Whereas, Current regulations allow students to re-take a course after earning a substandard grade or a “W” up to seven times, and individual districts may have policies that limit students to fewer “takes” of a course;
Whereas, Data indicate that student success diminishes for students who take the same course multiple times, and students who re-take courses prevent other students from access to those courses;
Whereas, United States veterans from all branches of military service learn skills and often have educational experiences while serving in the military that may be comparable to associate- or baccalaureate-level coursework;
Whereas, Current Title 5 regulation §55024 allows students to withdraw from a course between the census date and 75% of the way through a course with a grade of "W" that does not affect the student's grade point average and further allows districts to set a local withdrawal deadline any time within that timeframe;
Whereas, Later withdrawal dates may encourage students to attempt courses for which they are not well prepared to succeed, and excessive withdrawals may negatively impact students’ academic progress and may displace other qualified students from courses;
Whereas, Senate Bill (SB) 946 authorized all community colleges to use the Early Assessment Program (EAP) for “English and mathematics placement purposes at the discretion of the local college,” yet “placement” in the community colleges is not merely a determination of whether or not a student is college-ready;
Whereas, The Consultation Council Assessment Task Force recommendations include the suggestion of a pilot project to explore the alignment across colleges of course outcomes for a sequence of composition courses "as a first step in researching the feasibility of implementing a common assessment";
Whereas, The Consultation Council Assessment Task Force lacked professional representation from composition and reading faculty, who are the experts in assessment in their discipline;
Whereas, Assessment is an evolving field of complexity;
Whereas, Curriculum varies from college to college, a fact which complicates the standardized use of a single placement instrument; and
Whereas, The Consultation Council Task Force on Assessment recommends action toward developing a common assessment instrument for English;
Whereas, The Board of Governors approved a motion at its March 2007 meeting calling for the System "to begin the process of evaluating the implementation of a systemwide uniform, common assessment with multiple measures of all community college students in consultation with the Community College League of California, Academic Senate and other community college partners for consideration and adoption by the Board of Governors by no later than November 2007";
Whereas the Legislature has appropriated $10 million for noncredit matriculation for 1997-98, and the Chancellor's Office has asked for another$12 million for 1998-99, and
Whereas such appropriations represent the first time that noncredit matriculation has been funded and, indeed, the 1997-98 funding was not based on a proposal by the community college system and thus no plans exist for its expenditure, and
Whereas the Academic Senate has long been committed to matriculation services and quality noncredit programs,
Whereas, The California Department of Education is concerned about possible "test fatigue" among students;
Whereas, All community colleges are required to use validated assessment instruments;
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has recognized the value in facilitating the assessment process for mobile students through its call to explore the impact of using common statewide assessment tests (Resolution 13.01 F03); and
Whereas, Repeated testing is a burden on the resources of both students and colleges;
Whereas, The recommendations of the Matriculation Assessment/Placement Task Force were formed in consultation with partners from the System Office, the Chief Instructional Officers, the Chief Student Services Officers, and Matriculation Professionals;
Whereas, The Academic Senate supported SB1563 (Escutia -August 30, 2006) a bill that was subsequently vetoed by the Governor but which supported a community college pilot project for the use of the CSU Early Assessment Program (EAP) to better inform students of preparation for college work; and