Academic Senate
Welcome to the Academic Senate!
As part of the SJCC governance process, the Academic Senate represents faculty in all academic and professional matters. We also share responsibility for the development of District policies with the Associated Students, the administration, classified staff, and employee unions. All staff and students are welcome to attend our meetings.
SJCC Faculty at Work
important documents
Contact us
Location
Senate Office: Room T-412
2100 Moorpark Ave
San José, CA 95128
(408) 298-2181 ext. 3917
Senate meetings via Zoom and in-person.
See Current Agenda for meeting details.
Executive Committee
- Mark Branom, President
- Fabio Gonzalez, Vice President
- John Banks, Treasurer
- Anita Reyes, At Large
- Philip Crawford, At Large
Area 1 - Applied Sciences
- Isai Ulate, Machine Technology
Area 2- Arts/Humanities
- Michelle Gregor, Art
Area 3 - Natural Sciences
- Sanhita Datta, Biology
Area 4 – Business
- Joshua Kas-Osoka, Business
Area 5 – Library/LRC
- Lisa Brigandi, Library
Area 6 – Counseling & Health Sciences
- Jeanette Fedasz, Health Services
- Vacant
Area 7 – EOP&S/CARE, CalWORKs, SAS
- Fabio Gonzalez, EOP&S
Area 8 – Language Arts
- Patricia Do Carmo, Language Arts
- Zerrin Erkal, ESL
Area 9 – Physical Education/Athletics
- Doug Robb, Kinesiology/PE
Area 10 – Mathematics
- John Banks, Mathematics
Area 11 – Service Careers
- Scott Miller, EMS
Area 12 – Social Science
- Cristina Leal, Psychology
Full-Time At Large
- Vancant
- Anita Reyes, Theater
- José Cabrera, Chemistry
- Fabio Gonzalez, EOP&S
- Rufus Blair, Sign Language/Humanities & Social Science
Part-Time At Large
- Vacant
- Vacant
- Huimin McKinlay, ESL
- Avid Farhoodfar, CIS
- Philip Crawford, Political Science
IPCC Chair (Ex-officio, non-voting)
- Andrés Rodriguez, IPCC Chair
- Associated Student Government President
For Faculty
SJCC AS Generative AI Faculty Guide 2025 Updates
For Students
Academic Integrity & Use of AI Tools
Academic Integrity. Students must do their own work and properly cite any ideas, language, data, media, or code originating from others. Submitting work you did not create, or copying significant portions without citation, constitutes plagiarism and/or unauthorized aid and is subject to the College’s academic-integrity procedures.
Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, image/music/code generators). Unless an assignment explicitly permits it, using generative AI to draft, translate, outline, paraphrase, code, analyze sources, or otherwise produce any part of the submitted work is not allowed. If an assignment does allow AI, you must (1) follow the specific parameters given and (2) disclose any AI use (tool, purpose, and how you verified accuracy) within your submission. Unauthorized AI use will be treated as an academic-integrity violation under College policy.
Assistive Technology & Accessibility (Section 504/ADA). Students approved for disability accommodations may use auxiliary aids and services, including AI-enabled assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers, captioning, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, magnification, and similar tools), when such aids are part of an approved accommodation or are necessary to ensure effective communication and equal access.
Requests for accommodations are handled through the Student Accessibility Services office; students are not required to disclose disability details to the instructor. Accommodations may be adjusted when they would fundamentally alter essential course requirements or impose an undue burden, and in such cases the College will provide an effective alternative where possible.
Data Privacy & AI
Family Education Rights and Privacy Act(FERPA) & education records. Your assignments,
drafts, grades, feedback, and accommodation information are education records protected
by FERPA. I will not disclose personally identifiable information (PII) from your
education records to third parties except as allowed by law or College policy (e.g.,
to a “school official” or approved contractor under the College’s direct control and
for legitimate educational interests).
Third-party AI tools. I will not require you to upload or paste identifiable coursework or grades into public AI systems (e.g., consumer ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot) unless the College has approved the tool under a written agreement that treats the provider as a FERPA “school official” (direct control, no redisclosure, limited use), or you give written consent and an equivalent non-third-party alternative is available with no penalty.
What you should not paste into AI tools. Do not include PII (names, student IDs, contact info), disability or health details, graded feedback, other students’ work, or images/audio that identify classmates unless the assignment explicitly permits it and the tool is college-approved. (PII includes direct and indirect identifiers.)
Accommodations and assistive technology. AI-enabled assistive technologies needed for access (e.g., TTS, STT, captions) remain available under Section 504/ADA and will be implemented through disability services; these aids are different from generative AI that creates academic content.
Instructor handling of your work. I will store grades and feedback in the College’s Learning Management System or other college-approved systems. I won’t upload your identifiable submissions into AI detectors or external AI services unless they are institutionally approved under FERPA or I have your written consent and provide an alternative.
If AI use is allowed in an assignment. You must: (1) keep PII out of prompts; (2)
disclose the tool and what it did; and (3) verify and cite sources. If the allowed
tool is a public AI service, I will remind you that consumer accounts may use your
chats to improve models unless you change data-control settings; enterprise/teams
versions typically do not use your data for training.
Academic Senate Description
On July 7, 1964, the Board of Trustees of the San José/Evergreen Community College District authorized the establishment of an academic senate at San Jose City College. Our Senate became operative during the Fall of 1964.
The San José City College Academic Senate represents faculty in all academic and professional matters. As provided by The California Educational Code, Title V, and District Policy, the District’s Governing Board normally accepts all recommendations from the Academic Senate regarding such matters as curriculum, accreditation, professional development, and program review. In other words, the Academic Senate, actually shares in the governance of our district in the case of academic and professional matters.
The Senate also shares responsibility for the development of all other District policies with the Associated Students, the administration, classified staff, and employee unions. The Senate appoints all faculty members to the District committees and task forces, exclusive of collective bargaining committees. The Academic Senate normally meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 2:10 pm in the Community Conference Room, SC204. All staff and students are invited to attend our meetings.
Academic Senate Mission Statement
The Academic Senate represents the professional and academic interests of the full-time
and part-time faculty of San José City College. In this capacity the senate acts as
the official voice of the faculty and is empowered to represent the faculty to the
administration and to the district governing board. In particular, California state
education code stipulates eleven areas in which faculty through their senates are
to be “consulted with collegially,” if not “relied on primarily,” in setting policy
and district goals and objectives. Rely primarily upon the Senate for:
1. Curriculum, including establishing prerequisites and placing courses within disciplines
2. Degree and certificate requirements
3. Grading policies
4. Educational program development
5. Standards or policies regarding student preparation and success
6. District and college governance structure, as related to faculty roles
7. Faculty roles and involvement in accreditation process, including self-study and
annual reports
8. Policies for faculty professional development
9. Process for program review
10. Process for institutional planning and budget development
11. Other academic professional matters as mutually agreed upon between the Governing
Board and the Academic Senate.
This list includes matters that clearly get to the heart of our mission as a community college and our role as faculty. And, as the eleventh item clearly indicates, this list is not exhaustive. Also of interest and importance to faculty is the Senate’s right and responsibility to appoint faculty representatives to district and campus committees – including tenure review committees. This insures that the faculty is represented by representatives of its choice, but it also demands that faculty members are willing to serve.