May 11, 2026

I. Call to Order

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Welcome

Shagun Kaur asked voting members joining online to add "VM" to their Zoom name.

Shagun reminded representatives of their responsibility to fill out the report-out form before the end of the meeting so it can be added to the meeting minute.

Voting Members attending in person and those joining online with their names and meeting locations published on the agenda used the roll call vote link to establish quorum. They also used the same link to approve the  agenda, the May 4, 2026 meeting minutes and the consent calendar.

Roll Call Vote (21)

Angela Winch, Angelica Esquivel Moreno, Barbara Dahlke, Chris Dileonardo, Dave Capitolo, James Capurso, Jamie Pelusi, Jayanti Roy, Kevin Glapion, Lakshmikanta Sengupta, Mark Hamer, Mark Landefeld, Mary Donahue, Mary Pape, Ravjeet Singh, Rusty Johnson, Sherwin Mendoza, So Kam Lee, Umar Douglas, Veronica Acevedo Avila, Yuri Chang

Quorum reached

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II. Agenda, Minutes, and Consent Calendar

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Approval of Agenda, Minutes from May 4th, 2026, and Consent Calendar

Approval of Agenda

Yes (21) Angela Winch, Angelica Esquivel Moreno, Barbara Dahlke, Chris Dileonardo, Dave Capitolo, James Capurso, Jamie Pelusi, Jayanti Roy, Kevin Glapion, Lakshmikanta Sengupta, Mark Hamer, Mark Landefeld, Mary Donahue, Mary Pape, Ravjeet Singh, Rusty Johnson, Sherwin Mendoza, So Kam Lee, Umar Douglas, Veronica Acevedo Avila, Yuri Chang

Agenda approved.

Approval of Minutes from  May 4th, 2026

Yes (21) Angela Winch, Angelica Esquivel Moreno, Barbara Dahlke, Chris Dileonardo, Dave Capitolo, James Capurso, Jamie Pelusi, Jayanti Roy, Kevin Glapion, Lakshmikanta Sengupta, Mark Hamer, Mark Landefeld, Mary Donahue, Mary Pape, Ravjeet Singh, Rusty Johnson, Sherwin Mendoza, So Kam Lee, Umar Douglas, Veronica Acevedo Avila, Yuri Chang

Minutes approved.

Approval of Consent Calendar

Yes (21) Angela Winch, Angelica Esquivel Moreno, Barbara Dahlke, Chris Dileonardo, Dave Capitolo, James Capurso, Jamie Pelusi, Jayanti Roy, Kevin Glapion, Lakshmikanta Sengupta, Mark Hamer, Mark Landefeld, Mary Donahue, Mary Pape, Ravjeet Singh, Rusty Johnson, Sherwin Mendoza, So Kam Lee, Umar Douglas, Veronica Acevedo Avila, Yuri Chang

Consent Calendar approved

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Public Comment 

Athletics

Rusty Johnson: The De Anza Women’s Badminton Team won their sixth all-time 3C2A State Championship this weekend, defeating San Diego Mesa College 11-6. Karina Chow and Makayla Than won the doubles team event. Each of these two student-athletes have earned four medals over two years at the State Championships. Congratulations to Coach Mark Landefeld and the team. 

College Open House Feedback 

Mary Donahue and Ravjeet Singh shared concerns about the recent college open house event last Saturday. 

The lack of advance notice made it difficult to recruit faculty and for clubs that have less than 48 hours to sign up. The clubs were in the sunken garden that had little foot traffic. 

The layout was very spread out making some tables difficult to find. Mary suggested better placement and more signage. 

The flyer distributed at the check-in table was helpful. It has a map of the campus, a schedule of events, and a QR code.

Send feedback and comments to Elizabeth Smith, Office of Marketing and Communication, for them to keep in mind for future event planning..

RAPP

Veronica Acevedo Avila asked about the timeline for the call out for the RAPP part-time faculty representative. A few people have approached her with inquiries.

Shagun: one faculty member, Christina Wright, submitted her request to serve last week. It was approved in the Consent Calendar.

Mary Donahue: Christina Wright, the current RAPP rep, has substantial experience and would like to continue.

Outreach

Mark Landefeld asked about where outreach to the high schools falls within the organization chart.

In the recent town halls there was talk about shifting from outreach to in reach.

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III. Needs and Confirmation

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District and College Needs

Jaynati Roy: Please consider serving on the following committees. Details and forms are in the above link. 

Serving in a shared governance committee is a great opportunity for faculty members to learn about the school structure and move into leadership roles.

• Tenure Review Committee [At Large Members]
  10 committees!!!
• Campus Facilities [3 faculty]
• Educational Technology Advisory (ETAC) [1 faculty]
• Equity Action Council (EAC) [3 faculty]
• Professional Development Leave Committee [2 faculty]
• Professional Relations Committee [3 faculty]
• SLO Committee [2 faculty]
• Technology Committee [2 faculty]
• Police Chief's Advisory Committee [1 faculty]

Those serving in these committees should have received an email inquiring about their experience and intent to continue serving on those committees. 

Complete the request to serve form. They plan to confirm the faculty representatives on these committees on June 1.

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Confirmations

None

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IV. New & Continuing Business

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Canvas Disruptions, TownHalls: Faculty Open Forum

Support During Outage

The Senate expressed gratitude to the online education team and the district's tech support team and, for their quick response to the recent Canvas outage, which lasted 24 hours. The team worked hard to solve the issues. 

They conducted two town halls and faculty open forums to inform, reassure, and support with alternative solutions during the disruption.

Faculty were most impacted by the uncertainty and the waiting.

During the outage or the crisis faculty still had access to other tools, like emails,rosters, my portal, OneDrive, zoom.

Questions

• What can we do? What did you do? How to plan for the future?

Lessons learned

• The importance of communication and emotional control during crises.
• Canvas remains the best tool for presenting information despite temporary disruptions.
• While the login page was compromised, Canvas remained secure. Information is protected. No sensitive information like social security numbers or credit card data is at risk.
• Be ready and take control in cases of emergency
• Faculty should download and back up content and gradebooks frequently. Back up content in multiple ways and places.
• The online ed team can help with backing up in various versions.
• Explore ways to better prepare for future technical disruptions, like creating an FAQ page for future reference.
• The campus is resilient; know how to respond to crises, how to pivot, how to come together and how to share resources with each other.

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Enterprise AI access for Students: First Read

Slide deck for AI access: Students 

Gabby Nocito presented and explained the proposal. 

• Gabby pointed out the inequity of AI tool access between Foothill and De Anza campuses, particularly regarding Gemini AI tools. Foothill students already have access to the Pro/Enterprise version while De Anza students have access to only the free version.
• Gabby highlighted key differences between the free and Pro/Enterprise versions, including limits on prompts and notebooks, advanced reasoning capabilities, multi-modal outputs, and data privacy considerations. 
• The discussion centered on the need to address equity issues and the need to provide students with equal access to AI tools on both campuses. 
• Some students are taking classes at both Foothill and De Anza
• Mary Pape: This is a tool that every student needs.
• Gabby confirms that the technology is ready but needs approval from leadership to activate it. 
• Recommended Action: To support students in an increasingly AI-generated academic environment, we request agreement to move this proposal forward to the senior leadership team
• Some representatives wanted to bring the proposal back to their area for feedback.
• They will  bring the AI tools proposal back for a second read and a vote next week.

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Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative: Second Read

IEPI-PRT Proposal

Sam Bliss answered some questions on funding mechanisms, developmental goals, and revenue distribution.

The initial revenue will go toward funding the contract ed director position, then the building of a team and operational expenses. It may take many years to build up enough revenue that could be redirected toward other college expenses. 

Dave Capitolo moved to approve the proposal, Veronica Acevedo Avila seconded.

No objection.

Proposal approved.

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RAPP Update

RAPP Subcommittee Update

Veronica Acevedo Avila, RAPP Faculty Tri-chair, presented a proposal to create two subcommittees under the RAPP committee:

The Faculty Prioritization Committee and the Program Sustainability Committee.

• These two subcommittees will improve efficiency and effectiveness. 
• Veronica explained that while RAPP remains the main governance body, these subcommittees would handle operational aspects.
• Veronica provided context on RAPP's current role and explained that these subcommittees would provide focused analysis and recommendations, which still require full RAPP committee approval.

Faculty Prioritization Committee

• The Committee would review faculty request forms for new and replacement full-time faculty positions, considering factors such as accreditation requirements, program review, enrollment demand, content expertise, and program expansion needs.
• Ram Subramaniam clarified that membership in the subcommittee would not necessarily require RAPP membership, potentially reducing overall workload. Viviana raised concerns about potential increased workload and asked about variations in faculty hiring governance across different community colleges, which aligns with similar colleges in the district.

Discussion on Timeline

• Karen Chow raised concerns about the transparency and intensity of the committee's work during weeks 5 and 6.
•  Ram Subramaniam confirmed that the process would be transparent with all-day retreat-style meetings planned. 
• Mary Pape and others discussed the timeline, recommending an expansion from two weeks to three weeks to allow for additional feedback and questions from departments. 
• The group also considered starting the process in summer or spring rather than fall to provide more time for training and work. They discussed moving certain steps earlier.

Membership

• Viviana Alcazar expressed concerns about the committee's composition, suggesting more faculty representation. 

Next Step

• The next step is for RAPP to have a second read and final vote on the proposals during their meeting the following day. 
• Go to the document for more details.

Senate Funding Requests

Promise Program

Asian American Studies Certificate Program

• The Senate received two funding requests for end of the year student celebrations. 
• There were concerns over how this aligns with the original intent of supporting faculty work, projects, teaching, engagement, and pedagogy. 
• The campus has at least 10 to 12 year-end graduations and celebrations. How does the Senate pick and choose which to fund?
• The Senate with its limited budget can not fund all these groups. 
• Celebrations should be funded first through other avenues like the B budget.
• Ultimately the Senate declined the requests but agreed to revisit the budget allocation, funding criteria and language in the fall.

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Senate Voting Results

Dave Capitolo, Election Committee presented the result of the election for ratification of the newly elected Senate officers.

• Vice President-Shagun Kaur 
• Executive Secretary-Danica Kelly  
• At- Large Part-time Representative-Mark Landfeld 

Dave Capitolo moved to ratify the election results, Mary Pape seconded.

No objection.

Results ratified.

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Good of the Order

Please review all report outs .

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Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 4:26 pm.

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Attendance

In person

Shagun Kaur, Jayanti Roy, So Kam Lee

Veronica Avila Acevedo, Dave Capitolo, James Capurso, Yuri Chang,  Barbara Dahlke, Chris Dileonardo, Umar Douglas, Kevin Glapion, Mark Hamer, Mark Landefeld, Sherwin Mendoza, Angelica Esquivel-Moreno, Mary Pape, Christian Rodriguez, Lakshmikanta "LK" Sengupta, *Ram Subramaniam, Angela Winch

Online

Mary Donahue, Rusty Johnson, Jamie Pelusi, Ravjeet Singh,

Absent

James Adams, Viviana Alcazar, *Deborah Armstrong, Lisa Castro, Lauren Gordon, Dawnis Guevara, Sukhjit Bob Singh, Leah Smith,

*Non-voting members