Baccalaureate Level General Education at the California Community Colleges

Fall
2015
Resolution Number
09.03
 
Contact
Assigned to
5C
Category
Curriculum
Status
Completed
Status Report

Assigned to SACC, but primarily handled by the Baccalaureate Degree Task Force. Adoption of Baccalaureate Degree Handbook and new Title 5 section 55009 completes the resolution in the immediate term.

Whereas, SB 850 (Block, 2014) authorized the Board of Governors to establish a statewide baccalaureate degree program at not more than 15 pilot colleges;

Whereas, The faculty of the California community colleges value the integral role of general education as essential to degree attainment, and the breadth of general education addresses the skills needed to succeed in the workforce as identified by employers cited in the National Association of Colleges and Employers in their October 2013 survey[1];

Whereas, Students seeking to transfer to a public institution in California generally follow the IGETC or the CSU-GE Breadth pattern to complete lower division general education, and each segment of California’s higher education, the public at large, and the Legislature are familiar with and recognize the value of these patterns as lower-division preparation for baccalaureate level attainment; and

Whereas, In order to meet the timeframe established by SB850 (Block, 2014), pilot colleges will begin offering upper division classes in Fall 2016, leaving an insufficient timeframe to develop a system-wide community college general education pattern for the baccalaureate level;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Chancellor’s Office to ensure that all baccalaureate degrees granted by the California community colleges require either IGETC or CSU-GE Breadth as lower division general education preparation;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Chancellor’s Office to ensure that all baccalaureate degrees granted by the California community colleges require six semester units of upper division general education offered by at least two disciplines external to the major, one of which must have an emphasis in written communication, oral communication, or computation; and

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges evaluate the feasibility of creating a baccalaureate level general education pattern for the California Community College System and report back to the field by Spring 2017 Plenary Session.

MSC