Academic Senate covers campus issues

By Jina Tedmori
Daily Forty-Niner

The Academic Senate met for the first time last Thursday, covering a variety of issues including a new student attendance policy.

The senate is working on a new policy because student athletes sometimes miss classes for sports events, said Simeon J. Crowther, Academic Senate Chair and economics professor.

The policy proposed would guarantee students in sport the right to leave class without being penalized.

Previously, individual professors decided their policy.

"There has never been a formal policy in place, just an informal mentioning in the catalog," Crowther said. "Until now, a formal policy never seemed to be needed."

Creating a policy seems like an easy task, but it snowballed, Crowther said.   The policy needs to be agreed upon by three different departments of the school legislature before it can be passed. No final decision will be made about it in the future, though it will be discussed at the next Academic Senate meeting, Crowther said.

The dispute between the Chancellor's Office and the California Faculty Association over salary increases for all faculty was also addressed. The CFA is requiring all level three professors, which includes part time and tenured lectures, to fill out a Faculty Activity Report by Oct. 2.

The idea of an evaluating system for tenure professors is being shaped, Crowther said. There is no evaluating process for the professors currently. The first step will be a trial run, to see how it works, Crowther said.

The next Academic Senate meeting will be Sept. 21.