The Presidents of the CCC, CSU and UC Academic Senates sent a joint letter to the Chancellors of all three systems outlining these concerns. The President voiced concern with the Chancellor regarding entering into the MOU without consultation with the Academic Senate. The resolution has been shared with the Consultation Council and Board of Governors meetings.
Whereas the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has a long tradition of collegial collaboration with its University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) counterparts through the Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates (ICAS), the Intersegmental Coordinating Council (ICC) and other similar venues; and the faculty in the UC, CSU, and California Community Colleges (CCC) share an ongoing commitment to effect the seamless transfer of students among the three segments, and have cooperated in many joint ventures and come to important understandings to that end as evidenced by articulation agreements, the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Course agreement (IGETC), the Intersegmental Major Preparation Articulated Curriculum Project (IMPAC), and similar accomplishments, and
Whereas the faculty in the UC, CSU and CCC continue to participate regularly and in meaningful ways in consultation with their systems' administrative officers to achieve mutual objectives and ensure the appropriate voice of faculty over academic and professional matters, and
Whereas the chancellors of CCC and CSU recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that had not gone through any appropriate and deliberative consultation with the Academic Senates but that obligated faculty to produce a "dedicated transfer degree which will be accepted at all CSU campuses as completion of all lower division general education and specified lower division major course requirements;" and degree requirements are clearly a matter over which faculty have absolute primacy, and
Whereas the Academic Senate Presidents/Chairs of the three segments have issued a public letter strongly objecting to the lack of process, noting the importance of including all three segments in any discussion of transfer and transfer requirements, reminding the Chancellors that the IMPAC project is designed to address the issue of pre-transfer major preparation, and affirming their commitment to improving transfer of students from the community colleges to UC and CSU,
Resolved that the Academic Senate object to the lack of consultation with the Academic Senates of the three systems in the development and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that promised the creation of a new degree structure, and
Resolved that the Academic Senate reaffirm the primacy of faculty in the determination of curriculum and course work, and reaffirm its insistence upon a timely and thorough consultation process prior to the development and signing of intersegmental agreements related to changing degree requirements or other academic matters, and
Resolved that the Academic Senate share this resolution with our Consultation Council partners and with our intersegmental counterparts.