Tuesday July 7, 2015

President's Update - July

Hello senate presidents and other interested readers,

We hope that all of you are enjoying your summer and that you have found some time to take a break and revitalize. The demands do seem to decrease slightly in summer, allowing for us to catch our collective breath a bit, but the work of the academic senate does not take a break at the end of the academic year, and so we all have to remain connected and vigilant even when classes may not be in session for many of us. In order to help you stay updated on statewide issues that continue to develop during the summer months, we provide you with the following summaries of current events:

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2015-16 Budget

As most of you know by now, on June 16 the governor announced that he had reached agreement with the legislature on a budget for 2015-16. The news for community colleges was mostly very good, providing an increase of $185 million in Proposition 98 General Fund dollars. This amount includes $100 million to increase orientation, assessment, placement, counseling, and other education planning services and $85 million to address gaps in access and achievement.

Among the other significant aspects of the budget is a provision for $62.3 million for hiring full-time faculty. This dedicated funding for faculty hiring was a priority of many system constituencies, both faculty and administration, and was supported by the Chancellor’s Office. Other areas receiving increased or dedicated funding include basic skills, apprenticeships, adult education, career technical education, and noncredit equalization, among others.

Unfortunately, dedicated funding for professional development, which had been sought by both the ASCCC and the Chancellor’s Office, was not included in the final budget. We will continue to push for such funding in the future.

A summary of the enacted budget can be found here.

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Legislation

Work continues on several pieces of legislation. AB 798 (Bonilla), which deals with open educational resources, has been a source of some discussion. The ASCCC supports and encourages the use of open educational resources to reduce textbook costs for students but has continued to work to ensure that the bill does not create a program that would directly compensate faculty for adopting such materials, effectively bribing faculty to choose certain texts. At present the proposed bill language excludes such practices, and indeed Assembly Member Bonilla has agreed to all amendments that we have suggested. For this reason, the ASCCC continues to support AB 798.

Another bill that continues to move forward is AB 770 (Irwin), which would provide grant-based resources for innovation in basic skills. The ASCCC is working with the Chancellor’s Office to ensure that if this bill passes this program will be constructed in a way that protects the faculty voice in curricular development and will be beneficial to our students.

All ASCCC letters of support or opposition for legislation, as well as the most recent legislative report, can be found on our website here.

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A Change in the ASCCC Executive Committee

The ASCCC Executive Committee recently found itself with a vacancy when James Todd, the Area A Representative, was named Interim Vice-President of Student Services at Modesto Junior College. James made many outstanding contributions in his year on the Executive Committee, especially in the areas of equity and diversity, and he was one of the primary organizers for last spring’s very successful Academic Academy. The Executive Committee will miss James as a member, but we know he will do an outstanding job in his new position and we wish him the very best.

After some debate, the ASCCC leadership has decided not to appoint a replacement for James as Area A Representative at this time. Craig Rutan will take over as chair of the Professional Development Committee, and the remainder of James’ assignments will be covered by other Executive Committee members. We will hold a special election for a new Area A Representative at the Fall Plenary Session in November.

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Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy

The Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy has continued with monthly meetings. A draft of policy recommendations focused on career technical education has formed throughout the task force process, covering areas of outcomes and data, curriculum, structured pathways, instructors, student support, funding and regional coordination. This set of recommendations is under constant revision. The recommendations have the potential to impact all areas of instruction and support services, and therefore faculty input is critical in helping the ASCCC representatives to shape the final version of the task force report. The recommendations will be finalized and approved by the task force at the final meeting on July 29 before going to the Board of Governors. 

Access to the various resources being considered by the task force can be found here and the draft report and recommendations can be found here. A feedback link is included along the side of the draft document online. The ASCCC has also set up a feedback email at CTETaskForceComments@asccc.org. Faculty feedback will help to guide the task force representatives as they engage in task force deliberations. Please encourage all of your faculty, but especially those in CTE programs, to provide their input on the draft recommendations. If you have questions, please contact us and we will he happy to provide any further information that we can.

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Student Equity Plans

Because SB 860 (2014) added new requirements that were not included in the plan template the Chancellor's Office published in March, 2014, colleges will be asked to submit a revised plan that addresses these new requirements. Revised plans will be due on November 23, 2015. Vice-Chancellor Denise Noldon sent an email to administrators and senate presidents on May 20 detailing the new requirements. If you did not receive this email, contact the Student Services Division of the Chancellor’s Office for information on the requirements.

In addition, those who would like to be added to a newly created listserv regarding Student Equity can send an e-mail message to listserv@listserv.cccnext.net. Do not put any words in the subject area. 
Put SUBSCRIBE STUDENTEQUITY in the body of a BLANK, NON-HTML e-mail. Do not include a signature. 
You will receive a confirmation email. Follow the simple instructions in the confirmation email to finish the subscription process.

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Online Education Initiative Update

The Online Education Initiative (OEI) has announced that the Canvas Course Management System (CMS) will be available at no cost to colleges. This no-cost CMS is guaranteed for the first four years of the five-year contract with Instructure, and with a critical mass of colleges adopting Canvas funding is expected to be ongoing as an integral part of the CCC Technology Center budget. More information about the steps towards adoption that the OEI Steering Committee recommends can be found here. The ASCCC and the OEI Steering Committee both wish to note that adoption of a course management system is an academic and professional matter and therefore local conversations should be led and driven by local academic senates.

In addition, the OEI, in partnership with the Foundation for the California Community Colleges, has selected LinkSystems as the online tutoring resource for the system. Colleges can purchase the NetTutor option and obtain online tutoring hours at a low rate of $25 through the Foundation or they can provide their online tutors and deploy them through the WorldWideWhiteboard option at no additional cost to the college. More information about the online tutoring options will be made available in the near future by the OEI.

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Examining the Sacred Cows: 50% Law, FON, 75/25, and Others

At the Fall 2014 ASCCC Plenary Session, ASCCC President David Morse and San Diego CCD Executive Vice-Chancellor for Business and Technology Services Bonnie Ann Dowd led a breakout discussion on the possible revision of statutory and legislative fiscal requirements of the community college system, such as the 50% Law and the Faculty Obligation Number (FON). The breakout was well-received, and faculty there appeared to feel that such a discussion was worth pursuing. Since that time, David and Bonnie, along with Sierra College President Willy Duncan, have repeated this presentation in a variety of venues and have had several articles published regarding their efforts. The discussion has been picking up steam, and the three co-presenters hope to work toward a more concrete proposal or proposals in the coming academic year.

However, to set the minds of faculty at ease, the initiators of this discussion have been clear in every instance that no one is proposing that we abolish the 50% law, the FON, or any other statute or regulation. Instead, the discussion focuses on ways in which these fiscal requirements might be revised to the mutual benefit of all constituencies. No agreement will be made without the approval of the delegates at an ASCCC plenary session. The intent is in no way to weaken faculty voice or funding for faculty or instruction, but rather to engage in an open discussion of areas in which we might agree on improvements. We hope that faculty will be willing to continue to pursue this discussion that could ultimately benefit colleges, faculty, and students across the state.

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Accreditation Task Force

The Consultation Council Task Force on Accreditation is in the final stages of completing its report to the Chancellor and the Board of Governors. The report is expected to go to Consultation Council and then to the Board of Governors in September, as neither body has an August meeting. The ASCCC will bring the report to your attention when it is published.

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Curriculum Institute

The ASCCC 2015 Curriculum Institute will be held from July 9-11 in Anaheim. This event is expected to be the largest that our organization has held to date, with 500 or more participants expected. We hope to see many of you there.

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August Executive Committee Meeting

Once again this year, the ASCCC Executive Committee will be holding the first day of a majority of its meetings on college campuses. The first meeting of the 2015-16 year is scheduled for August 21-22 in Los Angeles, with the meeting on the August 21 held at Los Angeles City College. We encourage all senate presidents and other faculty in the area to join us.

The Executive Committee looks forward to seeing you at the Curriculum Institute, the August Executive Committee Meeting, or wherever else our paths might cross. If we can be of any assistance to you or to your senate, please do not hesitate to contact us. We wish all of you an excellent remainder of the summer.

David Morse,
President

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