Charge and Norms

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Mission

To make recommendations concerning programs and resource allocation, including planning and evaluation processes, in relation to the College’s mission, equity plan, and institutional core competencies.  (adopted 1/31/2023)

 Charge

  1. Establish and maintain a membership that equitably represents the stakeholder groups on De Anza’s campus to examine and make recommendations on the equitable allocation of resources.
  2. Establish and implement consistent decision-making criteria and evaluate priorities in matters concerning Instructional, Administrative and Student Services budget and resources.  
  3. Make recommendations to College Council regarding programs and services (including administrative, instructional, and student), their initiation, expansion, consolidation and discontinuance based on qualitative and quantitative data collected from the college community, including recommendations with respect to hiring full-time faculty, staff, and administrators. 
  4. Facilitate effective, efficient, and timely program review, annual planning and budgeting processes for college programs and services.
  5. Coordinate with the Institutional Research Office to share quantitative and qualitative data related to programs and services. 
  6. Conduct member training regularly, and review training processes annually for equity and effectiveness. Support mentorship of student members through active involvement of other members. 
  7. Ensure that the recommendations of the committee are consistent with institutional strategic planning goals and the college’s Mission and Institutional Core Competencies, supported by the Educational Master Plan, Equity Plan, Facilities Master Plan, and Technology Master Plan. 
  8. Facilitate collaboration of planning and budget discussions and decisions across other shared governance groups and the Budget Advisory Committee.

(adopted 2/14/2023)

Norms

  1. Members will honor the topics and times of the meeting agenda. Agendas and materials will be distributed in advance and all members will be prepared to participate fully in the entire meeting.
  2. Members will present issues completely, accurately, honestly and acknowledging bias, using authentic primary sources of data and not selectively withholding information. 
  3. Members will encourage full and open participation by all participants and will demonstrate a respect for and willingness to listen to diverse opinions and viewpoints. 
  4. Members will govern their interpersonal behavior on the basis of mutual respect and trust for one another and will avoid personal attacks, physical and verbal intimidation, and asserting the authority of their positions. 
  5. Members will maintain respect for team discussions and consensus decisions within and outside of team meetings. 
  6. Members will communicate with their constituencies disseminating information clearly and concisely and gathering feedback
  7. Each team member is empowered and responsible for understanding the Mission and Charge of RAPP and enforcing these ground rules.

(adopted 1/31/2023)

 General Procedures

  1. Meetings will be conducted in a Hyflex format, with in-person attendance encouraged. Meetings are open to the public.
  2. Spoken comments will be captured to the extent possible as part of the meeting minutes. Chat or messaging will not be part of the official record.
  3. Outside of meeting times, communication will be carried out primarily by email. Members will endeavor to respond to all requested communications within two business days.
  4. Meetings will be run and facilitated by the three chairs with assistance as requested. Chairs will construct the agenda and post it in a timely manner based on college needs and requests from first its members and then the public. Documents for all presentations to or discussions with the committee should be submitted at least two business days in advance of the meeting and posted with the agenda.
  5. Meetings will run on a consensus model, with facilitators endeavoring to make room for all voices and to guide the group to a mutually agreeable decision.
    1. Pieces of parliamentary procedures may be borrowed from Robert’s Rules when needed or requested, but Robert’s Rules does not form the default basis for the committee’s meeting practice.
    2. Any member may move to take a formal vote. If seconded by another member, a vote will be taken.
    3. A simple majority will be the default to answer all questions before the committee. Any five members of the committee may require that a supermajority vote be used instead. A supermajority is considered to be 70% of voting members present.
    4. The committee may also consider the use of ranked-choice voting.
  6. In managing discussions in the committee, deference will be given first to committee members, and then, as time allows, to members of the public. In the event of heavily attended meetings, comments from the public may be limited to specific numbers of speakers with allotted time limits. All discussion will be limited to items on the published agenda.
  7. Explanation and dissenting opinions may be written at the option of any member to accompany recommended actions to other bodies.
  8. The committee will conduct much of its work in shared documents using platforms such as Office 365, Google Drive, or Jam Boards. One of the Chairs or Executive Secretary will be the owner of the documents with members given editing privileges. Members of the public may read, but not edit, documents except by special invitation.
  9. Business before the committee that requires consultation with constituent groups will generally follow a pattern of an initial presentation followed by a call for action on the second meeting after the initial presentation. For emergency matters, the committee may vote to set aside this requirement.
  10. Draft minutes for committee meetings will be posted within three business days and reviewed and approved at the subsequent meeting by the full committee. 
  11. Committee members are expected to review the posted agenda and minutes prior to each meeting and, when possible, communicate any notes beforehand to the chairs in writing.
  12. The chairs, with the assistance of committee members, will develop a record of committee membership, details, practices, and policies to aid in committee member training.
  13. The committee will be supported by an Executive Secretary position, which is a non-voting member responsible for duties to be outlined in a job description, including meeting minutes and website maintenance.

(adopted 2/7/2023)

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