Dear Colleagues:

At last fall's plenary session, we launched significant discussions about essential principles we hold dear as community college faculty in California—among them the value of public higher education for all, especially in the liberal arts; the need to define and provide equity of funding for colleges and their programs, the protection of our traditional base of students.

This spring we amplify those earlier discussions, demonstrating how to put principles in action and to ensure that our academic senate pursuits have, at their bedrock, the principles we have espoused in resolution, in publications, and in historically recognized academic traditions.

Marcus Harvey of the American Association of University Professors will offer a keynote address on one such principled tradition: academic freedom. His presentation is particularly timely as this fundamental right is under federal and judicial assault and, regrettably, is understood by far too few.

We also welcome Chancellor Mark Drummond, newly appointed Chancellor of our system. He will offer his greetings and outline his vision for the near future. Also among us on Thursday will be other members of the Consultation Council, meeting concurrently with our session on Thursday. If you are interested in dropping in on this open meeting for a few minutes to see Consultation's process at work, consult your brochure for time and place.

In another keynote presentation, representatives of the Research and Planning Group of the California Community Colleges will offer their best advice regarding the local research now called for by accrediting standards and in legislative demands for accountability in this "culture of evidence." Faculty can proffer their own principled responses and experiences in complementary breakouts related to such research.

We are woefully aware of the current exigencies. Yet the breakout sessions we will offer demonstrate how on-going faculty activities—on behalf of our students and within the governance arena—are predicated on the principles we first define. We urge you during our session to explore such topics as the continued relevance of the 50 year-old Brown v. Board of Education decision, issues of integrity as professionals and in the delivery of online courses, exemplary programs in service to all—and in service to particular populations of scholar-athletes, basic skills students, and vocational students. At the same time, we will share how some legislative and administrative efforts appear to be shearing the Master Plan and our California Community College system of long-standing, publicly held principles of access, self-determination, and local control in response to local priorities.
Your Academic Senate Executive Committee welcomes you and thanks you for your willingness to act on principle in addressing the challenges before us.

Kate Clark, President
Academic Senate for California Community Colleges