Curriculum

Whereas, The 7th Edition of the Program and Course Approval Handbook eliminated the category of non-substantive revisions to programs, thus treating any revision, no matter how minor, as a substantive revision;

Whereas, Minor changes to a single course—e.g., title change or unit count—or program may trigger changes to dozens of programs, each program’s re-application consisting of three to five documents, including the following:

Whereas, The process of aligning individual courses with the California Virtual Campus Course Design Rubric through the @One Course Design Academy1 or a certified local peer online course review2 requires time and resources and is duplicative in instances in which faculty use the same Canvas shell and have already undergone the extensive professional development required to align at least one of their courses with the rubric and attain a quality-reviewed badge on CVC.edu;

Whereas, The completion of an ethnic studies course—i.e., African American Studies, Asian American Studies, Latina/o American Studies, or Native American Studies— becomes a graduation requirement for all California State University baccalaureate degrees starting in Fall 2021 due to the passage of AB1460 (Weber 2019);

Whereas, California community colleges are modifying and developing curriculum to address AB 1460 (Weber 2019) in accordance with the California State University definition of ethnic studies and to maximize and frame curriculum for student success through an equity-minded lens in support of the Chancellor’s Vision for Success and Call to Action;

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges paper Anti-Racism Education in California Community Colleges: Acknowledging Historical Context and Assessing and Addressing Effective Anti-Racism Practices for Faculty Professional Development recommends that local academic senates “enact culturally responsive curricular redesign within disciplines, courses, and programs and with curriculum committees”;

Whereas, AB 705 (Irwin, 2017) and Title 5 §55522.5 recognize that “Instruction in English as a second language (ESL) is distinct from remediation in English”;

Whereas, Numerous advanced ESL courses satisfy transfer patterns established by the University of California and California State University for elective units or direct fulfillment of general education areas;

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges is empowered by Title 5 §53206 with regard to representing local academic senates from California community colleges statewide in the formation of state policies on academic and professional matters;

Whereas, Local academic senates at California community colleges are organizations whose primary function is to make recommendations with respect to academic and professional matters (Title 5, §53200);

Whereas, California community colleges are modifying and developing curriculum to address AB 1460 (Weber 2019) in accordance with the California State University definition of ethnic studies and to maximize and frame curriculum for student success through an equity-minded lens in support of the Chancellor’s Vision for Success and Call to Action;

Whereas, The passage of AB1460 (Weber 2019), which has driven the California State University to create an Area F in ethnic studies that can be fulfilled with the completion of a lower-level course, will have a significant impact on all 116 California community colleges in that students may fulfill this requirement through transferable courses from ethnic studies disciplines;

Whereas, The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has issued a call to action, to look with fresh eyes at the limitations and barriers to educational equity in California Community Colleges;

Whereas, Educational equity is in the requirements of the California Education Code and Title 5 Regulations, and educational equity requires understanding the unique challenges and barriers faced by individual students or by populations of students and each student having equitable access, guidance and support in pursuing educational pathways and career goals;