Polite frustration was the tone of Academic Excellence Committee Chair David Betancourt’s speech during the Faculty Senate meeting discussing the topic of the establishment of the Senate Committee on Professional Development, a topic previously discussed in Faculty Senate.

Betancourt read a four-page statement to the senate expressing his concerns over the establishment of the Senate Committee on Professional Development on Tuesday, March 7, which would replace the current Center for Teaching Excellence advisory board he is the chair for.

In his statement, he also details the sequence of senate meetings and e-mails for the creation of the committee.

The statement states there was a lack of email response from three unnamed faculty members and a general senate disinterest in what the CTX advisory board does and how the CTX Center is run.

During the senate meeting, Humanities Professor Julie Trager stated to Betancourt, “I’m very sad about this, to be honest with you and I’m sorry you weren’t here the meeting this actually began to be discussed because I think we all feel very strongly that what you are doing is excellent and very important to this campus.”

Betancourt sees the transition from an advisory board to a senate subcommittee as beneficial saying, “This would move the board toward a more permanent status on campus. This is important because the permanency recognizes the importance of professional learning for our teachers.”

Faculty Senate President Michelle Lewelllen said the CTX will function the same way it has been functioning the transition from the advisory board to senate subcommittee was “for foundational support the committee to make sure there was a structure in place that would survive anybody coming and going out of the CTX.”

The next step in creating the subcommittee is for senate to approve the shared governance document for the subcommittee.

Betancourt said, “My hope is that the committee structure that is outlined in the document allows the new committee to function with the same efficiency and collaborative engagement as the current CTX Advisory Board.”

The efficiency, which has the California Community College Coalition on Staff Development recognizing the Cerritos College CTX, and awarding the it the “2017 Outstanding Program Award for Excellence,” according to Betancourt.

Furthermore, he will be looking at shared governance documents from the other committees on campus.

Betancourt said, “Lucky for me, members of the faculty senate have a draft already and I am fortunate to be able to have input.”