March 2019

Governance at a Glance

In this issue: Governance Committee and Council Reports:

Governance Committee and Council Reports

Governance meetings are open to all members of the campus community and all are encouraged to attend. For up-to-date information and documents on governance, please visit our governance website.

Bookmark our governance meeting calendar to always keep up with what is going on in college governance.

Accreditation

The college is ramping up for the 2020 Self-Evaluation Report for the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. About 50 staff, faculty, and managers are participating on writing teams. Teams are researching current practices and collecting evidence of how we are meeting accreditation standards. Drafts will be shared with the entire college as they are written and your feedback will be of value at that time. Watch for future updates!
For more information, please visit: Accreditation website, Becky Opsata, accreditation liaison

Guided Pathways (GPS)

Exciting things are happening with the work of creating Guided Pathways for our students! A new Student Advisory Council is being formed. This council will assist GP planning by serving as a sounding board and focus group to provide needed student input.

GP design teams are working with the AB705 planning team, discipline faculty, and the Counseling Department to draft communications with recommendations for our students to help them choose a path of study.

Finally, an Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative (IEPI) Project Resource Team (PRT) visited the college early last fall to help us identify a project of focus to support our GP work. After meeting separately with GP design teams, the PRT said the outcome was quite apparent: the college could benefit from working on communication.

After submitting the detailed work plan, the college has received grant funding of $200,000 from the state toward these efforts. First up on the timeline will be bringing together a college wide communication committee to assist in hiring a communication consultant and support this work as it moves forward.

For more information, please visit the Guided Pathways website

Current tri-chairs: Becky Opsata (management), Kris Koblik (faculty) and Lupe Dannels (faculty)

College Council (CC)

  • At a recent CC meeting, the DVC Sustainability Committee recommended that the college accept PG&E’s offer to grant funds toward the installation of new EV charging stations in parking lot #5. This recommendation has gone to the senates for feedback.
  • CC also discussed the IEPI PRT Institutional Innovation and Effectiveness Plan and its three main objectives:
    • Create student facing publications/technology;
    • Increase student voices to redesign and improve student-friendly communications,
    • Design structures to improve communication.
  • The CC received and discussed a draft charge/function of the proposed new Communications Committee and the proposed Student Equity and Success committee, as well as a revised draft of CC charge/function.
  • There was discussion around expanding the CC membership and also the need for a visual representation of governance committees. More conversation to come this spring on these topics.

For more information, please visit the College Council website

Current Chairs: John Freytag (faculty) and Jessica Martin (classified)

Research, Planning and Evaluation Committee (RPEC)

The RPEC has a full slate of projects for the spring.

  • The committee will oversee DVC’s participation in the Community College Survey of Student Experiences (CCSSE). This survey will be conducted in late March and April.
  • The RPEC is also setting goals for the college to align with state requirements and our Educational Master Plan.
  • Finally, the RPEC is working to create meaningful professional development opportunities for staff, faculty, and management.

For more information, please visit the Research, Planning and Evaluation Committee website

Current Chairs: Becky Opsata (management), Catherine Machalinski (faculty)

Program Review Committee (PRC)

The PRC has started work on reading the reports submitted in the fall 2018 term. The committee will evaluate requests and rank them for final considerations and review of CC and the President.

For more information, please visit the Program Review Committee website

Current co-chairs: Raymond Martin (classified), Obed Vazquez (management)

Budget Committee (BC)

The BC is in the process of reviewing and, if appropriate, revising its charge and function, membership, and budget development timeline. The intention is to strengthen the link between planning and budget allocation recommendations, and revitalize the level of engagement in this process.

It is also the goal of the committee to increase transparency in sharing budget information and committee recommendations. This review, and any recommended changes/additions, will occur during the spring. The goal is to fully implement this documented and college approved process during the next budget cycle. In the meantime, BC will increase its level of engagement in budget review and resource allocation this spring term.

For more information, please visit the Budget Committee Website

Current chair: Carol Hilton (management)

Academic Senate Council (ASC)

An ASC workgroup presented a draft of an Academic Freedom philosophy statement to Senate council, who unanimously voted to approve and send forward to Faculty Senate Coordinating Council (the three district Academic Senate presidents), who also approved unanimously. The philosophy statement will be presented to the district Coordinating Council for discussion.

In other business, Beth Hauscarriague and Carissa Urbalejo did a presentation on Starfish for Senate Council that was very well received.

The ASC also recently approved an updated mission statement for DVC, and approved plans based on the Partnership Resource Team's recommendations for improving communications at the college.

For more information, please visit the Academic Senate Website

Current leadership: Beth McBrien, president; John Freytag, vice-president

Classified Senate (CS)

Be on the lookout for a CS sponsored Spring Break PD event! Planning is underway for the 25th anniversary of JobLinks!  Classified are encouraged to attend these great professional development activities.

For more information, please visit the Classified Senate website

Current leadership: Marisa Greenberg, president; Jessica Martin, vice president

For the charges and functions of the above committees, please visit the links to each committee above.

All DVC constituencies, including our students, can access our governance committee minutes and agendas through the public website.