College Planning Council

Minutes

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sept 11, 2009
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10:00 am – 12:00 pm
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mal comm. room
Attendees / Jerry Patton, Jeff Place, Rick Rawnsley, Wendy Sanders, Doug MacIntire (Anthony Tesch), David Buttles, Victor Rios, Ty Thomas, Chris Nelson, Rey Ortiz, Daniel Kleinfelter, Lisa Soccio, Chuck Decker, Susan Evans, Ted Grofer, Mary Lisi, Terri Fleck, Aries Jaramillo, Michelle Price, Carlos Maldonado, Lee Ann Weaver, Leslie Young, Jim Berg, Adrian Gonzales, Juan Lujan, Bina Isaac, Pam LiCalsi, Farley Herzek, Diane Ramirez, Edwin Deas, Matthew Breindel.
Recorder: Revae Reynolds

Agenda topics

1. welcome
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j. patton
Discussion / The president showed a video about building airplanes in the sky to remind council members that we are working as we go. The president reiterated the importance of planning to both the improvement of the college and the Accrediting Commission.
Conclusions / It is challenging to develop and update a planning process while the college continues to function and use the process we now have, much like building an airplane while it is flying.
Action items / Person responsible / Deadline
1. None.
2. approval of minutes
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j. patton
discussion / May 8, 2009:
President encouraged council members to review the action items and make sure they are being accomplished. All committees should record minutes. Chris Nelson moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Terri Fleck, minutes approved unanimously.
June 30, 2009:
There were no comments on the minutes. Chris Nelson moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Rey Ortiz, minutes approved unanimously.
conclusions / Minutes from both meetings were approved. Council members were reminded to note action items as they will be revisited at future meetings for status report.
action items / person responsible / deadline
1. Stay current on action items. / All Members / On going
3. committee updates
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chairs
discussion / D Ramirez: Student Affairs
Matriculation has not met yet.
The Textbook Affordability Task Force would like to continue for one more year. All documents from meetings are on the portal under “Student Affairs.” College will launch a pilot project for textbook rentals this semester and spring and will report back.
Datatel Users Group: The committee was structured when all members were new to Datatel. The committee has been reconstituted to focus more on the needs of end users. Bina Isaac has been asked to chair the committee. These committee changes will be submitted to the President for approval.
conclusions
action items / person responsible / deadline
1. Report to CPC from Textbook Rental Pilot program / D. Ramirez / Mar/Apr 2010
4. assessing committee effectiveness
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j. patton
discussion / The President noted that Program Review is the process used to set goals and improve programs in academic areas and the college is implementing a parallel process for the Dean level and the support services of the campus. With respect to committee effectiveness, Council discussed whether oral reports are sufficient or if action items should be generated by committees, too. It was noted that there is staff time involved to record and track a committee’s work and results. A simple summary, one page report including actions taken, is preferable.
A standard template would be helpful. There is concern that not everyone on campus receives committee updates, including from academic senate committees. The academic senate has good structure; the college needs better structure. It was suggested that, at the next CPC meeting, the Council review all committees and their reporting structure. It was noted that part of the success of the academic senate is the executive committee, so the heads of the college committees should meet with their respective Vice President so the VP can communicate on their behalf at CPC. Vice Presidents were directed to affirm the purpose of each of their committees. Action item: make sure the Vice Presidents meet with the chairs of these committees so summaries can be shared. It would be helpful to have a template for the information to be shared. It was suggested that a flow chart be created of the committee structure and their flow of products. This is a matter of accountability, not control. CPC action items should come back to CPC in reports. Action items have specific assignments and due dates. It was noted that when the two committees were merged (College Council and Planning Council), there were task forces that had items under way that have now fallen by the wayside. There was a task force for the priority process to follow up on the priority process results, for example.
President will create a list of action items for CPC and post it for members to monitor and update as items are completed. President suggested T Fleck and C Nelson bring to the next CPC meeting, a list of task forces that have been “lost” and other unfinished business.
conclusions / The college needs a better, more consistent way of communicating committee actions and products. Academic Senate committees work well. All other college committees report to a Vice President, so the VPs should meet with those chairs and then bring a report to CPC. A standardized template would be helpful. A flow chart of committees and their reporting should be added to the CPC Handbook. There will be discussion at a future CPC meeting to wrap up (or re-assign) topics that were under way when the 2 councils merged January 2009. Action items will be posted on the CPC portal page for members to monitor and update as items are completed.
action items / person responsible / deadline
1.  Meet with the heads of the committees that report to you.
2.  Develop committee report template.
3.  Create flow chart of committees’ reporting structure – add to CPC Handbook.
4.  Bring unfinished business (predating the merger) to the next meeting. / Vice Presidents
Revae Reynolds
Revae Reynolds
T. Fleck / C. Nelson / 10/9/09
9/30/09
9/30/09
9/25/009
5. support services program review annual update
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j. patton
discussion / President shared the worksheet for use in preparing the annual program review update for Support Services. They will complete a 5-year program review, and an annual update. This will accompany the planning form (goals, etc.) that is submitted every year. It was noted that there have been many forms, so a summary would be helpful. Now there are primarily 2: the annual planning form (goals, etc.) and the annual program review update form. This process must be in place and functioning this year and under way next year. The accreditation team in 2011 will focus on this process.
conclusions / There is a form to be used for Support Services when conducting their annual program review update. Annually, there are 2 forms to complete: Planning Form (goals, etc.) and Annual Program Review Update (unless this is your year to complete the 5-year comprehensive Program Review).
action items / person responsible / deadline
1. None.
6. accreditation rubric for planning
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j. patton
discussion / The President reviewed the ACCJC rubric for planning. There are 4 progressive levels of process development. We are expected to be at the fourth level: sustainable, continuous quality improvement. We are working on the process and the dialogue needs to take place across campus as well. CPC members should be taking this information to their respective areas. D MacIntire will chair a task force on data to identify the data needed and then how to present the data so end users can use it. W Sanders is also going to participate. Doug is looking for more volunteers.
Dialog is a component of the Proficiency level. There was discussion about the college’s frequency and venues for dialogue. Much would take place in division/program areas. It was noted that dialogue takes places to a greater extent in some areas of campus than others. It was noted that these discussions take considerable time and gathering the right people together is difficult. There was discussion regarding a “staff hour” or “college hour” during which no classes would be scheduled to make it more feasible to meet together. Because of the budget situation, this is a good time to revisit our schedule. Difficult times are great opportunities. Michelle and Rey will check with other institutions to see what their models might show us.
There was discussion as to how to capture the content of the dialogue. Minutes of meetings are a minimum requirement, particularly if there is a record of improvements that were made as a result of the conversation. This is important.
It was suggested that the flex schedule include more division time and less general information time, more like a 50/50 split. This recommendation needs to be communicated to the flex coordinator. The accreditation requirement for dialogue would be met with twice-a-year sessions at flex. Maybe a mid-semester half day for conversation would be helpful. It was noted that it is difficult to involve classified staff members in flex conversations because flex is their busiest time.
There was discussion about how to record more informal dialogue. If something happens as a result of the conversation, one person can send an email to the other to acknowledge what transpired. The email becomes the documentation.
Planning and Budget:
The President noted that we need to refine our budget process. The existing Budget Task Force looks at our revenue streams and they report to CPC, but we need an opportunity for discussion. Planning and budgeting need to be more closely linked, particularly now as we face declining revenue and FTES so far exceeding growth that we stand to lose $11 million. Additionally, as we begin to plan for 2010-2011, we need to recognize that summer school 2010 lies in the 2010-2011 budget year. If there is no summer school, some are wondering what employees are working on during the summer months.
The President suggested a couple of ways to create better linkage: Let the Budget Committee know that they need considerable dialogue about every item in the budget and report that to CPC, or Budget representatives could come to CPC meetings to have the dialogue in CPC. Participants in the dialogue need to be knowledgeable about financial statements.
As the college looks at making more cuts, we need to refrain from protectionism and pointing fingers at our colleagues. The college has other sources of revenue, such as grants, fee-based services, land leases, community education, etc. College Planning Council stands to make some difficult decisions about budget in the coming months. If we have to affect people’s livelihood, we will make it as gentle as possible, spread it over time, etc. Some decisions may have impacts across campus and need to be anticipated. At the September 25 meeting, we will discuss what absolutely needs to be done during the summer. There would also be union ramifications. Our union representatives have been extremely understanding under these circumstances. Next meeting we will go through that spreadsheet about summer activities.
E Deas has done a projection: if we make no changes now, we will be in the hole $15M by the year 2013-14. CPC will review this spreadsheet at the Sept. 25 meeting. CPC will discuss efficiency. If employees can be reassigned as a result of an efficiency review, everyone at the college will benefit.
conclusions / The college needs to work toward practicing planning at the “sustainable, continuous quality improvement” level. Doug MacIntire will head the data task force and needs more members. Campus practices of documenting dialogue can be improved. The establishment of “college hour” and more Flex time were suggested. The college has difficult decisions to make because of our budget situation; a venue for dialogue is necessary. CPC will discuss what level of summer operations is absolutely necessary and discuss the budget projection which indicates $15M deficit by 2013 if no changes are made.
action items / person responsible / deadline
1.  Share the Planning rubric with your constituents.
2.  Research other colleges’ “college hour” formats.
3.  All official committees should record minutes.
4.  Request Flex Coordinator to schedule more division time.
5.  Put “Summer Staffing” on the Sept. 25 CPC agenda.
6.  Put “Budget Projection” on the Sept. 25 CPC agenda. / All CPC members
M. Price / R. Ortiz
Committee Chairs
R. Ortiz / F. Herzek
R. Reynolds
R. Reynolds / 9/30/09
9/30/09
ASAP
10/31/09
9/24/09
9/24/09
7. goals and objectives for 2010-2011
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j. patton
discussion / President Patton noted that the goals and objectives for 2010 and 2011 are posted on the CPC portal page. These are the institutional goals that we will build our planning activities around this year in preparation for 2010-2011. These goals are broad enough that we will not need to change them every year.
conclusions
action items / person responsible / deadline
1. None.
8. planning documents
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j. patton
discussion / President Patton reviewed the Planning Form (goals, objectives, etc.) and reviewed its components. This form consolidates our goal-setting, our priority process, and our budget requests onto one form. The form also includes a section to summarize to what degree the goals were met.
conclusions / The Planning Form (goals, objectives, etc.) summarizes goal-setting, budget requests, and assessment all on one form.
action items / person responsible / deadline
1. None.
9. other BUSINESS
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cOUNCIL
discussion / It was suggested that this group summarize what it accomplished today so members can report back to their areas: