2018

Whereas, California Education Code, Title 5 regulations, local policies and procedures, and restrictions placed on colleges by the California State University (CSU), the University of California (UC), independent institutions, and out-of-state institutions result in a wide variety of transfer practices and standards around the state leading to confusion among colleges as well as the exclusion and inequitable treatment of transfer-bound students across the system; and

Whereas, Resolution 3.01 S17 directed the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges to “update the paper A Re-examination of Faculty Hiring Processes and Procedures and bring it to the Spring 2018 Plenary Session for discussion and possible adoption”;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges adopt the paper A Re-examination of Faculty Hiring Processes and Procedures2 and disseminate to local senates and curriculum committees upon its adoption.

MSC

Whereas, Rich Hansen ably served the California Community Colleges for more than two decades as a faculty member in the De Anza mathematics department, the president of the Foothill-De Anza Faculty Association, and the president and treasurer of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges;
Whereas, Rich Hansen was first and foremost an advocate of students, always reminding those who worked with him that students must be at the center of everything we do;

Whereas, Strategic planning is an important activity for any successful organization, as this activity provides clear direction and stability and ensures that the organization’s leadership is responsive to its members;

At its Fall 2016 Plenary Session, the ASCCC approved Resolution 10.01 F16 which changed the process to revise the Disciplines List from a biennial to an annual process.  This important process begins again and faculty can propose new disciplines or make revisions to those that exist. Proposed revisions to the Disciplines List can now be submitted to the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) office for possible consideration by the delegates at the Spring 2019 Plenary Session.

Our former Chancellor, Dr. Brice Harris, used to open some of his addresses with the line, “California—the Land of Unintended Consequences.” He would follow that with a litany of the latest measures that were designed to empower our colleges or our students but that did the opposite, placing students or our mission in jeopardy.

The value of learning support and tutoring services to student success cannot be overestimated given the various levels of preparation our students bring to the classroom. In-person tutoring, online tutoring, embedded tutoring and other academic supports for students have grown in popularity in the California community college system, and colleges are looking at current and prospective learning support models as they build their guided pathways frameworks or look for strategies to address the mandates of AB 705.

Part-time faculty not only make up the majority of all faculty in the California community college system, but provide nearly half of all instruction[1].  The success of our students, and ultimately our institutions themselves, depend on supporting the needs of part-time faculty just as we must for full time faculty.  While ASCCC along with partners like 3CSN provide some support statewide, including hosting this year’s Part Time Faculty Institute on August 2-4, 2018, many of the needs of part-time faculty also require local support.

In the face of broad and unprecedented change represented by the guided pathways movement and legislation such as Assembly Bill (AB) 705 (Irwin, 2017) that supports many of the principles of guided pathways, faculty are looking for opportunities to be creative and student-focused in their responses to that change.

Beginning in fall of 2016, the Academic Senate has been engaged in conversations and negotiations with representatives of the Chancellor’s Office and the California Apprenticeship Council (CAC) regarding the minimum qualifications for apprenticeship instructors, which are established in Title 5 section 53413. The current apprenticeship minimum qualifications were established in 1990 following the passage and implementation of AB 1725.