Fall

No fact of community college life is as problematic as our structural dependence on exploited part-time faculty. One part-time colleague comments, "As a part-timer at [.] College for eight consecutive years, I feel slighted at every turn with the disrespect given me by the District via non-equity pay." A simple comparison of the salary for a full time faculty member and the accumulated salary for a part-time faculty member teaching the same number of classes reveals the second class status our part-time colleagues tolerate, and that's without even considering "fringe" benefits.

This paper asserts that there should be a set of universal standards of practice for all community college counseling programs, regardless of institutional or departmental size or fiscal constraints. Complying with these standards requires both adequate staffing and support. These standards are set out in six areas: A. Core Functions, B. Ethical Standards, C. Organization and Administration, D. Human Resources, E. Physical Facilities, and F. New Technologies.

In spite of the onslaught of pressure to infuse all course outlines of records with student learning outcomes (SLOs), here is one perspective as to why this may not be the most effective use of SLOs for promoting better learning. Intrinsic to this perspective is the systemwide uncertainty of what we mean when we use the term "student learning outcome."

1. Approximately how many total faculty serve the 2.6 million students in the California community colleges?
A. 1 million faculty
B. 500,000 faculty
C. 200,000 faculty
D. 60,000 faculty
E. 36,000 faculty

2. Approximately how many faculty are tenure track and how many are temporary faculty (temporary faculty include part-time faculty and temporary contract)?
A. 80% full time and 20% temporary
B. 60% full time and 40% temporary
C. 50% full time and 50% temporary
D. 40% full time and 60% temporary

We have now come to the point that our student population is drastically different than it was 30 years ago. Many students are under-prepared for college. While it may be convenient to blame elementary and secondary schools for not doing their job and passing along under-prepared students, the problem will not go away, and we must find reasonable solutions to it. Our students do not look the same, and they don't respond in the same way to teaching methods of 30 years ago. These students need different approaches to succeed in college. What can we do?

Dear Julie,

The faculty in my discipline are really interested in changing the minimum qualifications for it. They feel that we are always granting equivalencies and that it's time to do something. What do I need to do?

Tired of Equivalencies


Dear T.E.,

Your question is very timely. The current cycle for Disciplines List modifications is open, but it closes September 30. You will have to act quickly in order to submit your proposal on time. If you miss this cycle, however, the next one begins in Spring 2010.

In Spring 2007, the plenary body at the Academic Senate General Session voted to adopt the following resolution (9.01):

Whereas, The historical use of the terms "arts" and "science" in universities pertains to the separate disciplines under the Arts and under the Sciences;

While we can easily calculate the cost associated with bringing faculty together to discuss curriculum and articulation, the value of providing a venue for such activities is immeasurable. With the abandonment of IMPAC (Intersegmental Major Preparation Articulated Curriculum), such a venue for intersegmental discipline-based conversations was lost. IMPAC lost its funding in part due to the difficulty of demonstrating the value of discipline-based intersegmental curriculum discussion.

How serious are we about improving student success, especially for students with basic skills needs? What organizational strategies have been shown to be effective to help these students achieve their academic dreams?

"There are three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, `what happened?' " ²