General Meeting Information

Date: October 27, 2025
Time: 2:30-4:30
Location: MLC 255

This meeting will be held in a Hybrid modality, meaning anyone can participate in-person or online. To join remotely, see the Zoom information at the bottom of this page.

If any voting members attend remotely, all votes will be taken as a roll-call, as required by the Brown Act.

  • Agenda

    Time Topic Purpose Discussion Leader

    I. Call to Order

    2:30

    Welcome
    Voting and Associate members joining us online, please turn your cameras on and add "VM" to your Zoom name to help identify you to the public.

    (Please complete your report out if you haven't already)
    Public link to Report Out Document available at the end of the agenda

    Voting Members, please use this link for our roll call vote to start the meeting.

    I All

    II. Agenda, Minutes, and Consent Calendar

    2:30-2:35

    Approval of Agenda, Minutes from October 20, 2025, and Consent Calendar: Attachment

    • Block Scheduling
    • Counseling Task Force
    • District Diversity & Equity (DDEAC) Advisory Committee
    I/D/A  
    2:35-2:40

    Public Comment

    I  

    III. Needs and Confirmations

    2:40 - 2:45

    District and College Needs (Attachment)

    • Campus Facilities (1)
    • Campus Center Advisory (1)
    • Counseling Task Force (1 Counselor)
    • Equity Action Council (member & tri-chair) (2)
    • Professional Relations (6)
    • Student Learning Outcome (SLO) Committee (1)
    • Tenure Review Committee At-Large Members
    • Police Chief's Advisory (1)
    I/D Kaur
    2:40 - 2:45

    Confirmations: None

    I/D/A Kaur

    IV. New & Continuing Business

    2:45 - 2:50

    Quick Notes:

    • Update on FW discussion
    • Faculty Town Halls
    • Umoja and Puente priority reg request
    • Exemplary Program Award Nomination
    I/D/A

    Woodbury

    2:50-3:00

    OER Update

    I/D

    Leonard

    3:00-3:20

    College Plan Review

    D/A

    Woodbury

    3:20 - 3:35

    Study Abroad Program Update

    Presentation

    I/D

    Woodbury
    Swensson

    3:35-3:50

    Proposed update to Shared Governance Structure
    RAPP, Program Sustainability Committee, and Faculty Hiring

    I/D

    Woodbury
    Avila

    3:50-4:10

    Google Gemini and NotebookLM

    • Enabling Faculty Access
    I/D/A

    Woodbury

    4:10 - 4:25

    ASCCC Fall Plenary Resolutions
    Resolution Packet 
    Resolution Guide

    I/D

    Woodbury

    4:25

    Good of the Order

    Please review all report outs 
    View only link for public access

    I All
    4:25

    Adjournment

     

    A = Action
    D = Discussion
    I = Information

  • Minutes [DRAFT]

    I. Call to Order


    Welcome

    Erik Woodbury reminded representative to complete their report out

    Voting Members used the  roll call vote  link to establish quorum to start the meeting. 

    Then, the voting members voted using the same link to approve the agenda, the previous meeting minutes, and the consent calendar.

    Roll Call Vote (21)

    • Veronica Avila Acevedo, Doli Bambhania, Christopher Bradley, Dave Capitolo, James Capurso, Yuri Chang, Mary Donahue, Umar Douglas, Dawnis Guevara, Mark Hamer, Mark Landefeld, Kevin Lee, So Kam Lee, Sherwin Mendoza, Steve Nava, Mary Pape, Jamie Pelusi, Lakshmikanta "LK" Sengupta, Sukhjit Bob Singh, Danielle Vlahos, Angela Winch

    II. Agenda, Minutes, and Consent Calendar


    Approval of Agenda, Minutes from October 20, 2025, and Consent Calendar: Attachment
    Approval of Agenda

    Yes 21

    • Veronica Avila Acevedo, Doli Bambhania, Christopher Bradley, Dave Capitolo, James Capurso, Yuri Chang, Mary Donahue, Umar Douglas, Dawnis Guevara, Mark Hamer, Mark Landefeld, Kevin Lee, So Kam Lee, Sherwin Mendoza, Steve Nava, Mary Pape, Jamie Pelusi, Lakshmikanta "LK" Sengupta, Sukhjit Bob Singh, Danielle Vlahos, Angela Winch
    Approval of Agenda, Minutes from October 20, 2025

    Yes 21

    • Veronica Avila Acevedo, Doli Bambhania, Christopher Bradley, Dave Capitolo, James Capurso, Yuri Chang, Mary Donahue, Umar Douglas, Dawnis Guevara, Mark Hamer, Mark Landefeld, Kevin Lee, So Kam Lee, Sherwin Mendoza, Steve Nava, Mary Pape, Jamie Pelusi, Lakshmikanta "LK" Sengupta, Sukhjit Bob Singh, Danielle Vlahos, Angela Winch
    Approval of Consent Calendar  

    Block Scheduling

    • Louise Ortiz – Kinesiology and Athletics

    Counseling Task Force

    • Khoa Nguyen, General Counselor
    • Erik Woodbury, At-Large Faculty 

    District Diversity & Equity (DDEAC) Advisory Committee

    • Veronica Keiffer-Lewis

    Yes 21

    • Veronica Avila Acevedo, Doli Bambhania, Christopher Bradley, Dave Capitolo, James Capurso, Yuri Chang, Mary Donahue, Umar Douglas, Dawnis Guevara, Mark Hamer, Mark Landefeld, Kevin Lee, So Kam Lee, Sherwin Mendoza, Steve Nava, Mary Pape, Jamie Pelusi, Lakshmikanta "LK" Sengupta, Sukhjit Bob Singh, Danielle Vlahos, Angela Winch

    Public Comment 

    Gavin Rust, News Editor, Damian Renteria Mata, Freelance Reporter, Laila Zedan, Staff Reporter, La Voz News

    La Voz News, De Anza College student newspaper, recognized for excellence at JACC

    La Voz staff won 31 awards at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges NorCal Regional Conference at San Jose State University on Oct. 25.

    This breaks its previous record of 27 awards at the annual regional conference, as well as its record for most first place finishes.

    The first place awards included Photo Story/Essay, News Photo, Environmental Portrait, Illustration, Inside Page Layout, Social Media, Sports Game Story, and Critical Review.

    The conference gave students from Northern California community colleges a chance to compete and network with fellow student journalists, while learning from industry professionals and news organizations.

    The printed edition of La Voz News will be available on November 1.


    III. Needs and Confirmation


    District and College Needs (Attachment)
    • Campus Facilities (1)
    • Campus Center Advisory (1)
    • Counseling Task Force (1 Counselor)
    • Equity Action Council (member & tri-chair) (2)
    • Professional Relations (6)
    • Student Learning Outcome (SLO) Committee (1)
    • Tenure Review Committee At-Large Members
    • Police Chief's Advisory (1)

    Confirmations

    None


    V. New & Continuing Business


    Quick Notes:
    Update on FW discussion

    Last year the Senate as a body voted to eliminate the FW grade.  A few weeks ago, the Foothill Senate voted to keep it. Erik does not have any details on their reasons for keeping it. 

    How to resolve it?  This may involve discussion in a joint De Anza/Foothill Senate meeting within the upcoming weeks.

    Faculty Meetings (Town Halls) 

    There were three well attended faculty meetings (Town Halls) last Monday, Tuesday, and Friday with robust discussions around the proposed administrative realignment. The officers are working on the summary document that will include input from one more meeting this Friday. They are preparing a survey to expand upon some of the main issues and concerns. 

    During the meetings faculty expressed concerns and had questions about the proposed changes to the instructional structure:

    What are the objectives of the realignment? What are the underlying needs? What are they important? What changes will there be to the dean’s workload? How may that impact attention and support for faculty and programs? How much do administration and faculty need to invest in the realignment process?

    Erik has sent out the invitation to the Friday meeting that will focus on the impacted divisions and programs.

    The Senate will discuss the results and draft its own response or proposal to the reorganization to the administration.

    Umoja and Puente priority registration request

    Foothill has approved these priority requests and would like the same for De Anza. There were concerns over adding more students to the initial group. Be prepared for more discussion in the coming meeting.

    Exemplary Program Award Nomination

    It is a statewide award. Voices of Resilience: Highlighting programs that uplift student voices and create space for lived experiences in education.

    The Senate received one nomination for De Anza, “VIDA (The Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action).” 

    Veronica Acevedo moved to approve the nomination, Mary Pape seconded.

    Roll call vote.

    • Angela Winch, Christopher Bradley, Danielle Vlahos, Dave Capitolo, Doli Bambhania, Jamie Pelusi,   James Capurso, Kevin Glapion, Kevin Lee, Lakshmikanta "LK" Sengupta, Mark Hamer, Mark Landefeld, Mary Donahue, Mary Pape, Rusty Johnson, Sherwin Mendoza, So Kam Lee, Steve Nava, Sukhjit Bob Singh, Umar Douglas, Veronica Avila Acevedo, Viviana Alcazar, Yuri Chang, 

    All yes, unanimous approval. 

    Cynthia Kaufman will complete and submit the nomination due November 9. The announcement will be in mid December.


    OER Update

    Presentation

    Amy Leonard gave an update on OER

    LibreTexts was chosen as the California Community Colleges CCC OER platform. LibreTexts was selected by the CCC Chancellor's Office to host the statewide Zero Testbook Cost OER platform, pending Board of Governors approval in November. This will centralize OER materials for all colleges.

    According to Title 5, the school should provide “burden-free access” to learning. This will eventually be a requirement that all students have cost-free access to instructional materials from day one. 

    OER will be central to Title 5 compliance related to equity and student access. Departments should plan ahead to embed OER into program review, training, and budget planning.

    There will be the OER Events in November 2025. Reach out to Shagun Kaur with OER questions. 

    OER project management training and discipline Lead Recruitment ($600 stipends per term to coordinate OER work statewide). Join the webinars or apply for the discipline lead roles.

    Plug and Play OER Courses: CVC has launched fully developed Canvas ready courses using OER

    New Resources for the state included:

    • Consumnes River Toolkit
    • OERI project management course
    • Discipline lead recruitment

    Needs:

    • Report OER adoptions
    • Use OER by discipline pages or the C-ID table to submit.

    A lot of mandate will be moving from option to requirement.


    College Plan Review

    The Senate reviewed three strategic plans: the college strategic plan, the strategic enrollment management plan, and the student equity plan. 

    There were questions on the goals and metrics in these plans, with another question raised regarding modality distribution targets and adult student enrollment. There was a clarification on the difference between headcount and enrollment numbers. There was a request for further clarification on the definition of "adult" in some of the plans. Someone raised the concern over Language Arts being clustered with Math. 

    The group discussed the role of the Senate in approving the plans as a tool for participatory governance, with some members expressing hesitation to vote before the feedback deadline. 

    Some members suggested conducting a comparative analysis and get more input from their constituents before the October 31st feedback deadline, though others questioned if this would be useful given the upcoming College Council meeting on November 6th. The faculty agreed to wait  before making a decision. Jamie shared that the De Anza Pride Association had difficulty reaching consensus due to varying impacts on different departments. Jamie also raised concerns about certain groups not being consulted during the planning process.

    This will come back for final discussion and voting next week.


    Study Abroad Program Update

    Presentation

    John Swensson (LEAD) has led the summer study abroad program for 15 years.

    Mission Statement:
    • The De Anza College Global Education Partners Program is committed to providing students with transformative global learning experiences that foster academic excellence, cultural awareness, and personal growth. Through immersive international education, we aim to cultivate a deeper understanding of diverse perspectives, enhance critical thinking skills, and prepare students to thrive in an interconnected world. Our program empowers students to engage with global communities, develop cross-cultural competencies, and gain valuable insights that enrich their academic and professional pursuits. We hope to make them successful students

    Through this program, faculty and students go overseas during the summer to challenge themselves, experience new things, and achieve personal growth. He highlighted its success in improving student success rates and providing international learning experiences. He discussed the program's structure, and funding,, emphasizing the need for a coordinator.

    The current program is administered through GEP travels.

    John shared the previous destinations. This year, they are going to Barcelona with Sal Breiter and Kim Palmore. They plan to add more destinations like Japan and South Korea (Seoul). Each program include two faculty. They will need one of the faculty members who either speak the languages or have experience living in the country.

    John answered questions about the faculty selection process, promising a more open and transparent approach moving forward. The program offers student scholarship that is supported by fundraising activities, like its successful concert series.


    Proposed update to Shared Governance Structure
    RAPP, Program Sustainability Committee, and Faculty Hiring

    Tabled until next meeting


    Google Gemini and NotebookLM

    Enabling Faculty Access

    The California Chancellor’s office has granted access to Google Gemini and Notebook LM tools for all community colleges. There was a question about the implementation of Google Gemini and Notebook LM tools, with faculty given initial access for exploration. Other tools like OpenAI and Instructure have been integrated into Canvas. There was some concern regarding privacy, retention of data, and academic freedom when using these AI tools. 

    There will be Training and Certification Courses that could be coordinated through professional development.


    ASCCC Fall Plenary Resolutions

    Resolution Packet

    Resolution Guide

    Faculty were encouraged to review and provide input to ASCCC Plenary Resolutions. Erik has provided a guide on some of the key resolutions.  There will be time for discussion next week. Senate delegates will need faculty input to cast their votes on 11/7.


    Good of the Order

    Mary Donahue reminded everyone about the upcoming election. There was still time to register to vote. See details under the Part-time Faculty report in the report out.

    Please review all report outs

    View only link for public access


    Adjournment

    The meeting adjourned at 4:32 pm.


    Attendance
    In person

    Erik Woodbury, So Kam Lee

    Veronica Avila Acevedo, Viviana Alcazar, Doli Bambhania, Christopher Bradley, Dave Capitolo, James Capurso, Yuri Chang, *Jacob Chen, Umar Douglas, Kevin Glapion, Lauren Gordon, Dawnis Guevara, Mark Hamer, Kevin Lee, Sherwin Mendoza, Mary Pape,, Lakshmikanta "LK" Sengupta, Sukhjit Bob Singh, Leah Smith, *Ram Subramaniam, Danielle Vlahos, Angela Winch

    Online

    Mary Donahue, Rusty Johnson, Jamie Pelusi

    Absent

    James Adams, *Deborah Armstrong, Barbara Dahlke, Shagun Kaur, Christian Rodriguez

    *Non-voting members

Meeting URL: https://fhda-edu.zoom.us/s/89404868229

Meeting ID: 894 0486 8229
Passcode: 989257

Member   Remote Location   In District?  
Mary Donahue MLC 243, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA 95014 Yes
Jaime Pelusi Pride Center, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA 95014 Yes
Rusty Johnson DA-FLDS, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA 95014 Yes

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