Automatic Awarding of Earned Degrees or Certificates

Fall
2012
Resolution Number
13.01
 
Assigned to
Educational Policies Committee
Category
General Concerns
Status
Completed
Status Report

The results of the spring 2014 survey on automatic awarding of degrees were reviewed and analyzed by the committee.  The results were reported in the article Automatic Awarding of Degrees and Certificates - Considerations for Local Senates whcich was published in the February 2015 Rostrum.

Whereas, Some California community colleges have suggested that colleges should award degrees or certificates to all students who complete all requirements for a degree or certificate, whether the student has applied for the degree or certificate or not;

Whereas, The practice of automatically awarding degrees or certificates would not compromise academic standards since students would still be required to meet the same requirements as those who have applied for degrees or certificates; and

Whereas, Automatically awarding degrees or certificates could have various benefits for colleges in a time when they are increasingly asked to meet accountability standards involving degree and certificate completion but could create workload issues for colleges and might have negative effects on students;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges investigate the positive and negative impacts of automatically awarding earned degrees or certificates, including the methods through which such a practice could be facilitated, and report the results of this research by Fall 2014.

MSC