The Sacramento State Faculty Senate co-sponsored a campus-wide forum with the Office of Academic Affairs and the Accessible Technology Committee on the Accessible Technology Initiative on Oct. 22 in the University Union Ballroom. The forum provided faculty, staff and other members of the campus community with information and details on the impact of the ATI.

The initiative requires books and school websites be readily available to disabled students so they can access and participate in school functions and programs.

“Once accessibility (options) expanded, more people have been able to come to the school,” said Faculty Senate Chair Bruce Bikle. “It’s no longer good enough to just say that one attends a school if he or she can’t access its technology. As the school opens up to more students, there are more issues and more remedial services needed.”

The senate informed the campus community about specific actions that must be taken over an extended period of time.

“The university’s obligation is to educate the students…we take the students as they are found and catch them up to speed, rather than lowering standards,” Bikle said.

The senate is also helping promote early textbook selections and orders so they can be made accessible to the disabled as soon as possible. Senate members are looking at policies, so they can be sure they are producing a good education.

“The forum was a good opportunity to inform people about what needs to happen on campus,” Bikle said. “Everybody has a role in this issue; this is the most profound work that we’ve done in years with accessibility.”

The senate is also in charge of all hiring, promotions and tenure decisions that involve professors as well as academic and curriculum-related policies. All debates and policy approvals are done at senate meetings.

“The senate is designed to give people the opportunity to express their opinions and agree on decisions,” said Art Jensen, senator and marketing professor.

The senate is currently comprised of 75 senators. Each academic department elects a senator, who particpates in the nomination and election of the senate chair, vice chair and four committee heads. The senate also elects three at-large members to serve on the statewide academic committee in Long Beach, Calif.

This year, the senate’s main goals include solidifying the recommended budget piece for the senate, working on the Strategic Plan, which states the senate’s long-term plans for the campus, and improving accessibility for the disabled. In addition, the senate aims to strengthen student retention and graduation rates and improve program reviews.

Senators are preparing for upcoming General Education Program reviews to determine how the university can measure classroom success.

In addition to working on new goals and policies, the senate is continuing its work on resolving issues from last spring when the senate handed down a vote of no-confidence in President Alexander Gonzalez’s leadership abilities

“We have a lot of large issues that we have to fix…the problems currently facing the university take us away from those issues,” said James Sobredo, Senate vice chair. “I don’t think we can solve the problems unless the faculty and the administration get along cooperatively.”

The members are trying to come to a current agreement in areas of where they previously disagreed.

“We have been trying to keep the lines of communication open with the administration and establish a good relationship with them,” Bikle said. “The climate has gotten better, but there are always those who will disagree because they haven’t gotten their own way.”

These changes are a result of the Executive Committee’s decision to promote the idea of “getting along in order to create positive change.

“We need to learn how to be able to agree and disagree more, but still leave the conference room and get along in a collegial governance setting,” Bikle said. “In spite of tension, the members try to negotiate and agree in order to arrive in a collaborative agreement of what they need to do.”

In the past few years, the California State University system has undergone profound changes.

Bikle said, “The state’s budget given to universities provides the schools with a limited amount of money, while a high demand for services remains.”

The limited budget reflects the legislature’s view on the importance of education, which the senate is trying to change.

“There’s a fine line between an education being an investment or a debt,” Bikle said. “It’s difficult to do, but we are trying to start making the case of valuing education to California.”

In order for the senate to do so, it must address questions about how education helps the state and how it can make people better citizens.

Bikle said when schools can spread out the cost burden, education becomes much more like a public good because it is beneficial for the entire community.

In support of restructuring the budget, Gonzalez created the University Budget Advisory Committee last fall.

UBAC focuses on making the budget more transparent and readily available to the public via the school’s website. Meetings are open to the public and more data is available as compared to the previous budget, according to the UBAC website.

Last summer, the UBAC made fund allocation recommendations to the president, which he promptly signed.

Bikle said the positive interaction between the UBAC and the president has improved communication between the administration and the faculty.

In addition to the UBAC and other senate activities, other involved members have been successful with the Strategic Planning Council. The SPC aims to shape the university and the path it takes with the overall goal of making Sac State a better place.

“It is part of the senate’s idea to be united,” Bikle said. “If the members can talk out their different perspectives, then the members can make it work.”

Amber Kantner can be reached at [email protected]