About the Senate

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Our Purview

The power of the Academic Senate is based in California Education Code (laws resulting from legislation AB1725) as well as in Title 5 (a code of regulations derived from California Ed Code).
- Education Code §70902(b)(7) calls on the Board of Governors to enact regulations to “ensure faculty, staff, and students...the right to participate effectively in district and college governance” and, further, to ensure “the right of academic senates to assume primary responsibility for making recommendations in the areas of curriculum and academic standards.”*
The MPC District Governing Board is required by this law to consult collegially with the Academic Senate and develop policies on academic and professional matters.
Thus, the Academic Senate’s primary function is to make recommendations with respect to academic and professional matters such as the 10+1 list which follows:

Curriculum, including establishing prerequisites
Degree & Certificate Requirements
Grading Policies
Educational Program Development
Standards & Polices regarding Student Preparation and Success
College governance structures, as related to faculty roles
Faculty roles and involvement in accreditation process
Policies for faculty professional development activities
Processes for program review
Processes for institutional planning and budget development
Other academic and professional matters as mutually agreed upon

*From Participating Effectively in District and College Governance, ASCCC/CCLC, Fall 1998

Academic Senate Bylaws

PREAMBLE: In accordance with the action of the Trustees of the Monterey Peninsula College (hereafter MPC) District of September 9, 1964, providing for the establishment of [the] ACADEMIC SENATE; Board Policy 2510 Participation in Local Decision-Making; and Assembly Bill 1725 (Chapter 973) Statutes of 1988, these bylaws are established with all the rights and responsibilities cited in Title 5 of the California Administrative Code, Article 2, which refers to the "academic senate,” “faculty council,” and “faculty senate," "as meaning the body whose primary function is, as the representative of the faculty, to make recommendations to the administration of [the] college and to the governing board of a district with respect to academic and professional matters." Thus authorized by Statute, this body is required to act within the State's Open Meeting Laws, including and specifically the Ralph M. Brown Act (Government Code Sections 54950-54962, hereafter referred to as the Brown Act). The most current version of the Brown Act is incorporated by reference into these bylaws; it should be consulted, in the event of any contradiction, as the superseding document.

(Click title above for full documentation)

How to get an item on the Academic Senate agenda

According to the bylaws of the Academic Senate, “items for inclusion on the senate agenda must be presented in writing to the president at least one week prior to a scheduled meeting.” The agenda is determined by the Senate Executive Committee one week prior to each meeting. Any requests for agenda items should be submitted for consideration in writing or email to the Academic Senate President directly or emailed to senateexeccommittee@mpc.edu prior to the Executive Committee meeting.

Local Senates Handbook

This Local Senates Handbook has been compiled by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges’ Relations With Local Senates Committee to be a resource for new and experienced academic senate presidents, providing them with information and context to support them being effective faculty leaders.

Helpful Links

Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) is the statewide Academic Senate and this website is a treasure trove of documents designed to educate about processes, excellent conferences and institutes, and current topics in the California Community College system.

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