Whereas, Part-time faculty comprise roughly two-thirds of the teaching faculty in the California community colleges;
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges should find ways to address the issues and viewpoints of such a large number of faculty in the state that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges represent;
Whereas, California community colleges face the most severe fiscal challenges in their history in the current recession;
Whereas, Many colleges are struggling as a result of problematic leadership at the level of the governing board, while colleges in multi-college districts suffer bureaucracies which provide no direct service to students but consume millions of dollars while class sections are slashed; and
Whereas, The Governor’s January 2012 Budget proposes drastic changes to the CalWORKs Welfare-to-Work program, cutting critical services to CalWORKs students that would help their education and training on to the path of self-sufficiency, to include, beginning October 1, 2012, cutting the ‘four year /48 months’ time limit down to two years /24 months retroactively, and students will then no longer be eligible for child care and other crucial services;
Whereas, California community colleges are permitted by the California State University (CSU) to certify the completion of the entire CSU-GE or IGETC general education areas or certify the partial completion of a CSU-GE or IGETC general education area and certify the completion of the CSU American Institution graduation requirement;
Whereas, Some community colleges indicate this certification on student transcripts, while other community colleges submit general education and American Institutions certification to receiving institutions on separate forms;
Whereas, The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has recently recommended1 defunding California community college athletic programs by prohibiting colleges from collecting apportionment for intercollegiate athletics program courses in a desire to “protect the CCC system’s highest-priority missions”;
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has long been committed to serving the academic and student service needs of all students to the best of its ability with limited resources;
Whereas, The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender)-Friendly Campus Climate Index (www.campusclimateindex.org) is a free resource which allows colleges to document the policies, programs, and practices they use to ensure that their colleges are welcoming for LGBT students;
Whereas, The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) report on distance education (October 25, 2010) recommends the creation of a task force comprised of legislative representatives and members of the administration to identify steps that need to be taken to establish a Western Governors University (WGU) California, which would use resources that could be devoted to the higher education system already in place in California;
Whereas, The existence of the California community colleges is a direct expression of the State of California's commitment to one of the basic tenets of democracy, that of providing for an educated public;
Whereas, The faculty of the California community colleges embrace the fundamental conviction that our students deserve to be full participants in the democratic process; and
Whereas, Resolution 10.01 F08 called for the Academic Senate to “clarify the scope and intent of the minimum qualifications for Learning Assistance and Learning Skills Coordinators or Instructors (Title 5 53415) and publish the results as soon as possible”;
Whereas, Despite the fact that studies have disputed the claim that individuals suffering from mental illness are more prone to committing violence, the tragedy in Tucson, Arizona reminded all of us in the community college system that our students come to us with varying backgrounds and a myriad of needs that in many cases go undetected before they arrive at our campus doors;