Committee held Plenary breakout, completed a survey, wrote an article for Fall 09 Rostrum.
Whereas, In 1998 the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges adopted the position paper "Information Competency in the California Community Colleges" and subsequently adopted resolution 9.01 S01 recommending that information competency be a locally designed graduation requirement for degree and System Office Approved certificate programs;
Whereas, Subsequently the Department of Finance blocked implementation of the information competency graduation requirement as an "unfunded mandate," which had a chilling effect on the implementation of local information competency graduation requirements statewide and which was opposed by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges in resolutions 5.01 F02 and 9.01 F02;
Whereas, The need for information competency, including the ability to determine information requirements for research questions, the ability to use information technology tools to locate and retrieve relevant information, the ability to understand the ethical and legal issues surrounding information and information technologies, the ability to apply the skills gained in information competency to enable lifelong learning, and the other elements of information competency are of critical importance and provide essential skills to students entering the workforce at a time when employers demand that workers have these academic and technical abilities; and
Whereas, Many colleges may not yet have implemented an information competency graduation requirement;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local senates to ensure that students demonstrate information competency and provide advice and assistance to local senates that seek to institute new requirements in information competency; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges update the position paper "Information Competency in the California Community Colleges" to reflect the current status of information competency education statewide. MSC Disposition: Local Senates