Monday October 19, 2015
President's Update - October
Hello senate presidents and other interested readers,
The fall term is now in full swing for most of us, and academic senates around the state have returned to the business of serving their faculty, their colleges, and their students. The ASCCC has also been hard at work on your behalf, and we offer the following updates to help you and your senate stay up to date regarding state-level developments and activities.
David Morse,
President
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2015 Fall Plenary Session
The 2015 ASCCC Fall Plenary Session will be held at the Irvine Marriott
from November 5 to 7. The theme of the plenary is “Converging Inspiration, Innovation, and Action.” General sessions will involve the Accreditation Task Force Report, diversifying our faculty, and a panel of the system’s vice-chancellors. The session program and information are available here. We hope that many of you will join us at this event to gather information, to debate issues, and to vote on resolutions.
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Special Elections
Earlier this year, three members of the ASCCC Executive Committee resigned to take administrative positions. The Executive Committee appointed interim replacements for all three: Grant Goold as Area A Representative, Cleavon Smith as North Representative, and Adrienne Foster as South Representative. However, ASCCC bylaws
indicate that all these positions must be formally filled by vote of the delegates at the next plenary session. We will therefore hold special elections for all three positions at the 2015 Fall Plenary. Those who are interested in being candidates for the positions can find information here (via Resources tab).
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Chancellor Harris' Retirement
As most of you are aware, Chancellor Brice Harris announced recently that he will retire from his position in April. Chancellor Harris has been an outstanding leader for our system, and he has always been respectful of faculty voice and friendly to the Academic Senate. The ASCCC will miss working with him when he retires, but we look forward to accomplishing much in his final six months as chancellor. We will keep you informed when the Board of Governors begins its process for naming the next chancellor.
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Accreditation Task Force Report
The 2015 Chancellor’s Office Task Force on Accreditation released its report in late August. The report went to the Board of Governors
as a first reading on September 21 and will return to the Board for action in November. All system organizations, both statewide and local, should consider whether they wish to endorse the report. Notice of all endorsements should be sent to Chancellor Brice Harris in order to support his efforts to move the task force recommendations forward. The report is available in electronic form here.
The ASCCC Executive Committee passed a motion to endorse the report at its October meeting. Delegates at the ASCCC Fall Plenary Session will also be asked to vote on a resolution endorsing the report.
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Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy
The final recommendations of the Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy, or the Workforce Task Force, were presented to the Board of Governors at their retreat on September 20. The recommendations will return to the Board for action in November, and thus we expect that they will be an important topic of discussion at the Fall Plenary. The final report and recommendations can be found
here.
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2016-17 System Budget Request
The Chancellor’s Office has submitted its initial budget request for the 2016-17 academic year. Highlights of the request involve $175 million for access, $100 million for COLA, $200 Million to support the implementation of the Workforce Task Force
recommendations, $105 Million for Student Success and Categorical Support, and $80 million for hiring full-time faculty. Full details of this initial request can be found as an attachment to the Consultation Council Agenda here. Note that this request is just the first step in the budget process that will continue throughout the year.
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Executive Committee Meeting
The ASCCC Executive Committee will hold its next meeting on November 4, the day before the fall plenary session, at the Irvine Marriott Hotel. All local faculty leaders and others are welcome to join us to hear our deliberations and engage with us. More information on Executive Committee Meetings can be found
here.
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Upcoming ASCCC Events
We hope to see many of you at the area meetings, the Fall Plenary, the Executive Committee Meetings, and our other events. Whenever we can be of any assistance to you or to your senate, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are always available to provide information or guidance, and we are happy to visit local colleges whenever possible. We wish all of you the very best as you continue working collegially to represent faculty on your campuses.
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