Council Archives 2018-2021
Committee Operations & Logistics
Membership
Committees will have 12 members — 4 Faculty, 3 Classified Staff, 3 Students, and 2 Administrators. A member can only serve on one committee.
Recommendations
Each committee will act independently to set the calendar and agenda. Each committee can make recommendations directly to the President. All recommendations will be made in writing following a standard template.
Schedule
Committee meetings will be scheduled for Friday afternoons: Equity and Education the first Friday, Community and Communication the second, Revenue and Resources the third, and Council the fourth. Committees can decide if they want to meet more than once monthly or when to schedule a makeup meeting due to a holiday.
Appointments
It will be up to the Senates (Academic, Classified, AFSC) and the President (for administrators) to make decisions on appointments to the committees, including Chairs, terms and term limits. The Senates may want to consider staggering the terms, but it is up them. In the future, the Senates may also wish to select Chairs from members whom have already served on the committee to foster continuity over time.
Facilitators and Recorders
Each committee will be assigned a facilitator and a recorder. Facilitators and recorders will be Foothill employees, but not members of the committee (they will not vote, they will not be a tri-chair) and will be appointed by the President and assigned to a committee for a whole year. Facilitators and recorders collaborate with the chairs in agenda setting.
Facilitators will prepare and distribute the agenda (using a standard template) in sufficient time to meet Brown Act requirements. During the meeting, the facilitator will be responsible for encouraging participation from all committee members, calling on members to speak (so as to avoid members talking over each other), keeping the discussion connected to the agenda item, and keeping the discussion within the meeting time. The facilitator will summarize actions prior to voting, and will allow adequate time for additional discussion necessary prior to having the committee vote on an action to be taken. There may be a monthly meeting of facilitators to share information across committees (this will also provide a backup just in case a facilitator can't make a meeting).
Recorders will note topics of discussion, points made, agreement/disagreement on points made, in reasonable detail so that upon review community members could easily understand what was discussed at a meeting. Recorders are responsible for taking and posting / sharing the draft minutes of the meeting within a week of the meeting using a standard template.
Subcommittees and Study Groups
There will be no standing subcommittees. However, the creation of a study group for a committee may be deemed necessary to aid in carrying out the committee's charge.
Committees may appoint members to one or more study groups that will meet for a defined period of time and present their findings and recommendations to the committee.
The study group will be chaired by a member of the committee. The study group could be made up of some of the members of the committee or the committee could appoint an entirely different group of members from the Foothill community. Where possible the committee will consider its needs during the September Governance Summit and make an announcement at that meeting. This does not preclude the announcement of a new study group mid-year.
Representation
Committee members are expected to represent the constituent groups that appointed them. It is expected that the tri-chair will report back to their respective Senates in writing / or verbally after each meeting.
Committee Communication
Each committee may act to share information or a recommendation to another committee if they believe it would be important for another committee to consider, given the charge.
The committee will do so in writing using a standard template.
A governance webpage will include up-to-date information on each committee. Representatives will report to their constituent groups after each meeting. A campus-wide email blog (Foothill College Fusion) will publish monthly updates.
Attendance
Attendance in-person is encouraged.
All meetings are open to the Foothill College community and everyone is welcome and encouraged to sit in on and participate in committee meetings. All meetings will be broadcast via video conferencing. The meetings will not be recorded.
Chairs
Each committee will have a tri-chair appointed by the Faculty, Classified Staff, and President. Given the demands on their time, students will not serve as chair.
Agenda Setting
During the Governance Summit the committees will develop a draft calendar for the year – the Sample Agenda Topics in Appendix K are examples. An agenda setting meeting that includes the chairs, facilitators, and recorders will take place before each committee meeting. The agenda will include needed supporting materials. It will be the responsibility of the administrative tri-chair to contact the ex-official members so that materials can be prepared to support the agenda item. The materials will be prepared and presented by ex- officio members or other employees with expertise in that area.
