February

State-Level Budget Processes: Consultation and Collaboration to Address System Needs

Title 5 §53200 includes what is commonly known as the 10+1, a list of eleven areas of academic and professional matters that fall under academic senate purview. One of the 10+1 areas that sometimes does not get enough attention, at least not until financial issues arise, is the faculty role within budget processes. The budget at the state level is not much different from many local budgets: it goes through a series of steps, ideally with a variety of stakeholders involved, and the money never seems to be enough to cover all of the requests.

Disciplines List Revision Process

At its Fall 2016 Plenary Session, the ASCCC approved Resolution 10.01 F16, which changed the process to revise the Disciplines List from a biennial to an annual process. This important process has now begun again: faculty can propose new disciplines or make revisions to those that exist. Proposed revisions to the Disciplines List can be submitted to the ASCCC Office for possible consideration by the delegates at the Spring 2020 Plenary Session.

Guided Pathways Data and the Faculty Role

As institutions begin to re-examine the effects Guided Pathways will have on them and on their students, the types of data colleges will want to review include new measures such as the average number of units to complete a certificate, degree, or transfer in the latest three years of awards and the number of students achieving awards. Faculty need to be a part of these conversations because analyzing the data and contextualizing the many variables are key to determining whether the data are indicating issues such as the following:

Course Repetition and Repeatability – Legal Mandate and Significant Change in Industry or Licensure Standards: Sharing the Burden for Certifying the Need for Repetition

Today, industry standards are changing at an unprecedented pace, especially in areas such as technology and transportation. As such, colleges and districts that provide the courses and training for students to work in industry must be responsive to these changes. Course and program offerings must keep pace, including course offerings that meet a legal mandate or address a significant change in industry or licensure standards. This point is where the discussion continues on course repetition and repeatability.

SOME BACKGROUND

The History of the ASCCC Project: The Founding of the ASCCC

(In 2013, the Academic Senate Executive Committee approved a project to record and preserve the history of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. The April 2017 Rostrum contains an article that explains the intent and structure of this project. The project has been stalled several times, but it has not been abandoned. The following article was written as an aspect of the history project and as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ASCCC.)

Faculty Role and Responsibility in Professional Development

Local academic senates are tasked to make recommendations for faculty professional development policies and activities at their colleges.[1] Such policies may include consideration of how faculty professional development (PD) is defined, how much is required, when, where, and how it will be offered, whether faculty will be compensated, who will be responsible for selecting and planning particular activities and assessing their efficacy, and how funds are allocated for PD activities.

What Happened to the 2019 ASCCC Accreditation Institute?

Those who are familiar with Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) events from the past know that February has featured the Accreditation Institute for many years. This year, the ASCCC has chosen to partner with the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) to hold a joint event, marking the first time that the two groups have combined their events into one. This decision was made for a number of reasons, including timing, resources, and the relationship between the ASCCC and ACCJC that has continued to grow over the past several years.

Subscribe to February