Academic Staffing Committee

Committee Name: Academic Staffing Committee 

Committee Type: Academic Senate Consultation Committee 

Purpose: The Academic Staffing Committee, representing the Academic Senate/faculty, serves as the primary recommending body to the Superintendent/President for the hiring priorities of all full-time academic faculty positions, including those defined as vacancies created by retirements, terminations, and resignations. The Superintendent/President makes the final decision. The Superintendent/President must report their final decisions for faculty hiring back to Academic Staffing committee and Academic Senate.  

Membership: There shall be 10 voting members, 8 faculty members, VP of Academic Affairs and VP of Student Services. Administrative co-chair will be appointed by Superintendent/President. Faculty membership will be appointed by the Academic Senate and shall include eight voting members (including co-chair) selected from the following academic and student services divisions: 

• (1) Kinesiology & Athletics (1 voting member) 

• (1) Nursing and Allied Health (1 voting member) 

• (1) Library & Distance Education (1 voting member) 

• (1) STEM (1 voting member) 

• (1) Liberal Arts & Science (1 voting member) 

• (1) CTE (1 voting member) 

• (1) Counseling (1 voting member) 

• (1) AEC, EOPS – Support Programs (1 voting member) 

• (1) Vice President of Academic Affairs (1 voting member) 

• (1) Vice President of Student Services (1 voting member) 

Terms: Members serve (2) year term, renewable upon approval by the Academic Senate. Members are expected to attend meetings regularly between August-May.  

Charge:  

• Serve as the college’s central recommending body for full-time faculty hiring. 

• Establish a timetable and procedures for academic staffing requests and presentations. Publish guidelines and priorities prior to the request for applications and presentations.  

• Review requests for full-time faculty hiring at least once a year.  

• Design applications to include criteria/needs for academic staffing requests, in cooperation with the Academic Senate and the administration.  

• Evaluate the known or supposed financial constraints on recommended action determined by the Superintendent/President.  

• Review, rank and recommend academic staffing priorities based on the applications and presentations, and submit those recommendations to the Academic Senate and Superintendent/President. 

Advisory Members: May be solicited by co-chairs as needed. 

Chairpersons: (1) Administrative Co-chair appointed by Superintendent/President and (1) FT Faculty member appointed by Academic Senate. Term of chairpersons shall be two-years, renewable by appointment. 

Recorder: Administrative support is responsible for clerical support for minutes, agenda, reports, and correspondence. The committee will use Microsoft Teams to hold committee records and archives. 

Operating Procedures: 

• Meetings: The ASC meets every fourth Tuesday of the month from 3:00-5:00 p.m. The committee shall meet at least monthly during the academic year. Meetings are open to the college community. The chairpersons may call special meetings. 

• Decision-Making: All items for action must be on the agenda. The agenda may be revised by a majority vote to accept additional items. Recommendations shall be determined by the majority vote of the voting members present.  

• Quorum: The majority (51% or greater) of the members shall constitute a quorum at all regular or special meetings. In the absence of a quorum, members present may continue to discuss business, but no decision shall be made on behalf of the committee. Proxies/substitutes may be designated if a representative cannot attend. 

• Parliamentary Authority: Roberts’ Rules of Order, Revised, shall be the authority of the business in both regular and additional meetings that may be necessary. 

• Compliance: Not subject to Brown Act. 

• Support: The Recorder will coordinate clerical support for minutes, agendas, reports, and correspondence. 

• Administration will provide faculty training (August-October) on how to access, read, analyze, work with, and communicate with data to demonstrate staffing needs.  

• Reporting: The Academic Staffing Committee makes recommendations directly to the Superintendent/President via College Council. The chairperson(s) will present a written report to the Academic Senate as needed based on the Academic Staffing Committee recommendations. Once final considerations are made regarding the hiring recommendations, the President will report back to the committee with the final decisions regarding the faculty to be hired for the next fiscal year.  

• For meeting minutes, please go to BoardDocs: Active Meetings - Gavilan Joint Community College District BoardDocs® Plus.

Purpose
To ensure the College can respond in a timely manner to urgent full-time academic staffing needs arising from accreditation requirements, legal or regulatory compliance, or emergent operational circumstances, while maintaining alignment with established faculty hiring prioritization processes.

Policy statement
Notwithstanding standard hiring prioritization processes, the College Council may make an expedited determination to recommend the authorization of a full-time academic position when such a request is substantiated by accreditation, compliance, or emergency need.

Criteria for Expedited Consideration
A request may be considered under this process when it meets one or more of the following:

Accreditation Requirement
The position is necessary to address a recommendation, requirement, or sanction from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges or other recognized accrediting body.

Legal or Regulatory Compliance
The position is required to comply with federal, state, or local laws, regulations, or contractual obligations, including but not limited to mandates affecting student safety, accessibility, or instructional delivery.

Emergency Operational Need
The position is necessary to prevent significant disruption to instructional programs or student services, including but not limited to:

-Unexpected loss of critical faculty

-Program continuity risks

-Health and safety concerns

Process

The request must be submitted to Academic Staffing Committee and College Council by the appropriate administrator with documentation substantiating the urgency and qualifying criteria.

The Academic Senate President (or designee) shall be consulted prior to Council action to ensure alignment with faculty primacy under California’s shared governance framework (Title 5).

The College Council shall review the request in an expedited manner and may:

Recommend immediate authorization of the position; or

Recommend conditional approval subject to subsequent ratification through the standard prioritization process.

Transparency and Reporting

All expedited decisions shall be documented and reported to the campus community via Academic Senate and Academic Staffing Committee.

Positions approved through this process shall be incorporated into the next regular staffing prioritization cycle for review and confirmation.

Limitations

This process is intended for exceptional circumstances and shall not supplant the College’s established faculty hiring prioritization processes.

Use of this provision shall be narrowly applied and justified with clear evidence.

• CLICK HERE for the Academic Staffing Request Form