Professional Standards

Adopt the Paper Sound Principles for Faculty Evaluations

Whereas, Academic Senate Resolution 19.05 F11 directed the Academic Senate to “survey districts on the processes and criteria used for faculty evaluation and work with statewide bargaining organizations to analyze the results and identify and formulate effective practices for the purpose of updating the 1990 paper Guidelines for Developing a Faculty Evaluation Process”;

Whereas, A survey for local academic senate presidents regarding faculty evaluations was completed December of 2012; and

Faculty Evaluations Processes

Whereas, Education Code and Title 5 Regulations clearly define the local academic senate’s purview relative to academic and professional matters, and the evaluation of faculty, including counselors and librarians, is a professional matter negotiated by local unions after consultation with local academic senates (Education Code §87610.1);

Update 2000 Paper Faculty Development: A Senate Issue

Whereas, The Student Success Task Force final report acknowledges that sustained, ongoing professional development activities are essential to improving student success in the California Community College system;

Whereas, The Chancellor’s Office Professional Development Committee acknowledges the ever present need for professional development; and

Whereas, Title 5 §53200 designates faculty professional development activities as one of the 10+1 academic and professional matters under the purview of local academic senates;

Adopt "Noncredit Instruction: Opportunity and Challenge"

Whereas, The Role of Noncredit in California Community Colleges was adopted by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges in Fall 2006 prior to several significant changes in noncredit instruction;

Whereas, Several subsequent resolutions called for the Academic Senate to seek additional changes in noncredit instruction that would promote the provision of equitable instructional and support services for noncredit students; and

Whereas, Resolution 13.03 F07 called for a follow-up paper on noncredit issues;

Adoption of the Paper Sabbaticals: Effective Practices for Proposals, Implementation and Follow-Up

Whereas, Sabbaticals: Benefiting Faculty, The Institution, and Students was adopted by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges at its Spring 2007 Plenary Session; and

Whereas, A follow-up to the 2007 paper was called for in the resolution 19.04 S07 "Sabbatical Leave Position Paper";

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges adopt the paper Sabbaticals: Effective Practices for Proposals, Implementation and Follow-Up. MSC Disposition: Local Senates

Counseling Service Standards

Whereas, Counseling is a distinct faculty discipline within the faculty Disciplines List;

Whereas, A counseling discipline ensures professional education and training at the Master's level leading to appropriate counseling knowledge, competencies and skills;

Whereas, There is no statewide definition of, or limitations on, the role of the counseling/advising paraprofessional; and

Whereas, Some districts are replacing counseling faculty with counseling/advising paraprofessionals;

Part-Time Faculty

Whereas, The over reliance on part-time faculty has been a practice since 1974;

Whereas, The Academic Senate thoroughly examined and documented issues pertaining to part-time faculty in its publication "Part-Time Faculty: A Principled Perspective" (adopted Spring 2002);

Whereas, The Academic Senate put forth carefully crafted policy-level and local-academic-senate-level recommendations in that publication; and

Whereas, Issues pertaining to faculty, both part time and full time, are complex and far-reaching;

Value of Flex Activities

Whereas, Title 5 §55724 provides calendar options to districts that allow up to 15 of the required 175 instructional days per year to be used for “instructional improvement activities in lieu of part of regular classroom instruction”;

Whereas, Chapter 6 of the California Community Colleges Task Force on Student Success (Senate Bill 1143, Liu, 2010) draft recommendations (September 30, 2011) mistakenly defines this time to be specifically for the purpose of “professional development” and then proceeds to present data and make recommendations based upon this inaccurate definition;

Review of Title 5 Regulations Pertaining to Professional Development

Whereas, Faculty professional development activities directly improve teaching and learning and should be funded by the state;

Whereas, College-wide and individual activities that satisfy “flex” requirements may include options that do not directly promote the improvement of teaching and learning; and

Whereas, Title 5 §55724 provides options and compliance measures for professional development of “instructional staff” which list the types of flex activities for which apportionment may be claimed:

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