Local Senates

October
2002
Chair

The Relations with Local Senates Committee serves as a resource to local senates by assisting with local concerns related to strengthening the role of academic senates. This article provides background on some of the work of the Committee.

The Committee continues the tradition of two members from each Senate area. This year's members are:

Area A: Mike Butler (Redwoods) and Teresa Aldredge (Cosumnes River)
Area B: Kate Motoyama (San Mateo) and Cristine Ducoing (Solano)
Area C: Dorothy Williams (Antelope Valley) and Gary Morgan (Oxnard)
Area D: Terri Ann Linn Watson (Chaffey) and Mary Lee Meiners (San Diego Miramar)

Last year the Academic Senate initiated a program of visits to local academic senates. These visits were carried out by either a member of the Relations with Local Senates Committee or the Executive Committee. The purpose of the visits was to enhance the ability of the Academic Senate to provide support and advice to local senates by observing and gathering information about recent concerns and successes. The visits provided an ideal opportunity to share current information-and in some cases war stories. This year the Local Senates Committee plans to continue visits to colleges beginning with those that were not visited last year. If you are interested in having a member attend your local senates meeting soon, please contact committee chair Ian Walton at ian_walton [at] wvmccd.cc.ca.us to schedule a convenient time.

Over the summer the new Local Senates Handbook was published-the result of much hard work by last year's committee. The revised Handbook is a great resource for your local senate. Your local senate office should have received a paper copy but you can download your very own copy from the Senate website at: http://www.academicsenate.cc.ca.us/LocalSenates/Hb.htm. You can also contact the Senate Office for additional copies.

One of the goals of this year's Committee is to work on a Voter Registration drive to realize the promise of mobilizing students raised at the Fall 2001 Plenary Session by Brian Murphy. Each local senate president was asked to designate coordinators for the drive. If no coordinator was identified, the local senate president and vice president were designated as the drive coordinators. Recently, materials have been mailed to your local senate president and vice president as well as posted on our website. The Committee will also hold a breakout on Voter Registration at this year's Fall Session. Please join us and share your successes around registering our over 2.6 million students. We are looking forward to seeing you all there.