One of the newer standing committees of the Academic Senate is the Counseling and Library Faculty Issues Committee. It was formed as a result of a resolution from the Spring 1995 Plenary Session to strengthen various ad hoc committees and subcommittees on library and counseling issues that had been around since the late 1980s. In approving the formation of the committee, faculty recognized that there are unique professional and academic issues in the counseling and library fields that need to be addressed in such a committee. There are six members on the committee--librarians on the current committee are Micca Gray (Santa Rosa Junior College), Joanne Kim (Pasadena City College) and myself. The counselors on the committee are Jacqueline Dodds (Pasadena City College), Nicole Ratliff (Southwestern College) and Renee Reyes Tuller (Grossmont College).
The goals of the committee are developed based on direction from the text of resolutions passed by the delegates at our plenary sessions and also from the Academic Senate Executive Committee based on adopted positions of the Senate. Current counseling issues include web advising, student athletes, UC and CSU dual admissions policies, and state budget cuts on student services.
One of the major issues for the library community is that of information competency. In prior years, the committee has taken the lead in authoring a Senate position paper on information competency. It spearheaded the approval of several resolutions stating the importance of information competency to the success and lifelong learning process for students and also noting the curricular basis of information competency and the primacy of the faculty in any decisions at the college and state level. At the Spring 2001 Plenary Session, the Senate passed a resolution recommending to the Board of Governors that information competency be a locally designed graduation requirement for degree and (Chancellor's Office-approved) certificates. However, just days before the Board of Governors was slated to approve this requirement, the state Department of Finance (DOF) declared that the such a requirement would be an "unfunded mandate" and that the Board could not adopt the requirement (details of this are in an excellent article by Kate Clark in the October 2002 issue of the Rostrum). The Senate passed several resolutions at the Fall 2002 Plenary Session regarding "the interference by the DOF in the establishment of system policy." The committee plans to stay involved in Senate activities regarding information competency and also on responses by the Senate to the DOF action.
There are also issues that affect all faculty, but have unique components for us faculty who are not "classroom-based" faculty. (Oh boy, I have just opened a can of worms when I use terms like "classroom faculty" and "non-classroom faculty" or "instructional faculty" and "non-instructional" faculty--but that can be the subject of another Rostrum article!).
The issue of alternative calendars (aka "compressed schedules") has been the topic of several session breakouts and a discussion point at many community colleges throughout the state. Library and counseling faculty have talked about how these calendars/schedules would affect library and counseling services. A recent Senate resolution has called for "a study on the effect of compressed/alternative calendars on counseling, library, and other non-classroom faculty." The committee plans to be actively involved in this study.
The 50% Law (that 50% of college expenditures should be for the salaries of classroom instructors-84362 of the California State Education Code) has been an issue of concern for library and counseling faculty since they are not considered "classroom instructors" (and are therefore on the right side of the 50% calculation from our classroom faculty colleagues) in this Education Code definition. The Senate has passed several resolutions regarding the 50% Law and its impact on library and counseling faculty and a 50% Law Task Force was formed by the Consultation Council to discuss issues about the 50% Law, including those pertaining to library and counseling faculty. There are still concerns about this issue and the committee will continue to address it.
This is just a brief overview of the committee and some of the issues on which we are working. We definitely welcome input from the field on issues and I invite you to contact me with concerns <crumpd [at] arc.losrios.edu>. As I stated before, the committee develops it goals based on resolutions passed at plenary sessions and direction from the Executive Committee. If you feel there is an issue on which you would like to propose a resolution for adoption at a plenary session, please contact me or your local academic senate for information on the resolution process.
RESOLUTIONS RELATED TO INFORMATION COMPETENCY
Resolution 9.02, Fall 2002 Session
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges adopt the paper Information Competency: Challenges and Strategies for Development (Note: the paper is available on the Senate's website)
Resolution 9.91, Fall 2002 Session
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges respond to the Department of Finance regarding its recent determinations that an information competency graduation requirement would result in an unfunded mandate;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges continue to pursue its recommendation for a statewide information competency graduation requirement to ensure that the California community colleges best serve the needs of students; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local senates to pursue information competency requirements on their own campuses to ensure that California community college students are appropriately prepared to function in this information era.
Resolution 5.01, Fall 2002
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges reaffirm Resolution 6.01 F01 stating that the Academic Senate "seek legal clarification and a legislative solution to the interference by the Department of Finance in the establishment of system policy and prepare a short analysis and critique to publicize this newest concern"; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges call upon the Board of Governors and the Chancellor's Office to provide leadership in addressing the legal requirement that system regulations be reviewed by the Department of Finance.
Resolution 9.03, Fall 2001 Session
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges reaffirm its support for Resolution 9.01 S 01 in its entirety, ensuring that both students who receive associate degrees and students who earn Chancellor's Office approved certificates of 18 or more units will possess necessary information competency skills.
Resolution 9.01, Spring 2001 Session
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recommend to the Board of Governors that information competency be a locally designed graduation requirement for degree and Chancellor's Office Approved certificate programs; Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge the Board of Governors to provide resources for implementation and appropriate faculty development activities;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges support the concept that each college be empowered to use its local curriculum processes to determine how to implement the information competency requirement, including the possibilities of developing stand-alone courses, co-requisites, infusion in selected courses with or without additional units, and/or infusion in all general education courses with or without additional units; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges develop a best-practices paper to be presented at the Spring 2002 Plenary Session that includes suggested competencies, recommended models, and colleges that are implementing each of the models.
RESOLUTIONS RELATED TO LIBRARY FACULTY
50% LAW
Resolution 6.07, Fall 2000 Session
Therefore be it resolved that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work to ensure that the implementation of the 50% law not be used to constrain or cap the hiring of counseling and library faculty, and Be it further resolved that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges research the appropriate library and counseling staffing standards, examine options to address the problem, and consider whether to increase the 50% law to a percentage that would include the salaries of all faculty, not just the salaries of classroom instructors.
Resolution 8.03, Spring 2001 Session
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge the Chancellor to protect counseling and library faculty from unwarranted attacks and work with the appropriate associations in gathering data and developing a survey to assess the impact of the 50% law on student success; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Chancellor on re-convening the 50% Law Task Force to review and study the data and to consider whether to recommend amendments to the 50% Law (such as substantially increasing the percentage to include counseling and library faculty).
Resolution 8.04 Spring 2001 Session
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work to amend California Education Code 84362(b)(1) and (d) to include the salaries of "counseling and library faculty";
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work to amend California Education Code 84362(d) such that the minimum percentage of any district's apportionment spent on classroom, library, and counseling faculty salaries increases from the present standard of 50% to a percentage that is commensurate with the inclusion of counseling and library faculty members; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges reaffirm the importance of establishing a statutory minimum percentage of instructional expenditure by districts and the value that such a criterion has in protecting the academic standards and central mportance of instruction in the California Community Colleges.
LIBRARIANS AS FACULTY
Resolution 8.03, Fall 1999 Session
Therefore be it resolved that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges reaffirm its previous position that counselors, librarians, and other faculty whose assignment may not be primarily in the classroom are faculty.