Goal 1:
The Academic Senate will increase and make
more visible our service to local senates
Outcomes: Increased visibility of the
Academic Senate and local academic senate
to all faculty on the 109 California Community
Colleges
Objectives:
1.1
Examine and improve services to member
senates
Res. No.
Comm/Status
Conduct research on the 2003-04 activation
by the ACCJC of its 2002 Standards and
create a report that considers its impact
on the system, colleges, administrators,
programs, courses, faculty, students and
local senates.
Request of and work with
the ACCJC to evaluate accreditation team
training and college visitation schedules
to consider faculty assignments and accommodate
classroom obligations; and
explore training options such as interactive online training, webinars, CCC
Confer and other distance options to accommodate accreditation team training.
Work with the Executive
Director in exploring cost savings alternatives
for conferences and operations, including
increased use of CCCConfer for committees.
Recommend to
local senates that they, in concert with
their counseling faculty, use “The
Role of Counseling Faculty in California
Community Colleges” paper as a vehicle
to address policy development and implementation
of recommendations to support counseling
programs that enhance "student preparation
and success"
Urge local senates to ensure
that counseling faculty assigned to various
student service programs (DSP&S, EOPS,
and GAIN) are permitted to counsel in accordance
with recommendations in the Senate documents "The
Role of Counseling Faculty in the California
Community Colleges" (Spring 95)and "Standards
of Practice for California Community College
Counseling Programs" (Spring 97).
Maintain regular and effective communications
with local curriculum committees, academic
senates, and faculty in general, including
local committee use of web sites for curriculum
review.
Continue support for the
AA/AS applicability of mathematics courses
at or above the level of elementary algebra
and English courses no more than one level
below the level commonly known as English
1A.
Explore the net cost effect
to the state of California and to the local
districts of increasing student fees and,
indeed, of having any student fees whatsoever.
Work with the Chancellor's Office to reconstitute
its Diversity Hiring Technical Assistance
teams to include substantial faculty representation
appointed by the AS, and to proceed on
the
assumption that all campuses would profit,
in the wake of Proposition 209, from a
renewed
emphasis on diversity hiring procedures
and best practices.
Work with ASCCC and Chancellor's
Office in identifying a plan to assist in
implementation of the diversity hiring plans,
provide required diversity hiring plan, and
required diversity hiring training.
Explore which parts of
the California Community College application
process
might be standardized to facilitate employment
opportunities for college teaching.
Explore ways to identify or provide experts
on topics (e.g., budget, accreditation,
professional development) as a resource
for local senates, thereby providing much
needed continuity and stability for local
senates.
Research and document the
range of assistance available to local senates
for problems in shared governance, fiscal
and legal challenges, and others;
determine where the current needs of local senates are not being addressed
by existing forms of assistance;
recommend what types of assistance need to be put into place to meet unfilled
needs; and share with local senates the range of assistance and the processes
for requesting each type of assistance.
Provide guidance to local
senate leaders to ensure that they have the
knowledge they need to participate in governance
effectively at the local level and work with
the groups representing the Chief Instructional
Officers, Chief Student Services Officers
and the College Presidents, and with the
Student Senate for California Community Colleges,
to develop a proactive approach to participatory
governance, such as providing training designed
to highlight the benefits of engaging in
collegial consultation and identifying best
practices that facilitate effective participatory
governance at the local level.
Develop a process to be
considered for adoption at a future plenary
session that details a procedure for review
and recommendation of proposed changes to
Title 5 regulations.
Continue the initiative of regular visits
by Local Senate members, as well as Executive
Committee members, to meetings of local
senates in their areas. Special outreach
should be made to newly incorporated senates.
Compile information from these visits and
report to the Executive Committee.
Request that the ACCJC
establish and communicate clear and measurable
benchmarks for the reestablishment of full
accreditation at Compton College; support
the System Office effort to remain in control
of Compton College while deficiencies are
corrected; and urge the ACCJC to continue
Compton College’s accreditation at
a conditional level while deficiencies are
being corrected.
Urge the Board of Governors to authorize
that noncredit courses and programs be
reviewed and approved following the local
curriculum process and without the need
for the Chancellor's Office approval.
Urge the Chancellor's
Office to exercise stringent oversight to
ensure that districts are implementing the
diversity hiring plans and exercise oversight
functions to ensure that all districts are
providing diversity hiring training to all
members of hiring committees.
Research the strengths
and weaknesses of multi-college districts,
particularly as they affect senates, time
and effort of faculty, duplication of governance,
implementation of governance as required
by the Legislature, and other areas; and
collect and report on the effective practices
for functioning in a multi-college district
by the Fall 2007 Plenary Session.
Disavow the participation
of, the opinions expressed by, and the conclusions
reached on academic and professional matters
by any community college faculty member not
appointed by the Academic Senate who serves
on an intersegmental project or activity
with other CSU and/or UC faculty members
who are serving at the behest of their own
senates; remind ICAS partners, all systems’ administrators,
and legislators that mutual respect of faculty
appointing processes is essential and that
faculty not appointed through the Academic
Senate process do not speak on behalf of
the system on academic and professional matters.
Goal
2: Strengthen our Leadership in Academic
and Professional Matters on behalf of the
Faculty of California's Community Colleges
Outcomes: Increased external recognition
Objectives:
2.1
Serve faculty who serve
students
Res. No.
Comm/Status
Resolved, That we insist
that SLO design and development remain exclusively
a matter for local faculty and senates; and
that we insist that the designs of all processes
for measurable objectives and/or outcomes
remain exclusively a matter for local faculty
and senates and that this principle be communicated
to the Accrediting Commission for Community
and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), the system leaders
of California’s Community Colleges,
and all of our intersegmental partners, including
the Intersegmental Committee of Academic
Senates (ICAS) and the California Articulation
Numbering (CAN) Board of Directors.
Urge the Accrediting Commission
for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC)
of the Western Association of Schools and
Colleges (WASC) to ensure that faculty comprise
a minimum of 25% of the site visiting teams;
and that the Academic Senate reaffirm its
support in the recruitment and training of
faculty for accreditation site visits.
Work with the ACCJC to
establish a faculty presence in annual updates
that include qualitative measures as well
as quantitative, to provide feedback on the
reporting process and form, and to consult
about further reporting formats concerning
student learning outcomes, assessment and
curricular changes.
Recommend that colleges
and districts provide adequate institutional
support for any faculty-driven process that
coordinates, manages, and integrates Student
Learning Outcomes.
Research approaches to
ensuring that students complete their developmental
coursework early and develop a paper including
best practices and recommendations to local
academic senates.
Support the concept that
each college should have a trained academic
athletic counselor/faculty advisor, and recommend
to local senates that they work with their
counseling and athletic departments to ensure
that athletes receive academic advising and
counseling from a trained academic athletic
counselor/faculty advisor.
Collect examples of alternative
courses at the levels of freshman composition
and intermediate algebra, including vocational
examples, and make them available as a resource
to local colleges.
Investigate whether or
not the interpretation of Title 5 Regulations
and Education Code that does not allow an
instructor to fail a student for an entire
course for one incident of academic dishonesty
is correct; and if correct, then pursue a
change in regulation or law that gives full
discretion to the instructor as to the penalty
for a student engaging in any form of academic
dishonesty.
Encourage local colleges
to identify mechanisms for involving students
in campus committees early and effectively;
research and share best practices with respect
to facilitating such involvement.
Voice opposition to the
attempts to restrict academic freedom by
the Bruin Alumni Association and other organizations;
and notify community college faculty about
the Bruin Alumni Association’s activities,
about Education Code §78907, and caution
faculty to be vigilant to all attempts to
restrict academic freedom at their colleges.
Work to educate local senates,
all other appropriate groups/organizations,
and individuals about its role in appointing
faculty as representatives to statewide committees
that seek a faculty representative in order
to ensure that such representatives are familiar
with the positions adopted by the Academic
Senate as the representative body for the
faculty regarding academic and professional
matters.
Seek to better integrate
the concerns and viewpoints of noncredit
faculty and programs into ASCCC discussions
and work through involvement of noncredit
faculty in its committees and appointments.
The Role of Noncredit in
the California Community Colleges adopted
recommendations
Work with System Office
on a plan to increase the number of full-time
noncredit faculty in the system and the employment
of full-time noncredit faculty in all noncredit
programs.
The Role of Noncredit in
the California Community Colleges adopted
recommendations
Work with noncredit faculty
and program coordinators and others involved
in noncredit instruction to determine possibilities
for a new name for noncredit instruction.
Urge local governing boards,
administrators and local senates to offer
early outreach to high school seniors by
providing information about college financial
aid options and other student support services.
Study the possible impact that the mandate
for California High School Exit Exam
(CAHSEE) has on general enrollment, student
access, demand for basic skills and the
impact on student equity in California
community colleges.
Work with the System Office
to revisit the issue of scheduling patterns
available for noncredit courses and pursue
Title 5 changes to make scheduling patterns
for attendance counting options the same
for credit and noncredit courses.
Collaborate with faculty
and local senates to ascertain the following:
the level of faculty awareness of the 10
EDPAC initiatives and the level of integration
of those initiatives with college programs,
departments, senates and faculty.
Work with local senates
and vocational programs to help students
achieve the needed levels of competency for
their educational and occupational goals.
Work with professional occupational
organizations to oppose any push from
individuals or groups to lower the educational
expectations or standards for occupational
programs.
Work with local senates
and occupational faculty to help inform them
about the new funding options and requirements
with VTEA/Perkins funding and oppose any
changes that circumvent agreed-upon local
budgetary processes for the local distribution
of VTEA funding.
Integrate occ Ed issues
and perspectives at plenary and other senate
events and seek out Occ Ed faculty to address
the BOG regarding occ ed at CC and consider
publishing at least one Rostrum a year devoted
to Occ Ed
Use findings of a faculty survey on
EDPAC and initiatives to inform EDWPAC
and the system office.
Research new legislation,
laws and funding issues that affect Occ Ed
and review previous papers on Occ Ed and
update or rewrite paper with new information.
Develop a survey that students
can do that provides information regarding
Occ Ed programs and work with local senates,
vocational faculty and the Student Senate
for CCC to disseminate this survey to students.
Affirm our leadership role
as the largest provider of occupational education
for workforce development programs, and reaffirm
our position that education rather than just
training is needed to ensure California its
leadership position in the global marketplace.
Work with Local Senates
committee to ensure that local senates communicate
and work with vocational faculty and get
their input regarding compressed calendars
and its impact on vocational programs.
Urge districts
to provide adequate reassigned time and other
necessary support to faculty assigned to
developing and editing self-study reports,
and, with approval of the Accrediting Commission
for Community and Junior Colleges, develop
a document that will provide guidance to
developers and editors of self-study reports.
Research the feasibility,
advantages, and disadvantages of implementing
common statewide assessment tests for math,
English, reading, and ESL for the purpose
of placement and report back to the plenary
body at the Spring 2005 Plenary Session.
Collect information from
the field about successful practices within
existing noncredit basic skills programs
and disseminate this information in a paper,
and/or present some of these practices at
a future plenary session.
Work to ensure
that the implementation of the 50% law not
be used to constrain or cap the hiring of
counseling and library faculty, and Resolved
that the Academic Senate research the appropriate
library and counseling staffing standards,
examine options to address the problem, and
consider whether to increase the 50% law
to a percentage that would include the salaries
of all faculty, not just the salaries of
classroom instructors.
Write a position
paper on good practices on the role of local
academic senates in student preparation and
success and student services in such areas
as counseling, transfer centers, transfer
alliance, etc. Advise local academic senates
of their duties and responsibilities in the
area
of student preparation and success and
student services, as required by number
5 in the list of eleven academic and professional
areas in Title 5 Regulations for strengthening
local senates.
Direct the
Executive Committee to work with the English
and counseling faculty to develop a statement
of good practice in using diagnostic instruments
and multiple measures to assure appropriate
placement of students in writing and composition
courses.
Urge local academic senates
to support the use of a motivational letter
automatically generated through their Management
Information Systems (MIS) to students completing
45 degree applicable units which includes
a list of courses needed to complete their
Associate degree.
Urge local academic senates
to support the use of an automatic degree
audit with a follow-up letter for students
who complete 60 degree applicable units and
the issuance of degrees when students complete
the requirements.
Prepare a comprehensive
paper regarding student athletes that would
address the obstacles and challenges they
face in achieving academic success (AA degree
and/or transfer), analyze demographic data
and student equity factors, and recommend
model support programs.
Update papers that have
been affected by recent changes in regulations
and state practices, including but not limited
to, "Good Practices for the Implementation
of Prerequisites," “Components
of A Model Course Outline of Record,” and "Curriculum
Committee Review of Distance Learning Courses
and Sections."
Remove from the Program
and Course Approval Handbook the following
sentence: "It is not the intent of the
regulation that basic skills or ESL courses
generally be eligible to be so designated
for course repetition]" (page 36); and
also seek to amend the immediate subsequent
sentence in the handbook as follows: "In
basic skills and ESL courses, where further
skill needs to be developed, generally an
additional course level should be offered
wherever practicable."
Develop a guide for local
senates and curriculum committees to use
when approving the offering of a course in
a reduced timeframe of less than half of
a term; and explore instituting a requirement
that local curriculum committees approve
the teaching of courses in reduced timeframes
in a manner similar to the requirement that
curriculum committees approve teaching courses
through technologically-mediated instruction.
Work with the System Office
to review all policies, procedures, laws,
and legislation related to pre-requisites,
co-requisites, and advisories, including
the current validation process, prepare recommendations
for modifying the current validation process;
and review all recommendations, including
possible changes to Title 5, at the Spring
2007 Plenary Session and, if appropriate,
seek to implement desired changes.
Recommend that local senates
research the practices used by their college
departments, the curriculum committee, the
program review committee, and other local
processes for awarding AP credit to be sure
that the process is driven by faculty, benefits
students, and is inclusive of all disciplines
faculty deem appropriate for the application
of AP credit; and review research on AP credit
policies and procedures conducted by local
senates and develop a best practices paper.
Investigate a change to
Title 5 Regulations that would allow local
districts, on the recommendation of their
academic senates, to restrict students from
enrolling in general education or major preparation
courses until students establish competency
at a locally determined level in composition
and/or reading two or more levels below transfer,
and report at a future plenary session.
Recommend that when a course
of three or more semester or equivalent quarter
units is to be offered in a time frame of
fewer than six weeks, the local curriculum
committee, as part of the curriculum approval
process, engage the discipline faculty in
a separate review of the course for the following:
academic integrity and rigor, the method
for meeting Carnegie units, the ability for
students to complete and for faculty to evaluate
assignments, including those done outside
of class, and the appropriateness of the
method of delivery, to determine whether
the course should be offered in a specific
shortened time frame.
Work with local senates,
local curriculum committees, and chief instructional
officers (CIOs) to eliminate the use of the
term “transfer” in program titles
for the associate degree.
Investigate the issue of
coursework recency as it pertains to both
the granting of a degree and/or certificate
and to the application of any prerequisites
needed to enter required courses for a degree
and/or certificate; and provide best practices
information to local senates and curriculum
committees that would enable them to develop
mechanisms to ensure the current value of
the degrees and/or certificates they award
regardless of how long a student has taken
to earn the degree and/or certificate.
Encourage colleges to use
the assessment findings of other colleges,
with local modifications made as necessary;
and gather information on the processes,
procedures, and impact of using the assessment
findings of other colleges and report the
results of this research.
Work in collaboration
with Chancellor's Office and Center for Urban
Education on the development of an evidence
-based student success intervention model.
Assume the
primary responsibility and work with Ed Policies
Committee on Diversity through hiring exploring
the possibilities of new modes of hiring
interviews that better communicate the value
of diversity while also ensuring fairness
and equal employment opportunity, and report
its findings to the plenary body in a breakout
and paper.
Develop a paper
on creative alternatives to encourage more
diverse pool of individuals to pursue and
enter a career as a community college faculty
member
Work with the System Office
to examine statewide student equity data;
request that this data be used to identify
any statewide areas of adverse impact on
the overall student population; and work
with the System Office to develop strategies
to address any adverse impacts that are found.
Undertake a
comprehensive statewide review of all part-time
faculty hiring and evaluation policies, procedures,
and their implementation as recommended in
Part-Time faculty: A Principled Perspective,
(Section V, Policy Level Recommendations
#4); work with other organizations to develop
a timeline and a plan of action, based on
those recommendations, for implementing change
over the next five-to-ten years; and reaffirm
its commitment to academic professionalism
for all faculty as an essential element in
providing students with excellent educational
opportunities, services and instruction.
Grading, Student
Equity, and Developing Senate Guidelines.
That the Senate research the prevalence of
grade inflation within the California Community
College System and the impact, if any, of
the availability of faculty grade distributions
on grade inflation; develop a white paper
to empower local academic senates seeking
to initiate local campus discussions on the
topics of grade inflation and academic rigor;
and use its appropriate institutes and plenary
sessions to share the results of its research
on grade inflation.
Revise and
republish Technology in Education: A Collection
of Academic Senate Papers on Technology,
Second Edition, Summer ’02) with the
inclusion of Impact of Computer Technology
on Student Access and Success.
Work with the
System Office to review and revise the 93
Senate paper on Flex Calendar Guidelines
and incorporate their interaction with compressed
calendars.
Maintain and update the
Local Senates Profile form and spreadsheet,
including the status of delegation of authority
and policies and processes for collegial
consultation. Revise as necessary to increase
accuracy and utility.
Survey colleges to investigate
different approaches and processes for how
each institution determines faculty reassigned/released
time; and report to the body at a future
date.
Create an easily accessible
online database of sample policies and procedures
developed by individual California community
colleges that includes, but is not limited
to, the following: participatory governance,
academic freedom, professional ethics of
faculty, student conduct and academic honesty,
curriculum development, program introduction
and discontinuance, faculty hiring, planning
and budgeting process, accreditation, students’ rights
and responsibilities; and ask local senates
to submit examples of some of their best
policies and procedures each fall to share
and place in the database.
Survey local colleges to
determine when they rely primarily upon and
mutually agree on each of the 10+1 academic
and professional matters and report the findings.
Conduct research and investigate
good practices for local colleges interested
in forming new local and/or district academic
senates;
create and distribute materials to faculty at colleges that are developing
new colleges and academic centers that will aid them in this process; and
consider joining with other statewide faculty and administrator organizations,
and with the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, to explore
developing instructions to guide local senates in establishing effective
participatory governance policies at new colleges and academic centers and
bring these good practices back to a future plenary session.
Ensure that Perkins funding
for community college vocational programs
be continued; urge the Board of Governors
to undertake advocacy with California congressional
representatives and collaborate with congressional
representatives from other states whose community
college programs rely on this funding to
ensure the continuance of the Perkins funding
for community college vocational programs.
Continue to
document the need for funding for occupational
educational programs and work with the Chancellor’s
Office and legislation to develop a stable,
substantial and ongoing funding mechanism
to address equipment needed to ensure the
currency and adequacy of community college
