December 17, 2024

ASCCC Common Course Numbering Update: Fall 2024

As fall term 2024 ends, I’d like to provide an update on the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) efforts related to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) Common Course Numbering (CCN) Project.

To start, as Phase I shifted this fall from state-level work to local-level revision of course outlines, the ASCCC offered CCN-focused informational webinars and online support hours in addition to responding to emailed questions and concerns. The ASCCC continues its advocacy for improved intersegmental articulation practices that include CCN course template articulation for system-level consistency to reduce the variability across colleges that results from individual college articulation using local course outlines of record. Collaboration with implementing faculty, curriculum chairs, articulation officers, academic senate presidents, CCCCO personnel, CCN facilitators, and intersegmental faculty and system office partners continues as we collectively learn from Phase I, adjust for Phase II, and work toward the consistent articulation of courses CCC students deserve.

To learn more about ASCCC CCN development efforts and faculty engagement, you can visit the new Common Course Numbering webpage directly. Alternatively, you can find it on the ASCCC website by either clicking on the “Common Course Numbering” button in the “What’s New” section or selecting the “Common Course Numbering” link under the “Communities” tab.

Thank you to all who contributed to the CCN activities noted below, including sharing information and survey links, volunteering to participate in convenings, nominating faculty, asking questions, participating in a workgroup, facilitating workgroups, contributing articulation expertise, revising local curriculum, submitting information to COCI or ASSIST, envisioning future implementation, and more. Implementation started in February 2024 with the first meeting of the CCCCO Common Course Numbering Council. In the months since, CCN has been an intersegmental effort. The immense amount of work accomplished statewide and locally is to be celebrated even while we acknowledge there is still much to be done.

May you enjoy peace, love, joy, and rest this holiday season. See you in 2025!

All the best,

Cheryl Aschenbach, President
Academic Senate for California Community College

Phase II Updates

The CCN Phase II implementation structure differed from Phase I in several ways. These differences were primarily due to the number of courses involved (an increase from 6 to 23!), the availability of human and financial resources, and the feedback received from the field during the Phase I CCN course template development process.

First, rather than holding multiple widescale convenings for each course with local senate president-appointed faculty, smaller faculty convenings were utilized with 136 faculty selected from 637 CCC, CSU, and UC senate leader nominations. Convenings consisted of twelve-member CCN Faculty Workgroups (CCNFWs) for each discipline. The ideal workgroup composition was envisioned as twelve faculty: six CCC, two CSU, two UC, and two independent institution faculty through AICCU and HBCU partnerships. Where a total of six university faculty were not appointed by their segments, additional community college faculty were selected to complete each CCNFW. The groups continued to be supported by an amazing team of intersegmental facilitators, articulation officers, and CSU and UC system office transfer and articulation experts. Thank you to all who volunteered and were nominated by their senate leaders and all who participated in CCNFWs. In creating the CCNFWs with the large number of nominees, attention was paid to broad and balanced faculty representation. In total, 85 colleges and universities submitted nominations, from as few as one to as many as 18, and had faculty appointed to Phase II CCNFWs!

The second difference from Phase I centered on faculty workload and convening timing. As with the Phase I June convenings, CCNFWs were asked to start with existing C-ID descriptors, when available, and to rely on intersegmental discipline faculty survey responses for their discussions about what additional information was needed in each CCN course template for UC transferability, general education, course-to-course, and major preparation articulation. Unlike Phase I, most CCNFWs were asked to develop multiple CCN course templates within their discipline, including for courses for which a C-ID descriptor was not available to provide foundational content.

The development of multiple CCN course templates within a discipline required more time than creating a single CCN course template as occurred over the summer. To address this, Phase II discipline workgroups convened over three afternoons, with STEM-related groups meeting for four days. Although the three to four days of work were intense, faculty returned each day to advance their efforts and complete the assigned CCN course templates. Given the challenges of clearing calendars for consecutive afternoons, the ASCCC appreciates the support from the California Community College Chief Instructional Officers organization (CCCCIO), which encouraged their members to work with local faculty to support participation in the multi-day convenings. The format for Phase III convenings remains undecided at this time, as multi-day convenings, whether spread over a week or several months, require faculty to manage conflicts with classes and meetings.

Furthermore, the Phase II meeting schedule differed by having four to five disciplines gather during three convenings: one at the end of October, one in mid-November, and another in early December. This staggered approach aimed to give CCC, CSU, and UC senate presidents more time to recruit and nominate faculty for participation and to allow faculty more time to receive and respond to course-specific surveys.

The third difference between the Phase I and Phase II CCN implementation process involved expanding the survey offerings used to elicit broad faculty input for each course. In addition to a CCN course template pre-development survey process, a post-development survey phase was implemented to engage faculty at-large in providing feedback on the CCN course templates developed by the CCNFWs during the fall convenings. The CCNFWs were then scheduled to reconvene to review post-development survey data and consider any changes needed based on the greater faculty input. The first round of post-development surveys closed in early December, so the October CCNFWs re-convened in December to finalize their CCN course templates pending final ASCCC, C-ID, and articulation officer review. November and December CCNFWs will be convening throughout February following the post-development survey response deadline of January 24, 2025. Having already had one group re-convene to consider survey feedback and refine their CCN course templates, this is a valuable step for collecting additional faculty input, for bringing to light any discrepancies or concerns, and for finalizing the CCN course templates.

For a full list of Phase II discipline groups and associated CCN course templates developed, please explore the Phase II Implementation tab of the new ASCCC Common Course Numbering webpage.  

Faculty Engagement and Input through Surveys

For Phase I, surveys were used to collect broad intersegmental discipline faculty input, and then each college and university were asked to appoint faculty members to participate in the CCN course template development for each of the six courses. As has been noted, due to logistics and the increasing number of courses identified for CCN course template development, smaller workgroups were used in Phase II. As a result, both pre- and post-development surveys are being utilized as the mechanism for broad faculty input. Please complete these surveys for courses in your discipline and encourage colleagues to do the same for their disciplines. The new ASCCC Common Course Numbering webpage includes a list of open surveys; look for the “Open Surveys” tab. Currently, nine surveys are open and will remain so until January 24, 2025. In the future, Phase III pre- and post-development surveys will be available here. Please ensure you are signed up for the appropriate ASCCC Discipline Listserv to receive CCN communications related to the release of surveys and opportunities for involvement.

In terms of the survey process, all discipline groups reviewed survey feedback and all incorporated what they learned from the survey responses into their CCN course template development discussions. To date, close to 3,000 responses were received for the Phase II pre- and post- surveys! Although the groups were smaller, the greater faculty at large voices were heard and incorporated into the discussions. Surveys will continue to be the primary mechanism for faculty input and feedback during CCN course template development.

Phase II Convenings: A Quick Overview

The three convenings were very successful in terms of faculty collaboration and CCN course template development. Find more information on the ASCCC Common Course Numbering webpage.

October Convening
The disciplines included in the three-day October convening were History, English, Economics, and Art History. Their work yielded a total of eight CCN course templates, two for each discipline. Each of the related CCNFWs re-convened in December to review the post-development survey results and make any needed adjustments. The disciplines in this group provided a good starting place for the more complex STEM-focused work that took place in the November convening.

November Convening
In moving into the realm of STEM disciplines, the complexity of the work increased with courses offered on college campuses in different ways - combined lecture and lab, standalone lecture, and standalone lab formats. In addition, some of the courses to be addressed did not have a corresponding C-ID descriptor to provide foundational CCN course template content. The disciplines included in the four-day November convening were Biology, which was split into a group for Anatomy and Physiology courses and a group for the Introductory Biology course, Chemistry, Math, and Astronomy. Ultimately, 21 CCN course templates were developed - two for Bio A&P, three for Introduction to Biology, nine for Chemistry, four for Math, and three for Astronomy. The post-development surveys for the CCN course templates created by the November CCNFWs were opened December 11th and remain open until January 24th. The groups will reconvene in February to review those survey results and make any needed changes based on the feedback received. Visit the “Open Surveys” tab on the ASCCC Common Course Numbering webpage to view open surveys. Make sure to contribute if your discipline is listed!

December Convening
The disciplines included in the three-day December convening included Anthropology, Communication Studies, Sociology, and Child Development. The faculty created six total CCN course templates: three for Anthropology and one each for Communication Studies, Sociology, and Child Development. Together with the November post-surveys, the post-development surveys for the CCN course templates created by the December CCNFWs were opened December 11th and remain open until January 24th. The groups will reconvene in February to review those survey results and make any needed changes based on the feedback received. Visit the “Open Surveys” tab on the ASCCC Common Course Numbering webpage to view open surveys. Make sure to contribute if your discipline is listed!

What’s Next? Phase III

ASCCC representatives are in conversation with the CCCCO about the Phase III timeline. The Phase III course list, expected to include 50 courses, is being finalized by the CCCCO with input from the CCN Council, CCN workgroups, and CCN Steering Committee. As soon as a list of courses is available and a timeline set, we will let you know! Keep an eye on the ASCCC Common Course Numbering webpage and the CCCCO Common Course Numbering Project webpage for updates.