Consultation with the Chancellor's Office

Whereas, English Language Learners (ELLs) are currently tracked in the California Community College Chancellor’s Office equity plan template only in the categories of English as a Second Language (ESL) and basic skills completion and only in the category of remedial/ESL basic skills in the Student Success Scorecard but are excluded from all other categories in the template (access, course completion, degree and certificate completion, and transfer) and all other categories in the Scorecard (persistence, 30 units, degree/transfer);

Whereas, Apprenticeship programs have been referenced in the Strong Workforce Program and Adult Education Program since they provide unique opportunities for students to gain both paid and on-the-job experiences as well as college level curriculum pertaining to their chosen career;

Whereas, Common components of registered apprenticeship programs include at least 2,000 hours of paid, structured, and supervised on-the-job training and 144 hours of related instruction and training provided for college credit[1]; and

Whereas, AB 2462 (Block, 2012) called for the California Community College Chancellor’s Office to “determine for which courses credit should be awarded for prior military experience”;

Whereas, The creation of baccalaureate degrees at the California community colleges has increased interest in allowing credit for a variety of prior learning experiences, which could be problematic without guidelines and faculty participation;

Whereas, The awarding of credit for prior experiences, rather than prior coursework, may be a new concept for many colleges; and

Whereas, AB 2462 (Block, 2012) calls for “the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, using common course descriptors and pertinent recommendations of the American Council on Education, [to] determine for which courses credit should be awarded for prior military experience”; and

Whereas, Responsibility for determining credit for prior learning, using mechanisms like credit by exam, relies on input and evaluation by faculty in the disciplines for which credit is being sought and is an academic and professional matter;

Whereas, The Common Assessment Initiative, Education Planning Initiative, and Online Education Initiative are academic initiatives that require sufficient technological resources to be successful, not simply technology infrastructure initiatives, and yet the primary oversight from the Chancellor’s Office is through the Institutional Effectiveness Division, not the Educational Services Division[1]; and

Whereas, In 1991 the California Community College mission was expanded to include economic workforce development and this charge was added as a program in Economic Workforce Development Division of the Chancellor’s Office in the form of ten initiative areas of focus, now called Sectors;

Whereas, In 2011-2012 this program was revitalized under the Doing What Matters campaign in part to be more strategic with shrinking resources (63% reduction) resulting in reduced sector choices within each of the California community college regions;

Whereas, The California Virtual Campus (CVC)[1], which is operated by the California Community Colleges Technology Center, maintains a catalog that is intended to be a resource used by students to identify the distance education classes that meet their particular educational goals, including identifying courses that fulfill their degree-completion needs;

Whereas, The State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) has garnered support around the United States, with more than 10 states joining the agreement to allow students to take online courses without individual colleges needing to seek authorization from those students’ home states;

Whereas, California law (AB 620, Block, 2011) requires the California community colleges (CCC) to collect aggregate demographic information regarding the sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression of students, and Education Code section 66271.2 communicates a concern for the obstacles uniquely faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students;

Whereas, The Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, and Education §602.3 (34 CFR §602.3) includes the following definition of distance education:

Distance education means education that uses one or more of the technologies listed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of this definition to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor, either synchronously or asynchronously. The technologies may include—