, has been appointed Associate Vice President for Student Services. Mr. Chelberg will continue to supervise Disability Services, and a Director will be hired to manage the day-to-day activities.

6. Alexandra Katz has been appointed as Curriculum Coordinator for the campus. She was introduced to the Senate.

7. The faculty elected to the Search Committee for the Dean of Undergraduate Studies were announced: Carmen Domingo (Biology), Deborah van Dommelen (Director, Learning Assistance Center) and Shawn Whalen (Communications Studies).

8. Maggie Beers has been appointed Director of Academic Technology. She gave a brief report on her duties and goals. She will administer four areas: AV and media services, online teaching and learning including iLearn, instructional media production and enhanced classrooms. Her position reports to the AVP for Academic Resources. She has initiated an inventory of all physical and human computing resources and needs on campus as a preliminary step to developing a vision for the educational uses of technology at SF State. Dr. Beers pointed out that CSU expects to devote $180M to academic technology purchases over the next three years, and campuses need a coherent plan to apply for a share of these funds. She will work with the Senate through the Strategic Issues Committee to develop policies regarding on-line courses and teaching.

A description of the position of Director of Academic Technology was attached to the agenda.

AGENDA ITEM #1—Approval of the Agenda for September 11, 2007

The agenda was approved by acclamation.

AGENDA ITEM #2—Approval of the Minutes for the last meeting of 2006-2007 Academic Senate on May 15, 2007

The minutes were approved by acclamation.

AGENDA ITEM #3—Approval of the Minutes for the first meeting of the 2007-2008 Academic Senate on May 15, 2007

The minutes were approved by acclamation.

AGENDA ITEM #4—Election for the Academic Senate Elections Committee: Three members of the Academic Senate are needed to run Senate Elections and both oversee and validate University-Wide Elections. Nominations will be accepted from the floor of the Senate

Six Senators were nominated: Yitwah Cheung, Sudip Chattopadhyay, Don Danner, Wei Ming Dariotis, Donna Hubbard, Dianne Mahan and Hafez Modirzadeh. Elected were Sudip Chattopadhyay, Wei Ming Dariotis and Hafez Modirzadeh.

AGENDA ITEM #5—Report from Provost John Gemello & Vice President of Administration and Finance, Leroy Morishita: Update on SF State Budget and Master Plan

Dr. Gemello reported on the 2007-08 university budget, with additional comments from Dr. Morishita. The most current estimates show that the University's budget has a deficit of $6.5M, due mostly to shortfalls in non-resident tuition and increased costs of salaries and benefits. CSU did not fully fund the campus for increased costs incurred as a result of new contracts with faculty and staff signed last year. SF State enrollments continue to grow, and the budget situation would be worse without the funds received to support this growth.

Dr. Morishita reported on the SF State Master Plan, which may go to the Board of Trustees for approval in September. Recent changes to the plan have included increased student, faculty and staff housing and a reduction in the size of the conference center. SF State continues to negotiate with the City and County of San Francisco over the effects of the plan as outlined in the Environmental Impact Report.

AGENDA ITEM #6—Report from Ramon Castellblanch, President, California Faculty Association (CFA)

Dr. Castellblanch addressed the Senate on the aims and goals of the California Faculty Association, both locally and statewide. He said that CFA works to protect the quality and affordability of public higher education in California through campus activities, systemwide negotiations and political lobbying. They aim to be more visible on campus and hope to participate in future Fall Convocations. Dr. Castellblanch reminded the Senate of the need for departments to create a pool of candidates for Faculty Hearing Panels as required by the contract.

AGENDA ITEM #7—Report from Susan Shimanoff, Chair, Graduation Requirements Task Force

Dr. Shimanoff reviewed the history of the Task Force and reported that the Task Force has developed a draft statement of goals for the SF State baccalaureate degree (which was attached to the agenda). It will be sent to the campus shortly for comment. The Senate discussed the draft briefly, and Dr. Shimanoff asked those concerned send their comments in writing to the Task Force. She emphasized that the Task Force has not begun translating the vision contained in the draft statement into course and unit requirements.

AGENDA ITEM #8—Report from Helen Goldsmith, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies: New Liberal Studies Faculty

The Liberal Studies Program hired five faculty last year, the first to report directly to the Liberal Studies Program. The focus of the Program will continue to be on teacher-training, but changes in state and federal regulation have provided Liberal Studies with the opportunity to revise their curriculum. Since they are the first faculty hired by a campus program not housed in a college, Senate rules will need to be modified to include the Liberal Studies faculty in shared governance and the structure of the Liberal Studies Council may have to be modified to take account of their role.

AGENDA ITEM #9—Academic Senate Elections

List of nominees was distributed at the meeting.

1. All-University Committee on Teacher Education (AUTEC): Robert Williams (Counseling) was elected by acclamation to a one-year term.

2. Board of Appeals and Review (BOAR): Karen Johnson Carroll (Consumer/Family Studies and Dietetics) was elected by acclamation to a one-year term.

3. Enrollment Management Committee: no nominations were received.

4. Graduate Council: Pamela Hood (Philosophy) was elected by acclamation to a two-year term.

5. Statewide Representative for the Academic Council on International Programs: Laura Lisy-Wagner (History) was elected by acclamation to the remainder of a three-year term ending spring semester, 2009.

6. University Budget Committee: Nathan Avani (Secondary Education) and Nini Yang (International Business) were elected by acclamation to two-year terms.

AGENDA ITEM #10—Adjournment—4:00 p.m.