By Alejandro Ambriz
East Los Angeles College president Marvin Martinez began the last Academic Senate meeting of the semester by announcing plans to resign from his position. His last official day of work is June 14.
An email is expected to be sent to faculty on Wednesday with more details including his next position. One of Martinez’s last projects includes the new branding guide which was also discussed at the meeting.
The senate also voted to not approve the ELAC brand guide as proposed by Public Information Officer Kevin Jimenez. A survey of 400 students revealed that 44% of students preferred the name ELAC surrounded by a sun and 44% approved a new Husky design.
However, under the new branding “The logo must be used in its entirety-that is, neither the image nor the college’s name is to be pulled out of the logo and used separately,” according to the branding guide that was handed out at the meeting.
Accepting the new branding guide would have meant that current logos from departments would cease and desist, adopting the proposed logo.
The branding guide contains guidelines for general usage of said logos that restrict altercation of them in any way. Members of the senate who denied the proposition stated not enough consultation with department members regarding branding options was done.
Members further discussed the Guided Pathways meta majors and the results for the preferred name for the meta majors. A meta major is a cluster of academic programs grouped together by common or related courses or occupations.
The idea is that Instead of giving incoming students a list of hundreds of majors to choose from, there would be a list of meta-majors to “help students narrow their program of interests early in their academic careers if they are undecided at the time of application” according to the ELAC website.
Under this new initiative, students will choose a cluster that include the following: Business Administration, Visual and Performing Arts, Health Sciences, Language and Communication, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
The results, based on a survey by ELAC, showed a tie among Law and Public Service and Administration of Justice, to which the senate approved the name Administration of Justice and Public Safety. Member Jeffrey Hernandez stated in a previous meeting that “this would be an evolving process and that the initial categories would not be set in stone and open to future revision.”