During the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting:
- Members of the faculty presented the resolution that was approved at the special meeting on Tuesday, April 23. The resolution addressed the draft Board resolution on student equity. Student Trustee Nielsen responded that he was offended because students were disrespected and told to “go away” at the special meeting.
- A leader of the students-veterans, talked about the increasing enrollment of veterans at CCSF and the importance of meeting their needs.
- A classified staff member spoke about the importance of classified staff to the operations of the college.
- A student spoke about what he feels is a lack of accountability and unfair treatment at CCSF.
- A member of the faculty spoke to the importance of closing the achievement gap and to eliminating it.
The Board considered a contract with Mondo USA to replace the football field’s artificial turf. According to George Rush, the current turf is worn and presents a health hazard to our athletes and any others that use it. Trustee Rizzo spoke to the fact that the current field has been tested with high levels of lead and other toxic substances. The new field would be made of non-toxic and fully recyclable material. The cost of the new field turf would be approximately $90,000 per year for each of the next eight years.
A classified staff member of the ITS department spoke to problems with the college’s internet infrastructure and the need to make it a priority to address the problems. Peter Goldstein said there that a fix was in the works and it would be considered at the next Facilities, Infrastructure, and Technology Committee meeting on April 8.
The Board approved the contract.
The Board discussed a resolution to establish priorities for development of the District’s budget for 2010-2011.
The Board’s discussion of the resolution focused primarily on the process for adopting these priorities.
The Chancellor spoke in favor of the Board’s priorities.
Members of the community gave a variety of feedback about the proposed priorities and the priorities were amended as recommended.
The Board approved the amended priorities.
The Board considered a newly amended Master Agreement between the District and the CCSF Foundation. The changes were fairly small, but significant in terms of membership of representatives of the Academic and Classified Senates on the Foundation Board. The Board approved the new draft Master Agreement.
The Board voted to oppose all student fee increases.
Overall, the Board meeting was a little like a college community therapy session. Speakers owned mistakes. They spoke from the heart. Everyone spoke to the need to work together. Everyone spoke to the need to communicate, trust one another, and move forward for the good of our students.
A CD recording of the Special Meeting of the Academic Senate on 3/23/10 referenced at the beginning of this blog post will be available starting the week of April 5. People are encouraged to listen to the CD recording to learn first hand the nature of the meeting and the exact nature of student and faculty behavior during this meeting. Request the CD by calling Broadcast Media Services at X3525.
Prior to this meeting the petitioners were contacted by students in leadership positions as well as faculty on several occasions warning that a group of students intended to “crash and disrupt” the Special Academic Senate meeting. In response, seats were reserved for students inside the auditorium, making it unnecessary for students to crash the Academic Senate Special Meeting and Campus Police decided to post one officer in the lobby who would request help if a significant disruption occurred.
Comment by Francine Podenski — April 5, 2010 @ 10:49 am