November

Faculty Voices

This section of the Rostrum is dedicated to publishing the personal stories and perspectives of individual faculty members from community colleges around the state. The statements and stories included in this section come directly from the writers and may not reflect the positions or views of the ASCCC. Although these selections must meet the ASCCC’s publication standards, they will be edited less than other Rostrum articles in order to more fully preserve the writers’ voices.

Accessibility is everyone’s shared responsibility. Although the work of making a website or Canvas shell accessible can be complex, any accessibility specialist will say that faculty can learn without difficulty how to make their instructional environments fairly accessible.  

Note: The following article is not an official statement of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. The article is intended to engender discussion and consideration by local colleges but should not be seen as the endorsement of any position or practice by the ASCCC.

Note: The following article is not an official statement of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. The article is intended to engender discussion and consideration by local colleges but should not be seen as the endorsement of any position or practice by the ASCCC

With the fall term underway and student energy returning to college campuses, faculty will be reconnecting with their colleagues. That return will spark a myriad of thoughts about dedicated and inspirational fellow faculty that go the extra mile for their students. An excellent way to recognize and honor amazing colleagues is with statewide awards, through which the system celebrates the incredible work being performed by faculty across the state.

As representative and decision-making legislative bodies, local academic senates must make their discussions and decisions accessible to all of their colleges’ faculty, full-time and part-time, as well as to the broader community. This statement is true whether the local academic senate is truly representative, in which faculty members are elected or selected as representatives by departments or divisions, or a senate-of-the-whole, in which all faculty members are encouraged to engage in senate discussions and decisions.

Articulation officers (AOs) in California community colleges are unsung heroes. They have essential knowledge and skills in navigating the world of transfer, including the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems. With new regulations regarding Ethnic Studies and legislation regarding Ethnic Studies, general education   (GE), and common course numbering, AOs need to be central in discussions of implementation.

For decades, colleges have been trying to improve the results of remediation. Efforts like the Basic Skills Initiative, basic skills innovation grants, and the Common Assessment Initiative were all envisioned to improve placement practices and increase the number of students earning degrees and transferring to universities. These types of efforts had varying levels of success, but huge increases in the number of students completing English composition and a transfer-level mathematics course never materialized.

On October 6, 2021, Governor Newsom signed AB 928 (Berman, 2021 [1]),  the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2021, into law.