2007

The Effect of Calendar Compression on Noncredit Instruction

Whereas, While noncredit instruction has many similarities with credit instruction, there are also some differences;

Whereas, If a college that has noncredit instruction changes to a compressed calendar, some of those differences might translate into a different effect on noncredit students and faculty than for credit students and faculty;

Whereas, Many noncredit classes already meet 2.5 - 4 hours per day; and

Hiring of Occupational Faculty

Whereas, A substantial number of community college faculty are at or near retirement age;

Whereas, There is an ongoing need for qualified faculty to train community college students to fill occupational job vacancies throughout the state; and

Whereas, Some districts have reported a disproportionately low number of full-time occupational faculty hired as compared to the number of transfer/general education faculty hired in recent years;

Survey of Occupational Education Students

Whereas, There is a lack of student input concerning their perceptions of occupational programs;

Whereas, Student input can be a valuable tool for course and/or program level development and improvement;

Whereas, Understanding student perspectives regarding occupational programs can help increase student success, retention and completion; and

Whereas, The workforce of tomorrow needs to learn more about occupational educational programs;

Paper on Occupational Education

Whereas, The Academic Senate adopted papers addressing occupational education funding and legislation are outdated;

Whereas, There is a national and state focus on occupational education issues and needs; and

Whereas, Academic Senate adopted papers are useful tools to educate faculty, administrators, community and state and federal leaders;

ACCJC Student Learning Outcomes Annual Report

Whereas, ACCJC/WASC (Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges/Western Association of Schools and Colleges) annual updates have been required in the past, but generally were filled out by administrators and did not involve faculty participation;

Whereas, This year's newly developed annual ACCJC reporting form involved detailed information concerning student learning outcomes (SLOs), assessment, and curricular improvement that require faculty participation in this reporting; and

Faculty on Accreditation Teams

Whereas, The 2002 Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) Accreditation Standards provide a robust peer review process that benefits from input from all institutional constituencies; and

Whereas, Current ACCJC accreditation teams can benefit from faculty expertise in evaluating and making recommendations addressing the accreditation standards, particularly those related to student learning outcomes, which can contribute to productive peer review processes;

Strategies for Equity in Basic Skills

Whereas, The Center for Student Success recently published a document entitled "Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community Colleges";

Whereas, This document addresses effective practices for basic skills, assessment tools, and methods to estimate costs and downstream revenue for basic skills programs; and

Whereas, Student success and equity are greatly impacted by the effectiveness of the System's Basic Skills Initiative;

Establishment of New Local and District Senates

Whereas, Many colleges are in the process of seeking accreditation for academic centers and the accreditation process requires that a local academic senate be formed before accreditation can be granted;

Whereas, Multi-college districts are also considering how best to form district academic senates and often seek advice about how best to work together to form local district senates; and

Whereas, New colleges and academic centers will need to establish participatory governance policies;

Budgetary Practices

Whereas, The local budgeting process is an item of collegial consultation, as defined in Title 5 Regulations, that often leads to local senate involvement in analysis of the local college or district budget;

Whereas, Full understanding of fiscal and accounting practices used in college and district budgets can take many years to acquire;

Whereas, There are several relatively simple indicators that are common to most districts and that can be tracked and compared to statewide data for anomalies; and

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